Nahunta (Barge)
1917-1919
A city in the southeastern part of the state of Georgia.
(Barge: tonnage 1,213 (gross register); length 220'0" (between perpendiculars), 226'6" (overall) ; breadth 38'8' (load waterline); draft 21'0' (aft, full load); complement 6)
The non-self-propelled iron-hulled barge The Bruce was launched on 9 October 1866 at Glasgow, Scotland, by Aitken Mansel. Acquired by the Liverpool-based British Shipowner's Co., Ltd., on 17 March 1873, The Bruce was purchased a little over seven years later on 8 July 1880 by James Nourse of London, England, after which she was reduced to barque rig in 1889.
The Bruce changed hands soon thereafter, being acquired by the Luckenbach Bros., of New York, in 1891, being then purchased by Lewis Luckenbach and renamed West Point. She underwent conversion to a schooner barge the followinjg year (1892). Luckenbach Transport & Wrecking Co. of New York acquired West Point in 1903, after which Edgart F. Luckenbach (also of New York) bought the vessel in 1910.
Soon after the United States entered the Great War [World War I], the Navy acquired the barge, renaming her Nahunta, on 8 August 1917, placing her in commission the same day. Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, she served as a coastwise collier, with a full load coal capacity of 1,900 tons, until stricken from the Navy Register on 13 June 1919. She was sold on 2 October 1919.
Acquired at one point in 1921 by the Neptune Line, Inc., of New York, the barge resumed her former name, West Point, then changed hands before the year was out, being purchased by the Durham Navigation Corp. of New York. That firm operated the vessel for about decade, before returning to the Neptune Line, Inc., in 1931. Two years later (1933), the well-traveled vessel was broken up for scrap.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
2 April 2024
a., until 15 August 1919 when she was detached from NOTS. She continued duty in the 5th Naval District until sold 2 October.
