HMT Awatea

HMT "Awatea" was a trans-Tasman steam ocean liner built for the Union Steam Ship Company of New Zealand that was launched in 1936. From 1937 until 1939 she linked Wellington and Auckland in New Zealand with Sydney in Australia.
In 1939 she was converted into a Royal Navy troop ship. In 1941 she took Canadian troops C Force to Hong Kong, 22 days before the Battle of Hong Kong broke out. In 1942 she took part in Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of Vichy French North Africa, where she was sunk by enemy aircraft.
"Awatea" is a Māori word meaning "eye of the dawn".
Ocean liner.
Vickers-Armstrongs built "Awatea" at Barrow-in-Furness in England, launching her on 25 February 1936 and completing her that July. She had two screws driven by six steam turbines via single reduction gearing. Their combined power of 4,608 NHP gave her a service speed of . On one trans-Tasman voyage she averaged over a distance of .
On 5 August 1936 "Awatea" left Britain on her maiden voyage to New Zealand, sailing via the Panama Canal. She began her trans-Tasman passenger service on 15 September 1936 when she left Wellington for Sydney. On 22 August 1939 she was taken out of service in Sydney for her annual survey. That December she was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a troop ship.
Service in World War II.
One of the Awatea's first tasks was to transport members of the C Force, a force created by the Government of Canada to protect its interests in Hong Kong against the threat of Japanese invasion. "Awatea" and picked up the troops in Vancouver on 27 October 1941, and landed them in Hong Kong on 16 November, 22 days before the Battle of Hong Kong broke out.
She was ordered to deliver No. 6 Commando to North Africa for Operation Torch in November 1942, to defeat Vichy French forces. She completed her landing successfully, although the landing for No. 6. Commando had some major problems.
The first problem was the inexperience of the crew at launching landing craft, which caused the landing to be two hours late and the last wave of troops to arrive at 6:30 am, with most of the landing off target by up to several miles.
As she was leaving on 11 November 1942, an unknown number of aircraft from Luftwaffe Kampfgeschwader 77 attacked her. They bombed and strafed her, but her crew returned fire. Two torpedoes hit her port side, and a bomb hit her deck but did not explode. But the torpedoes started a fire, which reached and detonated the unexploded bomb. Several near-misses blasted apart most of her first-class accommodation. At this point the crew abandoned ship, which was later sunk by the same aircraft. The admiral of her fleet said "she fought the battle of a battleship" as a tribute to her.


Ekkai Maru

The Ekkai Maru (Japanese: えかいまる) originally called as the "SS Manco" and later as "El Morazán" was a cargo ship in the service of the Empire of Japan that operated from 1941 to 1944, built in Scotland at the beginning of the 20th century and originally belonging to the Republic of Honduras from 1921 to 1941, which was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy on December 8, 1941 during World War II. It is sunk 12 m deep in the Philippines.
Characteristics.
She was a steam engine mixed cargo ship designed for transoceanic voyages of approximately 2,984 tons, constructed of steel, and of about 35 meters. She was designed primarily to transport both goods and passengers. When she operated for the banana companies in Honduras she had a couple of modifications as well as a repaint. Once captured it would be used to transport ammunition, equipment, and troops on the front lines of the Pacific. Her engine could give a speed of about 12 knots.
Operational history.
The ship was built in 1907 and completed in 1908 by the British company Scott Shipbuilding & Engineering Co. and served the Iquitos Steamship Co. and Booth Steamship Co. under the name of SS Manco in Liverpool, Great Britain between 1908 to 1921 as transport ship. She would later be sold and finally served as a freighter for the banana companies in Honduras such as the United fruit Company and she would be baptized as El Morazán, in honor of the Central American hero of Honduran origin, General Francisco Morazán.
Thus, the ship worked for many years to transport fruits such as bananas or rambutan and other merchandise from the ports of cities such as Puerto Cortes, La Ceiba, and Tela to other foreign cities. On one of his trips to East Asia, he was captured by the Imperial Japanese Navy while in the port of Shanghai, a city that had previously belonged to the Republic of China, the city haved been occupied by the Empire of Japan since 1937. This happened on December 8, 1941, just one day after the attack on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor. It is believed that the immediate capture of the ship was due to the fact that she operated for a company of US origin and because she belonged to an allied nation of the East, in this case Honduras, which had a very close relationship with the United States.
She was renamed by Japanese soldiers as Ekkai Maru and she served the Japanese for three years to transport ammunition and troops in the fight against the armed forces of the United States. On September 24, 1944 she was sunk by a United States carrier plane in Coron Bay near Manila, western Philippines. The American planes first attacked the Japanese warships in Coron Bay and the other ships toward the West. After a frenzied 45-minute attack, the planes left, leaving behind numerous sunken ships, within them is the Ekkai Maru that finally ended up sink 12 meters.


