USS James

USS James (SP-429) — also known as USS W. T. James (SP-429) — was a steam trawler acquired by the United States Navy during World War I. She was converted into an armed minesweeper and assigned to the European Theater, where she performed varied tasks, including minesweeping, patrolling, and escorting of larger ships in convoy. In 1919, while returning to the United States, she was severely damaged in a storm off the French coast, and sank. Her crew were rescued.

A Menhaden fisherman

W. T. James — a "Menhaden fisherman" built in 1912 at Wilmington, Delaware by Harlan and Hollingsworth — operated out of the Virginia waterways over the next five years of her service as a trawler before becoming required for the World War I war effort. She was acquired by the Navy in the spring of 1917 from the Taft Fish Company, of Tappahannock, Virginia; ordered delivered on 1 April; and accepted on 28 May for service as a minesweeper.

Under the terms of General Order #314, issued in late July 1917, her name was officially shortened to James, but her original name, W. T. James, also continued in use, at least informally. The erstwhile fishing craft was commissioned in the 5th Naval District on 10 August 1917.

World War I service

Outfitted as a minesweeper

Later in 1917, James was refitted for minesweeping. Designated SP-429, James was fitted out for "distant service" at the Norfolk Navy Yard and, near the end of August, departed the Tidewater area, bound for Boston, Massachusetts. There, with other sister ships which had made the passage from Hampton Roads, Virginia, James prepared for the voyage to European waters.