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Unnumbered Ships Photo Archive

USS Artigas

Awards, Citations and Campaign Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
World War I Victory Medal
Acquired Freighter:
  • Built by Bremer Vukan, Vegesack, Germany (YN 538)
  • Completed for Roland Linie AG, Bremen, as freighter Wiegand, July 1911
  • Seized by Uruguayan authorities at Montevideo and interned, 14 September 1917
  • Bareboat chartered to United States Shipping Board, 24 May 1918
  • Acquired by the Navy and commissioned USS Artigas at Montevideo, 18 June 1918
  • Decommissioned at New York and returned to US Shipping Board, 04 January 1919
  • Registered under British flag to Tramp Shipping Development Co., Ltd., London (B149804), 02 April 1927
  • Resold to Elias G. Culucundis and Stephen C. Costomeni, Syra, Greece, renamed Elias G. Culucundis, 1927
  • Resold to Furness Withy and Co., Ltd., London, renamed Tenterden, 1929
  • Resold to Atlanticos Steam Ship Co. and Giorgilis Brothers of Piraeus, Greece and renamed Elias G. Culucundis, 1930
  • Renamed Argentina, 1932
  • Sold to A. Roussos, Syra, Greece, 1933
  • Sold to Lloyd Mediterraneo - La Meridionale di Nav., Genoa, Italy, renamed Valsole, 1935
  • Sold to SA Giuseppe Bozzo Armamenti e Trasporti Marittima, Genoa, renamed Tina Primo, 1936
  • Final disposition, struck a German mine and was damaged in the North Sea off the east coast of Kent, United Kingdom; struck two more mines while under tow and sank, 18 March 1940

    Specifications:
  • Displacement 4,853 gross tons
  • Length 399' 2"
  • Beam 53' 6"
  • Depth of hold 27' 6"
  • Speed 10.5 knots
  • Complement 98
  • Armament one 6"/50 mount
  • Propulsion one vertical triple expansion steam engine, one shaft, 4000hp.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SS Wiegand
    Artigas
    1217996502    		 51k German freighter Wiegand, which was seized by Uruguay in 1917.
    Photo from Shipscribe.com    		 Robert Hurst
    SS Tina Primo
    Artigas
    1217996501    		 46k SS Tina Primo is shown broken into several sections after running on to a German destroyer-laid minefield near the Straits of Dover while en route from Rotterdam, The Netherlands to Genoa, 18 March 1940.
    Photo from Shipscribe.com    		 Robert Hurst
    Commanding Officers
    01LCDR John A. Monroe18 June 1918
    Courtesy Joe Radigan
    View the Artigas
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David Wright
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    Last Updated 07 January 2024