USS Kittery (AK-2) 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...

 acquired by the U.S. Navy for service in World War I.

Acquiring a captured German freighter

Kittery (AK-2) was launched as the German transport, SS Praesident, 30 November 1905, by G. Seebach Co., Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...

, Germany. Owned by the Hamburg-American Line, SS Praesident operated throughout the waters of the West Indies and Caribbean.

After the outbreak of World War I, she was suspected of supplying German cruisers in the Leeward Islands

Leeward Islands

The Leeward Islands are a group of islands in the West Indies. They are the northern islands of the Lesser Antilles chain. As a group they start east of Puerto Rico and reach southward to Dominica. They are situated where the northeastern Caribbean Sea meets the western Atlantic Ocean...

. Following several harrowing cruises during which she narrowly avoided capture by British and French ships, she entered the port of San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, early in 1915 and was interned with two other German merchantmen. After the United States entered the war in April 1917, she was taken over on the authority of President Woodrow Wilson

Woodrow Wilson

Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...

 and per his orders in the issuance of Executive Order 2619-A, 14 May 1917, by the U.S. Navy. SS Praesident sailed to the United States escorted by and was refitted for naval service. She was commissioned as Kittery 6 July at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...

, Lt. Comdr. Charles Geddes, USNRF, in command.

World War I North Atlantic service

Assigned to cargo and troop transport duty between the United States and the West Indies, Kittery departed Philadelphia 18 July. Operating out of Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina

Charleston is the second largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. It was made the county seat of Charleston County in 1901 when Charleston County was founded. The city's original name was Charles Towne in 1670, and it moved to its present location from a location on the west bank of the...

, she made monthly trips during the remainder of the war to supply American forces.

Post-war operations

After the war she continued her cargo service from Charleston and Norfolk, Virginia

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....

, for more than 15 years, making scores of runs to West Indian ports. Following a final trip to Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base

Guantanamo Bay Naval Base is located on of land and water at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba which the United States leased for use as a coaling station following the Cuban-American Treaty of 1903. The base is located on the shore of Guantánamo Bay at the southeastern end of Cuba. It is the oldest overseas...

, Port-au-Prince

Port-au-Prince

Port-au-Prince is the capital and largest city of the Caribbean nation of Haiti. The city's population was 704,776 as of the 2003 census, and was officially estimated to have reached 897,859 in 2009....

, and Cap-Haïtien

Cap-Haïtien

Cap-Haïtien is a city of about 190,000 people on the north coast of Haiti and capital of the Department of Nord...

, she arrived Norfolk 21 December 1932. She proceeded to Philadelphia 28 January 1933, arriving the 30th.

Decommissioning

Kittery decommissioned 5 April, and her name was struck from the Navy List

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

11 April 1933. transferred to the USSB 26 June 1933, she was scrapped in 1937.

Military awards and honors

Kittery's crew members were authorized the following medals:

• World War I Victory Medal (with Transport Clasp)

External links

• NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - AK-2 Kittery
• Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center