Peerless I (Id. No. 1639)
1918-1919
The first Peerless retained the name she carried at the time of her acquisition by the Navy.
I
(Id. No. 1639: displacement 10,000 (dead weight); length 426'; beam 56'; draft 27'; speed 10.5 knots; complement 83; armament 1 4-inch, 1 3-inch)
Peerless, built in 1917 at San Francisco, Calif., by Union Iron Works, was acquired by the Navy from the Standard Transportation Co. at Newport News, Va., on 8 December 1918; and, allocated to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS), was commissioned the same day, Lt. Cmdr. J. S. LeCain, USNRF, in command.
Peerless loaded 5,337 tons of general cargo, departed Norfolk, Va., on 9 December 1918, and arrived at La Pallice on the 24th, the day before Christmas. Congestion at that port, however, prevented the ship from being assigned a berth until almost a fortnight into the new year, on 12 January 1919. Unloading 3,284 tons of cargo, and loading 377, the ship received orders to proceed to New York, N.Y. Sailing on 26 January, Peerless reached her destination on 12 February. Proceeding to Pier 3, Bush Terminal, the ship discharged 2,163 tons of general cargo.
On 19 February 1919, Peerless was detached from the NOTS and reassigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force. She served on the transatlantic run through the summer. Decommissioned on 22 September 1919, she was returned to her owner the same day.
Renamed Eagle, the ship
