SS Kroonland

SS "Kroonland was an ocean liner for International Mercantile Marine (IMM) from her launch in 1902 until she was scrapped in 1927. "Kroonland" was the sister ship of and a near sister ship of and of the same company. "Kroonland" sailed for IMM's Red Star Line for 15 years, and also sailed for IMM's American Line and Panama Pacific Line. During World War I, the ship served as United States Army transport USAT "Kroonland through April 1918, and as the Navy auxiliary USS "Kroonland" (ID-1541) from April 1918 to October 1919.
Announced by the Red Star Line in 1899, "Kroonland" was completed in 1902 by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia. When launched, she was the largest U.S. steamship ever built. "Kroonland" sailed from New York City to Antwerp on her maiden voyage in June 1902, beginning service on the route she would sail for the next twelve years. According to "The New York Times", "Kroonland" became the first ship to issue a wireless distress call at sea when she radioed for help during a storm in 1903. In another radio first, "Kroonland" heard the "first real broadcast of history" in December 1906. "Kroonland" was one of ten ships that came to the aid of the burning liner in the mid-Atlantic in October 1913. Despite stormy seas, "Kroonland" was able to take aboard 89 survivors, for which captain and crew received accolades that included U.S. Congressional Gold Medals.
When the outbreak of World War I in August 1914 disrupted service to Belgium, "Kroonland" shifted to alternate routes. On a trip to the Mediterranean in October 1914, "Kroonland" was detained by British authorities at Gibraltar, and part of her cargo was confiscated amidst diplomatic wrangling between the then-neutral United States and the United Kingdom. During a chartered circumnavigation of South America in February 1915, "Kroonland" became the largest passenger ship to date to transit the Panama Canal. "Kroonland" was placed in New York – Panama Canal – San Francisco service until a landslide temporarily closed the canal to navigation. Returned to transatlantic service, "Kroonland" was one of the first U.S. ships armed by the Navy for defense against German submarine attacks. In May 1917 "Kroonland" was struck by a torpedo, which failed to detonate and only slightly damaged the ship.
After the United States entered World War I, "Kroonland" served as a troopship for the U.S. Army and Navy. She made six trips carrying troops to France before the Armistice and eight voyages after, transporting nearly 38,000 troops in total. Returned to IMM in late 1919, "Kroonland" was scorched in a shipyard fire in January 1920 while she was being refitted for passenger service. The liner resumed North Atlantic service in April, remaining there until returning to New York – San Francisco service in 1923. "Kroonland" inaugurated IMM's winter New York – Miami service from December 1925 to March 1926, but was laid up in Hoboken, New Jersey, when IMM did not resume the Miami service the following year. The ship was sold and scrapped at Genoa in 1927.
Design and construction.
In July 1899, the Red Star Line announced plans for the construction of four large ocean liners. Two ships, "Kroonland" and , were to be built at William Cramp & Sons in Philadelphia, and the others, and , at John Brown & Company of Clydebank in Scotland. By April 1901, the two Scottish-built ships were completed and in service for Red Star, with the construction of the American pair well underway.
"Kroonland" and the virtually identical "Finland", at each, were slightly larger than "Vaderland" and "Zeeland". The American pair were the largest steamships built in the United States at the time of their launch, and were the highest tonnage civilian ships ever built by William Cramp. "Kroonland" was long (pp) and abeam, with a molded depth of . Her hull was steel and nearly all the rivets were set with pneumatic rivet guns.
"Kroonland" was propelled at up to by twin triple-expansion steam engines. The engines were each rated at and had cylinders of , , and with a stroke. There were nine single-ended coal-fired Scotch boilers with a heating area of , a grate area of , and an operating pressure of . "Kroonland" had eleven watertight compartments with reinforced bulkheads, and was designed to remain afloat with up to two compartments flooded. "Kroonland"s coal bunkers surrounded the boilers, to offer limited protection in case the ship was used in wartime.
The area below the main deck could carry up to of freight and stores. "Kroonland"s water tanks could carry of fresh water. Refrigerated storage was provided for meats and other perishables.
Third-class passenger accommodations were located on the main deck: three compartments for men located forward, and a single compartment for families at the rear. The family compartment had state rooms containing either two, four, or six bunks. All compartments had well-lighted dining areas and wide hallways that led to lavatories and sanitary facilities on the upper deck.
The upper deck housed facilities for officers and first- and second-class passengers. A long forecastle contained the accommodations for the crew and petty officers, as well as a hospital and the third-class lavatories. First-class staterooms for 106 passengers were located close to the middle of the ship. To their rear, between the funnels, was the first-class passenger dining room, spanning the width of the ship. With seating for 208, it featured mahogany furniture and satinwood paneling with inlays, and a glass skylight ceiling that extended up through two decks. Beyond this area were the galleys, sculleries, and pantries that served all passenger classes. Moving further aft, the second-class passenger dining room, which could accommodate 120 diners, was next. It, too, spanned the width of the ship and featured mahogany furniture, but was paneled with tapestry upon a cream-colored ground. Beyond the dining area were cabins for 76 second-class passengers.
A bridge deck amidships contained state rooms for another 204 first-class and 120 second-class passengers. In the rear was a deck house that contained a social room for third-class passengers. A promenade deck was located above and was permanently enclosed by a boat deck, where "Kroonland"s 20 steel lifeboats were stowed. The promenade deck housed the library and smoking room for first-class passengers.
"Kroonland" was launched on the afternoon of 20 February 1902 in a small, informal ceremony. Mrs. Rodman Griscom christened the ship, but "Kroonland" did not budge on the launching way; cold weather had frozen the tallow used to grease the timbers. Hydraulic jacks eventually freed the ship for her plunge into the Delaware River.
Red Star Line service, 1902–1914.
"Kroonland" sailed on her maiden voyage from New York to Antwerp on 28 June 1902. "Kroonland" remained on New York – Antwerp service for the next twelve years. In these early years of service, she was involved in two radio firsts. After the steering gear failed west of Fastnet Rock during a moderate gale in early December 1903, the ship's crew was able to communicate their predicament via Marconi wireless system, becoming, according to one contemporary news account, the first ship in distress ever to use wireless. "Kroonland" put in at Queenstown, Ireland, for repairs, and transferred her passengers and freight to ships of the White Star Line, another IMM subsidiary. The other radio first came on 24 December 1906, when the ship's wireless operator heard—rather than the expected dots and dashes of morse code—the voice of a woman singing. The singing was followed by a recording of Handel's "Largo", a poetry reading, and more music played from phonographs. The steamer was on the receiving end of what journalist and author Robert St. John called the "first real broadcast of history", originated by early radio pioneer Reginald Fessenden from Brant Rock in Massachusetts.
During her time on the New York – Antwerp route, "Kroonland" was frequently battered by the storms that were typical in the North Atlantic. In November 1904, a Brussels news agency reported a rumor that the ship had foundered in a mid-ocean storm. The report—proved false when "Kroonland" safely docked in New York—received wide coverage in the American press. While in a heavy December gale, the ship was struck by what contemporary news accounts referred to as a "tidal wave" as high as the tops of her funnels. The wave crashed over the deck, and brought the ship to a standstill. A Belgian passenger's leg was broken when he was thrown into a wall, and a crewman on watch in the crow's nest was sent tumbling to the deck below with only minor injuries.
In another December gale in 1907, one of the two propeller shafts on "Kroonland" broke while the liner was off the Isles of Scilly. Using the lone remaining propeller, the liner was able to make her way back to Southampton, where two tugs brought her into port. Passengers were transferred to to continue their transit to New York, while "Kroonland" entered drydock at Southampton. Fitted with a new shaft, she sailed—without passengers and cargo—for New York, where she arrived on 2 January 1908. In February 1910, severe winter storms on the North Atlantic extended one of "Kroonland"s westbound trips, delaying her arrival in New York by three days. In May, "Kroonland" broke another propeller shaft, and again headed to Southampton for repairs.
Not all of the ship's mishaps were storm-related. In late April 1911, "Kroonland" hit the breakwater in Dover Harbour, disabling the steering gear and delaying the ship by a day. On 8 January 1913, "Kroonland" ran aground in Ambrose Channel during a heavy fog while outbound from New York. It took more than six hours for tugs to free the liner from the soft mud.
The Red Star Line changed "Kroonland" from American to Belgian registry on 6 November 1908 in Antwerp. One reason given for the change was to allow Red Star to hire non-American crews at lower cost. She made her maiden voyage under the Belgian flag the next day. In May 1911, "Kroonland"s crew, acting on rumors of an impending British mariner's strike, refused to sign on for the ship's next voyage, forcing Red Star to hire a replacement crew.
International Mercantile Marine submitted a bid for a ten-year contract for "Kroonland" and "Finland" to carry U.S. mail between New York and San Francisco after the opening of the Panama Canal. By law, only U.S.-flagged ships could carry U.S. mail under contract. It was also anticipated that U.S.-flagged vessels would receive preferential treatment for canal tolls. In a short ceremony aboard the liner in New York Harbor on 27 December 1911, the Belgian flag was lowered and the American flag was raised to the playing of "The Star-Spangled Banner" by the steamer's band, shortly before she sailed for Antwerp.
"Volturno" rescue.
At about 06:00 on 9 October 1913, , a Royal Line ship under charter to the Uranium Line, caught fire in a gale on the North Atlantic. The crew fought the fire for about two hours, but, realizing the severity of the fire and the limited options for dousing it in the high seas, Captain Francis Inch of "Volturno" had his wireless operator send out SOS signals. The westbound "Kroonland", already beyond "Volturno"s location, turned east to aid the burning liner. In the meantime, several of "Volturno"s lifeboats with women and children aboard were launched with tragic results: all those aboard the lifeboats were killed as the boats capsized or were smashed by the hull of the heaving ship.
In all, ten ships heeded the distress calls, arriving throughout the day and into the next. "Kroonland" arrived at about 17:00, and by 20:00 had launched a lifeboat with a volunteer crew. The boat was unable to get close to the burning liner. "Kroonland"s lifeboat returned at 22:30 with an exhausted crew and the one person who had dared to brave the jump into the stormy water. Captain J. C. Barr of , the first ship to arrive, took command of the rescue effort. Barr had the vessels form a "battle line" of sorts and slowly circle the burning ship, while his ship kept a searchlight on "Volturno" and another sweeping the ring of rescue ships to help them avoid collisions. Despite "Carmania"s efforts, "Kroonland" and the French Line steamer almost collided, coming—according to one passenger—within of impact.
