WW1 USS South ID # 4019 Bend Troop Billet Card

Description

For sale is a rare world war 1 troop billet card given to a us service member coming home from Europe. These are very hard to come by since the USS South Bend was only in service for 1919.
S.S.
South Bend
, an 8738 gross ton (18,680 tons displacement) freighter, was built at Chester, Pennsylvania, for the Luckenbach Steamship Company of New York. Completed in early 1919, she was taken over by the Navy, converted to a troop transport, and placed in commission in March 1919 as USS
South Bend
(ID # 4019). Between May and August of that year she was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force and brought nearly 5000 troops home from Europe. Decommissioned in early September, she was turned over to the U.S. Army and later returned to her owners. The ship had a long commercial career with the Luckenbach firm, some of it under the name
J.L. Luckenbach
. Sold to Panamanian interests in 1948, she was subsequently renamed
San Francisco
.