 The ship as USAT Otsego, August 1943
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Namesake | 1901: Prince Eitel Friedrich of Prussia |
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry |
|
| Builder | Reiherstieg S&M, Hamburg |
| Yard number | 408 |
| Launched | 21 December 1901 |
| Completed | 19 April 1902 |
| Commissioned | into US Navy: 10 March 1919 |
| Decommissioned | from US Navy: 28 August 1919 |
| Out of service | 1914–17; 1919–20; 1921–23 |
| Refit | 1919, 1920, 1924, 1942 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | either hulked or scrapped in 1955 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Prinz-class cargo liner |
| Tonnage | 4,650 GRT, 2,921 NRT |
| Displacement | 8,755 long tons (8,895 t) |
| Length | 371.0 ft (113.1 m) |
| Beam | 45.3 ft (13.8 m) |
| Draft | 25 ft 4 in (7.72 m) |
| Depth | 26.8 ft (8.2 m) |
| Depth of hold | 26 ft 8 in (8.13 m) |
| Decks | 2 |
| Installed power | 2,400 ihp (1,790 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Range | 11,000 nautical miles (20,000 km) |
| Capacity |
|
| Troops |
|
| Complement | 1919: 28 officers; 168 enlisted |
| Crew |
|
| Sensors and processing systems | by 1910: submarine signalling |
SS Otsego was a cargo liner that was launched in Germany in 1901 as Prinz Eitel Friedrich. The USA seized her in 1917 and renamed her Otsego. In 1919 she served in the United States Navy as USS Otsego (ID-1628). She spent the 1920s and 30s in merchant service as Otsego. In 1941 she became the United States Army ship USAT Otsego. In 1945 she was transferred to the Soviet Union, which renamed her Ural. In 1947 she may have been renamed Dolinsk. She was either hulked or scrapped in 1955.
For HAPAG Prinz Eitel Friedrich ran scheduled services between Hamburg and the east coast of South America until 1906, and then Atlas Caribbean cruises until 1914. She rescued US citizens from the 1907 Kingston earthquake in Jamaica. She was laid up in New York from the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 until the US seized German ships in its ports in 1917.
In 1917 the United States Shipping Board (USSB) assumed ownership of the ship and renamed her Otsego. She was in transatlantic war service as a merchant ship for the remainder of the war, and then in US Navy service as a troopship in 1919. She was converted to a pure cargo ship in 1920, but then laid up until 1923.
In 1924 Libby, McNeill & Libby bought her and had her refitted to carry passengers again. She carried supplies, canned salmon, and Libby's personnel, mostly between Seattle and Alaska, until 1941.
At the end of 1941 the War Shipping Administration chartered her for the US Army, who had her converted into a troopship. She carried troops and materiél between Seattle and Alaska until shortly before the end of the Second World War.
At the beginning of 1945 she was transferred under Lend-Lease to the USSR, which renamed her Ural. She operated in the Russian Far East. In 1947 she may have been renamed Dolinsk. She was either hulked or scrapped in or near Vladivostok in 1955.