USS West Alsek ( ID - 3119 ) USS " West Alsek " ( ID - 3119 ) was a cargo ship in the United States Navy during World War I . She had been built as SS " West Alsek " for the United States Shipping Board ( ) as part of the " West " boats , cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States . She sailed on two voyages for the U . S . Navy before she was decommissioned after the Armistice . " West Alsek " was selected for a test program by the addition of coal pulverizers — units that crushed coal and mixed it with air for injection into the boilers . She became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic ocean depending solely on pulverized coal . Test results showed that she sailed faster and used less coal than before the conversion . " West Alsek " was later abandoned by the and scrapped in 1933 . 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 United States Shipping Board ( ) for emergency use during World War I . All were given names that began with the word " West " , like " West Alsek " , named , in part , after the Alsek River in Alaska . " West Alsek " was one of some 24 " West " ships built by Skinner & Eddy of Seattle , Washington . " West Alsek " ( Skinner & Eddy No . 22 , No . 87 ) was launched on 4 May 1918 and delivered to the United States Navy upon completion later in the month . " West Alsek " was built in a total of 78 working days , 92 calendar days , and was tied with three other ships for tenth place on a list of the ten fastest constructed ocean - going vessels compiled in 1920 . Skinner & Eddy received a $ 25 , 000 bonus for completing the ship early . The ship was , and was long ( between perpendiculars ) and abeam . " West Alsek " had a steel hull and a mean draft of . She displaced 12 , 226 t , and had a deadweight tonnage of . The ship had a single triple - expansion steam engine powered by three coal - fired boilers that generated and drove her single screw propeller , and moved the ship at a pace . Military career . USS " West Alsek " ( ID - 3119 ) was commissioned into the Naval Overseas Transportation Service ( ) on 4 June with Lieutenant Commander J . S . Gibson , USNRF , in command . " West Alsek " took on an initial load of 7 , 067 tons of flour and departed the Pacific Northwest on 15 June . After transiting the Panama Canal , she reached New York on 16 July . On 1 August , " West Alsek " joined Convoy HB - 8 with , United States Army cargo transport , and 13 other ships for France . Escorted by armed yacht , destroyers and , and French cruiser " Marseillaise " , the convoy was some west of its destination of Le Verdon - sur - Mer by the end of the day on 15 August . At sundown , shortly before 18 : 00 , one of three torpedoes from German submarine " U - 90 " struck " Montanan " , while another torpedo from " U - 107 " hit " West Bridge " , which was already adrift with engine trouble . Meanwhile , " West Alsek " and the other surviving ships of the convoy continued on and arrived at Verdon - sur - mer on 18 August . After unloading her cargo of flour and returning to the United States , " West Alsek " next sailed on 27 October in convoy to Quiberon and Nantes . " West Alsek " unloaded her cargo in Nantes from 15 November — four days after the Armistice — to 30 December . Sailing for New York on that date , " West Alsek " arrived there on 19 January 1919 . She was decommissioning on 27 January and returned to the . Civilian career . Little is known about " West Alsek " s subsequent civilian career until early 1929 . In February of that year , " West Alsek " , still under ownership , was selected for the addition of pulverized coal - fired boiler s for testing purposes . Coal pulverizers would take coal — often cheaper , inferior grades normally unsuitable for marine use — and grind them into coal dust . This dust would then be mixed with air and automatically injected into the boilers without the need for hand - feeding . " West Alsek " entered the Todd Brooklyn shipyard to undergo the conversion in late February . Upon completion of the conversion work , " West Alsek " was taken out for trials over two passes on a course on 19 June . Representatives from the , the Navy Department , the United States Coast Guard , the Cunard Line , and Todd and other shipbuilders were on board — some 125 guests in all . The ship cruised at an average of , some faster than she had ever steamed . After returning her guests to New York , " West Alsek " sailed to Baltimore , Maryland , for operation by the Oriole Line . She sailed for Cardiff , becoming the first ship depending only on pulverized coal to cross the Atlantic , and back to Baltimore on 18 August . Early results showed that in addition to making the transatlantic crossings about 10 % faster than she had before , " West Alsek " used about 30 % less coal during the voyage . " West Alsek " continued to be a test platform for assessing the pulverized coal system during a voyage to Glasgow , her second for the Oriole Line . No information on " West Alsek " s career after the coal pulverizing tests is available , but it is known that she was abandoned by the , and scrapped in the fourth quarter of 1933 .