Western Ally (Id.No. 3815)
1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.
(Id.No. 3815: displacement 12,370; length 426'6"; beam 54'0"; depth of hold 31'7"; draft 25'6"; speed 12.3 knots; complement 70)
Western Ally, a single-screw, steel-hulled cargo vessel constructed as War Hector under a United States Shipping Board (USSB) contract, at Seattle, Wash., by the Ames Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., was launched on 9 November 1918; given the identification number (Id.No.) 3815; taken over by the Navy on 15 January 1919; and commissioned at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., Lt. Cmdr. William E. Abernathy, USNRF, in command.
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, the cargo ship sailed for Norfolk, Virginia, laden with foodstuffs on 2 February 1919. Proceeding via the Panama Canal, she arrived at Hampton Roads on 4 March. The cargo vessel headed for Gibraltar on 8 April, and thence got underway for the eastern Mediterranean on 25 April. After arriving at Constantinople on 3 May, she speedily discharged her goods and headed west on the following day.
After a brief stop at Gibraltar to repair her damaged screw, Western Ally arrived at Philadelphia, Pa., on 20 July 1919. Decommissioned there on 23 July, Western Ally was returned to the USSB and remained in its custody until 1929 when she abandoned due to age and deterioration.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
11 August 2022
