USS Virginian (1904)

USS Virginian was a United States Navy tug in commission from 1918 to 1919.

For other ships with the same name, see USS Virginian.
Not to be confused with troop transport USS Virginian (ID-3920), also in commission in 1919.
SS Virginian prior to her U.S. Navy service.
History
United States
Name: USS Virginian
Namesake: Previous name retained
Completed: 1904
Acquired: Probably late 1917
Commissioned: Probably early 1918
Stricken: 12 May 1919
Fate: Returned to owner 12 May 1919
Notes: Served as commercial tug SS Blue Bell[1] or SS Blue Belle[2][3] and SS Virginian 1904-1917 and as SS Virginian from 1919
General characteristics
Type: Cargo ship
Tonnage: 179 register tons
Length: 90 ft 0 in (27.43 m)
Beam: 21 ft 0 in (6.40 m)
Draft: 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) (mean)
Propulsion: Steam engine
Speed: 8 knots
Complement: 15

Virginian was built as the commercial tug Blue Bell[1] or Blue Belle[2][3] in 1904 at Camden, New Jersey. She subsequently was renamed SS Virginian. The U.S. Navy acquired her for World War I service from her owner, the Southern Transportation Company, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania probably sometime in late 1917. The Navy apparently commissioned her sometime in early 1918 as USS Virginian.

Virginian served as a tug in the 5th Naval District—probably at Norfolk, Virginia, through the end of World War I and into the early months of 1919.

On 12 May 1919, Virginian was returned to the Southern Transportation Company and her name was stricken from the Navy List.

Unlike most commercial ships commissioned into U.S. Navy service during World War I, Virginian never received a naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.).

Notes
  1. Per the U.S. Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images
  2. Per the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
  3. NavSource Online
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References
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