Naval History and Heritage Command

The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.

(S. P. 1494: displacement 414; length 135'; beam 27'1"; draft 16'; speed 13 knots; armament 1 3-inch, 2 machine guns)

Goliah – a steam tug built in 1907 at Camden, N.J., by John H. Dialogue & Sons – was purchased by the Navy from Puget Sound Tug Co., Seattle, Wash., on 6 December 1917, and, given the identification number S. P. 1494, was commissioned on 31 January 1918 at the Mare Island Navy Yard, Vallejo, Calif., Lt. Werner Tornroth, USNRF, commanding.

Following her post-commissioning shakedown, Goliah – initially classed as a minesweeper –towed coal barges between the California ports of San Diego, Mare Island, and San Pedro. During one of those transits on 15 February 1918, one of her boilers broke down off Piedrasblancas, Calif. After repairs, she departed San Diego for the East Coast on 3 March. Towing Coal Barge No. 315, Coal Barge No. 316, and Coal Barge No. 318, she proceeded to Salinas Cruz, Mexico, and then through the Panama Canal (23 March). Departing Cristóbal, Canal Zone (Base No. 15), on 26 March, she arrived at the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Va., on 8 April with her three barges in tow.

For the next month, Goliah made four voyages between New London, Conn., and New York, N.Y., with stores and ammunition. After a voyage to Bermuda (Base No. 24) and Ponta Delgada, Azores (Base No. 13), from 18 May to 24 June, as an escort tug, she arrived at New York for overhaul and boiler repairs. During this maintenance period, on 28 July, she was ordered to proceed to New London and report to the Senior Officer Present upon the completion of her repairs. With her yard work completed on 7 August, she departed the next day bound for New London.

Reporting to New London, on 8 August 1918, Goliah received orders two days later dispatching her to Cape May, N.J., then to rendezvous with M-1 (Submarine No. 47) and convoy her back to New London, where they arrived on 14 August. She then served briefly served as a patrol craft based from New London. She was dispatched to Newport, R.I., on 2 September to transport fifteen musicians to the Naval Training Station and on 6 September 1918, Goliah began operating as a towing ship between São Miguel Island, Azores; Bermuda; and New London until she arrived at Brest, France, on 26 November 1918.

With hostilities having ended as of 11 November 1918, Goliah took up duties as a rescue and towing tug for convoys operating out of Brest to English ports. She also escorted submarine chasers dispatched to Scandinavia during the winter of 1918-1919. During one of these voyages, operating without a pilot in violation of Swedish regulations, she ran aground off Nidingen Island, Sweden, on 13 February 1919.

Goliah returned to Brest on 9 March 1919, where a board of inquiry was convened on 11-12 March. The board found that Lt. Harry C. Grimm, USNRF, her commanding officer, be tried by court-martial. Interestingly, while awaiting trial, Grimm disappeared on 17 March. The next day, with Lt. Carl G. Selander, USNRF, in command, she was dispatched with other vessels to escort submarine chasers to visit Lisbon, Portugal. She later arrived back in Brest on 24 April 1919. Goliah performed harbor towing work there until her decommissioning on 29 November.

Loaned to the United States Shipping Board (USSB) on 30 November 1919, Goliah was transferred to the USSB's permanent custody and control on 7 October 1921.

Christopher B. Havern Sr.; Commanding Officers List compiled by Thomas Biggs
12 October 2017