"Kroonland"s lifeboat, manned by a fresh crew, headed back out and returned with 13 steerage passengers. On board "Volturno", the crew and some of the male passengers, unable to extinguish the fire, were at least able to keep it from spreading to the aft cargo holds, over which the others on board were gathered. Shortly before dawn, a large explosion—probably of her boilers—rocked "Volturno", and the rescuers felt that the ship, which had not been in imminent danger of sinking up to this point, might founder at any time. The tanker "Narragansett" turned on her pumps and sprayed lubricating oil on the sea to help calm the surface. The combined effect of the oil and the lessening of the storm allowed many more lifeboats to be sent to "Volturno"s aid. "Kroonland" launched two more boats herself and saved 75 more, including Captain Inch, the last person to leave the stricken ship. In all, some 520 passengers and crew were rescued by the ten ships—89 on "Kroonland" alone. The loss of life was limited to around 130, mostly women and children from the early lifeboat launchings.
With all boats recovered by 09:00, the liners resumed their original courses. "Kroonland" turned west and continued on to the United States, hampered by a cracked crankshaft that slowed her to . During her slow passage to New York, "Kroonland"s cabin passengers drafted a resolution honoring Captain Kreibohm and the crew for their actions during the rescue, and raised $700 for the benefit of the "Volturno" survivors. "Kroonland" finally docked in New York on 16 October.
The crew, like those of the other nine ships involved, received many accolades for its rescue efforts. After sending the ship a congratulatory telegram at the time of the rescue, King Albert of Belgium made Capt. Kreibohm a Chevalier (Knight) of the Order of the Crown in January 1914. At the same time, the Belgian government awarded its Third Class Civic Cross to "Kroonland"s third officer, and First Class Civic Medals to six crewmen and a steward. In March, King George V of the United Kingdom, on recommendation of the Board of Trade, awarded 39 of the ship's crew the Silver Sea Gallantry Medal, along with a £3 award. Crewmen from all ten ships received Sea Gallantry Medals, but no other ship had more medals awarded than "Kroonland". Later in March, the United States Congress honored Kreibohm with a gold watch, "Kroonland"s officers—including Kreibohm—with Congressional Gold Medals, and other crewmen with five silver and 25 bronze medals. In April, the Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York awarded its Life Saving Medal to Kreibohm, four officers, and 35 crewmen. In June 1916, Kreibohm was presented with the American Cross of Honor by Congressman Henry Bruckner.
"Kroonland" resumed her normal New York – Antwerp service until 11 August 1914, when she arrived at New York with passengers that had narrowly escaped the hostilities beginning to engulf the European continent.
Notable passengers.
During her pre-war New York – Antwerp sailings, "Kroonland" carried some notable and interesting passengers. On 1 August 1904, one of the ship's passengers arrived in New York as somewhat of a mystery woman. She recounted that she had gone out for dinner in Antwerp and awakened to find herself at sea with only the white silk evening gown she was wearing. Having no money or luggage, she was barred from entering the United States and was compelled to remain on board the ship. After her predicament was reported in "The New York Times", she received letters and telegrams that included marriage proposals. Her background story and a letter of credit eventually verified her identity, but she was deported after a New York doctor pronounced her insane. Later the same month "The New York Times" reported on first-class passengers' complaints over privileges for their dogs and the conditions in the kennel aboard the liner. One passenger was determined to have her dog in her state room, and after others joined her in removing canine companions from the kennel, "Kroonland"s crew took all the dogs back to the kennel. Many of the dog owners refused to speak to the others involved for the duration of the voyage.
On 27 May 1905, American author Molly Elliot Seawell sailed for Europe on "Kroonland" on a day when six liners, with over 1,500 passengers, departed New York. In October, Helen Taft returned from Europe on "Kroonland" and was met by her husband, Secretary of War William Howard Taft. The next August, Henry Yates Satterlee, the first Episcopal Bishop of Washington, returned on "Kroonland" from a six-week tour of cathedrals of Europe, during which he noted both good and bad design elements of cathedrals in preparation for the building of the Washington National Cathedral. Also returning on the same voyage were Admiral Charles Sperry and Lieutenant Daniel W. Wurtsbaugh of the U.S. Navy, and Brigadier General Robert O'Reilly, the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army; all were American delegates to the Second Geneva Convention. It was not the first trip on "Kroonland" for either Satterlee and O'Reilly. Satterlee had traveled on the liner the previous May to visit the spa town of Bad Nauheim in Hesse; O'Reilly had been on the November 1904 trip in which "Kroonland" had been reported as sunk.
"Kroonland" was the scene of an attempted murder-suicide in October 1908. Two acquaintances in steerage had an argument over a young female second-class passenger that both men knew. One man threw a knife at the other—only slightly wounding him—and then fled and jumped over the railing into the English Channel near Dover. U.S. Senator Benjamin Tillman and his wife were aboard the liner at the time and saw the young man jump overboard. Although the ship lowered a boat to look for him, no trace of him was found, and he was presumed drowned.
American actresses Kitty Cheatham and Isabel Irving—each married to a different man named "W. H. Thompson"—traveled on "Kroonland" in May 1910. Alerted to each other's presence when mail addressed to "Mrs. W. H. Thompson" was confused, the actresses—old friends, having both worked in the theatre company of Augustin Daly—shared a state room for the voyage. Later that month, the ship was the official "World Missionary Conference Steamship" for delegates and representatives on their way to the World Missionary Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland. Honda Yoitsu, said to be the only Japanese Methodist Episcopal bishop, was among those on the liner when she sailed on 31 May. News accounts reported on some of the unusual activities aboard "Kroonland" during this trip. Among them were morning devotional services held daily in the ship's dining room, and the spontaneous singing of hymns on deck every evening.
"Kroonland" was tangentially involved in a more sinister affair in July 1910. American physician Hawley Crippen and his lover, Ethel La Neve, had fled England after the circumstances around his wife's death were questioned. After a body was found in the basement of Crippen's North London residence, Scotland Yard Chief Inspector Walter Dew sought the couple for murder charges. One theory had the couple sailing from Dover on "Kroonland", but when inspected in New York on arrival, Crippen and Le Neve were not to be found. The fleeing couple had instead sailed from Antwerp on the Canadian Pacific liner . Crippen, identified during "Montrose"s crossing, was arrested, convicted of his wife's murder, and hanged; La Neve was acquitted.
The American novelist Theodore Dreiser, returning from an extended European tour in April 1912, briefly considered returning on , but instead sailed two days later on the American-flagged—and less expensive—"Kroonland". Dreiser recounted the gloomy mood of "Kroonland"s passengers after hearing the news of "Titanic"s sinking, observing that the "terror of the sea had come swiftly and directly home to all". On "Kroonland"s next return trip to New York, Horst von der Goltz, a self-described German secret agent, eluded German authorities by working as a steward in steerage aboard the liner.
American Line service, 1914–1915.
With the German invasion of Belgium in early August 1914, "Kroonland" was switched to New York – Liverpool service. After two circuits on that route, IMM announced that the ship would be moved to service in the Mediterranean to attract business to offset that lost because of the war. Sailing from New York on 15 October for Gibraltar, Naples, and Piraeus, "Kroonland" became what IMM called the first large, American-flagged steamer "to engage in trade with the far corners of the Mediterranean". Along with passengers, the ship carried a cargo of rubber and of copper destined for Italy.
On 28 October, British authorities detained the ship at Gibraltar. Because neutral Italy did not restrict the shipment of copper (which could be used in war munitions) to Germany or Austria-Hungary, the British claimed the right to detain the ship—a claim disputed by the U.S. State Department. "Kroonland" was allowed to resume her journey on 8 November after the copper and rubber were unloaded and taken to a prize court. The ship arrived at Naples on 11 November, then completed the rest of her Mediterranean trek. Returning to New York, she carried the new minister from Bulgaria to the United States, arriving on 4 December. IMM had advertised that "Kroonland" would sail the Mediterranean route again in December, but the liner was removed from the route.
In late January 1915, "Kroonland" departed on a business tour of South America under charter to the American Trade Tour Company. The tour was designed as a showcase for American companies hoping to expand into South America, and "Kroonland" circumnavigated that continent, traveling over in 82 days. During the voyage, the liner docked at various ports where businessmen or trade representatives, like the Babson Statistical Organization, made sales pitches and showed films of factories to potential customers aboard "Kroonland". During this South American foray, the ship sailed westbound through the Panama Canal on 2 February, becoming the largest passenger ship to transit the canal to that date. Also on the trip, while transiting the Straits of Magellan in late February, "Kroonland" passed British cruiser refueling from a collier, and, on 26 February, when entering the harbor of Punta Arenas, Chile, passed the departing , on the hunt for the German cruiser . "Kroonland" returned to New York on 14 April.
Panama Pacific Line service, 1915.
In May 1915, "Kroonland" and sister ship "Finland" were chartered to the Panama Pacific Line for the long-planned service between New York and San Francisco via the Panama Canal. "Kroonland" departed from New York for California on 22 May and counted 50 honeymooning couples and a large cargo of flour from St. Paul, Minnesota, among her payload. The intercoastal trip took about 17 days each way and the ships called at either Los Angeles or San Diego on eastbound and westbound trips. With two ships on the route, one ship departed from either New York or San Francisco about every three weeks. The service was marketed as the ideal manner to visit the Panama-California Exposition in San Diego and the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. At the San Francisco exhibition, a detailed model of "Kroonland" was one of ten that comprised a part of IMM's exhibit in the Palace of Transportation.
Frequent and progressively worse landslides in the canal disrupted "Kroonland"s and "Finland"s service. In August 1915, "Kroonland"s arrival in New York was delayed a day by a Gaillard Cut slide. In early September, both ships were delayed ten days while waiting for the canal to be dredged after another slide. In early October, another landslide in the Gaillard Cut—this one in excess of of mud and dirt—closed the canal, and it was expected that it might remain closed for as long as ten months. "Kroonland" was en route to the canal from San Francisco, while "Finland" was at the canal's eastern terminus, Colón. After "Kroonland" arrived at the canal's western end at Balboa, the two liners exchanged passengers—including former First Lady Helen Taft and her daughter, Helen—by rail across the isthmus.
American Line service, 1915–1917.
The delay caused by the October slide in the Panama Canal created uncertainty for the immediate future of "Kroonland". Her sister ship "Finland" was transferred to a New York – London route almost immediately after the canal's closure, but "Kroonland" was "trapped" on the west side of the continent. By early November, "Kroonland"—loaded with cargo destined for the United Kingdom, and sailing under the banner of the American Line—departed San Francisco for London, via the Straits of Magellan. On 21 December, the liner arrived at Rio de Janeiro after having run aground, but was found to be undamaged. Continuing on to London, "Kroonland" departed for New York on 30 January 1916. Although plans were announced in mid 1916 for the two sister ships to return to the Panama Pacific Line, and to add the Hawaiian port of Honolulu to the canal route, both ships remained in North Atlantic service.
