USS J. M. Guffey (ID-1279)

J. M. Guffey, a 2,520 gross ton (5500 tons displacement) freighter converted to a tanker during construction, was built at Camden, New Jersey, in 1902 by the New York Shipbuilding Company. She was the first ship built by that shipyard.

In 1918 the tanker was operating on bareboat charter on behalf of the British Ministry of War Transport, and a request was made that she be manned by the U.S. Navy as her present master did not desire to remain with the ship and the remaining crew members were willing to enroll in the U. S. Naval Reserve Force.

The ship was therefore commissioned at Invergorden, Scotland, on 14 October 1918 as USS J. M. Guffey (ID # 1279). J. M. Guffey operated out of Invergorden replenishing the oil supplies until 24 January 1919 when—after delaying her departure until she received new boiler tubes—she sailed for the United States. She remained in St. Johns, Newfoundland, for 6 weeks before arriving Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 14 April.

The ship had to put into St. Johns, Newfoundland, because her boilers were leaking badly, and she remained there until leaving on 4 April for Philadelphia accompanied by the tug USS Iroquois (later designated AT-46).

After extensive repairs USS J. M. Guffey was decommissioned on 17 June 1919 and delivered to the U.S. Shipping Board for return to her owners, the Gulf Refining Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. S.S. J. M. Guffey was renamed Meloria in 1926 and was scrapped at Venice, Italy, in 1935.

• U.S. Navy
• World War I

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• S.S. J. M. Guffey (American Tanker, 1902) Served as USS J. M. Guffey (ID # 1279) in 1918-1919. Later S.S. Meloria