(No. 3160: dp. 10,562 (n.); l. 392'6"; b. 52'; dr. 23'8"; s. 10 k.; cpl. 86; a. 1 5", 1 3")

Ice King was launched as War Unit 22 December 1917 by Standard Shipbuilding Co., New York City, under Shipping Board contract with Cunard Steamship Co.; acquired by Navy 2 July 1918 and commissioned next day at Brooklyn, Lt. Comdr. N. Fogarty in command. She carried the name Passaic in 1918 but was renamed Ice King shortly before commissioning.

Assigned to NOTS on Army account, Ice King, a refrigerator ship, transported vital supplies and foodstuffs to Allied troops in Europe. Departing Halifax 19 July, she sailed in convoy through the dangerous North Atlantic; and, while en route from Brest to Quiberon Bay 3 August, maneuvered clear of two torpedoes from a German U-boat. She continued to ply the Atlantic, making five more voyages to France before decommissioning 26 May 1919. Ice King was returned to the Shipping Board for service until laid up in 1923. The ship subsequently entered merchant service as Georgian and later as Hilton, for A. H. Bull Lines, until scrapped in 1950.

Transcribed by Yves HUBERT (hubertypc@aol.com)