On 20 February, "Kroonland", continuing to sail for the American Line, returned to New York – Liverpool service after an absence of 18 months. As a ship of the still-neutral United States sailing in a war zone, "Kroonland" had her name painted in large letters on each side of her hull. The name was flanked on either side by large American flags and kept illuminated at night. In June, she carried US$1,500,000 of Argentine gold from London for deposit with the Guaranty Trust Company of New York. On late 1916, a cook aboard "Kroonland" was arrested for smuggling feathers, wings, and heads of birds of paradise and crowned pigeons. The man, who was paid $300 for each load of feathers, smuggled in at least three loads of the avian contraband before his arrest. In January 1917, a jumble sale held in the saloon on "Kroonland" raised £73 15s 11d for "The Times" Fund, for the benefit of the British Red Cross and the Order of St. John.
While returning from Liverpool in early February 1917, passengers and crew on "Kroonland" witnessed the German U-boat sink the Dutch ship "Gamma" off the Irish coast. On 1 February 1917, at around 15:30, passengers and crew saw the German submarine overtake and stop the Dutch freighter. At about 16:15, the U-boat, by then on the far side of the Dutch ship and out of view from "Kroonland", fired three shots from her deck gun. "Gamma" immediately began listing to port and sank within five minutes. "Kroonland" was less than away, and was prepared to rescue the crew of the sunken ship, but stopped when the German submarine took "Gamma"s lifeboat in tow. Four days later, a suspected submarine was seen off "Kroonland"s port side, and there were other reports of a ship that passengers took to be a German commerce raider or submarine tender.
Because Germany had again on 1 February, "Kroonland" was laid up for almost two months at the American Line piers in New York, along with sister ship "Finland" and three other vessels. During this forced downtime, "Kroonland" was converted from coal burning to oil burning, a long-awaited modification that had been announced in October 1915. The conversion reduced the number of stokers needed from 75 to 12, lowering "Kroonland"s payroll. Because fuel oil was stored inside the double bottom of her hull, her cargo capacity was increased through the elimination of her coal bunkers. The labor savings and the additional freight revenues from the increased cargo space resulted in a net gain of $25,000 income per trip.
Troopship duties.
"Kroonland" served as a troopship for about the next year. In early March, U.S. Navy ordnance officers inspected "Kroonland" and took measurements in preparation to arm her for defense against submarine attacks. On 13 March, she was assigned guns by the Navy, becoming one of the first seven ships to be armed. With her arming complete, and carrying an armed naval guard to man the guns, "Kroonland" sailed for Liverpool on 25 March 1917. Twelve days later, the United States formally declared war on Germany.
On the morning of 20 May, while the liner steamed toward Liverpool through a heavy fog, a torpedo struck her without exploding. Two minutes later her lookouts spotted a submarine bearing down on "Kroonland" so close alongside the liner that her guns could not be depressed enough to open fire on the raider. Although the U-boat, apparently also taken by surprise, reversed her screws and tried to turn to avoid a collision, she lightly struck the liner's hull and scraped along her side before diving out of sight. Meanwhile, two more torpedoes came within some of hitting "Kroonland"s stern. That afternoon the liner sighted another submarine, surfaced some off her port quarter. "Kroonland" immediately began shelling the U-boat, forcing the submarine to dive for safety. In early June, this failed torpedo attack on the ship made front-page news in American newspapers.
In September, elements of the U.S. 42nd Infantry Division sailed from New York to Halifax on "Kroonland". The ship sailed from Halifax on 30 September in an Allied convoy with the American ship and Commonwealth ships (which had led the "Volturno" rescue in 1913), "Anchises", "Canada", "Grampian", "Ionican", "Themistocles", "Victoria", , "Medic", "Miltiades", "Mokoia", and "Ruahine". Two days out from Halifax, the last five ships split off from the convoy and headed to Scotland; "Kroonland"s group sailed to Liverpool.
On 15 October 1917, the United States Shipping Board (USSB) requisitioned all American passenger ships over for use by the government in the war effort. Though it is not clear what immediate impact this had on "Kroonland", it is known that the liner was operating as a U.S. Army transport (under the name USAT "Kroonland") by February 1918, when she was loaded with materiel and departed New York for Saint-Nazaire, France.
In February 1918 the USSB assigned "Kroonland" to the transport fleet as a U.S. Army Chartered Transport (USACT), and after her return from France on 9 April, she was converted to a troop transport in New York by the William J. Kennedy Company. A typical conversion from passenger liner to troop transport involved having all of the second- and third-class accommodations ripped out and replaced with berths for troops. Cooking and toilet facilities also had to be greatly expanded to handle the large numbers of men aboard.
U.S. Navy transport duties.
After problems with crew discipline aboard Army transports and when they were torpedoed, the U.S. Navy, led by the recommendations of Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, insisted that all troop transports be manned entirely by Navy personnel. This was accomplished soon after, to avoid the need for what Gleaves called "ignorant and unreliable men" who were "the sweepings of the docks". Accordingly, "Kroonland" was handed over to the Navy on 22 April and commissioned the same day, with Commander Manley H. Simons in command.
Transporting troops to France.
USS "Kroonland" was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force after being commissioned. The ship departed New York on 30 April with the transports , , and "Finland". and —two transports that sailed from Newport News, Virginia—rendezvoused with "Kroonland"s group. provided the convoy with protection until its arrival in France on 12 May. "Kroonland" returned to New York on 1 June.
"Kroonland" next left New York on 15 June with "Finland", , , , , the Italian steamer , and the British steamer "Vauban" and met up with the Newport News portion of the convoy—consisting of , , , , and the British troopship (another fellow "Volturno" rescuer)—the next morning and set out for France. The convoy was escorted by the cruisers and , and the destroyers and ; the battleship and several other destroyers joined in escort duties for the group for a time. The convoy had a false alarm when a floating barrel was mistaken for submarine, but the otherwise uneventful trip concluded at Brest on the afternoon of 27 June.
On 10 July, as "Kroonland" steamed homeward from France, a lookout spotted a periscope rising from the water about away. "Kroonland" opened fire and the fourth shot from her No. 4 gun "burst with a tremendous cloud of dirty blue smoke" exactly on the periscope. The submarine zig-zagged "erratically back and forth until she was directly in the disturbed water" of "Kroonland"s wake. The transport continued firing until the submarine disappeared, leaving an oil slick which could be seen for at least 15 minutes. "Kroonland" arrived safely in New York on 13 July.
On 26 July, "Kroonland", loaded with 3,248 officers and men, departed on her next trip to France. In the company of "Finland" and the Italian steamer , she met up with , , and the Italian steamers and from Newport News. The cruisers , , and destroyers and escorted the transports. Gordon Van Kleeck, a private in Company F of the U.S. 51st Pioneer Infantry, one of the units aboard "Kroonland" on this trip, recorded his day-to-day activities in a journal. He stated that the soldiers wore overalls rather than uniforms, and were required to wear life jackets at all times. During the early mornings, the most dangerous time for submarines according to Van Kleeck, the soldiers had to stand by their life rafts until the sun was completely up. Bathing facilities were too small, so several times during the trip the soldiers gathered on deck for salt water baths, which consisted of a hose turned on them by the ship's crew. On 2 August, "Finland" developed engine trouble and fell back from the convoy, but by the next day, she and a destroyer that stayed with her had rejoined the convoy. The convoy arrived in Brest on 7 August, and "Kroonland" arrived back in the United States on 19 August.
After embarking 3,334 soldiers, "Kroonland" began her next crossing on 30 August when she sailed from New York with "Susquehanna", and to join the Newport News contingent of "Duca d'Aosta", "Caserta", and . "Kroonland"s convoy was escorted by "Frederick" and "Colhoun". As with other Navy ships throughout 1918, "Kroonland" was not immune to the worldwide Spanish flu pandemic. On this particular crossing, two of her crewmen were felled by the disease as her convoy reached France on 12 September. "Kroonland" returned to New York on 27 September.
At 20:00 on 7 October, "Kroonland" departed New York on her fifth Navy voyage with 2,567 men. She joined "Caserta" and the British steamer "Euripides" in rendezvousing with , "Susquehanna", "America", and "Czar" from Newport News. The cruisers and and the destroyers and "Fairfax" served as convoy escorts for the group, which arrived in France on 20 October. "Kroonland" arrived in New York on 3 November, and was in port when the Armistice was signed on 11 November. In total, "Kroonland" carried 14,125 troops to France during the five trips of her Navy career.
Returning troops home.
At war's end, the task of bringing home American soldiers began almost immediately. "Kroonland" did her part by carrying home 26,152 passengers in eight trips. The ship departed from Brest in late November with her first load of nearly 2,000 wounded and convalescing soldiers, many of whom were from the U.S. 76th Infantry Division. The former liner arrived at the Quarantine Station on 10 December 1918, and docked in New York the next day. One of the men aboard was Captain Walter Camp who had been wounded and gassed in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive; Camp was the son of the Yale University football coach of the same name. Another passenger on board was Sarah Wilmer, an American YWCA front-line worker who had become lost in the Argonne forest and gassed when a German shell exploded nearby. Before departing on her next voyage, "Kroonland" hosted a party for 150 newsboys from New Jersey at her Hoboken, New Jersey, pier on Christmas Day. With a Christmas tree in the troops' mess, the newsboys were treated to a dinner and entertainment by the ship's band, and all received presents.
"Kroonland" arrived at Newport News on 18 February with 2,805 passengers, including units from the U.S. 36th Infantry Division, after a rough trip from Saint-Nazaire. On her next voyage, she carried another 2,943 officers and men from Saint-Nazaire to Newport News, arriving there on 24 March. The 132nd Regiment of the 61st Field Artillery Brigade returned on the ship, and brigade historian Rex F. Harlow called "Kroonland" "probably the best vessel on which any units of the brigade returned to America".
On 18 April, "Kroonland" began her next homeward journey, embarking several companies of the 111th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 28th Infantry Division among the 3,100 troops carried. Though the fighting was over, the men still wore life jackets for the first three days at sea amidst fears of striking floating mines. George W. Cooper, historian of the 2nd Battalion of the 111th Infantry, reported that some of the men had to serve as stokers during the trip because of a "shortage of help". In the middle of the crossing, the ship "sprung a leak" and took on of water; she had a list for a day or so, until repairs were made. The troops later disembarked at New York on 29 April.
