USS West Zula

Assigned the naval registry identification number 3501, she was commissioned that day as USS West Zula (ID-3501) at San Pedro, California.

Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, West Zula conducted sea trials and then departed for Chile.

She loaded a cargo of guano at Arica, Chile, got underway on 22 November 1918, and proceeded via the Panama Canal toward New York City.

After passing through the canal, however, she was re-routed to Jacksonville, Florida, where she unloaded her cargo of nitrates before steaming on to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for repairs which lasted until the end of January 1919.

Shifting to New York City on 31 January 1919, West Zula underwent further repairs there before she was decommissioned on 24 February 1919.

SS West Zula in port ca. September 1918, probably at the time of her completion by the Los Angeles Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company of San Pedro, Los Angeles , and prior to her acquisition by the United States Navy for service as USS West Zula (ID-3501). She is painted in dazzle camouflage .