USS Relief

USS Relief may refer to:

See also

USS Relief (ID-2170)

The fourth USS Relief (ID-2170) was a salvage tug that served in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919.

Relief was a steel-hulled wrecking tug built during 1907 by Harlan and Hollingsworth at Wilmington, Delaware.

The U.S. Navy acquired her on 8 August 1918 from the Merritt and Chapman Derrick and Wrecking Company of New York, New York for World War I service. The Navy gave her Id. No. 2170 and commissioned her on 19 August 1918. Relief operated as a salvage and wrecking tug in the New York area while assigned to the 3rd Naval District into 1919. She collided with the patrol vessel USS Williams (SP-498) on 27 September 1918; Williams suffered slight damage.

Relief was sold to her former owner on 14 May 1919, and remained in commercial service between the two world wars. During World War II, Relief, although remaining civilian-owned and -operated, supported the U.S. Navy under the direction of its Bureau of Ships beginning on 14 January 1942. Relief subsequently returned to mercantile service until placed out of service in 1955.

USS Relief (1896)

The USAHS Relief and the second USS Relief was a hospital ship in, respectively, the United States Army and the United States Navy. She was later named USS Repose.

Construction and design

Relief was built for the Maine Steamship Company in 1895–96 by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works of Chester, Pennsylvania as the passenger ship John Englis. A sister ship, Horatio Hall, was also constructed for the company at about the same time. The two vessels were powered by triple expansion steam engines operating at 180 lbs of steam pressure, and were capable of making 16 knots in favorable conditions. Their passenger accommodations, which included dining saloons on the upper deck, were said to be "very fine".

Service history

John Englis was completed in December 1896 and was placed on the New York–Maine route, in which she is said to have been well patronized. In 1898 however, the Spanish–American War broke out, and John Englis was purchased by the United States Army for use as a hospital ship. Renamed Relief the ship was found to have insufficient coal capacity for safe trans Pacific navigation and was confined to Philippine waters based in Manila where as of 1 January 1900 she was reported to be a "floating hospital" with 107 sick and wounded after a trip to outlying areas.