USS Aniwa ( ID - 3146 ) USS " Aniwa " ( ID - 3146 ) was a steel - hulled , single - screw freighter that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919 . Construction acquisition , and commissioning . " Aniwa " was built under a United States Shipping Board contract and completed as SS " Aniwa " in 1918 at Oakland , California , by the Moore Shipbuilding Company . She was earmarked for U . S . Navy World War I service with the naval registry Identification Number ( Id . No . ) 3146 . She departed her builder ' s yard for final sea trials on the morning of 25 July 1918 and arrived at San Francisco , California , that afternoon . During the passage from Oakland to San Francisco , her prospective commanding officer , Lieutenant Commander Foster Ryer , USNRF , came on board from a launch . On the morning of 26 July 1918 , " Aniwa " was commissioned as USS " Aniwa " with Lieutenant Commander Ryer in command . United States Navy service . World War I . " Aniwa " moved to the Mare Island Navy Yard at Vallejo , California , on 27 July 1918 to take on stores and embark the balance of her crew . She moved on to Port Costa , California , on 31 July 1918 and loaded a cargo of flour . Underway for the United States East Coast on 7 August 1918 , " Aniwa " transited the Panama Canal on 23 August 1918 and , after clearing Cristóbal , Panama Canal Zone , early on 24 August 1918 , shaped course for New York City . She reached Brooklyn , New York , on the afternoon of 4 September 1918 . Earlier in 1918 , United States Ambassador to Russia David R . Francis had urged the sending of shiploads of foodstuffs to Archangel in North Russia for a three - fold purpose : ( 1 ) to feed the local Russian population whose flow of provisions had been interrupted by the Czech Legion ' s occupation of the Trans - Siberian Railway ; ( 2 ) to provide for the Allied representatives in the city of Vologda , Russia , should they retire northward ; and ( 3 ) to create a favorable image of the United States in Russia . Accordingly , shortly after midday on 15 September 1918 , " Aniwa " headed out to sea with her cargo of flour in a convoy bound ultimately for Archangel . " Aniwa " arrived off the mouth of the Dvina River on 11 October 1918 and ascended the river on 12 October 1918 . At 17 : 45 hours that day she made fast alongside the British merchant ship SS " Grofe Castle " , which in turn was moored to a wharf at Archangel . " Aniwa " immediately posted watches bow and stern to protect " Aniwa " and her cargo . On 14 October 1918 , four soldiers — a corporal and three private s — reported to " Aniwa " to serve as an armed guard . An outbreak of influenza in Archangel curtailed shore leave for " Aniwa " s crew during certain periods of the ship ' s stay there . It even struck " Aniwa " s hospital corpsman , who had to be sent ashore for treatment in the American Red Cross hospital . To fill the gap created by his illness , the ships ' doctors of U . S . Navy cargo ship USS " West Gambo " ( ID - 3220 ) and U . S . Navy cruiser USS " Olympia " ( Cruiser No . 6 ) visited " Aniwa " and ministered to her sick . Unloading operations proceeded nearly without incident . However , on the afternoon of 23 October 1918 , two Russian stevedores , obviously feeling the shortage of foodstuffs ashore , were caught trying to leave the ship with small quantities of " Aniwa " s cargo of flour . Then , on 5 November 1918 , a sling broke , dropping a bale of hemp on a Russian stevedore . Fortunately , he was not badly hurt and was soon on his way to a Russian hospital for treatment . " Aniwa " got underway for the United States in ballast on the morning of 10 November 1918 with a small number of passengers embarked . World War I ended the following day . Postwar . " Aniwa " reached Brooklyn on 8 December 1918 . Shifting to Bush Terminal at Brooklyn soon thereafter , she loaded 6 , 905 tons of general cargo and underwent a few minor repairs . Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service , " Aniwa " cleared the port of New York shortly after midday on 29 December 1918 bound for Gibraltar . As the days wore on , the weather remained fairly rough , with the ship rolling easily in the long swell s , and she took water forward and aft ; a leak in the after storeroom occupied the attention of at least one man for nearly an entire day on 7 January 1919 . Soon thereafter , problems with her condenser and boilers forced her to put into the Azores on 10 January 1919 for voyage repairs . Underway again on 28 January 1919 , " Aniwa " reached Gibraltar on 4 February 1919 and remained there for a short while before resuming her voyage to Genoa , Italy , where she arrived on the morning of 11 February 1919 . Inept cargo handling during unloading operations at Genoa caused much damage to the shipment of foodstuffs that " Aniwa " had carried from New York . Finally , in early March , after having discharged all that she had brought , she took on ammunition from the U . S . Navy tugs USS " Nahant " ( SP - 1250 ) and USS " Penobscot " ( SP - 982 ) for transportation back to the United States , and then loaded ballast for the return trip . She departed Genoa on the morning of 17 March 1919 . After touching briefly at Gibraltar on 23 March 1919 and 24 March 1919 to pick up passengers , " Aniwa " arrived off Tompkinsville at Staten Island , New York on 15 April 1919 . There , she unloaded the ammunition . She soon moved to the pier at East 19th Street in New York City . She was decommissioned there on 21 April 1919 , and her name was struck from the Navy List the same day . Later career . Turned over to the United States Shipping Board for operation , the ship , once again as SS " Aniwa " , continued carrying cargo , now under civilian auspices . During the remainder of 1919 she called at Mobile , Alabama ; Liverpool , England ; and Newport News , Virginia . " Aniwa " was laid up in 1923 and remained inactive until being discarded due to age and deterioration during the fiscal year 1930 .