HMS Palliser (F94)

HMS "Palliser" (F94) was one of a dozen "Blackwood" class frigates (also known as the Type 14-class) of second-rate anti-submarine frigates built for the Royal Navy in the 1950s. She was named for Hugh Palliser, who served during the Seven Years' War and was First Naval Lord during the American War of Independence
Description.
The "Blackwood" class displaced at standard load and at deep load. They had an overall length of , a beam of and a draught of . The ships were powered by one English Electric geared steam turbine that drove the single propeller shaft, using steam provided by two Babcock & Wilcox boilers. The turbine developed a total of and gave a maximum speed of . The "Blackwood"s had a range of at . Their complement was 140 officers and ratings.
The ships were armed with three Bofors 40 mm guns in single mounts. The mount on the quarterdeck was later removed as it was unusable in heavy seas. The first four ships to be completed, including "Blackwood", were fitted with two above-water twin mounts for anti-submarine homing torpedoes, but these were removed in the early 1960s. They were equipped with two triple-barrelled Limbo Mark 10 anti-submarine mortars. The "Blackwood"-class ships had the same sonar suite as the larger s where the Limbo mortars were controlled by three sonars, the Type 174 search set, Type 162 target-classification set and the Type 170 'pencil beam' targeting set to determine the bearing and depth of the target.
Construction and career.
"Palliser" was laid down at Alexander Stephen and Sons' Linthouse, Glasgow shipyard on 15 March 1955. She was launched on 10 May 1956 and completed on 13 December 1957. On commissioning, "Palliser" joined the Fishery Protection Squadron, serving with the squadron until April 1967. As such she took part in the Cod Wars of the late 1950s and 1960s.
On 22 January 1971, "Palliser" was recommissioned into the 2nd Frigate Squadron based at Portland Harbour. In May 1973 she was paid off and laid up for disposal. In 1983 "Palliser" was to be scrapped at S Dean and Sons at Briton Ferry, Neath. Initial attempts to tow the frigate from Portsmouth were delayed by fog, and when on 9 February 1983, the tug "Alnwick" took "Palliser" in tow, "Alnwick" collided with "Palliser", damaging the tug and forcing the two ships into Plymouth for repairs. When the tow recommenced, fog caused it to be stopped when the ships reached Swansea Bay, forcing the ships to miss the correct tide, causing a further delay of a week. When the ships finally reached Neath on 27 March 1983, "Palliser" ran aground before finally making it to the breakers.


SS Lake Arline


Manisa Bella

Manisa Bella (formerly Lingediep), is a general cargo vessel, registered in Delfzijl, Netherlands, having previously been registered in Monrovia. It delivers cargo around northern Africa and Europe to as far north as Oulu, Finland.
Description.
The single-deck ship was built in August 2008, and measures by with a gross tonnage of 5,598. The ship has three holds with a hatch strength of 2.2 t/m2 and tanktop strength of 15 t/m2. Hold 1 measures 15.2 x 18.9 x 11.2 m, hold 2 measures 15.2 x 29.4 x 9.1 m, and hold 3 measures 15.2 x 27.3 x 9.1 m.


