USS K. I. Luckenbach (ID-2291) was a cargo ship

Cargo ship

A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...

 and troop transport that served in the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

 from 1918 to 1919.

SS K. I. Luckenbach was built as a commercial cargo ship at Quincy

Quincy, Massachusetts

Quincy is a city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. Its nicknames are "City of Presidents", "City of Legends", and "Birthplace of the American Dream". As a major part of Metropolitan Boston, Quincy is a member of Boston's Inner Core Committee for the Metropolitan Area Planning Council...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, by Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation for Luckenbach Steamship Company of New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Launched on 27 October 1917, she was delivered to Luckenbach in early 1918. The 3rd Naval District inspected her on 11 February 1918 for possible U.S. Navy World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

 service; after she spent several months operating under charter

Charter (disambiguation)

A charter is the grant of authority or rights.Charter may also refer to:* Project charter, a statement of the scope, objectives and participants in a project...

 to the United States Army

United States Army

The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...

, the Navy acquired her on 8 August 1918. Assigned Identification Number (Id. No.) 2291, she was commissioned

Ship commissioning

Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military...

 on 9 August 1918 as USS K. I. Luckenbach with Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander

Lieutenant Commander is a commissioned officer rank in many navies. The rank is superior to a lieutenant and subordinate to a commander...

 James A. McDonald, USNRF, in command.

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, K. I. Luckenbach served as a cargo ship, supplying the American Expeditionary Force

American Expeditionary Force

The American Expeditionary Forces or AEF were the United States Armed Forces sent to Europe in World War I. During the United States campaigns in World War I the AEF fought in France alongside British and French allied forces in the last year of the war, against Imperial German forces...

 in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. Between 12 August 1918 and 22 December 1918, she made two round-trip voyages carrying general U.S. Army cargo to France.

In December 1918, following her return from the second voyage, K. I. Luckenbach was transferred to the Cruiser and Transport Force

Cruiser and Transport Force

The Cruiser and Transport Service was a unit of the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet during World War I that was responsible for transporting American men and materiel to France.- Composition :...

 for postwar use as a troop transport. After conversion into a transport, she made three round-trip voyages in 1919 to assist in returning American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 troops from France. She debarked her last soldier

Soldier

A soldier is a member of the land component of national armed forces; whereas a soldier hired for service in a foreign army would be termed a mercenary...

s at New York City on 14 September 1919.

On 16 September 1919, K. I. Luckenbach arrived at Norfolk

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

, where she was decommissioned

Ship decommissioning

To decommission a ship is to terminate her career in service in the armed forces of her nation. A somber occasion, it has little of the elaborate ceremony of ship commissioning, but carries significant tradition....

 on 5 October 1919. She was returned to Luckenbach Steamship Company on the day of her decommissioning, and resumed commercial service as SS K. I. Luckenbach. Children's author Howard Pease

Howard Pease

Howard Pease was an American writer of adventure stories from Stockton, California. Most of his stories revolved around a young protagonist, William Todhunter Moran who shipped out on tramp freighters during the interwar years...

drew upon his service aboard her for his 1927 book The Jinx Ship.