USS Hector (AC-7)

Off the Cavite Navy Yard, Philippine Islands, circa March 1915, with submarines A-3, A-5 and B-1 on deck, after transporting them out from the United States. - B-1 is on Hector's starboard side. The two A-boats are in the center and port side cradles.
History
United States
Name	USS Hector
Namesake	Hector
Builder	Maryland Steel Company, Sparrows Point, Maryland
Launched	3 July 1909
Commissioned	22 October 1909
Stricken	1916 (est.)
Homeport	Norfolk, Virginia
Fate	Wrecked off the Atlantic coast, 14 July 1916 Sank three days later
General characteristics
Type	Collier
Displacement	11,230 long tons (11,410 t)
Length	403 ft (123 m)
Beam	53 ft (16 m)
Draft	24 ft 8 in (7.52 m)
Propulsion	Steam engine
Speed	12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph)
Complement	82 officers and enlisted

USS Hector (AC-7) was a collier acquired by the United States Navy prior to World War I. She carried coal to those ships still using it as fuel to build up steam for their engines, and continued that service until her wrecking and sinking in 1916. She was the sister ship of USS Mars.

Construction and career[]

Hector — the second ship to be so named by the U.S. Navy — was launched on 3 July 1909 by the Maryland Steel Company, Sparrows Point, Maryland and commissioned on 22 October 1909.

She was on special service with the Atlantic Fleet from commissioning through 1913, when she was stationed at Norfolk, Virginia. From there, Hector served as a fuel ship, ferrying freight and fuel up the U.S. East Coast and down to the Caribbean, especially Guantánamo Bay and Santo Domingo.

Sinking of Hector[]

After part of the ship, photographed from her forward part, some time after she was wrecked off the U.S. Atlantic Coast on 14 July 1916.

Hector was battered by winds of 100–120 mph (160–190 km/h) for 16 hours during the Charleston Hurricane of 1916 while at sea in the Atlantic Ocean off South Carolina. She was disabled when hatches gave way and her boiler room flooded. The ship was wrecked on a reef off on 14 July 1916, breaking in two and sank three days later.^[1][2]

References[]

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

External links[]

• USS Hector (Collier # 7), 1909-1916