USS Pensacola (AK-7)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Pensacola.

USS Pensacola (AK-7/AG-13) was a cargo ship in the United States Navy.

At the Charleston, South Carolina, Navy Yard on 3 October 1917, five days before her commissioning. Formerly the German Nicaria, seized by the United States in April 1917, Pensacola was designated AK-7 in 1920.
History
German Empire
Name	Nicaria
Namesake	The moth genus Nicaria
Builder	Neptun Werft, Rostock, Germany
Launched	18 August 1901
Fate	Seized by the US government, 8 May 1917, at Southport, North Carolina
USS Pensacola (ID 2078) moored pierside at Philadelphia Navy Yard, 28 June 1918.
United States
Name	Pensacola
Namesake	Pensacola, Florida
Acquired	9 June 1917
Commissioned	8 October 1917, as USS Pensacola (SP-2078)
Decommissioned	14 March 1925
Reclassified	17 July 1920, as USS Pensacola (AK-7) 26 June 1922, as USS Pensacola (AG-13)
Stricken	14 March 1925
Identification	Hull symbol:SP-2078 Hull symbol:AK-7 Hull symbol:AK-13
Fate	Sold, 5 August 1925, to M. M. Davidson of Stockton, California
General characteristics
Displacement	9,821 long tons (9,979 t) normal
Length	353 ft 11 in (107.87 m)
Beam	51 ft (16 m)
Draft	21 ft 6 in (6.55 m)
Propulsion	steam
Speed	9.5 knots (17.6 km/h; 10.9 mph)
Complement	144 officers and enlisted
Armament	1 × 4 in (100 mm) gun 1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun

Pensacola was originally the German screw steamer Nicaria, launched in Rostock, Germany on 18 August 1901. She was seized by the U.S. government at Southport, North Carolina, on 8 May 1917. She was transferred to the United States Navy on 9 June 1917, and commissioned on 8 October 1917.

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transport Service in January 1918, Pensacola carried supplies from the United States to French and British ports. Returning from Brest to Philadelphia on 2 December 1918, she steamed to New York and sailed for Turkey on 25 January 1919 with a cargo for the Syrian-Armenian Relief, arriving at Constantinople on 12 March. Following her return to the United States on 15 April, Pensacola carried passengers and cargo to bases in the Caribbean. Returning to Norfolk on 9 June 1919, she was reassigned to the Navy Trans-Pacific transport service.

She operated in the Pacific until becoming a station ship at Guam 15 March 1922. Classified AK-7 (Cargo Ship) on 17 July 1920, Pensacola was reclassified AG-13 (Miscellaneous Auxiliary) on 26 June 1922.

She decommissioned at Mare Island, California on 14 March 1925, was struck from the Navy Register the same day, and was sold to M. Davidson of Stockton, California, on 5 August 1925.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links

• NavSource Online: SP-2078 / AK-7 / AG-13 Pensacola