USS Oskaloosa: Iowa’s Quiet Workhorse of World War I
USS Oskaloosa – Probably photographed soon after completing construction in December 1918. She was in commission from December 1918 to February 1919. (image by U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command.)
OSKALOOSA, Iowa — While the world reeled in the final throes of World War I, a newly-built cargo freighter quietly left the San Francisco docks bearing the name of a Midwestern town far from any ocean: USS Oskaloosa (ID-3800). She served only briefly and never saw combat. But the ship — named after Oskaloosa, Iowa — represented something deeply significant: the logistical lifeblood of a war machine, and the small-town pride carried across oceans by steel and steam.
For a few weeks in early 1919, Oskaloosa was not only a city in Iowa — it was a vessel of national service, sailing under the U.S. Navy flag.
A Name Chosen Carefully
The USS Oskaloosa was one of dozens of vessels commissioned by the U.S. Shipping Board in the final year of the war to meet global transport demands. Built by Western Pipe & Steel Company in San Francisco, she was part of the Emergency Fleet Corporation’s standardized cargo ship effort. Her hull, classified as ID-3800, was laid down late in 1918 and completed in December of that year, just weeks after the armistice was signed on November 11.
Despite the war’s official end, the need for ships had not faded. Europe was in ruin. Supplies, food, and humanitarian aid were desperately needed across the Atlantic. The newly minted freighter — named Oskaloosa in honor of the Iowa town — was selected for immediate naval service.
She was officially commissioned into the Naval Overseas Transportation Service on December 20, 1918, under the command of Lieutenant Commander Matthew C. Johnson, USNRF.
A Voyage of Relief, Not War
Unlike destroyers and battleships that fired salvos or chased submarines, the USS Oskaloosa served in another kind of war: the war against hunger and hardship.
She loaded her first and only naval cargo — a full hold of flour — at Port Costa, California, a key West Coast shipping terminal in the Bay Area. On January 11, 1919, she departed the West Coast, steamed south to the Panama Canal, and emerged in the Atlantic Ocean en route to New York, where she arrived February 5, 1919.
Though she was prepared for transatlantic duty, the need for immediate deployment to Europe was quickly re-evaluated in light of shifting post-war priorities. Her cargo was offloaded in New York, and within weeks, her naval service came to an end.
On February 27, 1919, the USS Oskaloosa was decommissioned and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board, where she entered reserve civilian service. She was eventually scrapped in 1929 — a fate common to many wartime-built cargo vessels that never found lasting peacetime use.
A Rare Glimpse: NH 65110
While most images of WWI freighters have faded into obscurity, one official photo of the USS Oskaloosa survives. Cataloged by the Naval History and Heritage Command as NH 65110, the image shows the ship shortly after construction: a long, broad-decked vessel built for capacity over combat, her bridge and midship mast rising above a steel deck suited for thousands of sacks of grain, coal, or equipment.
The vessel’s modest profile speaks to her purpose — utility over glory, quiet service over headlines.
A Town’s Name at Sea
The USS Oskaloosa is among the only known U.S. Navy vessels named directly after Oskaloosa, Iowa. Unlike many naval ships of her era that bore the names of national heroes or coastal cities, ID-3800 carried the name of a place in the heart of the Midwest — a farming community, built on the prairie, now sailing the oceans as part of a worldwide humanitarian mission.
It’s easy to overlook her. She wasn’t a warship. She didn’t fight in battle. She served for only a few months. But her mission was no less meaningful.
Legacy in Quiet Service
The story of the USS Oskaloosa is a reminder that not all service is done in the spotlight. While destroyers made headlines and admirals gave orders, it was ships like the Oskaloosa that carried the food, fuel, and freight that made war and recovery possible.
She represents a chapter in which the name Oskaloosa became more than a dot on a map — it became a name etched on the hull of a ship, steaming across the world in service to others.
Remembering the Oskaloosa Today
Very little remains of the USS Oskaloosa today, but her existence is confirmed in naval registries, shipping ledgers, and the few surviving photographs archived in the National Archives and the Naval History and Heritage Command.
As of 2025, efforts to document Iowa’s contribution to U.S. maritime history have begun to gain traction. Historians and educators are re-discovering the role played by inland towns like Oskaloosa in a global effort that stretched far beyond the battlefield.
For those who live in Mahaska County today, this ship is part of your story — a ship that sailed with your name, built for relief, in a time when the world needed it most.
Editor’s Note: If you have family records or local stories related to WWI-era service or shipbuilding efforts, Oskaloosa News welcomes your contributions. Together, we preserve our local legacy — afloat and ashore.
