SS Virginian prior to her U.S. Navy service.
History
United States
Name	USS Virginian
Namesake	Previous name retained
Completed	1904
Acquired	Probably late 1917
Commissioned	Probably early 1918
Stricken	12 May 1919
Fate	Returned to owner 12 May 1919
Notes	Served as commercial tug SS Blue Bell[1] or SS Blue Belle[2][3] and SS Virginian 1904-1917 and as SS Virginian from 1919
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Tonnage	179 register tons
Length	90 ft 0 in (27.43 m)
Beam	21 ft 0 in (6.40 m)
Draft	7 ft 9 in (2.36 m) (mean)
Propulsion	Steam engine
Speed	8 knots
Complement	15

USS Virginian was a United States Navy tug in commission from 1918 to 1919.

Virginian was built as the commercial tug Blue Bell^[1] or Blue Belle^[2][3] in 1904 at Camden, New Jersey. She subsequently was renamed SS Virginian. The U.S. Navy acquired her for World War I service from her owner, the Southern Transportation Company, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania probably sometime in late 1917. The Navy apparently commissioned her sometime in early 1918 as USS Virginian.

Virginian served as a tug in the 5th Naval District—probably at Norfolk, Virginia, through the end of World War I and into the early months of 1919.

On 12 May 1919, Virginian was returned to the Southern Transportation Company and her name was stricken from the Navy List.

Unlike most commercial ships commissioned into U.S. Navy service during World War I, Virginian never received a naval registry Identification Number (Id. No.).

Notes

References

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center Online Library of Selected Images: Civilian Ships: Virginian (American Steam Tug, 1904). Previously named Blue Bell. Served as USS Virginian in 1918-1919
• NavSource Online: Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive: Virginian