MS West Honaker

MS West Honaker seen from the air shortly before arrival at Brisbane on 13 December 1940.
History
United States
Name	West Honaker
Owner	USSB
Builder	Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. San Pedro, California
Yard number	28[2]
Completed	December 1920[2]
Identification	Official number: 220842[1]
Fate	Sunk as part of "gooseberry" breakwater off Normandy, 8 June 1944[1]
General characteristics
Type	Design 1013 ship
Tonnage	5,376 GRT[1]
Length	410 ft 1 in (124.99 m) (LPP)[1] 423 ft (129 m)[5]
Beam	54 ft 2 in (16.51 m)[1]
Draft	23 ft 11 in (7.29 m)[5]
Depth	27 ft 2 in (8.28 m)[3]
Propulsion	as built: 1 × triple-expansion steam engine[1] 1926: 1 × 6-cylinder diesel engine, 3,000 hp (2,200 kW)[4]
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h)[1]
Range	as built: 7,300 nautical miles (13,500 km)[3] 1926: 17,600 nautical miles (32,600 km)[3]
Capacity	1926: 8,006 DWT[5] 3,343 net register tons (NRT)[3] 393,000 cu ft (11,100 m3)[3] 14 passengers[3]

MS West Honaker was a diesel-powered cargo ship of the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) that was part of the "Corncob Fleet" of old ships sunk as part of the "gooseberry" breakwater off Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion. The ship was originally built as SS West Honaker, a steam-powered cargo ship built for the United States Shipping Board (USSB), a predecessor of the USMC. At the time of her completion in 1920, the ship was inspected by the United States Navy for possible use as USS West Honaker (ID-4455) but was neither taken into the Navy nor ever commissioned under that name.

West Honaker was built in 1920 for the USSB, as a part of the West boats, a series of steel-hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States for the World War I war effort, and was the 28th ship built at Los Angeles Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company in San Pedro, California. In 1926, West Honaker was outfitted with diesel engines that replaced her original steam engines as part of a pilot program by the USSB. After her conversion, she sailed on a New York – Australia route. On her second trip to Australia, from August 1927 to March 1928, she became the first diesel ship to circumnavigate the globe. In 1929, she began sailing for an around-the-world cargo service from the Pacific coast to South Africa

By the late 1930s, she had been laid up, but was reactivated for merchant service prior to World War II. She sailed to Australia and New Zealand until after the United States' entry into World War II, and in transatlantic service to the United Kingdom for most of the time after that. In March 1944, she sailed from the United States for the final time, and was incorporated into the Corncob Fleet of old ships scuttled in June to make the "gooseberry" breakwater off Utah Beach during the Normandy invasion. This last voyage earned the West Honaker a battle star.