Macona (Id.No. 3305)
1918-1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.
(Id.No. 3305: displacement 8,500; length 377'5"; beam 49'; draft 22'6"; speed. 12 knots; complement 89; armament. 2 4-inch)
City of Macon, built in 1903 at Chester, Pa., by the Delaware River Co., for Barber & Co.; subsequently renamed, Macona operated as a cargo ship out of New York City. At the outbreak of hostilities in the Great War [World War I] she was taken over at New York by the U.S. Shipping Board (USSB) through the Emergency Fleet Corp. and commissioned on 19 August 1918, for service with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS).
Once refitted, she took on a general cargo and departed New York in convoy on 25 August 1918 for St. Nazaire, Frabce. Upon arrival on 12 September, Macona assumed cargo carrying duties in European waters. She continued in this status until 20 December, when she returned to St. Nazaire. There she took on Navy stores, underwent minor repairs prior to a transatlantic trip, and steamed to Cardiff to take on coal.
Macona departed Cardiff on 15 February 1919 en route to Hampton Roads, Va.. After fueling at the Azores she arrived at Hampton Roads on 12 March. There she was placed in line for demobilization, refurbished, decommissioned on 25 March, and returned to USSB for return to her owner.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
30 November 2020
