USS West Avenal ( ID - 3871 ) USS " West Avenal " ( ID - 3871 ) was a cargo ship in the United States Navy during World War I . She had been built as SS " West Avenal " for the United States Shipping Board ( USSB ) as part of the " West " boats , a series of steel - hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States . " West Avenal " was launched in October 1918 by the Western Pipe and Steel Company of San Francisco , California , and delivered to the US Navy when she was completed in February 1919 . After she was commissioned and had taken on a load of flour , " West Avenal " sailed to Norfolk , Virginia , where she was decommissioned in early April . Though little is available regarding " West Avenal " s civilian career , she is known from contemporary news account to have visited ports in Spain , Italy , France , Brazil and Uruguay in the early 1920s . In January 1920 , " West Avenal " was rammed by a British cargo ship in New York Harbor and was grounded to prevent her sinking . By late 1928 , " West Avenal " had been abandoned by the USSB , and was scrapped in August 1929 . 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 ( USSB ) for emergency use during World War I . All were given names that began with the word " West " , like " West Avenal " , one of some 15 " West " ships built by the Western Pipe and Steel Company of San Francisco , California . " West Avenal " ( Western Pipe and Steel No . 3 ) was launched on 13 October 1918 , and delivered to the Navy upon completion on 1 February 1919 . The ship was , and was long ( between perpendiculars ) and abeam . " West Avenal " had a steel hull and a deep hold . She displaced 12 , 200 t , and had a deadweight tonnage of . In common with the first eight ships built by Western Pipe & Steel , " West Avenal " was powered by a single General Electric steam turbine rated at 2 , 500 shaft horsepower , that drove a single screw propeller , and moved the ship at a pace . These General Electric turbines proved unreliable and most of the ships powered by them were either lost or scrapped by the end of the 1920s . Later vessels of the same type built by WPS for the USSB were powered by much more reliable Joshua Hendy triple expansion steam engines , and had considerably longer service lives . Career . USS " West Avenal " ( ID - 3871 ) was commissioned into the Navy on 1 February with Lieutenant Commander Franz Patterson , USNRF , in command . " West Avenal " took on an initial load of flour and departed San Francisco on 17 April for New York . She soon developed a steering gear problem and put in at San Diego for repairs . After getting underway again , she transited the Panama Canal and , cutting short her journey , arrived at Norfolk , Virginia , on 4 April . There she was decommissioned the next day and returned to the USSB . " West Avenal " departed Norfolk on a voyage to Leith , Scotland on 9 April 1919 , but was forced to return to port after suffering an engine breakdown . Following repairs , she made several voyages between the East Coast of the United States and various destinations in South America , Spain , France and England . A few mentions of the ship crop up in contemporary news accounts . In August 1919 , for example , " The New York Times " shows " West Avenal " slated for departure to Buenos Aires , Argentina , on 12 August . The following January , the newspaper reported that " West Avenal " was rammed by the British Leyland Line cargo ship " Lacastrian " . Departing New York in a dense fog on the morning of 9 January 1920 for Antwerp , " Lacastrian " rammed into the port side of " West Avenal " , which was inbound with a load of onions from Valencia , Spain . The damage was severe enough that " West Avenal " s captain ordered her grounded to avoid sinking in New York Harbor . More than two weeks later , " The Washington Post " printed a photograph of " West Avenal " , still grounded off the Red Hook flats . Another report in the " Times " a year later showed her arrival in Saint - Nazaire , France , on 13 August 1920 . In January 1921 , " The Atlanta Constitution " ran a travelogue of a local man who had sailed on " West Avenal " to South America in August 1919 . During his travels , " West Avenal " had departed the US on 27 August and called at Saint Thomas , U . S . Virgin Islands ; Rio de Janeiro ( where the ship arrived on 24 September ) Santos in Brazil ; and Montevideo , Uruguay . Another report in " The New York Times " the following year listed " West Avenal " s arrival in Genoa , Italy , on 19 January 1921 . " West Avenal " underwent further repairs in 1921 , after which she was laid up by the USSB in the Staten Island Reserve Fleet 3 Section 1 . The vessel was delivered at New York to the Union Shipbuilding Company of Baltimore , Maryland for scrapping on 29 August 1929 .