List of U.S. flagged cruise ships

List of current U.S. flagged cruise ships and river boats in the United States. Due to the Passenger Vessel Services Act of 1886, these are the only overnight passenger ships currently eligible to sail solely between U.S. ports without the need for a foreign port stopover.
Ships eligible to sail under American flag.
Passenger ships that are U.S. built, that once sailed under the American flag, and would be eligible to return to that status:


Orion-class submarine

The "Orion"-class submarines were a class of two submarines built for the French Navy between 1928 and 1931.
Design.
The "Orion"-class submarines were ordered in 1928 to a Loire-Simonot design. long, with a beam of and a draught of , they could dive up to . The submarines had a surfaced displacement of and a submerged displacement of . Propulsion while surfaced was provided by two diesel engines with a total of and two electric motors with a total of . The submarines' electrical propulsion allowed it to attain speeds of while submerged and on the surface. Their surfaced range was at with a submerged range of at .


SS Cardina

Cardina was a cargo ship built in 1919 by the J. F. Duthie & Company of Seattle. She was one of many ships built by the company for the United States Shipping Board.
Design and construction.
The West ships were cargo ships of similar size and design built by several shipyards on the West Coast of the United States for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) for emergency use during World War I. Most were given names that began with the word West. The ship was laid down as "West Hesperia" (J. F. Duthie & Company yard number 28, USSB hull number 1478) and renamed to "Deuel" after the World War I had come to an end. "Deuel" was launched at the shipyard of J. F. Duthie & Company in Seattle on 27 September 1919 by sponsor Miss Gladys Swalwell, a fiancé of Wallace F. Duthie, son of J. F. Duthie. The ship was named in honor of Deuel County, South Dakota.
As built, the ship was long (between perpendiculars) and abeam, a mean draft of . "Deuel" was assessed at 5,586 GRT, and 8,565 DWT. The vessel had a steel hull, and a single 359 nhp triple-expansion steam engine that drove a single screw propeller, and moved the ship at up to .
Operational history.
"Cardina" was launched as "Deuel" on September 27, 1919 and delivered to the United States Shipping Board on November 11, 1919. She left for her maiden voyage under command of Master William Reed from Seattle on November 17, 1919, with a cargo of steel, cotton, timber and other general cargo and arrived in Yokohama on December 17, 1919. During her first trip, she ran aground about 10 miles northwest of Tokyo Bay in the morning of December 14. Her bow was high on the beach, and the stern almost under the water. After this trip her master was relieved of his duties on April 10, 1920. During 1920–1921 "Deuel" operated the route between the US West Coast, Japan, China, Philippines, Saigon, Singapore, with occasional stops in Honolulu.
In the fall of 1921 "Deuel" was reallocated to a different operator, and moved to East Coast and started operations on Boston, Hamburg, Rotterdam, Antwerp line. On May 20, 1922 she entered Boston shipyard for repairs caused by ice in Hamburg. In November 1922, she was temporarily disabled due to a broken shaft. On July 21, 1923 while in Hamburg, a fire broke in the fire-room bilges, and it took more than two hours to extinguish it.
In August 1926, "Deuel" was sold by the United States Shipping Board to W. R. Grace and Company and renamed "Capac". The ship operated mostly between the US West Coast ports and a number of South American ports. Her engine was refitted to be able to use oil fuel.
"Capac" was acquired by Cardina Steamship Corporation on March 21, 1940 and her home port was moved to Panama City. The ship continued operating between various South American ports and the ports on the East Coast of the US.
Sinking.
On June 15, 1942 SS "Cardina" was en route from Buenos Aires to New York City with a cargo of 7000 tons of linseed in bulk under command of master Einar Falnes. She was unescorted and unarmed and not zigzagging. At 12:45 local time in position , about 500 miles northeast of São Luís, Brazil was torpedoed by the . The first torpedo hit at 12:45 on the portside, at #5 hold. The explosion caused "Cardina" to take an immediate list. The crew abandoned ship a few minutes later, but when it appeared the ship was not sinking, the crew returned to the ship and after a few repairs managed to restart the engines. At about 17:30 the engines were stopped and the crew abandoned ship again. fired another torpedo which struck on the port side tearing a huge hole in the hull. In addition, the sub surfaced and commenced firing her deck gun. Three direct hits were made on the ship's hull.
The ship was abandoned and the Master ordered all boats to head for the Brazilian coast. On June 22, 1942, all boats safely reached São Luís and from there were flown to Belém.


