MS West Grama MS " West Grama , sometimes spelled as West Gramma , was a diesel - powered cargo ship of the that was sunk as part of the " gooseberry " breakwater off Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion . Prior to her diesel conversion , she was known as SS " West Grama . In 1919 , she was briefly taken up by the United States Navy under the name USS " West Grama " ( ID - 3794 ) . SS " West Grama " was built as a steam - powered cargo ship in 1918 for the , a predecessor of the . She was part of the " West " boats , a series of steel - hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States for the World War I war effort , and was the 9th ship built at Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in San Pedro , California . She was commissioned into the of the United States Navy as USS " West Grama " ( ID - 3794 ) in January 1919 . She became the first American - flagged vessel to enter Bulgarian waters when she delivered a load of wheat flour to Varna in early 1919 . After her one overseas trip for the Navy , she was decommissioned in June 1919 and returned to the . SS " West Grama " sailed between Genoa and New York early in her civilian career . In 1927 , " West Grama " was outfitted with a diesel engine that replaced her original steam engine as part of a pilot program by the . After her conversion , she sailed primarily between East Coast ports and South America . By the late 1930s , she had been laid up , but was reactivated for merchant service during World War II . She sailed primarily in the Caribbean until March 1944 when she sailed from the United States for the final time . She was scuttle d in June as part of the " gooseberry " breakwater off Omaha Beach during the Normandy invasion , earning a battle star in the process . Design and construction . The " West " ships were cargo ship s of similar size and design built by several shipyards on the west coast of the United States for the for emergency use during World War I . All were given names that began with the word " West " , like " West Grama " , the ninth of some 40 " West " ships built by the Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company of Los Angeles . " West Grama " ( Los Angeles Shipbuilding yard number 9 ) was one of three Los Angeles Shipbuilding ships launched on 4 July 1918 , and was completed in December . " West Grama " was , and was long ( between perpendiculars ) and abeam . She had a steel hull that displaced 12 , 225 t with a mean draft of . Her hold was deep and she had a deadweight tonnage of . " West Grama " s power plant , as built , consisted of a single triple - expansion steam engine driving a single screw propeller , which moved the ship at up to . Military career . " West Grama " was taken over by the U . S . Navy on 9 January 1919 at San Pedro , California , and was commissioned into the the same day with Lieutenant Commander Eugene McCarthy , USNRF , in command . " West Grama " headed north to San Francisco to take on a load of wheat flour for delivery to Europe . After undergoing boiler repairs at Union Iron Works , she departed San Francisco for Norfolk , Virginia , on 28 January . " West Grama " transited the Panama Canal on 14 February and got underway again on 19 February , after a four - day layover in the Canal Zone . On 25 February , a half - submerged ship was spotted some east - northeast of Nassau , Bahamas . Upon investigation , it was determined to be the wreck of the American schooner " Nettie Shipman " , but , with no signs of life aboard the hulk , " West Grama " continued on to Virginia , where she arrived three days later . After general repairs and fuel replenishment , " West Grama " got underway for the Mediterranean on 13 March . Touching at Gibraltar , she next headed to Constantinople , Turkey , to unload part of her cargo , and then proceeded into the Black Sea . She arrived at Varna , Bulgaria , to unload the remainder of the flour , and , in the process , became the first American - flagged vessel to enter Bulgarian waters . After departure from Varna , " West Grama " returned to the United States via Gibraltar . She carried a mixed load of 13 depth charges and of general cargo . In early June , during her return voyage , " West Grama " was disabled by some unspecified problem while west of Bermuda . The U . S . Navy cargo ship , en route from New Orleans to Cardiff , assisted " West Grama " , and the Navy dispatched the icebreaker from Boston to aid " West Grama " . It ' s not known what assistance was provided or if " West Grama " was even able to proceed on her own , but she arrived at Norfolk on 11 June . Five days later , " West Grama " was decommissioned and returned to the for civilian service . Civilian career . After her return to the , " West Grama " sailed on a Genoa – Gibraltar – New York route through 1920 . In April 1920 , " West Grama " carried some 52 passengers from Genoa and Gibraltar to New York . There is no mention in sources of the ship ' s activities over the next seven years , but in June 1927 , the " Los Angeles Times " reported that " West Grama " had been selected for a $ 400 , 000 conversion from steam - power to diesel - power . By late November , the conversion , undergoing at the Fore River Shipyard near Boston , was nearly complete . The new engine was a McIntosh & Seymour double - acting diesel , the first of its type built in America . On 8 December , during successful sea trials of " West Grama " s new diesel power plant , a malfunction in a steam boiler used to heat the crew