USS Culgoa ( AF - 3 ) USS " Culgoa " ( AF - 3 ) was a refrigerated supply ship in the United States Navy . " Culgoa " was built in 1889 by J . L . Thompson and Sons , Ltd . of Sunderland , England and purchased at Cavite , Philippines on 4 June 1898 . During the naval blockade of Manila , the vessel supplied the American squadron with ice and meat . Since she was not a commissioned naval vessel , " Culgoa " could purchase supplies while avoiding the neutrality laws that banned sales to the Navy . Service history . Philippine – American War , 1898 – 1901 . On 3 December 1898 , one week before the Treaty of Paris that ended the Spanish - American War was to be signed , " Culgoa " was commissioned with Lieutenant Commander James William Carlin in command . Assigned to the Asiatic Squadron as a refrigerator supply ship , " Culgoa " sailed out of Cavite Navy Yard supplying ships and troops at Manila with ice and meat until August 1899 . Overhauled at Hong Kong between 20 October and 18 November 1899 , " Culgoa " returned to supply duties , making three voyages to Sydney and Brisbane , Queensland , Australia , for fresh stores in 1900 and 1901 . On 22 July 1901 she cleared Cavite and sailed by way of Ceylon , Suez , Malta , and Gibraltar to New York City , arriving 25 September . She was placed out of commission on 16 October 1901 at Boston , Massachusetts . North Atlantic Squadron , 1902 – 1907 . Recommissioned 1 October 1902 " Culgoa " joined the North Atlantic Squadron and provided storeship services to ships and shore stations in the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico until again placed out of commission 11 August 1905 . Considered for disposition , she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 7 May 1906 , but reinstated on 30 June 1906 and recommissioned 12 September 1907 for service with the Atlantic Fleet . Great White Fleet , 1907 – 1909 . Sailing from New York on 21 September 1907 " Culgoa " was loaned to the Panama Railway Company for an emergency shipment of beef , returning to New York 16 October 1907 . On 11 December " Culgoa " left to join the Atlantic Battleship Fleet at Santa Lucia as mobile stores ship , one of four auxiliaries accompanying the sixteen battleships on the cruise of the " Great White Fleet " . During the cruise , while on a planned supply run , she carried naval artist Henry Reuterdahl , who painted a number of scenes of the expedition . At Amoy , China , and in the Formosa Strait between 28 October and 5 November 1908 , she assisted in the establishment of wireless communications with the Second Squadron . On 3 January 1909 , while at Port Said she broke off from fleet duties to bring emergency supplies to Messina , Italy , which had been ravaged by an earthquake . Atlantic , Caribbean , 1909 – 1919 . Returning to Hampton Roads 17 February 1909 , " Culgoa " resumed her cruise along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean until 1 December 1910 , when she sailed to supply ships serving in European waters , visiting Brest and Cherbourg , France , and Weymouth , Dorset and Gravesend , Kent , England , before returning to New York on 20 January 1911 . She put out from New York 11 February 1911 for duty in the Caribbean , where she supplied stores for ships and shore detachments protecting American citizens and interests throughout this troubled area until February 1918 . Serving with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service during the remainder of World War I , " Culgoa " made seven transatlantic convoy voyages to bases in France and Britain between 19 February 1918 and 10 May 1919 . On 10 July 1918 she assisted the SS " Oosterdijk " which sank after a collision with . " Culgoa " took aboard the passenger survivors and towed " San Jacinto " into Halifax , Nova Scotia . Pacific , 1920 – 1922 . " Culgoa " issued stores and provisions to Battle Squadron 2 at Guantanamo Bay from 24 March to 6 April 1920 , then after supplying shore installations at Yorktown , Virginia , and Philadelphia , Pennsylvania , cleared Brooklyn , New York , on 2 June for fleet maneuvers in the Pacific . Given hull classification symbol AF - 3 on 17 July 1920 , she joined Battle Squadron 2 at Colón , Panama , transited the Panama Canal , and joined in fleet problems on her way to Pearl Harbor , visiting Seattle , Washington , and San Francisco . Returning to New York 3 September 1920 for overhaul , she resumed her supply operations on the east coast and in the Caribbean between February and October 1921 . " Culgoa " was decommissioned at New York City on 31 December 1921 and sold 25 July 1922 . As of 2005 , no other US ship has been named " Culgoa " .