"Kroonland" returned to Saint-Nazaire in May and loaded Major General Joseph E. Kuhn and some 3,000 men of his U.S. 79th Infantry Division, which included the 304th Engineer Regiment, and departed France on 18 May. The band of the 304th Engineers gave concerts on deck every evening on the voyage home to entertain the men. Though initially bound for Newport News, "Kroonland"s crew received orders in mid ocean to head instead to New York, where they arrived on 29 May. After completing another passage to Newport News in late June, "Kroonland" sailed on 19 July with 3,642 passengers—including officers, men, thirteen war brides, and one war baby—from Saint-Nazaire, in the final transport departure from that port before it was closed as a port of embarkation by U.S. military authorities. Among the passengers was Brigadier General Samuel D. Rockenbach, the founder of the United States Tank Corps.
On 21 August, the USSB announced that "Kroonland" would be released from government service after surveys for repairs had been completed. After leaving New York on 10 August, the ship was in the middle of what would be her final trip returning soldiers. After arriving at Brest, 1,532 officers and men boarded "Kroonland" for New York, where the transport arrived on 10 September. Also on board was Michael Gilhooley, a 15-year-old stowaway making his fourth unsuccessful attempt to sneak into the United States aboard a Navy transport.
The ship was decommissioned and returned to the USSB on 13 September, and returned to International Mercantile Marine shortly thereafter. In her eight trips returning troops, "Kroonland"—affectionately called the "Empress of the Seas" by her crew—averaged just under 39 days per turnaround, beating the overall average of all ships by almost a full day, and edging out sister ship "Finland" by less than that.
Red Star Line service, 1920–1923.
After her return to International Mercantile Marine (IMM), the ship underwent a refit at the W. & A. Fletcher Marine Works yard in Hoboken that outfitted her for 242 first-, 310 second-, and 876 third-class passengers. On 8 January 1920, while "Kroonland" was still under repair, the American Line ship , berthed next to her at the Fletcher yard, caught fire. In the multi-alarm fire, firefighters believed that "St. Louis" was a lost cause, and so focused their efforts on saving "Kroonland". At one point, "St. Louis" heeled over and leaned on "Kroonland" but the only resulting damages were scorch marks on her side.
"Kroonland" resumed her civilian career in April 1920, sailing once again for the Red Star Line on the New York – Antwerp route. She sailed from Pier 61 on the North River opposite sister ships "Finland" and "Zeeland" and the newer until early 1923. Rough weather on the North Atlantic took its toll on "Kroonland" while sailing this route. A storm off Sable Island in December 1920 was so intense that the liner was only able to travel during one 24-hour stretch and nearly exhausted her fuel supply. When the liner arrived in New York, tugs were required to tow her from the quarantine station to the pier. Heavy seas in another storm in October 1921 broke "Kroonland"s port propeller shaft past Sandy Hook. She returned to New York at and transferred most of the passengers to "Lapland". Another eastbound crossing four months later was marked by almost continuous gales with winds up to ; the liner arrived at Plymouth covered in ice and snow.
"Kroonland" was also involved in several non-weather-related events. On 12 November 1920, after departing Antwerp for New York, she collided with a Dutch tug in the Scheldt, killing two of the tug's crew. In March 1921, a Czechoslovakian woman gave birth to fraternal twins on board the liner shortly after she and her husband sailed from Antwerp. Because the twins were born on a U.S.-flagged vessel, they were automatically American citizens. On 10 June 1922, "The New York Times" reported that Charles Simmons, "Kroonland"s Chief Steward, was found dead in his bunk. Crewmen aboard the ship, which had been docked in New York since 4 June, said Simmons had been seen on deck in apparently good health the day before. The medical examiner nevertheless asked police to investigate, because it appeared to him that Simmons had been dead for three to four days. During an August eastbound crossing, "Kroonland" stood by for two hours after receiving a report of an explosion and fire on , some behind. The gas explosion in one of "Adriatic"s forward cargo holds killed five crewmen and seriously wounded three others. It also spawned a fire that was quickly extinguished and left little damage. Offers of help from ten liners (including "Kroonland") were politely declined and "Adriatic" arrived in New York three days later. In October, U.S. Federal judge Learned Hand issued a restraining order preventing the Prohibition-related seizure of alcohol aboard "Kroonland", "Finland", and "St. Paul". IMM had sought the order to enable her to continue to carry Italian third-class passengers; Italian law required a minimum number of a ship's crew to be Italian, with Italian wine of at least 12% alcohol provided for them.
"Kroonland" also carried some notable passengers during her time on this route including a majority of the U.S. delegates to the International Chamber of Commerce for its meeting in Paris in June 1920. Among those on board were Myron T. Herrick, former U.S. Ambassador to France; Paul M. Warburg, former member of the Federal Reserve Board; and 14 current and former directors of the United States Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Samuel Eyde, the newly appointed Norwegian Minister to the United States, sailed for his diplomatic post in December on "Kroonland". On the same trip, Max Goldberg, a 14-year-old flower delivery boy, returned from an accidental roundtrip, begun in New York when the gangway was raised and the ship departed while he was making a last-minute delivery. Four of the United States' seven delegates to the 19th Inter-Parliamentary Union Convention in Stockholm—Congressmen Alben W. Barkley and Edwin B. Brooks, and Senators Thomas J. Walsh and William B. McKinley—returned on "Kroonland" in September 1921.
Passengers were not the ship's only cargo during this time. The New York press reported on gold deposits carried to the United States on the liner several times on the Antwerp route. In a storm-tossed December 1920 voyage, for example, she carried $1,650,000 in gold, and the following June she carried £100,000 gold to the Equitable Trust Company in New York. Another notable cargo arrived in New York in November 1922, when "Kroonland" brought of cheese from Switzerland. The shipment was said to be the first big shipment from that country since before World War I. A more unwelcome cargo was carried in March 1921, when a Hungarian immigrant in steerage was found to have typhoid fever. Discovery of the disease necessitated that all 731 steerage passengers be quarantined indefinitely.
"Kroonland" began her last voyage on the Antwerp route in January 1923, after which she underwent a refit during the first half of 1923. The ship was converted to cabin- and third-class passengers only, and was painted white. In preparation for her announced return to the Panama Pacific Line in October 1923, more refrigeration and cool air space were added for transporting Southern California agricultural products.
After this refit, the ship was briefly assigned to the American Line for three roundtrips on a New York to Hamburg route, with intermediate stops at Plymouth and Cherbourg. On her first Hamburg trip, she carried American comedic actress Florence Shirley and her husband, headed for a European vacation. Cecil Arden, a mezzo-soprano with the Metropolitan Opera, and botanist Otto Warburg sailed on the same trip.
Panama Pacific Line service, 1923–1925.
In April 1923, IMM announced that "Kroonland" and sister ship "Finland" would be returned to the Panama Pacific Line beginning in late September, sailing from New York to San Francisco via Havana, the Panama Canal, and Los Angeles, with Los Angeles being the west coast hub of operations. On 18 October, "Kroonland" departed on her first voyage on the route since 1915. "Kroonland" arrived in Los Angeles Harbor on 3 November amidst fanfare, becoming the largest liner to date to enter that harbor.
In contrast to her time on the North Atlantic, "Kroonland" encountered few weather or mechanical delays on the coast-to-coast route. In December 1923, however, the ship was delayed one day by unusually heavy seas and gales off Baja California. Another delay in October 1924 proved to be fatal, according to the ship's physician. An arrival two days late, caused by adverse currents north of Panama, cost a female passenger her life. Had the ship not been delayed, the physician believed, prompt hospital care could have saved her. On this same trip, "Kroonland" passed through a "hurricane zone" but was not adversely affected by the storm.
In December 1924, the Panama Pacific Line announced that it would add to the New York – California route in February to replace "Kroonland". Even though press accounts reported as late as March 1925 that "Kroonland" had sailed her last on the route, she continued carrying passengers and cargo through at least June 1925 because of booming business. Although plans had been announced to convert "Kroonland" and "Finland" to freighters upon the delivery of two new ships ordered for the route in late 1924, there is no evidence that this was ever carried out.
Notable passengers.
"Kroonland" carried her share of notable passengers during her second stint for the Panama Pacific Line. On her first voyage, passengers included American Modernist poet Wallace Stevens and his wife, Elsie. After transiting the Panama Canal, the liner headed north along the western coast of Mexico. The ship passed the Gulf and Isthmus of Tehuantepec in early November, inspiring Stevens to later pen the poem "Sea Surface Full Of Clouds". First published in the July 1924 issue of literary magazine "The Dial", it was later included in the 1931 edition of Stevens' "Harmonium". Each of the five stanzas begins with the line "In that November off Tehuantepec" and is a different portrayal of the surface of the sea. The poem has been called one of Stevens' "most persuasive statements of the imagination's powers", and considered "the most perfect example of a 'pure poem'".
Other notable passengers included Brooklyn Dodgers shortstop Ray E. French, who sailed with his wife to their home in California on the same voyage as Stevens. California artist William Barr, American author Frederick O'Brien, and actress Mary Carr all sailed on "Kroonland" in December 1923. In February 1924, Daniel Willard, president of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, sailed from New York to Los Angeles. Acknowledging that the Panama Canal had "detract[ed] volumes of freight" from railroads, Willard said that there was no cause for alarm because the railroad business was booming. In January 1925, Gene Byrnes, creator of the comic strip "Reg'lar Fellers", sailed from New York to Los Angeles with his wife. On the same voyage, University of Southern California president Rufus B. von KleinSmid boarded "Kroonland" at Panama after attending the Pan-American Scientific Congress in Lima. In mid-June the same year, short story author and screenwriter H. C. Witwer and his family returned to New York aboard the ship.
American Line service, 1925–1926.
In October 1925, the American Line announced plans for the liner to sail on a weekly New York – Miami route. "Kroonland", supplanted of the Admiral Line as the largest ship in Miami service, and sailed from Pier 62 in New York on Thursdays, arrived and departed Miami on Sundays, and returned to New York on Wednesdays. Though "Kroonland"s passenger capacity was potentially much larger, she was outfitted for 500 passengers in first class only. She sailed on her first voyage with 400 passengers, including American professional golfer Gene Sarazen, on 10 December.
By the time the seasonal service to Miami ended in late March 1926, "Kroonland" had carried 11,000 passengers on the route. Though plans were announced for the liner to resume the route the following winter, this did not happen. IMM offered no reasons, but conditions in Miami at the end of 1926 were very different from the previous year. The wild South Florida real estate boom had collapsed in mid 1926, and the Great Miami Hurricane struck on 18 September, killing more than 325 and leaving as many as 50,000 residents homeless, while causing some $100 million damage (just over $2 billion in 2005 dollars). With no place to put the aging ship, IMM laid up "Kroonland" in Hoboken.
The ship was later sold to shipbreakers in Italy and departed the United States for the last time on 29 January 1927. After delivering a cargo of grain to her old homeport of Antwerp, she was taken to Genoa and scrapped. According to an Associated Press report, "Kroonland" had completed 234 voyages totaling during the course of her career without serious accident.


