Zirkel ScStr

(ScStr: dp. 12,700; 1. 416'6"; b. 53'; dr. 27'6" (aft);
s. 10 k.; cpl. 62)

Zirkel (Id. No. 3407)—a cargoman built in 1918 at Oakland, Calif., for the United States Shipping Board by the Moore Shipbuilding Co.—was acquired by the Navy on 27 September 1918 for duty with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service and was commissioned that same day at San Francisco, Lt. Comdr. David R. Williams, USNRF, in command.

Zirkel got underway for the Gulf of Mexico with a cargo of nitrates. Steaming via the Panama Canal, she arrived at New Orleans on 30 January 1919 and unloaded her cargo. Following repairs to her turbines, the ship filled her holds with cotton, coffee, and steel and put to sea on 6 February. After a 21-day voyage, Zirkel entered port at Liverpool, England, and began unloading her cargo. She then took on about 800 tons of iron ore and headed back to the United States on 13 March. On the 29th, the freighter arrived in Philadelphia and, after unloading, began preparations for demobilization. On 3 May 1919, she was placed out of commission and was returned to the custody of the United States Shipping Board. The Shipping Board retained her until 1930 at which time her name ceased to appear in merchant vessel registers.