WW1 FRAMED PORTRAIT OF USN SAILOR USS BRIDGEPORT

Gilded frame portrait measuring 11 1/4 X 13 3/4 inches with a colorized portrait of a seated sailor holding his cap with the USS Bridgeport easily seen on the ships tally. Excellent World War I "Upon the entrance of the United States into World War I, customs officials seized Breslau, but not before her German crew had wrought considerable damage to her machinery. She was assigned Identification Number (Id. No.) 3009, renamed Bridgeport on 9 June 1917, and commissioned on 25 August 1917 with Lt. Comdr. Albert B. Randall, USNRF, in command." Originally intended to be a repair ship, Bridgeport was reclassified as a destroyer tender (AD-10) on 1 March 1918 while under repair in the Boston Navy Yard between 13 September 1917 and 9 March 1918. "During this time, eight 5-inch guns and two machine guns replaced her original battery of four 3-inch (76 mm) guns." On 15 April, Bridgeport departed New York for the Azores in company with thirty 110-foot (34 m) submarine chasers that formed the convoy; four U.S. Navy and two French tugs were included to provide towing assistance if needed, while Salem and the armed yacht Wadena provided an escort; Bridgeport and the replenishment oiler Arethusa were included to provide support. "The British submarine HMS H-14 rounded out the group and gave it a truly Allied character." "Not long out of port, however, a collision reduced the numbers by two when H-14 collided with Arethusa, necessitating the former's return to Bermuda at the end of a towline astern of tug Conestoga on 18 April. That same day, Bridgeport coaled tug Montcalm while underway; on 19 April, she towed the ailing Bagaduce, and, as necessary, the submarine chaser SC-255 on 24 April and SC-142 on the day following, proving her versatility." Reaching Ponta Delgada on the afternoon of 27 April, Bridgeport spent the remainder of April and the first two weeks of May in the Azores. Her log reflects the multi-faceted work of a ship of her type, one that was becoming increasingly important as the U.S. Navy expanded to meet the challenge imposed by a World War. Reflecting the true allied nature of her calling, Bridgeport sent repair parties to several ships three days after her arrival, 30 April, ranging from the American armed yacht Wadena and submarine chaser SC-277 to the Italian steamship Virginia and the French tug Rene. She fitted out her no. 2 motor launch to patrol the anchorage on 11 May, arming it with a machine gun and a depth charge, and two days later issued 100 depth charges to Marietta. Underway on the morning of 14 May on the first leg of her homeward voyage, Bridgeport paused briefly at Grassy Bay from 21 to 26 May, and after picking up tug Conestoga and minesweeper Lykens on 26 May, ultimately reached New London on 29 May. Early in June, Bridgeport made a round-trip voyage to Hampton Roads, Virginia, arriving back at New London on 23 June. She took on cargo and got underway on 28 June in a convoy of 18 subchasers and other vessels, bound for Europe by way of Bermuda and the Azores. Throughout the crossing, Bridgeport provided medical assistance and repair work as required. At 05:13 on 5 August, Bridgeport's lookouts spotted Ushant Light. At 06:40, SC-48 sighted a torpedo and sounded a warning. Two minutes later, men on board the tender saw the torpedo wake on Bridgeport's port quarter. Orders came down for full left rudder and full speed ahead. Bridgeport swung barely out of harm's way as men on her stern observed the torpedo disappear on the port side and reappear to starboard. It passed five feet astern, barely clearing the rudder. The starboard battery fired one shot in the direction of the torpedo—which broached on the starboard quarter—while the port guns fired in the direction from which the torpedo had come. Meanwhile, two destroyers, with a number of subchasers, hurried toward the spot where the torpedo wake had apparently begun and dropped depth charges. Bridgeport ceased fire and resumed her place in the formation. Through all this activity, no one actually saw the submarine that had fired the torpedo. Bridgeport's lookouts later spied what looked like a submarine periscope some 2,000 yards (1,800 m) distant on the starboard bow. Putting on full right rudder, the ship commenced firing with her starboard battery while four subchasers hurried to the spot. She fired 22 rounds, but apparently to no avail. Bridgeport and her consorts reached Brest shortly afterward. Designated the "parent ship" for destroyers based there, Bridgeport remained at Brest through the armistice and into the autumn of 1919. Bridgeport was the third such ship sent to French waters, and her arrival in August 1918 freed Panther to attend to urgent repair work in the Gironde River. Bridgeport and Prometheus not only maintained the various types of patrol craft operating with the patrol force but also supported troop transports and cargo vessels arriving in France.