Cachalot-class submarine

The "Cachalot"-class submarines were a pair of medium-sized submarines of the United States Navy built under the tonnage limits of the London Naval Treaty of 1930. They were originally named "V-8" and "V-9", and so were known as "V-boats" even though they were unrelated to the other seven submarines ("V-1" through "V-7") constructed between World War I and World War II. An extensive study was conducted to determine the optimum submarine size under the treaty restrictions, factoring in total force, endurance, and percentage of the force that could be maintained on station far from a base, as in a Pacific war scenario. Joseph W. Paige of the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair (BuC&R) developed the basic design, but the builder, Electric Boat, was responsible for detailed arrangement; this was fairly bold, since EB had not built any new submarines since finishing four obsolescent boats for Peru. The previous V-boats were all built in naval shipyards. "Cuttlefish" was the first submarine built at EB's facility in Groton, Connecticut; construction of previous Electric Boat designs had been subcontracted to other shipyards, notably Fore River Shipbuilding of Quincy, Massachusetts.
Design.
Although externally much like the later "fleet submarines," internally the "Cachalot"s were quite different. Due to pressure from the Submarine Officers Conference, they featured full double hulls adapted from the "Kaiserliche Marine"'s "U-135", direct-drive diesel-electric propulsion systems, a separate crew's mess (reinstated thanks to EB's rearrangement of the internal layout; Portsmouth would follow soon after), and considerable space around the conning tower within the large bridge fairwater (which was drastically cut down in World War II when the 3-inch (76 mm) deck gun was relocated forward of the bridge). The 3-inch gun was selected because it was felt at the time that a larger gun would encourage submarine captains to fight on the surface against superior anti-submarine ships; this remained the standard submarine deck gun until early in World War II, when war experience showed that a larger gun was needed. EB relied on electric welding for the hull, while Portsmouth clung to riveting; during the war, the riveted boats would leak fuel oil.
The as-built engine specifications were two BuEng-built, MAN-designed M9Vu 40/46 nine-cylinder two-cycle direct drive main diesel engines, each, with one BuEng MAN two-cycle auxiliary diesel engine, driving a electrical generator. The auxiliary engine was for charging batteries or for increased surface speed via a diesel-electric system providing power to the main electric motors.
Due to the full double hull design, the external tanks proved too narrow for easy maintenance, and the MAN diesels were a constant headache, demanding re-engining with General Motors-Winton four-cycle 16-258 engines in 1936-38. On the other hand, the class made a major contribution to habitability, when "Cuttlefish" was the first sub fitted with air conditioning, and to effectiveness, being first fitted with the Mark I Torpedo Data Computer (TDC).
Despite the calculation process, size reduction had gone too far with the "Cachalot"s, limiting their patrol endurance. The subsequent "Porpoise" class were about 300 tons larger, and each succeeding class was incrementally larger than its predecessors through the submarines of 1941. After three Pacific war patrols each, the "Cachalot"s were relegated to training duties in September 1942, as numerous "Gato"-class boats became available.