quarters caused minor damage to the ship . Allocated to the American Republics Line for service to the east coast of South America , " West Grama " sailed for Buenos Aires , Argentina , where she had arrived by late January 1928 , and back to New York by late March . In October 1929 , " West Grama " was reportedly assigned to the new Pacific – South Africa Line by the , an around - the - world venture under the management of J . J . Moore & Company . The Pacific – South Africa Line — the world ' s only all - diesel around - the - world service , as described by the " Los Angeles Times " — sailed from Los Angeles to South Africa via the Straits of Magellan , across the Indian Ocean to Japan and China , across the Pacific to San Francisco , and back to Los Angeles . It ' s not clear how long , if at all , " West Grama " sailed for this line . In July 1929 , a report in " The New York Times " shows that " West Grama " was still in South American service , sailing to Santos , Brazil . Sources are not clear as to all of " West Grama " s movements over the next years . Hints can be gleaned from contemporary news accounts . In March 1930 , the " Los Angeles Times " reported that " West Grama " was en route from Balboa to San Francisco . " The New York Times " reported " West Grama " s arrival from Portland , Oregon in September , her departure for Fremantle , Western Australia in October 1933 , and her arrival from Baltimore in March the following year . After these mentions , " West Grama " disappears from contemporary news accounts , and by 1939 , " West Grama " had been laid up in a reserve fleet . World War II . In December 1940 , the , a successor to the , announced that it was seeking bids for the sale of 24 ships from its reserve fleet , including " West Grama " . In January 1941 , the announced that a consortium of Commonwealth shipping lines had been the high bidders for 19 of the 20 ships still offered . The highest bid for " West Grama " was $ 80 , 000 , but it is not clear if the bid was , in fact , accepted ; by November , " West Grama " was sailing between Antofagasta , Chile , and New York , but remained under the American flag . From July 1942 through February 1944 , " West Grama " sailed between the United States and Caribbean ports , frequently traveling in convoys . The ship ' s recorded movements show her calling at Cristóbal , Guantánamo Bay , Trinidad , Key West , and Pilottown , Louisiana . In mid - February 1944 , " West Grama " sailed from Key West to New York , and from there , on to Boston . Final voyage . " West Grama " had been selected to become one of the blockship s for the Allied invasion of France , then in the planning stages . Though the specific modifications performed on " West Grama " are not revealed in sources , modifications for other ships do appear . In November 1944 , " The Christian Science Monitor " reported that blockships dispatched from Boston , like " West Grama " , had been loaded with " tons of sand and cement " and had been rigged with explosive charges before departing the port . Further , existing antiaircraft weapons had been moved higher up on the ship and supplemented by additional guns . An account by Cesar Poropat , chief engineer aboard , another blockship dispatched from Boston , mentions that shipyard workers proceeded to cut holes in " strategic places " . " West Grama " departed Boston on 25 March and arrived at Halifax two days later . Departing from that port on 29 March , she sailed in Convoy SC - 156 and arrived at Barry Roads on 13 April , and by 7 May , she had arrived at Methil . " West Grama " s whereabouts and movements through early June are not recorded . Other ships that had been selected as blockships assembled in a " corncob " fleet at Oban , though it ' s not clear if " West Grama " did or not . The " corncob " fleet was the group of ships intended to be sunk to form the " gooseberries " , shallow - water artificial harbors for landing craft . Poropat reports that once the ship crews were told of their mission while anchored at Oban , they were not permitted to leave the ships . Three " corncob " convoys , consisting of what one author called the " dregs of the North Atlantic shipping pool " , departed from Poole and reached the Normandy beachhead the next day , shortly after the D - Day landings . Poropat reports that the corncob ships traveled under cover of darkness and , stripped of all unnecessary equipment , carried no radios , having only a signal lamp ( with a spare bulb ) for communication . Once at the designated location , the ships were put into position and scuttled over the next days , under heavy German artillery fire . Naval Armed Guard smen manned the guns on all the gooseberry ships to protect against frequent German air attacks All the while , harbor pilots — about half of the New York Bar Pilots Association , according to one source — carefully positioned the ships . " West Grama " was sunk off Omaha Beach on 8 June , though she continued to serve as an antiaircraft platform manned by Navy gun crews . On 9 June , " West Grama " s gunners fired 19 times and were credited with assisting in the downing one German airplane ; only one of " West Grama " s Navy gunners was wounded during the attack . On 14 June , " West Grama " escaped serious damage when a bomb landed near the ship . By the time her Naval Armed Guardsmen were replaced by Army crews on 18 June , they had received credit for a second assist , and had been awarded a battle star for their participation in the Normandy Landings .