The second USS ''Narragansett'' (SP-2196) was a

transport ship A troopship (also troop ship or troop transport or trooper) is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime. Troopships were often drafted from commercial shipping fleets, and were unable land troops directly on shore, typicall ...

in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. ''Narragansett'' was launched by Harlan and Hollingsworth,

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

, in 1913. She was acquired through purchase from the Central Vermont Transportation Co., on 11 January 1918, and commissioned at New London, on 28 January 1918.

Service history

On 14 February 1918, ''Narragansett'' departed New London and steamed to Wilmington, Delaware, for overhaul and alterations necessary for troop transport service. In May, she shifted to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, whence she sailed, in June, to New York. On 10 July, she departed New York, in convoy, arriving at Saint-Nazaire and reporting for duty in the Cross Channel Fleet on the 21st. From that time until the Armistice, ''Narragansett'' served as a unit of that fleet, which was charged with the highly important mission of keeping men and

materiel Materiel (; ) refers to supplies, equipment, and weapons in military supply-chain management, and typically supplies and equipment in a commercial supply chain context. In a military context, the term ''materiel'' refers either to the specif ...

, especially coal, flowing from the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

to the Continent. During August and September, ''Narragansett'' crossed from

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very ...

twice a week. In October, she cut back to once a week, but, throughout, she carried an average of over 1,400 troops per voyage. After the Armistice, the transport reversed her mission and commenced carrying troops from France to England. With the new year, 1919, she extended her operational area to include the

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and the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain. The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...

ports of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. On 31 January, however, ''Narragansett'', en route to

, went aground due to the Pilot losing his bearings in a snowstorm, on the Bembridge Ledge,

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...

. All the troops were taken off by relief boats from Southampton that night . She was successfully refloated and back in Southampton 3 weeks later. Repairs required two months. She departed Plymouth for New York on 30 May and arrived in New York on 15 June. Decommissioned on 12 September at Hoboken, N.J., she was sold on 13 August 1920.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Narragansett Transports of the United States Navy Ships built by Harlan and Hollingsworth 1913 ships Maritime incidents in 1919