Full City

Full City is a Panama-flagged bulk carrier made infamous by running aground after an engine failure during a storm at the island of Saastein (Såstein) outside Langesund, Telemark, Norway, spilling 700 tons of heavy bunker fuel oil in a sensitive wildlife refuge area on 31 July 2009. "Full City" was built by Hakodate Dockyard Co. Ltd. in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Japan in 1995.
The vessel was pulled off the rocks and first towed to Stathelle, and later to Gothenburg
for full drydock repairs.
On 5 May 2011, as part of NATO's counter-piracy Operation Ocean Shield, the carrier USS "Carl Vinson", the cruiser USS "Bunker Hill", and the Turkish frigate "Giresun" responded to a distress call from "Full City". An Indian Navy Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft located "Full City", and while "Giresun" boarded the merchant vessel, "Bunker Hill" intercepted a dhow believed to be the 'mothership' for the pirate attack. "Bunker Hill"s VBSS boarding party seized weapons and other equipment commonly used in piracy, and the boarding party also sank a small skiff being towed by the dhow. "Giresun"s boarding party found "Full City"s Chinese crew safe and in control of their ship.


Japanese seaplane tender Kamoi

 was an oiler/seaplane tender/flying boat tender of the Imperial Japanese Navy, serving from the 1920s through World War II. She was initially planned in 1920 as one of six of the oilers under the Eight-eight fleet final plan.
Service.
"Kamoi" was completed 12 September 1922, and classified as a special service ship (Oiler). On 27 September she sailed to Yokosuka, from where she sailed to the Japanese mainland and back no fewer than 25 times.
Somewhere around the end of 1932, she was converted to seaplane tender for January 28 Incident at Uraga Dock Company, an overhaul that was finished in February 1933. Upon completion of this evolution, she was assigned to the Combined Fleet.
On 1 June 1934, "Kamoi" was reclassified as a warship (seaplane tender). On 1 June 1936, she was assigned to the Third Carrier Division. While on this assignment, during July 1937, she was assigned to search for downed American aviator Amelia Earhart. However, the order was cancelled before "Kamoi" could start searching.
In 1939, the ship was once again overhauled, and flying boat tending facilities were added. On 15 November 1940, "Kamoi" was reassigned to the 24th Air Flotilla. On 1 December 1941, the 24th Air Flotilla was assigned to the 4th Fleet.
In January 1942, she provided support to the Rabaul and Kavieng invasions. On 1 April 1942, the 24th Air Flotilla was assigned to the 11th Air Fleet. On 1 April 1943, she was assigned to the 3rd Southern Expeditionary Fleet, Southwest Area Fleet. On 28 January 1944, "Kamoi" sustained heavy damage in an attack by the submarine off Makassar. During the resulting repairs at Singapore, her aviation facilities were removed. As such, she was reclassified as a special service ship (oiler) on 15 April 1944. Repairs were completed on 29 August. On 24 September, she was slightly damaged by aircraft of Task Force 38 at Coron Bay. Three days later, she sustained heavy damage in an attack by a United States Navy submarine outside Manila Bay. At some unspecified point afterward, she went into repairs at Yokosuka Naval Arsenal. Repairs were completed on 31 December, at which point she joined the Hi-87 convoy from Moji to Singapore. On 16 January 1945, she was heavily damaged in an air raid on Hong Kong. She was separated from the convoy at this time. On 5 April 1945, with repairs still incomplete, she was once again damaged by air raid, later sinking in shallow water. "Kamoi" was decommissioned on 3 May 1947.
"Kamoi" was scrapped by the British force, but details are unclear.


Damen Stan patrol vessel 4708

The Damen Group shipbuilders, based in the Netherlands, has managed the manufacture of Damen Stan patrol vessel 4708 for South Africa and the United States.
The vessels, like the earlier Damen Stan patrol vessel 4207, are designed for high speed coastal patrols. They can be flexibly configured to serve in a constabulary, environmental protection, or warship role.
According to Sanjay Badri-Maharaj, of the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses, adding more powerful engines, an autocannon, and military class sensor suite to the United States Coast Guard's s boosted its cost per vessel from $20 million USD to $65 million.


