The USS Charles (ID-1298) was originally a passenger vessel named SS Harvard, built in 1907 by the Delaware River Iron Ship Building and Engine Works in Chester, Pennsylvania. She measured 376 feet in length, with a beam of 61 feet and a depth of 20 feet. The ship had a gross tonnage of 3,737 GRT and 2,817 NRT, and was powered by triple screw propellers driven by steam turbines manufactured by W. & A. Fletcher Company, achieving a service speed of approximately 21.5 knots. Designed to carry up to 800 passengers, Harvard was initially launched for the Metropolitan Steamship Company and placed on the New York to Boston route alongside her sister ship Yale. In 1910, Harvard was sold to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company and relocated to California, where she became one of the fastest coastwise steamships, earning the nickname "White Flyers of the Pacific." During World War I, she was requisitioned by the U.S. Navy on 21 March 1918, renamed USS Harvard, and later designated USS Charles (ID-1298). She was outfitted at Mare Island Navy Yard for troop transport, commissioned on 9 April 1918, and purchased outright by the Navy on 28 August 1918. As USS Charles, she departed Mare Island for Virginia, arriving at Hampton Roads on 26 June 1918, then transported troops to Brest, France, arriving on 21 July 1918. She subsequently served as a troop ferry across the English Channel, making about 60 voyages between Southampton and French ports until May 1919. After returning to the United States, she was decommissioned at Philadelphia Navy Yard on 10 June 1920. Post-war, she reverted to her original name, Harvard, and was briefly considered for conversion into a seaplane tender but was instead sold to the Los Angeles Steamship Company in 1920. Modernized with oil-fired boilers and added amenities, Harvard became a high-speed luxury passenger and cargo ferry between Los Angeles and San Francisco, taking about 18 hours for the crossing. In 1931, while carrying around 500 passengers in heavy fog, Harvard struck a reef near Point Arguello, California, and ran aground. Despite the calm evacuation, the ship was beyond salvage; her bow broke off approximately two weeks later, and she was abandoned. Today, Harvard rests in about 25 feet of water, nearly destroyed save for her propeller blades and boilers. Her maritime significance lies in her service as a troop transport during WWI and her role as a pioneering luxury ferry along the California coast.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.