USS Wachusett ( ID - 1840 ) The second USS " Wachusett " ( ID - 1840 ) was a cargo ship that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919 . " Wachusett " was built as the freighter SS " Ceres " in 1896 by Blohm & Voss at Hamburg , Germany . She was renamed " Suevia " in 1898 . Upon the outbreak of World War I in 1914 , she was interned by the United States at Manila on Luzon in the Philippines . " Suevia " was seized from the Hamburg - America Line in April 1917 at Manila by U . S . Customs Service officials for the United States Shipping Board after the United States entered World War I . Renamed SS " Wachusett " and assigned identification number ( Id . No . ) 1840 , she initially was operated by the Shipping Board , then was turned over to the U . S . Department of War sometime between 22 December 1917 and 26 December 1917 . The U . S . Navy provided her crew and agreed to commission her as soon as possible . The Navy took over SS " Wachusett " on 6 January 1918 and commissioned her at Hoboken , New Jersey , as USS " Wachusett " ( ID - 1840 ) on 9 January 1918 with Lieutenant Commander Roy W . Look , USNRF , in command . Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service ( NOTS ) as an United States Army account , she was fitted out for naval service as a cargo ship . She put to sea on 19 January 1918 , laden with a cargo of general U . S . Army supplies bound for Brest , France . On 23 January 1918 urgent need for repairs to her radio and engine forced her out of her convoy and into port at Halifax , Nova Scotia , Canada . She completed those repairs on 9 February 1918 and resumed her transatlantic voyage that same day . Her convoy arrived in Brest on 24 February 1918 , and " Wachusett " discharged her cargo . On 18 March 1918 , she set out on the return voyage and arrived in New York City on 1 April 1918 . Following a brief repair period , the ship loaded another Army cargo and departed New York , bound for Norfolk , Virginia , and refueling . She steamed out of Hampton Roads , Virginia , on 16 April 1918 and headed across the Atlantic in company with another convoy . She arrived at Le Havre , France , on 7 May 1918 , discharged her cargo , and completed her turnaround on 19 May 1918 by putting to sea with a New York - bound convoy . " Wachusett " entered New York Harbor on 4 June 1918 and simultaneously began repairs and cargo loading . On 15 June 1918 , she stood out of New York , bound southward to Norfolk where she coaled ship on 15 June 1918 before her departure on 16 June 1918 for England . Her convoy entered port at Southampton , England , on 10 July 1918 , and she unloaded her 4 , 300 tons of supplies before heading for the United States on 20 July 1918 . Back in New York on 8 August 1918 , she underwent voyage repairs while also loading cargo . Again , she steamed south to Norfolk to coal ship and join an eastbound convoy . She sailed from Norfolk on 21 August 1918 and pulled into Brest on 11 September 1918 . " Wachusett " left Brest on 21 September 1918 after a six - day delay during which she awaited the formation of a homeward - bound convoy . She returned to New York on 15 October 1918 , underwent the usual minor repairs , and loaded cargo for her last wartime Atlantic crossing . She stood out of New York on 24 October 1918 in convoy for Brest , where she arrived on 8 November 1918 . Three days later , on 11 November 1918 , the armistice ended hostilities . " Wachusett " remained in France for ten more days and then headed back to the United States on 21 November 1918 , for the first time unmenaced by the danger of German submarine s . The end of the war , however , did not signal an end to the Navy career of " Wachusett " . The Navy shifted her from an Army to a United States Shipping Board account in December 1918 . After her arrival in New York on 12 December 1918 , she loaded 4 , 445 tons of supplies and , on 22 January 1919 , headed back across the Atlantic . She entered port at St . Nazaire , France , on 7 February 1919 and , after discharging her cargo , loaded ordnance material for return to the United States . Departing the French coast on 20 February 1919 , she made a brief stop in the Azores en route New York . Diverted from New York , she arrived in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , instead on 14 March 1919 . " Wachusett " loaded a partial cargo at Philadelphia and then moved to New York , where she filled out her cargo and topped off her coal bunkers . On 10 April 1919 , she left New York with a cargo consigned to the Northern Food Relief bound for Gibraltar , where she was to await further orders . There she received orders to steam to Singapore . She reached Singapore on 27 April 1919 and unloaded her cargo there in late May . " Wachusett " departed Singapore on 5 June 1919 for Java in the Netherlands East Indies . She visited the Javanese cities of Weltevreden in June and Batavia at the beginning of July . On 12 July 1919 , she headed back to Singapore , and departed Singapore on 22 July 1919 . Steaming via the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea , " Wachusett " refueled in the Azores on 8 September 1919 and arrived in New York on the 21 September 1919 . Following voyage repairs , " Wachusett " was decommissioned on 6 October 1919 and was returned to the United States Shipping Board that same day . She was retained by the Shipping Board in mercantile service until late in 1923 or early in 1924 , and scrapped in Baltimore , Maryland , in 1924