SS Arthur M. Hulbert

SS "Arthur M. Hulbert" was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Arthur M. Hulbert, a leader of the 4-H Club in New Jersey.
Construction.
"Arthur M. Hulbert" was laid down on 4 November 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2389, by J.A. Jones Construction, Brunswick, Georgia; she was launched on 6 December 1944.
History.
She was allocated to Alcoa Steamship Co., Inc., on 16 December 1944. On 16 October 1948, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in Beaumont, Texas. On 30 June 1967, she was sold for $45,188.88, to Southern Scrap Materials Co., Ltd., for scrapping. She was removed from the fleet on 19 January 1967.


MSC Danit

MSC Danit is a large container ship. The ship was ordered by Mediterranean Shipping Company S.A. and finished at the beginning of March 2009. The ship was built in Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Ltd, South Korea under yard number 4135, for Dordellas Finance Corp., Panama.
Design.
"MSC Danit" is the relatively new "New Panamax"-sized container ship. The ship has overall length of ; moulded beam of ; maximum draft of ; deadweight of 165,517 metric tons; gross tonnage of 153,092 gross tons; and cargo capacity of 14,000 TEUs.
Daewoo made some innovations in the ship's design, placing the superstructure in the midships and the engine room and funnels in the aft - this gives better stability and lower trim for higher speed, when the ship is fully loaded.
The ship is owned by Dordellas Finance Corp., Panama (Management & Operated by MSC Mediterranean Shipping Co SA, avenue Eugene-Pittard, 40, 1206 Geneva, Switzerland.)
She is the first ship of a class of 23 container ships.
Engine.
The main engine of the container ship is MAN B&W 12K98MC-C with full output power of 72,240 kW. This power is enough for the ship to reach maximum speed of 25 knots.
Christening.
The ship was christened on 26 March, 2009 by the vice-president of Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Ltd, president of MSC Israel, Edni Simkin, and his daughter Danit after whom the ship was named.


CMA CGM Butterfly

CMA CGM Butterfly is one of the largest container ships in the world. It is one of the largest ships in the French company's fleet, built in South Korea. The ship went around Africa (adding seven days to the trip) to avoid a $600,000 toll for the 9,660 TEU ship passing through the Suez Canal. "CMA CGM Butterfly" is one of the last generation of 9,700 teu ships.
"CMA CGM Butterfly" was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries,m completed in 2008. Its total maximum cargo capacity is 9661 TEU. The ship is 337 m in length and has a beam of 42.8 m.
The cargo vessel is powered by Wärtsilä 12RTA96C, a 2 stroke 12 cylinder engine, capable or generating a total power of 68,639 kW (93,322 hp) driving 1 fixed prop propeller.


