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F.J. Luckenbach (Id. No. 2160)

1918–1919

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

(Id.No. 2160: displacement 15,650 (normal); length 468'4"; beam 56'; draft 30'6"; depth of hold 40'8"; speed 13 knots; complement 92; armament 1 6-inch, 1 3-inch)

The single-screw, steel-hull cargo vessel F. J. Luckenbach was launched on 15 September 1917 at Quincy, Mass., by the Fore River Shipbuilding Corp.; and completed in November 1917 for the Luckenbach Steamship Company. Acquired by the Navy on 9 January 1918 and given the identification number (Id. No.) 2160; F. J. Luckenbach was commissioned on the same day, Lt. Cmdr. Wren McLean, USNRF, in command.

Outfitted as an animal transport and assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS), F. J. Luckenbach carried horses, mules, and general U.S. Army cargo on five voyages to France from New York between 12 February 1918 and 21 February 1919.


Painted in “dazzle” camouflage, F. J. Luckenbach, circa 1918, lies at anchor. Her forward gun platform is clearly visible. (Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph NH 45880)
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Caption: Painted in “dazzle” camouflage, F. J. Luckenbach, circa 1918, lies at anchor. Her forward gun platform is clearly visible. (Naval History and Heritage Command Photograph NH 45880)

Converted for troop transport duty with NOTS, she then made two voyages to return veterans of the American Expeditionary Forces between April and July 1919. Decommissioned on 18 August 1919, F. J. Luckenbach was returned to the Shipping Board the same day.


Heavily laden aft, F. J. Luckenbach, her owner’s prominent LUCKENBACH on her hull, steams down the Hudson River past Hoboken, N.J., 21 October 1933. In the background lies the U.S. Lines’ Leviathan, that had been laid up four months before. Photo...
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Caption: Heavily laden aft, F. J. Luckenbach, her owner’s prominent LUCKENBACH on her hull, steams down the Hudson River past Hoboken, N.J., 21 October 1933. In the background lies the U.S. Lines’ Leviathan, that had been laid up four months before. Photo taken by the prominent and prolific New York photographer Percy Loomis Sperr. (F. J. Luckenbach (Id. No. 2160) file, History and Archives Division, Naval History and Heritage Command)

Returned to the Luckenbach Steamship Co., F. J. Luckenbach was turned over to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) at Seattle, Wash., at 8:00 a.m. on 4 December 1941. The WSA then operated her on a term charter agreement until two days after Christmas of 1943 [27 December], returning the ship to the Luckenbach concern, which took delivery at 12:01 a.m. that day at Brooklyn, N.Y., and operated her under a general agency agreement through the end of hostilities in World War II.

F. J. Luckenbach was returned to the WSA at Norfolk, Va., at midnight on 10 May 1946, and was placed in the Turtle Creek Reserve Fleet, Brunswick, Ga., at midnight on 3 January 1947.  Purchased by the Alcoa Steamship Co., a little over four months later, on 9 May 1947, F. J. Luckenbach was removed from the Brunswick berthing area at 9:00 a.m. on 17 July 1947.

Renamed Comptroller, the ship that had participated in the massive effort to support the American Expeditionary Force during the Great War and then carried home the doughboys who had participated in that conflict, underwent conversion to a barge.

Updated, Robert J. Cressman
15 May 2020

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Published: Wed Mar 09 09:10:45 EST 2022