USNS Huntsville (T-AGM-7)

USNS "Huntsville" (T-AGM-7) was a "Watertown"-class missile range instrumentation ship acquired by the U.S. Navy in 1960 and converted from the SS Knox Victory Victory ship cargo configuration to a missile tracking ship, a role she retained for a number of years before being struck from the Navy List in 1974.
Victory ship constructed in Oregon.
The second ship to be so named by the Navy, "Huntsville" was laid down under U.S. Maritime Commission contract as "Knox Victory" by Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, Portland, Oregon, 2 March 1945; launched 13 April 1945; sponsored by Mrs. Charles B. Gilbert; and delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) 11 May 1945.
World War II-related service.
During the remainder of the war she operated as a merchant ship under charter to Olympic Steamship Company, and she continued merchant service under bareboat charters from the Maritime Commission and the Maritime Administration until 1958 when she entered the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Olympia, Washington.
Conversion to missile tracking ship.
"Knox Victory" was acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Administration 11 August 1960 and assigned to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). She was renamed "Huntsville" and designated "T-AGM-7", a missile range instrumentation ship, 27 November.
After conversion to a special projects ship by Triple "A" Machine Shop, Inc., San Francisco, California, "Huntsville" began duty as a range tracking ship in 1961.
Manned by a civilian crew, "Huntsville" operated out of Port Hueneme, California, and Honolulu, Hawaii, while assigned to special duties in the Pacific Ocean. During the next 4 years she made intermittent "on station" patrols in the Central Pacific, extending from the coast of Mexico to Wake Island and the Marshall Islands. She continued these patrols, which contributed mightily on America's space programs, until the spring of 1965; then she entered Avondale Shipyards, Inc., Westwego, Louisiana, 2 June 1965 for conversion, completed 30 October 1966.
Two other ships were reconfigured in to this new class, "Watertown-class missile range instrumentation ship", the "USNS Watertown (T-AGM-6)" and the "USNS Wheeling (T-AGM-8)".
1966 upgrade.
In June 1967 "Huntsville" returned to the Pacific, where she operated with "Watertown" (T-AGM-6). As an improved sea-based tracking station, she provided an important link in communications during the scheduled "Apollo" moon shots, which were designed to send American astronauts to the moon and back.
Final Mission and Inactivation.
One of the last missions for the "Huntsville" was in support of US surveillance of nuclear testing in the South Pacific.  "Huntsville" spent approximately 90 days between June and September of 1974 on that mission, most of it in the vicinity of Mururoa Atoll.
The following paragraph appeared in the Stanford Research Institute Alumni Newsletter in 2010 in an article by Walter Jaye entitled "Adventures at Sea in the South Pacific".
"The Conclusion of the Missions:
In 1974, the third and final year of these operations, the ship used was the USNS Huntsville (see photo). The use of helicopters was dropped, and instead remotely piloted vehicles were launched from the Huntsville."
"Huntsville" was placed out of service on an unknown date, and was struck from the Navy List on 8 November 1974.  She was placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet and eventually sold by MARAD on 17 July 1995. Her subsequent fate is not known.


Xin Beijing

Xin Beijing is a large container ships. The ship is owned by the Yangshan D Shipping Company.
Hull and engine.
"Xin Beijing" was built by Samsung Heavy Industries in yard 1567 and was completed in April 2007. It is a fully cellular container ship with 9 holds, with a total carrying capacity of 9572 TEU. The ship is 337m in length and 46m across the beam. The ship type is dry cargo.
The vessel is powered by a MAN B&W 12K98MC-C engine, capable of producing 68,520 kW (93,160 hp) driving 1 propeller. This 2 stroke, 12 cylinder engine was built by Doosan Engine in Changwan. When constructed, the vessel utilized four 2,750 kW auxiliary generators.


SS Cambodge


SS U.S.S.R. Victory

The SS "U.S.S.R. Victory" was the third Victory ship built during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. She was launched by the California Shipbuilding Company on February 26, 1944. The ship was completed and delivered to the wartime operator of all United States oceangoing shipping, the War Shipping Administration (WSA), on April 26, 1944. "U.S.S.R. Victory", official number 245247, was assigned to Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc., under a standard WSA operating agreement at that time. That agreement continued until the ship's sale on March 7, 1947. The ship’s United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3, hull number 3 (V-3). "U.S.S.R. Victory" served in the Atlantic Ocean during World War II.
"U.S.S.R. Victory" was one of the new 10,500-ton class ship to be known as Victory ships. Victory ships were designed to replace the earlier Liberty Ships. Liberty ships were designed to be used just for World War II. Victory ships were designed to last longer and serve the US Navy after the war. The Victory ship differed from a Liberty ship in that they were: faster, longer and wider, taller, had a thinner stack set farther toward the superstructure and had a long raised forecastle.
"U.S.S.R. Victory" was christened by Mrs. Inna Pastoev, wife of the Soviet vice-consul. The Soviet vice-consul said at the christening: "another link in the chain of blows that will defeat our enemy," The launching of The "U.S.S.R. Victory" splashed into the water of Wilmington, Los Angeles.
"U.S.S.R" namesake.
"U.S.S.R Victory" namesake is for the country Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly termed the Soviet Union. In 1941, Nazi Germany began "Operation Barbarossa" and invaded the Soviet Union. Thus the Soviet Union and the USA became Allies against Nazi Germany. Iran had declared neutrality in World War II, but now found it to be part of World War II, many of Allies supplies to the Soviet Union passed through Iran. In 1941 after the Anglo-Soviet invasion of Iran Iran became a major conduit for British and American aid to the Soviet Union throughout the war. So important to the war effort was Iran that in 1943 the leaser of the Allies, "Big Three", (Joseph Stalin, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Winston Churchill) held the Tehran Conference in Iran.
World War II.
"U.S.S.R. Victory" served as a troop ship take troop to and from Europe.
 "U.S.S.R. Victory" and 96 other Victory ships were converted to troop ships take troops to Europe. Later she was used to bring the US soldiers home as part of Operation Magic Carpet from port cities known as Cigarette Camps. She was able to transport up to 1,500 troops to and from Europe. Her cargo holds were converted to bunk beds and hammocks stack three high for hot bunking. In the cargo hold Mess halls and exercise places were also added. On October 31, 1945 she steamed in to Newport News, Virginia bring troop home from Europe.
Korean War.
"U.S.S.R. Victory" served as merchant marine ship supplying goods for the Korean War. She helped move the 140th Medium Tank Battalion. About 75 percent of the personnel taken to Korea for the Korean War came by the merchant marine ships. "U.S.S.R. Victory" transported goods, mail, food and other supplies. About 90 percent of the cargo was moved by merchant marine naval to the war zone. "U.S.S.R. Victory" made trips between 18 November 1950 and 23 December 1952, helping American forces engaged against Communist aggression in South Korea.
SS "Indian Navigator".
On March 7, 1947 the ship was sold to the India Steamship Company of Calcutta, India and renamed the SS "Indian Navigator,". The "Indian Navigator," was steaming from Hamburg to Calcutta with a cargo of sulphur. On 31 December 1960 she had a cargo hold explosion and fire when she was off the south western tip of Cornwall, United Kingdom, near the Isles of Scilly. The crew abandoned ship into the lifeboats after the explosion. She was towed by SS "Indian Success", but with another cargo explosion she foundered and sank on 2 January 1961, with loss of life of some marine salvage personal. She is now about 129 meters under water.


