Craster Hall (Id.No. 1486)
1918-1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.
(Id.No. 1486: displacement 9,700; length 392'6"; beam 50'0"; draft 24'0"; speed 11 knots; complement 62; armament 1 5-inch)
Craster Hall -- built in 1909 at Port Glasgow, Scotland, by William Hamilton & Co. -- was transferred to the Navy on 25 April 1918 from the U.S. Shipping Board (USSB); assigned the identification number (Id.No.) 1486; and commissioned on 9 May 1918, Lt. Cmdr. Hans L. Mortensen, USNRF, in command.
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Craster Hall made three transatlantic voyages from 25 May 1918 to 7 January 1919 carrying a total of 28,112 tons of cargo. She transported steel billets, mail, flatcars, Army trucks, engines and airplanes to Bordeaux and Verdon; Army supplies to Quiberon, St. Nazaire, and Nantes; and 353 horses to Paulliac. After completing her vital supply duty, Craster Hall was decommissioned on 5 February 1919 and transferred to the USSB for return to her owner the same day.
