View source for USS Lancaster (ID-2953)

{{short description|Cargo ship of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Lancaster}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2017}}
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|Ship country        = United States
|Ship flag           = {{USN flag|1983}}
|Ship name           = ''Lancaster''
|Ship namesake       = [[Lancaster, Pennsylvania]]
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|Ship builder        = [[Sun Shipbuilding]] Co., [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]
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|Ship laid down      = date unknown
|Ship launched       = 5 May 1918
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|Ship completed      = in 1918
|Ship acquired       = by the [[U.S. Navy]], 19 June 1918
|Ship commissioned   = 19 June 1918 as ''Lancaster'' (ID-2953) at [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]]
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|Ship decommissioned = 4 October 1919
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|Ship fate           = Returned to the [[United States Shipping Board]]; fate unknown
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{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship type                = commercial [[cargo ship]]
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|Ship displacement        = 14,620 tons
|Ship length              = {{cvt|450|ft}}
|Ship beam                = {{cvt|57|ft|6|in}}
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|Ship draft               = {{cvt|28|ft|2|in}}
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|Ship speed               = 10.5 knots
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|Ship complement          = 92 personnel
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|Ship armament            = one 5-inch gun and one [[QF 6-pounder Hotchkiss|6-pounder gun]]
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'''USS ''Lancaster'' (ID-2953)''' was a commercial [[cargo ship]] acquired by the [[U.S. Navy]] during [[World War I]]. She served the war effort by carrying cargo across the [[Atlantic Ocean]], and, at war’s end, bringing home the troops.

==Built at Chester, Pennsylvania==
The second ship to be so named by the Navy, ''Lancaster'', a cargo ship, was launched 5 May 1918 by [[Sun Shipbuilding]] Co., [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]; acquired by the Navy 19 June 1918; and commissioned at [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]], the same day.

== World War I service==
Assigned to the Naval transportation service ([[Naval Overseas Transportation Service|NOTS]]), ''Lancaster'' departed [[New York City]] 13 July with cargo for [[South America]]n ports. Arriving [[Buenos Aires, Argentina]], 10 days later, she discharged her cargo and proceeded to [[Marseilles, France]], where she arrived 28 October. After the [[Armistice]] was signed 11 November, ''Lancaster'' returned to New York City the following month to join the Cruiser Transport Force 17 December.

==Troopship assignment==
''Lancaster'' together with other units of the Cruiser Transport Force was assigned the task of returning [[World War I]] veterans from [[Europe]] to the [[United States]]. The force returned over 85 percent of the veterans during the period from November 1918 to July 1919.

==Post-war dispositioning==
Completing her service, ''Lancaster'' decommissioned 4 October 1919 and was returned to the [[United States Shipping Board]] (USSB) the same day.

==References==
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l3/lancaster-ii.htm}}
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/172953.htm NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive - Lancaster (ID 2953)]
{{Standard WWI ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lancaster}}
[[Category:World War I auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships built by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company]]
[[Category:Standard World War I ships]]
[[Category:Steamships of the United States]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:Cargo ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Unique transports of the United States Navy]]