USS Coucal (ASR-8)

The USS "Coucal" (ASR-8) was a "Chanticleer"-class submarine rescue ship in the United States Navy.
"Coucal" was launched 29 May 1942 by Moore Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Oakland, California; sponsored by Mrs. D. A. Scott; and commissioned 22 January 1943, Lieutenant Commander D. H. Byerly, USNR, in command.
Service history.
"Coucal" arrived at Brisbane, Australia, 23 June 1943 to serve the submarines of the 7th Fleet. After 4 October, she gave escort, fueling, and tender services from Milne Bay, New Guinea, and in March 1944, carried cargo to Manus Island and the bombarded Koruniat Island while sailing south to Brisbane for repairs. She returned to Manus 21 April for diving operations, and to set up a rest camp for submariners. On 25 June she sailed for overhaul at Brisbane, and on 12 August arrived at Darwin, Australia to serve submarines once more.
Between 29 October 1944 and 29 December, "Coucal" joined in convoy exercises with submarines out of Fremantle, returning to duty at Darwin. Between 10 February 1945 and 3 June, she continued her tender service at Exmouth Gulf, then loaded cargo and passengers at Fremantle for the submarine base at Subic Bay, Philippines where she arrived 4 July. Aside from the period between 23 July and 18 August when she escorted British submarines to Borneo, "Coucal" served at Subic Bay until clearing for Okinawa on 14 September. She was ordered on to Sasebo, where she served on occupation duty until returning to San Francisco 24 November.
Assigned to Operation "Crossroads", the atomic weapons tests in the Marshalls, "Coucal" put out from San Francisco 25 February 1946 for Pearl Harbor. From 13 April to 30 September she planted moorings at Bikini, and carried out a variety of diving assignments in the tests, then returned to San Francisco for overhaul. From her home port at Pearl Harbor, she sailed to conduct diving and salvage operations on sunken targets at Bikini in the summer of 1947, then operated in the Hawaiian Islands until 12 April 1948, when she sailed westward for the Suez Canal, and Izmir, Turkey. Here she trained men of the Turkish Navy in submarine rescue, salvage, and deep sea diving techniques, and continuing west to round the world, returned to Pearl Harbor 8 January 1949.
Serving Submarine Force, Pacific Fleet, "Coucal" operated in the Hawaiian Islands training deep sea divers, and carrying out rescue and salvage missions, and serving in the Far East in 1951, 1952–53, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1958, and 1960. Her base in the western Pacific was Yokosuka, Japan, from which she cruised to the Korean coast, Hong Kong, the Philippines, and Okinawa on salvage and rescue duty.
From September 1976 to September 1977, "Coucal" operated from her home port at Pearl Harbor, mainly supporting submarine training. One break in that routing was towing a barge to Johnson Island. On 15 September 1977, "Coucal" was decommissioned at Pearl Harbor. In April 1990, ex-"Coucal" was sunk in the first PACFLT test of a Tomahawk anti-ship missile, fired from


Crown-class ship of the line

The "Crown"-class ships of the line were a class of three 64-gun third rates, designed for the Royal Navy by Sir Edward Hunt.


Alfa-class submarine

The Alfa class, Soviet designation Project 705 Lira (, meaning "Lyre", NATO reporting name Alfa), was a class of nuclear-powered attack submarines in service with the Soviet Navy and later with the Russian Navy. They were the fastest military submarines ever built, with only the prototype submarine (NATO Reporting Name Papa-class) exceeding them in submerged speed.
The Project 705 submarines had a unique design among other submarines. In addition to the revolutionary use of titanium for its hull, it used a powerful lead-bismuth cooled fast reactor as a power source, which greatly reduced the size of the reactor compared to conventional designs, thus reducing the overall size of the submarine, and allowing for very high speeds. However, it also meant that the reactor had a short lifetime and had to be kept warm when it was not being used. As a result, the submarines were used as interceptors, mostly kept in port ready for a high-speed dash into the North Atlantic.
Design and development.
Preproduction.
Project 705 was first proposed in 1957 by M. G. Rusanov and the initial design work led by Rusanov began in May 1960 in Leningrad with design task assigned to SKB-143, one of the two predecessors (the other being TsKB-16) of the Malakhit Design Bureau, which would eventually become one of the three Soviet/Russian submarine design centers, along with Rubin Design Bureau and Lazurit Central Design Bureau.
The project was highly innovative in order to meet demanding requirements: sufficient speed to successfully pursue any ship; the ability to avoid anti-submarine weapons and to ensure success in underwater combat; low detectability, in particular to airborne MAD arrays, and also especially to active sonars; minimal displacement; and minimal crew complement.
A special titanium alloy hull would be used to create a small, low drag, 1,500 ton, six compartment vessel capable of very high speeds (in excess of ) and deep diving. The submarine would operate as an interceptor, staying in harbor or on patrol route and then racing out to reach an approaching fleet. A high-power liquid-metal-cooled nuclear plant was devised, which was kept liquid in port through external heating. Extensive automation would also greatly reduce the needed crew numbers to just 16 men.
The practical problems with the design quickly became apparent and in 1963 the design team was replaced and a less radical design was proposed, increasing all main dimensions and the vessel weight by 800 tons and almost doubling the crew.
A prototype of a similar design, the Project 661 or "K-162" (since 1978 "K-222") cruise missile submarine (referred to by NATO as the ), was built at the SEVMASH shipyard in Severodvinsk and completed in 1972. The long build time was caused by numerous design flaws and difficulties in manufacture. Extensively tested, she was taken out of service following a reactor accident in 1980. She had a top speed of and a test depth of . This combined with other reports created some alarm in the U.S. Navy and prompted the rapid development of the ADCAP torpedo program and the Sea Lance missile programs projects (the latter was cancelled when more definitive information about the Soviet project was known). The creation of the high-speed Spearfish torpedo by the Royal Navy was also a response to the threat posed by the reported capabilities of submarines of the Project 705.
Production.
Production started in 1964 as Project 705 with construction at both the Admiralty yard, Leningrad and at Sevmashpredpriyatiye (SEVMASH — Northern Machine-building Enterprise), Severodvinsk. The lead boat – the "K-64" – was built in Leningrad. Leningrad built three subsequent Project 705 submarines, and Severodvinsk built three Project 705K submarines (only differing in the reactor plant; see below). The first vessel was commissioned in 1971. Project 705 boats were intended to be experimental platforms themselves, to test all innovations and rectify their faults, that would afterwards found a new generation of submarines. This highly experimental nature mostly predetermined their future. In 1981, with the completion of the seventh vessel, production ended. All vessels were assigned to the Northern Fleet.
Propulsion.
The power plant for the boat was a lead-bismuth cooled fast reactor (LCFR). Such reactors have a number of advantages over older types:
Even though 1960s technology was barely sufficient to produce reliable LCFRs, which are even today considered challenging, their advantages were considered compelling. Two power plants were developed independently, BM-40A by OKB Gidropress (Hydropress) in Leningrad and OK-550 by the OKBM design bureau in Nizhniy Novgorod, both using a eutectic lead-bismuth solution for the primary cooling stage, and both producing 155 MW of power.
Designed burst speed in tests was for all vessels, and speeds of could be sustained. Acceleration to top speed took one minute and reversing 180 degrees at full speed took just 40 seconds. This degree of maneuverability exceeds all other submarines and most torpedoes that were in service at the time. Indeed, during training the boats proved able to successfully evade torpedoes launched by other submarines, which required introduction of faster torpedoes such as the American ADCAP or British "Spearfish". However, the price for this was a very high noise level at burst speed. According to U.S. Naval Intelligence, the tactical speed was similar to s.
Propulsion was provided to the screw by a 40,000 shp steam turbine, and two 100 kW electric thrusters on the tips of the stern stabilizers were used for quieter "creeping" (low speed tactical maneuvering) and for emergency propulsion in the event of an engineering casualty. Electrical power was provided by two 1,500 kW turbogenerators, with a backup 500 kW diesel generator and a bank of 112 zinc-silver batteries.
The OK-550 plant was used on Project 705, but later, on 705K, the BM-40A plant was installed due to the low reliability of the OK-550. While more reliable, BM-40A still turned out to be much more demanding in maintenance than older pressurized water reactors. The issue was that the lead/bismuth eutectic solution solidifies at . If it ever hardened, it would be impossible to restart the reactor, since the fuel assemblies would be frozen in the solidified coolant. Thus, whenever the reactor is shut down, the liquid coolant must be heated externally with superheated steam. Near the piers where the submarines were moored, a special facility was constructed to deliver superheated steam to the vessels' reactors when the reactors were shut down. A smaller ship was also stationed at the pier to deliver steam from her steam plant to the Alfa submarines.
