Western Plains (Id. No. 3741)
1918-1919
The Navy retained the name carried by this vessel at the time she was acquired.
(Id. No. 3741 tonnage 12,185 (gross register); length 423'9"; beam 54'0"; depth of hold 29'9"; draft 24'0" (mean); speed 10.5 knots; complement 70)
Western Plains, a single-screw, steel-hulled cargo ship constructed in 1918 under a United States Shipping Board contract at Portland, Oregon, by the Columbia River Shipbuilding Corp., was taken over by the Navy for service with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS). Given the identification number (Id. No.) 3741; she was commissioned on 17 October 1918, Lt. Cmdr. David C. Austin, USNRF, in command.
Western Plains took on board 7,296 tons of flour, got underway for the east coast on 25 October 1918, transited the Panama Canal, and reached New York exactly one month later. After she unloaded her consignment of flour at New York, she pressed on for Gibraltar where she took on cargo for shipment to Turkey and arrived at Constantinople on 25 January 1919. Western Plains delivered her goods; loaded 2,500 tons of Turkish tobacco; sailed for the United States on 24 February; touched at the Azores; and arrived at Philadelphia on 10 April.
Western Plains was decommissioned there on 30 April 1919, and simultaneously stricken from the Navy Register. She was returned to the Shipping Board the same day.
Western Plains remained in the custody of that agency until abandoned due to age and deterioration in 1933.
Updated, Robert J. Cressman
26 February 2024
