USS Wilhelmina ( ID - 2168 ) USS " Wilhelmina " ( ID - 2168 ) was a transport for the United States Navy during World War I . Built in 1909 for Matson Navigation Company as SS " Wilhelmina " , she sailed from the West Coast of the United States to Hawaii until 1917 . After her war service , she was returned to Matson and resumed Pacific Ocean service . In the late 1930s she was laid up in San Francisco , California , until sold to a British company in 1940 . While a part of a convoy sailing from Halifax , Nova Scotia , to Liverpool , she was sunk by on 2 December 1940 . Early history . " Wilhelmina " — a steel - hulled , single - screw , passenger and cargo steamer built at Newport News , Virginia , by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co . for the Matson Navigation Company — was launched on 18 September 1909 and departed her builders ' yard on 7 December of that year . Under the Matson flag , " Wilhelmina " conducted regular runs between San Francisco , California , and Honolulu , Hawaii , carrying passengers and cargo between 1910 and 1917 . World War I . Inspected by the Navy at the 12th Naval District , San Francisco , on 18 June 1917 — two months after the United States entered World War I — the steamship was later taken over by the United States Shipping Board on 1 December . Soon afterwards she sailed for Chile where she obtained a cargo of nitrate s . Delivering that cargo at Norfolk , Virginia . , " Wilhelmina " shifted to New York on 23 January 1918 . Given Identification Number 2168 , the ship was then taken over by the Navy and apparently commissioned on 26 January . Lt . Comdr . Joe W . Jory , USNRF , is listed as being in command in February . " Wilhelmina " was diverted to " special duty " and made her first voyage to France soon afterwards , departing New York with a general cargo on 1 February and returning on 26 March . Upon her return , she shifted to the New York Navy Yard , Brooklyn , New York , where she was taken in hand and converted to a troopship for service with the Cruiser and Transport Force . When her extant deck logs begin , her commanding officer is listed as Comdr . William T . Tarrant . On 10 May 1918 , " Wilhelmina " sailed out of New York on the first of six wartime voyages to France and back prior to the November armistice . During these passages , " Wilhelmina " carried 11 , 053 troops " over there " to strengthen the American Expeditionary Force ( AEF ) . The transport ' s half - dozen trips were all made safely , as far as she was concerned , although not totally without incident . While in convoy with six other troopships and four destroyers , " Wilhelmina " was present when the transport was torpedoed on 1 July . Nearly a month later , on 30 July , one of " Wilhelmina " s lookouts spotted what he thought to be a submarine periscope at 07 : 30 . Going to general quarters , the transport surged ahead and opened fire to drive the submarine away . A short while later , when the periscope reappeared , " Wilhelmina " again fired at it , with the shell falling short . Two weeks later , while " Wilhelmina " and were steaming under the protection of destroyer , the erstwhile Matson steamship again went to general quarters to drive away what looked like a submarine . Shortly after 20 : 00 on 14 August , while " Wilhelmina " ' s crew and passengers were holding abandon ship drill , a lookout spotted what looked like a submarine periscope from the ship and just forward of the port beam . The captain of the transport ordered the helm put over to starboard soon after the sighting , as the submarine moved away on an opposite course . The one - pounder on the port wing of the signal bridge barked out two shots , both missing . Three shots from the after port gun followed , until their angle was masked by the ship ' s superstructure . The submarine , however , apparently frustrated , submerged . It may have remained in the area to try again , as on the following day , 15 August , a submarine periscope appeared some away from the troopship , prompting three salvoes which drove the would - be attacker off . In company with seven other transports — including " Wilhelmina " — on 23 August , in a convoy escorted by armored cruiser and destroyers and " Hull " , " Pastores " spotted what she took to be a submarine periscope at about 09 : 50 . " Hull " rang up full speed and reversed course ; " Huntington " and " Fairfax " soon did likewise but found nothing . Later that day , however , the enemy apparently reappeared . " Pastores " s commander sighted a periscope at 19 : 04 ; " Hull " sighted the same object five minutes later . The periscope appeared to be about distant , three points off " Wilhelmina " s starboard bow , and running on a course to the right and nearly opposite that of the convoy . " Pastores " went to battle stations and headed for the periscope . " Wilhelmina " , too , turned toward the enemy . With the ' scope in sight for about 10 seconds , the time allotted the gun crews of the American ships that spotted the enemy was short . " Pastores " got off one round of at the swirling water where the object had disappeared . Frustrated by the submarine ' s going deep , " Wilhelmina " , unable to ram , turned aside to port . " Hull " , rushing to the scene , soon dropped three depth bombs . Three days later , on 26 August , " Wilhelmina " noticed a suspicious wake five degrees off her port bow , away and passing from port to starboard . Going to general quarters , " Wilhelmina " fired a shot from one of her forward guns shortly before she loosed three shots in succession from the forward starboard battery . Nine rounds came from the after battery on that side ; and , as the ship swung , the superstructure masked the forward guns . The wake soon disappeared ; both " Pastores " and the Italian transport also fired several rounds at what was possibly a submersible with no apparent success . " Wilhelmina " emerged from World War I unscathed , although near - missed by a torpedo on 1 September . After the armistice , she continued her troop - carrying activities , bringing back part of the AEF from France . She conducted seven postwar , round - trip voyages , returning 11 , 577 men home to the United States including 2 , 610 sick and wounded . These postwar voyages were not made entirely without incident either . A fire broke out in a storeroom where blankets and pillows were kept , a little over six hours after the ship departed Bassens , France , standing down the Gironde River on 25 March 1919 . The fire , reported at 21 : 52 , was put out by 22 : 10 . Slight damage had been caused in the fire . " Wilhelmina " subsequently entered the Ambrose Channel on 4 April and docked at Pier 1 , Hoboken , New Jersey , the following day . There , she disembarked the troops and patients carried back from France . She began her last voyage shortly afterwards , returning to New York on 6 August 1919 . There , she was decommissioned , struck from the Navy list , and returned to her owners on 16 August . Later career . " Wilhelmina " remained under the Matson house flag through the 1920s and 1930s . In 1927 , the Wilhelmia was one of two ships that steered to aid the Travel Air 5000 " City of Oakland " in its successful transpacific flight attempt . Sold to British interests in 1940 , the steamship was sailing with Convoy HX 90 , sailing from Halifax , Nova Scotia to Liverpool , in the North Atlantic , on 2 December 1940 , when " U - 94 " , part of a wolfpack that included of Scapa Flow fame , drew a bead on a tanker and the steamer " W . Hendrik " , and fired two torpedoes . Both missed but continued on to strike and sink " Wilhelmina " .