SS West Gotomska World War II and Beyond

The SS West Gotomska's history during World War II was marked by its involvement in the war effort.

The ship was built in 1936 and was initially used for passenger and cargo transport.

It was requisitioned by the German Navy in 1940 and converted into a minelayer.

The West Gotomska played a significant role in laying mines in the Baltic Sea.

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SS West Gotomska was commissioned into the Navy on August 7, 1918, as USS West Gotomska (ID-3322) for operation with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service (NOTS). The ship was launched on July 17, 1918, at Seattle, Washington.

West Gotomska's first voyage was to Arica, Chile, where she loaded a cargo of guano bound for New Orleans, Louisiana. The ship made port at New Orleans on October 11, 1918.

She then took aboard a full cargo of Army supplies earmarked for U.S. troops in France. Departing for France on November 10, 1918, West Gotomska arrived at Quiberon Bay on November 25, 1918.

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The ship's specifications included a displacement of 12,225 tons, a length of 423'9", and a beam of 54'0". West Gotomska was a steel-hulled, single-screw freighter built under a United States Shipping Board contract.

Here are some key facts about West Gotomska's U.S. Navy service:

West Gotomska was decommissioned and struck from the Navy List on June 6, 1919.

During World War II, the Irish government took a bold step by establishing its own neutral merchant marine.

In early 1941, the government purchased three secondhand freighters, including Leda and two ships owned by the U.S. Maritime Commission, West Neris and West Gotomska.

The two U.S. ships underwent a thorough recondition for the sale, and were slated for carrying a cargo of wheat gifted to Ireland by the U.S. government after an Irish crop failure.

However, after Leda temporarily went missing on her maiden voyage under the Irish flag, the sale of West Gotomska appears to have been cancelled, as the ship remained under U.S. ownership.

By early 1942, West Gotomska had become part of the North Atlantic convoy system, established to keep open the vital supply lanes between the United States and her wartime allies Britain and the Soviet Union.

West Gotomska sailed from Halifax, Nova Scotia in Convoy SC-75 with a cargo of general goods bound for Liverpool, England, arriving at her destination 3 April.

The next few voyages undertaken by the vessel would be made with the hazardous Russia-bound convoys.

West Gotomska set out from Liverpool on 24 March 1943, bound for New York City with Convoy ON-175, but straggled and was diverted to Iceland instead.

She arrived in Iceland on 31 March, and then joined a slower convoy, ONS-4, on 19 April to complete the crossing.

West Gotomska arrived at Halifax, Nova Scotia on 5 May, and from there made her way to Boston and New York.

On 11 June, she proceeded to Guantanamo, Cuba, arriving on the 18th.

After a brief diversion to Galveston via Key West, Florida, she retraced her route to arrive once more at Guantanamo in August.

West Gotomska was subsequently chartered to Cia Sud Americana of Chile and renamed SS Andalien, marking the end of her time under the SS West Gotomska name.

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