West Apaum (Id. No. 3221)
1918-1919
(Id. No. 3221: displacement 12,226; length 423'9"; beam 54'0"; depth of hold 29'9"; draft 24'2 1/4" (mean); speed 10.5 knots; complement 81; armament 1 4-inch, 1 3-inch)
West Apaum, a single-screw, steel-hulled cargo ship built under a United States Shipping Board (USSB) contract at Seattle, Wash., by Skinner & Eddy Corp., was launched on 23 May 1918; assigned the identification number (Id. No.) 3221, and commissioned at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., on 20 June 1918, Lt. Cmdr. Thomas P. Dorris, USNRF, in command.
West Apaum departed Bremerton on 27 June 1918 and sailed south to Arica, Chile, where she loaded a cargo of nitrates for transport, via the Panama Canal, to the United States. Arriving at Savannah, Ga., on 9 September, the cargo vessel proceeded to Hampton Roads where she made port on 10 October. Eight days later, West Apaum departed Norfolk, bound for France with a cargo of steel rails, rolling stock, and general Army supplies. Delayed by a stop at Halifax for repair to a damaged propeller, she did not reach La Pallice until 22 November, less than a fortnight after the end of hostilities.
West Apaum unloaded her railway goods, took on 2,214 tons of return Army cargo, and got underway for home on 13 December 1918. Arriving back in Hampton Roads three days into the year 1919, West Apaum made two more voyages to French ports. On her final trip, she transported airplane materials to the French and returned to New York on 11 July with 5,000 tons of Army ordnance material.
Two weeks later, on 25 July 1919, West Apaum was decommissioned, stricken from the Navy Register, and returned to the USSB, which retained custody of the freighter until abandoning her due to age and deterioration in 1933.
Robert J. Cressman
'3 December 2015
