West Cohas, a 6087 gross ton cargo ship, was built at Seattle, Washington, in 1918 as the civilian steamship of the same name. She was taken over by the Navy upon completion in June 1918 and placed in commission as West Cohas (ID # 3253) for service with the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. For her maiden operational voyage, between July and September 1918, West Cohas steamed to Chile where she loaded nitrates and carried them to the U.S. East Coast. During October the ship crossed the Atlantic to France with Army cargo. After the 11 November 1918 Armistice ended World War I's fighting she made two more trips to France. USS West Cohas was decommissioned in May 1919 and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board. She was employed commercially between the early 1930s and 1940, and disappeared from merchant vessel registers in the latter year.