The first USS ''Defiance'' (ID-3327) was a cargo ship in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. ''Defiance'' was built in 1918 by

Union Iron Works Union Iron Works, located in San Francisco, California, on the southeast waterfront, was a central business within the large industrial zone of Potrero Point, for four decades at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries. ...

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Company Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when the Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, acquired the San Francisco-based shipyard Union Iron Works. In 1917, it was incorporated as Bethlehem Shipbuil ...

Alameda, California Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...

. She was acquired by the Navy 5 September 1918; and commissioned the same day. ''Defiance'' sailed from San Francisco 14 September 1918 with a cargo of flour and naval stores, and arrived at New York 11 October to exchange her cargo for Army supplies. Ten days later she was underway for

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

to join a convoy bound for

Southampton, England Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, and

Dunkirk, France Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the department of Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgian border. It has the third-largest French harbour. The population of the commune in 2019 was 86,279. E ...

, where she delivered her cargo to the Army of Occupation. She returned to

Immingham Immingham is a town and civil parish in North East Lincolnshire, England, on the south-west bank of the Humber, Humber Estuary, northwest of Grimsby. It was relatively unpopulated until the early 1900s, when the Great Central Railway began de ...

and Dublin, Ireland, to load material being returned to the States. She departed 27 January 1919 for

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

, and arrived 16 February. ''Defiance'' was decommissioned 1 March 1919 and delivered to the Shipping Board the same day for disposal.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Defiance ID-3327 1918 ships Cargo ships of the United States Navy Ships built in San Francisco World War I cargo ships of the United States Standard World War I ships Steamships of the United States