Japanese cruiser Yakumo

 was an armored cruiser ("Sōkō jun'yōkan") built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) in the late 1890s. As Japan lacked the industrial capacity to build such warships herself, the ship was built in Germany. She participated in most of the naval battles of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, and was lightly damaged during the Battle of the Yellow Sea and the Battle of Tsushima. "Yakumo" saw no combat during World War I and began the first of many training cruises in 1917, although she was not officially reclassified as a training ship until 1931. Her last training cruise was in 1939, but the ship continued to conduct training in home waters throughout the Pacific War. "Yakumo" became a repatriation transport after the war and was broken up in 1946–47.
Background and design.
The 1896 Naval Expansion Plan was made after the First Sino-Japanese War, and included four armored cruisers in addition to four more battleships, all of which had to be ordered from overseas shipyards as Japan lacked the capability to build them itself. Further consideration of the Russian building program caused the IJN to believe that the battleships ordered under the original plan would not be sufficient to counter the Imperial Russian Navy. Budgetary limitations prevented ordering more battleships, and the IJN decided to expand the number of more affordable armored cruisers to be ordered from four to six ships, believing that the recent introduction of tougher Krupp cemented armor would allow them to stand in the line of battle. The revised plan is commonly known as the "Six-Six Fleet". The first four ships were built by Armstrong Whitworth in the United Kingdom, but the last two ships were built in Germany and France. To ensure ammunition compatibility, the IJN required their builders to use the same British guns as the other four ships. In general, the IJN provided only a sketch design and specifications that each builder had to comply with; otherwise each builder was free to build the ships as they saw fit. Unlike most of their contemporaries which were designed for commerce raiding or to defend colonies and trade routes, "Yakumo" and her half-sisters were intended as fleet scouts and to be employed in the battleline.
Description.
The ship was long overall and between perpendiculars. She had a beam of and had an average draft of . "Yakumo" displaced at normal load and at deep load. The ship had a metacentric height of . She had a double bottom and her hull was subdivided into 247 watertight compartments. Her crew consisted of 670 officers and enlisted men.
"Yakumo" had two 4-cylinder triple-expansion steam engines, each driving a single propeller shaft. Steam for the engines was provided by 24 Belleville boilers and the engines were rated at a total of . The ship had a designed speed of and reached during her sea trials from . She carried up to of coal and could steam for at a speed of .
Armament.
The main armament for all of the "Six-Six Fleet" armored cruisers was four Armstrong Whitworth-built 45-caliber eight-inch guns in twin-gun turrets fore and aft of the superstructure. The electrically operated turrets were capable of 130° rotation left and right, and the guns could be elevated to +30° and depressed to −5°. The turret accommodated 65 shells, but could only be reloaded through doors in the turret floor and the ship's deck that allowed the electric winch in the turret to hoist shells up from the shell room deep in the hull. The ship carried a total of 320 eight-inch shells. The guns were manually loaded and had a rate of fire about 1.2 rounds per minute. The 203-millimeter gun fired armor-piercing (AP) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of to a range of .
The secondary armament consisted of a dozen Elswick Ordnance Company "Pattern Z" quick-firing (QF), 40-caliber, 6-inch guns. Only four of these guns were not mounted in armored casemates on the main and upper decks, and their mounts on the upper deck were protected by gun shields. Their AP shells were fired at a muzzle velocity of . The guns were provided with 150 rounds each. "Yakumo" was also equipped with a dozen 40-caliber QF 12-pounder 12-cwt guns and eight QF 2.5-pounder Yamauchi guns as close-range defense against torpedo boats. The former gun fired , projectiles at a muzzle velocity of .
"Yakumo" was equipped with five torpedo tubes, one above water in the bow and four submerged tubes, two on each broadside. The Type 30 torpedo had a warhead and three range/speed settings: at , at or at .
Armor.
All of the "Six-Six Fleet" armored cruisers used the same armor scheme with some minor differences, one of which was that the four later ships all used Krupp cemented armor. The waterline belt ran the full length of the ship and its thickness varied from amidships to at the bow and stern. It had a height of , of which was normally underwater. The upper strake of belt armor was thick and extended from the upper edge of the waterline belt to the main deck. It extended from the forward to the rear barbette. "Yakumo" had only a single transverse 127 mm armored bulkhead that closed off the forward end of the central armored citadel.
