USS Pequot (ID-2998) was a cargo steamship that was built in 1910 for DDG Hansa of Germany as Ockenfels.

The United States Shipping Board (USSB) tried to sell Pequot in 1920, but the buyer went into receivership.

DDG Hansa, her original owner, almost immediately chartered her, and then bought her back.

[8] In August 1913 Ockenfels' cargo included a collection of camels, donkeys, horses, and an elephant, all of which ran wild during a storm.

[9] In February 1914 Ockenfels brought a cargo of iron ore from Narvik in Norway to Philadelphia.

Off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland she encountered snow, ice, and intense cold.

Her crew of 58 lascars were reported to have deserted their posts, taken refuge in her engine room, and refused to emerge for four days.

In order to save on port dues, the Central Powers ships moved to anchorages after discharging their cargo.

[13] The US Navy positioned the cruiser USS Brooklyn to keep all of the anchored ships under constant surveillance.

[14] In 1915, events such as the Thrasher incident at the end of March and the Sinking of RMS Lusitania early in May increased tension between the US and Germany.

At the end of May, US armed forces were ordered to fire upon any German or Austro-Hungarian ship that tried to leave a US port, and to sink her if she did not heave to.

[17] On 6 April 1917 the USA declared war on Germany, and seized German ships in US ports.

An hour and a half after war was declared, Edmund Billings, Collector of the Port of Boston, used a force of 250 men from Boston Navy Yard, the United States Customs Service, and local police to take over the German ships in his port.

"Aboard the Ockenfels, the gear leading to the propellers [sic], had been ripped up and every bit of machinery put out of commission".

[24] On 30 June President Woodrow Wilson issued an executive order authorising the USSB to take possession and title of 87 German ships, including Ockenfels.

On 24 June she left New York for France,[28] but early in July she ran aground at Prospect, Nova Scotia, southwest of Halifax.

[31] She served in the Naval Overseas Transport Service on both the United States Army and USSB accounts.

[34] In 1923 the California Steamship Company bought Pequot, registered her in Panama,[35] and almost immediately chartered her to DDG Hansa.