USS Long Beach (AK-9) was a cargosteamship that was built in England in 1892 as Yarrowdale, passed through a succession of British, Greek and German owners, and was seized by the United States in 1917. She served in the US Navy until 1921, then in the US Merchant Marine, and was scrapped in 1924. She was called Nicolaos Castriotis in Greek ownership, Hohenfelde in German ownership, and Golden Gate from 1923.
Her registered length was 320.1 ft (97.6 m), her beam was 41.4 ft (12.6 m) and her depth was 21.2 ft (6.5 m). Her tonnages were 2,980 GRT, 1,908 NRT, and 5,800 tons displacement.[2] George Clark Ltd built her three-cylinder triple expansion engine. It was rated at 265 NHP and gave her a speed of 8+1⁄2 knots (15.7 km/h).
In 1902 CN Castriotti acquired Yarrowdale, renamed her Nicolaos Castriotis and registered her in Piraeus.[4]
In 1905 D Fuhrmann, Nissle und Günther Nachfolger acquired Nicolaos Castriotis, renamed her Hohenfelde, and registered her in Hamburg. Her code letters were RNMF.[5] By August 1914 she had taken refuge from the First World War in Savannah, Georgia.[1][2]
On 20 December 1917 the ship was commissioned at Charleston Navy Yard as USS Long Beach (ID-2136). On 26 December she left Jacksonville carrying a cargo of lumber to Philadelphia, where she arrived on 9 January 1918. On 4 February she left Norfolk, Virginia for Dublin, Ireland, where she arrived on 3 March. There she joined the United States Army Cross Channel Service, carrying coal from the United Kingdom to France.[2] During 1918 Lt Cdr Einar Clark, USNRF, succeeded Lt Cdr Nelson as her commander.[6]
On 23 April 1919 Long Beach left Dublin carrying a cargo of aviation materiél to Norfolk, VA, where she arrived on 13 May. Long Beach was overhauled at Philadelphia, and then joined the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. She took coal to Portsmouth, NH, Boston and Key West, and in 1920 made two voyages to the West Indies to deliver supplies to US Marine Corps detachments.[2] On 17 July 1920 she was redesignated AK-9.[6] On 19 December 1920 she left Norfolk, VA carrying coal to Melville, RI. She then entered Boston Navy Yard, where she was decommissioned in 26 April 1921.[2]
By 1921 Long Beach was equipped for wireless telegraphy.[7] On 4 May 1922 Mr BL Stafford of New York bought her[2] for $20,000.[6] Her owner was recorded as the Long Beach Steam Ship Corporation,[1] which may have been a one-ship company created especially to own her.
Golden Gate
In July 1923 Callaghan Atkinson & Co of New York bought the ship and renamed her Golden Gate.[6] In 1924 she was registered in Wilmington, Delaware and her registered owner was the Golden Gate Navigation Company, Inc,[8] which may have been another one-ship company. Her US official number was 22376 and her code letters were MDRQ.[8] She was scrapped in Genoa, Italy in October 1924.[6]
References
^ abc"Yarrowdale". Wear Built Ships. Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust. Retrieved 19 November 2022.
