Newton I (Str)
(Str: dp.11,200 (norm.); l. 406'; b. 54' 6"; dr. 23' (mean); s. 10.5 k.; cpl. 70; a. 1 5", 1 3".)
Former name retained.
I
The first Newton, launched in 1901 by the Fore River Ship Building Co., Quincy, Mass., was acquired by the U.S. Navy, via the U.S. Shipping Board, from the New England Coal and Coke Co., Boston, Mass., 3 August 1918 and commissioned 6 August 1918 at Norfolk, Va., Lt. Comdr. R. J. White, USNRF, in command.
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service and carried on the Army account, Newton completed two round trips to France and Britain with coal as cargo on the first and general army supplies on the second. After overhaul, she decommissioned, at New York, 24 February 1919 and was returned to the Shipping Board for final transfer to her prewar owner.