Coastal facilities were treated with much less attention than the submarines and often turned out unable to heat the submarines reactors. Consequently, the plants had to be kept running even while the subs were in harbor. The facilities completely broke down early in the 1980s and since then the reactors of all operational Alfas were kept constantly running. While the BM-40A reactors are able to work for many years without stopping, they were not specifically designed for such treatment and any serious reactor maintenance became impossible. This led to a number of failures, including coolant leaks and one reactor broken down and frozen while at sea. However, constantly running the reactors proved better than relying on the coastal facilities. Four vessels were decommissioned due to freezing of the coolant.
Both the OK-550 and the BM-40A designs were single-use reactors and could not be refueled as the coolant would inevitably freeze in the process. This was compensated for by a much longer lifetime on their only load (up to 15 years), after which the reactors would be completely replaced. While such a solution could potentially decrease service times and increase reliability, it is still more expensive, and the idea of single-use reactors was unpopular in the 1970s. Furthermore, Project 705 does not have a modular design that would allow quick replacement of reactors, so such maintenance would take at least as long as refueling a normal submarine.
Hull.
Like most Soviet nuclear submarines, Project 705 used a double hull, where the internal hull withstands the pressure and the outer one protects it and provides an optimal hydrodynamic shape. The gracefully curved outer hull and sail were highly streamlined for high submerged speed and maneuverability.
Apart from the prototypes, all six Project 705 and 705K submarines were built with titanium alloy hulls, which was revolutionary in submarine design at the time due to the cost of titanium and the technologies and equipment needed to work with it. The difficulties in the engineering became apparent in the first submarine that was quickly decommissioned after cracks developed in the hull. Later, metallurgy and welding technology were improved and no hull problems were experienced on subsequent vessels. American intelligence services became aware of the use of titanium alloys in the construction by retrieving metal shavings that fell from a truck as it left the St. Petersburg ship yard.
The pressure hull was separated into six watertight compartments, of which only the third (center) compartment was manned and others were accessible only for maintenance. The third compartment had reinforced spherical bulkheads that could withstand the pressure at the test depth and offered additional protection to the crew in case of attack. To further enhance survivability, the ship was equipped with an ejectable rescue capsule.
The original test depth required specified for Project 705 was 500 m, but after the preliminary design was completed, SKB-143 proposed relaxing this requirement to 400 m. Reducing test depth and thinning the pressure hull would make up for increases in weight of the reactor, sonar system, and transverse bulkheads. The common myth that the Alfas could dive to 1,000 m or deeper is rooted in Western intelligence estimates made during the Cold War.
Control system.
A suite of new systems was developed for these submarines, including:
All the systems of the submarine were fully automated and all operations requiring human decision were performed from the control room. While such automation is common on aircraft, other military ships and submarines have multiple, separate teams performing these tasks. Crew intervention was required only for course changes or combat and no maintenance was performed at sea. Due to these systems, the combat shift of Alfa submarines consisted only of eight officers stationed in the control room. While nuclear submarines typically have 120 to 160 crew members, the initially proposed crew number was 14 — all officers, except the cook. Later it was considered more practical to have additional crew aboard that could be trained to operate the new generation of submarines and the number was increased to 27 officers and four warrant officers. Also, given that most of the electronics were newly developed and failures were expected, additional crew was stationed to monitor their performance. Some reliability problems were connected with electronics, and it is possible that some accidents could have been foreseen with more mature and better developed monitoring systems. Overall performance was considered good for an experimental system.
The main reason behind the small crew complement and high automation was not just to allow a reduction in the size of the submarine, but rather to provide an advantage in reaction speed by replacing long chains of command with instant electronics, speeding up any action.
Impact.
Alfas, as with almost all other nuclear submarines, were never actually used in combat. However, the Soviet government still made good use of them, by exaggerating the planned number of vessels, which were assumed to allow naval superiority to be gained by shadowing major ship groups and destroying them in case of war. The US replied by starting the ADCAP program, and the British Royal Navy the Spearfish torpedo program, to create torpedoes with the range, speed, and intelligence to reliably pursue Alfa-class submarines.
The Alfas were intended to be only the first of a new generation of light, fast submarines, and before their decommissioning, there was already a family of derivative designs, including Project 705D, armed with long-range 650 mm torpedoes, and the Project 705A ballistic missile variant that was intended be able to defend herself successfully against attack submarines, therefore not needing patrolled bastions. However, the main thrust of Russian/Soviet SSN development was instead focused toward the larger, quieter boats that eventually became the .
The technologies and solutions developed, tested, and perfected on Alfas formed the foundation for future designs. The suite of submarine control systems was later used in the "Akula"-class, or Project 971 attack submarines that have a crew of 50, more than the Alfa but still less than half as many as other attack submarines. The "Akula"-class submarines represent a hybrid of the Alfa and Victor III classes, combining the stealth and towed sonar array of the Victor III with the automation of the Alfa class.
Project Sapphire.
Project Sapphire was a covert United States military operation to retrieve of very highly enriched uranium fuel intended for the Alfa-class submarines from a warehouse at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant outside Ust-Kamenogorsk in far eastern Kazakhstan, where it was stored with little protection after the fall of the Soviet Union. The material, known as uranium oxide-beryllium, was produced by the Ulba plant in the form of ceramic fuel rods for use by the submarines. "The Kazakh government had no idea that this material was there", Kazakh officials later told Harvard's Graham Allison, a national-security analyst. In February 1994 it was uncovered by Elwood Gift, an engineer from the Y-12 plant at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, stored in quart sized steel cans in a vault about twenty feet wide and thirty feet long. Some of it was on wire shelves while others were sitting on the floor. The cans were covered with dust. Word soon came that Iran had officially visited the site looking to purchase reactor fuel. Washington set up a tiger team, and on 8 October 1994 the Sapphire Team flew out of McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in three blacked out C-5 Galaxy cargo planes with 130 tons of equipment. It took the team six weeks, working twelve-hour shifts, six days a week, to process and can the 1,050 cans of uranium. The Sapphire Team finished recanning the uranium on 18 November 1994 at a cost of between ten and thirty million dollars (actual cost classified). The cans were loaded into 447 special fifty-five gallon drums for secure transport to the United States. Five C-5 Galaxys were dispatched from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, to retrieve the team and the uranium, but four were forced to turn back because of bad weather. Only a single C-5, carrying 30,000 pounds of supplies Tennesseans had donated for Ust-Kamenogorsk area orphanages, got through. Eventually a second C-5 arrived, and the two planes carried the uranium to Dover, from where it was transported to Oak Ridge to be blended down for reactor fuel.
Decommissioning.
The first vessel was decommissioned in 1974 and all seven before the end of 1996. "K-123" underwent a refit between 1983 and 1992 and had her reactor compartment replaced with a VM-4 pressurized water reactor. After being used for training she was officially decommissioned July 31, 1996. Decommissioning of the ships entailed the singular complication that, the reactor being cooled by liquid metals, the nuclear rods became fused with the coolant when the reactor was stopped and conventional methods for disassembling the reactor were unavailable. France's Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives designed and donated special equipment for a dedicated dry-dock (SD-10) in Gremikha, which was used to remove and store the reactors until they could be dismantled.


