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Naval History and Heritage Command

Naval History and Heritage Command

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Chesapeake III (No. 3395)

(AM: dp. 2,000; l. 220'; b. 32'; dr. 12'; s. 12 k.; cpl. 117; a. 1 3")

The extensive bay lying between Maryland and Virginia.

III

The third Chesapeake (No. 3395), a freighter, was launched in 1900 by Harlan & Hollingsworth, Wilmington, Del.; purchased by the Navy 31 August 1918; fitted out at New York as a salvage ship; and commissioned 22 March 1919, Lieutenant M. C. Kent in command.

Chesapeake sailed from New York 12 May 1919 for Brest, France, where she joined the First Salvage Division supporting U.S. Naval Forces Operating in European Waters, caring for the many ships engaged in supporting the Army of Occupation and other American military activities in Europe. In August she joined the force clearing the North Sea of the vast minefields laid during the war in an operation almost as intricate and dangerous as the original laying had been. Chesapeake ferried various sweeping equipment and supplies from Brest and Liverpool to Kirkwall, Orkney Island, where the mine sweeping operations were based.

Chesapeake was decommissioned at Brest, France, 25 October 1919 and later sold there.

Published: Tue Jun 30 11:34:36 EDT 2015