USS Ice King
USS Ice King (ID # 3160), a refrigerated cargo ship wearing pattern camouflage, probably photographed around 19 June 1918 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | USS Ice King |
| Namesake | Name Passaic changed to Ice King to prevent confusion |
| Owner | Cunard Steamship Company |
| Builder | Standard Shipbuilding Company, Shooters Island, New York |
| Laid down | date unknown |
| Launched | as War Unit 22 December 1917 |
| Christened | as War Unit; renamed Passaic while under construction |
| Completed | 1918 |
| Acquired | by Navy 2 July 1918 |
| Commissioned | as USS Ice King 5 July 1918 at Brooklyn, New York |
| Decommissioned | 26 May 1919 |
| Maiden voyage | Nova Scotia on 18 July 1918 to Bordeaux, France, on 5 August |
| Renamed | renamed Ice King shortly before commissioning |
| Stricken | circa 26 May 1919 |
| Fate | Returned to the U.S. Shipping Board for service until laid up in 1923; scrapped in 1950 at Wilmington, Delaware |
| Notes | Subsequently entered merchant service as Georgian and later as Hilton, for A. H. Bull Lines |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | refrigerated cargo ship |
| Tonnage | 4,715 gross tons |
| Displacement | 10,562 tons |
| Length | 392 ft 6 in (119.63 m) |
| Beam | 52 ft (16 m) |
| Draft | 23 ft 8 in (7.21 m) |
| Propulsion | not known |
| Speed | 10 knots |
| Complement | 86 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
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USS Ice King (ID 3160) was a refrigerated cargo ship (reefer ship) acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War I. She was assigned to transport cargo across the Atlantic Ocean to Allied troops in Europe. On her first transatlantic crossing, a German submarine fired torpedoes at her, but, through skillful maneuvering, her captain was able to avoid being struck and sunk. Post-war she was sold, and continued her civilian maritime career.