Edward Luckenbach (Id.No. 1662)
1918-1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time of her acquisition.
(Id.No. 1662: displacement 15,963; length 456'5"; beam 57'2"; draft 32'0"; speed 15 knots; complement 62; armament 2 5-inch)
Edward Luckenbach , a steel-hull, single-screw cargo vessel, was completed in 1916 at Quincy, Mass., by the Fore River Shipbuilding Corp.; transferred to the Navy from the Shipping Board 29 August 1918; and, having been given the identification number (Id.No.) 1662, was commissioned the same day, Lt.Cmdr. Arthur C. Fickett, USNRF, in command.
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, U.S. Army Account, Edward Luckenbach sailed from New York on 18 September 1918 with cargo for Marseilles. Returning to New York on 22 November, she was converted by the Army to a troop transport. On 18 December she was transferred to the Cruiser and Transport Force, Newport News Division. She made three voyages from New York and Newport News, Virginia, with cargo for St. Nazaire, returning with patients, convalescents, troops, and casuals to the United States. She was unable to continue her fourth voyage from Hampton Roads because of engine trouble. She was towed to Boston, Mass., decommissioned on 6 August 1919 and delivered to the Shipping Board the same day for return to her owner, the Luckenbach Steamship Co., Inc.
Ultimately, Edward Luckenbach became involved in the second World War. The Maritime Commission (the successor to the Shipping Board) War Shipping Administration took over the vessel under a time charter from the Luckenbach Steamship Co. on 3 March 1942.
On 1 July 1942, Edward Luckenbach accidentally entered a U.S. mine field off Smith Shoal, Florida, and struck two mines. One of her 42-man merchant complement perished in the mishap. Her crew and 12-man Navy armed guard abandoned the vessel, which sank with her superstructure above water, but then reboarded the ship the following day, whence they were rescued and taken to Key West, Florida.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
18 February 2022
