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Westover (Id. No. 2867)

1918

The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.

(Id. No. 2867: displacement 12,205; length 423'9"; beam 54'0"; depth of hold 29'9"; draft 24'1" (mean); speed 10.5 knots; complement 92; armament 1 5-inch, 1 6-pounder)

War Sun, a steel-hulled, single-screw cargo ship built for the Cunard Steamship Line at Seattle, Wash., by J. F. Duthie & Co., was launched on 17 February 1918; and inspected by the Navy on 9 April, nine days prior to her completion. Soon thereafter, renamed Westover, she sailed for the east coast where she was taken over by the Navy for use by the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. Assigned identification number (Id. No.) 2867, Westover was commissioned at Newport News, Va., on 22 May 1918.

Shifting to New York City, Westover took on a capacity cargo of general Army supplies and got underway in Convoy HB-5 on 27 May 1918 for France. She developed engine trouble en route to St. Nazaire, however, and fell astern of the convoy. Westover plodded resolutely onward but ran afoul of prowling German submarine U-92 (Kapitanleutnant Gunther Ehrlich, commanding), which made a submerged approach.

At 7:30 a.m. on 11 July 1918, U-92 torpedoed Westover and sent her to the bottom south of Ireland, with the loss of 11 souls, three officers--Lt. Frank C. Allston, Ens. Ralph D. Caldwell, and Assistant Paymaster Robert H. Halstead (all USNRF), and eight enlisted men--MA3c John Cole and CMM Frank W. Hollows (both USNRF), F2c Bryan Deal, SC2c James B. Estes, F3c Edward L. Griffin, F2c Harvey Harrison, WT Wilfred J. Serey, Sea Austin C. Wilson (all USN).

Westover was stricken from the Navy Register on 26 August 1918.

U-92 fouled a mine in the Northern Barrage east of the Orkney Islands on 9 September 1918; she sank with Kapitanleutnant Ehrlich and his crew, 42 souls all told.

Updated, Robert J. Cressman

21 February 2024

Published: Wed Feb 21 09:26:31 EST 2024