SS Art Young

SS "Art Young" was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Art Young, an American cartoonist and writer from Illinois. Young is best known for his socialist cartoons in the left-wing magazine The Masses.
Construction.
"Art Young" was laid down on 5 October 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2328, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida; sponsored by Mrs. J. Philo Caldwell, wife of the chief estimator at JAJCC, and launched on 13 November 1944.
History.
She was allocated to A. L. Burbank & Co., Ltd., 22 November 1944. On 15 April 1948, she was placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in Wilmington, North Carolina. On 10 May 1952, she was placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in Beaumont, Texas.
She was sold for scrapping, 10 August 1971, to Luria Bros. and Co., Inc., for $43,300. She was withdrawn from the fleet, 30 November 1971.
Bibliography.


SS Annie Oakley

The SS "Annie Oakley" (Hull Number 2227) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Annie Oakley, an American sharpshooter from the American West.
The ship was laid down on 21 August 1943, then launched on 12 September 1943. She was lost after she was torpedoed by a German submarine in the English Channel in 1945.


Amphitrite-class submarine

The Amphitrite class was a group of eight submarines built for the French Navy just before World War I and completed during the war.


SS Yarmouth

The SS "Yarmouth" was a steamship notable for its part in developing Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, and connecting it to Boston, Massachusetts. Later in life it had a central role as the flagship of the Marcus Garvey initiative the Black Star Line. Marcus Garvey, known as the "black Moses", was a "back to Africa" radical, and his ideas, although radical and controversial in his own time and today, still remain influential. The Black Star Line's name, a play on the "White Star Line", is remembered in the flag of Ghana.
Construction.
Built by the Clyde shipbuilder Archibald McMillan & Son, of Dumbarton, Scotland, for the Yarmouth Steamship Company, of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, "Yarmouth" was designed to ferry both passengers and goods. She was a steel screw steamer, long p/p, with a beam and hold depth of . She had five watertight compartments and could carry 4,000 barrels. She was fitted with bilge keels and was capable of 14 knots. The ship's bell was cast at the foundry of J. M. Broomall, and due to its shape and design it has been speculated that it originated from the Philadelphia area. When launched on 28 February 1887, "Yarmouth" was designed to be the finest steamship on the route between Eastern Canada and the United States. She was first registered in Glasgow by the shipbuilder and took just 9 1/2 days to sail the Atlantic on her maiden voyage. On 3 May in 1887, she arrived in Yarmouth and under the command of Captain Harvey Doane and Pilot S. F. Stanwood, she made her first trip to Boston a few days later on 7 May.
She would remain in service on the Yarmouth – Boston route till 1911.
Yarmouth Steamship Company.
In 1885, L.E. Baker wished to expand on his existing railroad, import and mercantile businesses in Nova Scotia. He had seen the need for reliable transportation links between Yarmouth, and ports on the Bay of Fundy, and from Yarmouth to Boston. Baker foresaw that the shipping company would bring in tourists to the province, and open up opportunities for building hotels, rail connections, and the development of "ports of call" along its route. His first step in November 1884, was when he and Captain Harvey Doane bought the SS "City of Saint John". Soon after, he established the Yarmouth Line in May 1885, with the purchase from the Nova Scotia Steamship Company of Clements Wharf and the SS "Dominion" of 450 tons. The "Dominion" had started life as the SS "Linda", built in 1884 by Hill & Grinnell at Mystic Bridge. Together both these ships operated regular services on the key routes for transportation and commerce in the region; Yarmouth and Boston, Halifax and St. John. In January 1886 Baker acquired the SS "Alpha", and with the "Dominion", the line was able to offer passenger and freight services from Yarmouth to Halifax, Boston, and Saint John. In February 1887, to raise further capital, Baker reorganized the company as the Boston & Yarmouth Steamship Company, thus enabling funding for the purchase of the SS "Yarmouth" for the Boston service, which began operating in May 1887. Business was good and they expanded services again with the SS "Boston" in September 1890. In 1894 the company was absorbed along with Baker's other business, the Western Counties Railway Company, into the Dominion Atlantic Railway. Baker died in 1899.
Stranding.
In Ottawa, on 1 April 1908, the findings of the "Wreck Commissioner of Canada" O. G. V. Spain were presented to the Deputy Minister, Marine and Fisheries in Ottawa concerning an incident in 1907/1908 when the "Yarmouth" was stranded under the command of Captain McKinnon. The Commissioner criticised the Captain for underestimating the tide and a lack of precaution.
In 1911 the Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR) took over the Dominion Atlantic Railway (DAR) company, with the DAR continuing as a trading name. The DAR sold three vessels and all rights to the Boston service to the Boston & Yarmouth Steamship Company division of Eastern Steamship., and so the CPR (DAR) reassigned the Yarmouth to the Digby – Saint John, New Brunswick route.
First World War.
In 1916, the CPR replaced her on the Digby – Saint John, New Brunswick route with the SS "Empress", and sold her to the North American Steamship Company (NASC). From then on, the "Yarmouth" hauled coal between Nova Scotia and Boston. NASC was owned by a cotton broker, W. L. Harriss, who bought the "Yarmouth" for $350,000 and made back his investment by using her several times on trans-Atlantic convoy routes. He was more than keen to offload her onto an amenable buyer..
The Black Star Line.
On 17 September 1919, the "Yarmouth" was bought by the Black Star Line (BSL), itself only recently incorporated in June 1919 from the North American Steamship Company, a subsidiary of Harriss, Magill, & Company. The BSL had been founded by Marcus Garvey, a proponent of Black nationalism who had several goals, one being the recolonisation of Africa by black Americans and Jamaicans, preferably by establishing a black-nation state. As a part of this effort, he established the Black Star Line with funding from a stock issue, at $5 a share from members of his United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The name of the Black Star Line was a play on the White Star Line, the owner of the "Titanic".
Garvey was determined to employ an all-black crew for the venture, and a suitably qualified black skipper–a rare man in those days (1919)–presented himself and Garvey offered him the job. Her new master was Captain Joshua Cockburn, a British Licensed master mariner born in Nassau in the Bahamas. Cockburn had initially trained with the Royal Navy as a lighthouse tender, then worked for the UK-based Elder Dempster Lines from 1908 to 1918, which had given him significant experience with freighters plying routes between British and West African ports, especially Nigeria. Garvey claimed he was the first colored man to command a deep-sea vessel. Cockburn was retained on a "princely" $400 a month, was adept at self promotion, and had Garvey's complete trust. One of Cockburn's first tasks was to source a suitable vessel, and broker the deal.
The BSL and other Garvey projects had already been infiltrated by agents of J. Edgar Hoover's Bureau of Investigation, one of whom was Dr Arthur Ullysses Craig. Cockburn took Craig with him to the inspect the "Yarmouth". Craig was the first black electrical engineer in the USA and as qualified as any for the task.
What is certain is that the ship was in need of extensive and drastic repairs. Her boiler crowns required renovation and her hull was almost worn out. Nevertheless, despite the contrary advice of Craig, Cockburn considered her seaworthy. Soon thereafter the BSL had to find $5,000 to repair the boiler before the maiden voyage.
Harriss, as has been said, was more than keen to find a buyer, and Cockburn and friends were all on commission. The seller had therefore good reason to ignore the BSL's inexperience and shaky financial credentials, which had aborted previous purchasing attempts by Garvey and his followers.
To get round the BSL's fiscal shortcomings, the "Yarmouth" was in effect leased by Black Star Incorporated. She was to be paid for in 10 monthly instalments, totalling $165,000, before transfer of ownership. Like all financial details concerning this organization, sums vary; some sources put it at $168,500. The Black Star could not raise the full 10 percent deposit, and the agreement was altered to an ongoing lease of $2,000 per month.
The founding of the line and all its activities were political statements. The "Negro World", a paper founded by Garvey, made a great play out of William Monroe Trotter having sailed on the "Yarmouth" as a waiter and cook on his way to the Paris Peace Conference. However, an indignity was forced upon him as he could not get a passport from the U.S. government for the trip. In fact, Trotter did go to Paris as a cook but he did so on the French vessel L'Ancore; this was confirmed by Trotter himself in the "Boston Post" of 24 July 1919, and repeated in the "Baltimore Afro-American" of 8 August 1919.
The "Yarmouth" was unofficially rechristened as the "Frederick Douglass", the intention being to change her registration papers; however, this was not followed through, and she remained registered as the "Yarmouth". Despite claims being made by the Black Star that they were the owners, this was not the case and in fact, she was on lease prior to completion of the terms of sale from the North American Shipping Corporation, so no official renaming could take place. As the financial obligations of the deal were never completed, the ship was to sail for her complete history (and tenure under the Black Star) with British registration and under the Union Jack and Maple Leaf flag. Her maiden voyage for the line to the West Indies and Central America was on 24 November 1919. Aside from a Scottish engineer, her crew was largely black British in origin.
Her first voyage for the new line was a short one. On 31 October 1919, she left the 135th Street dock near Garvey's office to a "glorious" send-off from several thousand well-wishers, and proceeded to 23rd Street. Already Garvey was experiencing funding problems, there were difficulties in arranging insurance, and the short trip had to be made with the permission of the owners.
The second voyage on 24 November 1919 was to Sagua la Grande, Cuba, with a cargo of cement. On arrival in Cuba on 5 December, Cockburn had complained to Garvey that the white officers were causing trouble and had tried to run the ship aground. However, she was warmly received in the port, the local stevedores banding together to invest $250 worth of shares in the venture. She sailed on to Jamaica and Panama, but there was no new cargo to pick up. On return from Cuba she had a full passenger list and cargo manifest, though hampered by repair problems, controversies amidst the officers and a crew shortchanged on wages. She returned in January 1920.
The third voyage shortly after the onset of Prohibition was for delivering whiskey from the Green River Distillery to Cuba. She had been laden with haste as the Prohibition amendment was to be enacted the next day.
Garvey was to write: "I was therefore called upon to spend $11,000 for repairs in order to have the ship sail with the cargo valued at $5 million," – Garvey claimed elsewhere a value of $2 million – "on which the company was collecting only $7,000 as freight, all because of the disobedience of two officers of the company". The deal for carriage of the whiskey was 10 percent of what it would have cost the distiller from any other shipping company and it had onerous full indemnity clauses attached, something unusual at the time.
The ship left New York on 17 January in a hurry; at Cape May the cargo shifted, and she was listing badly. Two days out, she was reported out of the port, sailing erratically, slowly sinking, with an intoxicated crew.
The United States Coast Guard insisted on her being towed home. A salvage tug company arrived on the scene (which had to be paid for in arrears), but the "Yarmouth" returned to port under her own power, thus avoiding becoming a salvage prize. The Reverend Dr. R. D. Jonas, Secretary of the "League of Darker Peoples", was to claim that the captain had thwarted a hijacking plot involving a following vessel, and sabotage of a seacock being opened by an engineer to start a leak. One account says that it was Cockburn himself who ordered that 500 cases of whiskey and champagne be thrown overboard to reduce weight. The jettisoned goods were picked up by small boats "suspiciously" on hand.
The valuable cargo (said to be valued at $2 million) had suffered losses from the crew and also from dockside repair workers. Workmen had been caught pilfering 56 bottles. This prompted the temporary impoundment of the cargo by government agents. More politics: Garvey was to assert: "I want to tell you that we have really made history, for that whiskey is from the South and it belongs to Southern Crackers, too. The BSL would at the end of the day pay out in damages more to the distillery than it charged for freighting the cargo.
After completion of very expensive temporary repairs, the "Yarmouth" sailed again. The repairs had been authorized without quotation and arguments of overpricing ensued. These repairs undertaken at the Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company of Brooklyn took place in their large sectional floating dry dock (see photo). The dock was the largest floating dock in the world, capable of lifting a long, 30,000 gross ton steamship, or two smaller ships simultaneously. No doubt Garvey would have wanted alternative arrangements for repair, but his hand was forced by circumstances.
On arrival in Cuba, the "Evening News" (Havana, 25 February 1920) reported that the "Yarmouth" had been proclaimed as the "Ark of the Covenant of the colored people and a bright harbinger of better days".
In April 1920, Black Star bought its second ship, the "Shadyside" (a Hudson River excursion boat), and by early May 1920, the "Kanawha", a yacht.
Fate of the "Yarmouth".
On her return in May 1920, the "Yarmouth" ran aground off Boston. She was to make her final voyage under a new captain to the West Indies. Then in the fall of 1920 while at anchor in New York, she was involved in a collision, began to sink, and was towed to dock for repair. Meanwhile, Black Star had to defer payments; their income of $44,779.71 could not keep pace with operating losses of $138,469.55 (not including office expenses, salaries, legal fees, and the costs of selling stock), and in November 1921, by court order, she was sold at public auction by the United States Marshal's office for $1,625. The BSL took out an appeal over the unfavourable decision, but the case was dismissed with costs for non-prosecution, a bill later paid by a bonding company as the BSL by then was out of business.
The "Yarmouth" was broken up by the Pottsdown Steel Co. of Philadelphia.
The BSL in its lifetime was to visit ports in Costa Rica, Cuba, Jamaica, Panama, and other countries; however, it was never to reach Africa.
The Mail Fraud case.
The Black Star Line collapsed through mismanagement, and Marcus Garvey's downfall was complete when irregularities in his business dealings left him open to charges of mail fraud. The ongoing investigations by the Bureau of Investigation culminated in a trial held in New York City, which began on 18 May 1923. This trial proved to be a source for future historians of verifiable and contested facts; for example the subject of the actual value of the "Yarmouth" when bought in 1919 was brought up. One of her officers asserted that since the ship had been used in the coal trade, she was "not worth a penny above $25,000". The prosecution asserted that having been used as a cattle boat, she was unfit for passenger use.
The Black Star remembered.
The black star at the centre of Ghana's flag was inspired by the BSL shipping line. The national shipping line of Ghana was named the Black Star Line. The national football team is known as the Black Stars.