The barbettes, gun turrets and the front of the casemates were all 152 millimeters thick while the sides and rear of the casemates were protected by of armor. The deck was thick and the armor protecting the conning tower was in thickness.
Construction and career.
"Yakumo", named from a stanza of the "waka" poem by Susanoo in the Japanese mythology, was ordered on 1 September 1897 and laid down a year later by AG Vulcan Stettin in Stettin, Germany. The ship was launched on 8 July 1899 and completed on 20 June 1900. She departed Stettin two days later and arrived in Yokosuka, Japan, on 30 August.
Russo-Japanese War.
At the start of the Russo-Japanese War, "Yakumo" was assigned to the 2nd Division of the 2nd Fleet. She participated in the Battle of Port Arthur on 9 February 1904, when Vice Admiral Tōgō Heihachirō led the Combined Fleet in an attack on the Russian ships of the Pacific Squadron anchored just outside Port Arthur. Tōgō had expected the surprise night attack by his destroyers to be much more successful than it was, anticipating that the Russians would be badly disorganized and weakened, but they had recovered from their surprise and were ready for his attack. The Japanese ships were spotted by the protected cruiser , which was patrolling offshore and alerted the Russians. Tōgō chose to attack the Russian coastal defenses with his main armament and engage the ships with his secondary guns. Splitting his fire proved to be a poor decision as the Japanese eight- and six-inch guns inflicted little damage on the Russian ships, which concentrated all their fire on the Japanese ships with some effect. Although many ships on both sides were hit, Russian casualties numbered some 150, while the Japanese suffered roughly 90 killed and wounded before Tōgō disengaged. "Yakumo" was not hit during the engagement, although she did hit the protected cruiser one time with an eight-inch shell.
In early March, Vice Admiral Kamimura Hikonojō was tasked to take the reinforced 2nd Division north and make a diversion off Vladivostok. While scouting for Russian ships in the area, the Japanese cruisers bombarded the harbor and defenses of Vladivostok on 6 March to little effect. Upon their return to Japan a few days later, the 2nd Division was ordered to escort the transports ferrying the Imperial Guards Division to Korea and then to join the ships blockading Port Arthur. "Yakumo" was then transferred to Rear Admiral Dewa Shigetō's 3rd Division. On 23 June, the ship was Dewa's flagship when the Pacific Squadron sortied in an abortive attempt to reach Vladivostok, but the new squadron commander, Rear Admiral Wilgelm Vitgeft, ordered the squadron to return to Port Arthur when it encountered the Japanese battleline shortly before sunset, as he did not wish to engage his numerically superior opponents in a night battle.
Battle of the Yellow Sea.
On the morning of 10 August 1904, Dewa's cruisers were over south of Tōgō's 1st Division when the Russians sortied from Port Arthur in another attempt to reach Vladivostok. In the early stages of the battle, Dewa attempted to engage the Russian cruisers trailing the battleships in accordance with Tōgō's standing orders, but was rebuffed by fire from the battleships. As Dewa closed with the Russians later in the afternoon in another attempt to attack the Russian cruisers, a shell struck "Yakumo" amidships at 15:40, killing 12 and wounding 11. The range at this time exceeded , beyond the range of any gun in his squadron, so Dewa ordered his ships to disengage. By 17:45, "Yakumo" had maneuvered to about from the damaged Russian battleship "Poltava" and opened fire. "Yakumo" continued to close until the Russian squadron was thrown into confusion by the death of Vitgeft around 18:40.
The 3rd Division then followed Tōgō's ships as they circled the Russian ships while they sorted themselves out, now firing at the Russian cruisers with little effect, until Tōgō ordered Dewa to attack the Russian destroyers at about 19:44. Dewa cancelled that last order and turned south around 20:00 in pursuit of several Russian cruisers that were fleeing to the south, in an attempt to intercept them before they reached the isolated flotillas of destroyers and torpedo boats. The Russian ships were engaged by other Japanese cruisers before they could reach the small ships, and Dewa broke off the pursuit around 20:25 as light was fading. He continued south-eastwards overnight and spotted one cruiser and two destroyers, but was unable to catch any of them. On 14 August, "Yakumo" and the 3rd Division was ordered to Tsingtao to confirm that the Germans had indeed interned the battleship and three destroyers that had taken shelter there after the battle. After their return, they were reassigned to the blockade of Port Arthur.
In mid-September, "Yakumo" was transferred back to Kamimura's 2nd Division, which was defending the Strait of Tsushima, although she began a refit at the end of the month. The ship returned to Dewa on 15 November and he transferred his flag back to her. On 13 December, the ship attempted to rescue survivors of the after she had struck a mine, but found no one still living. "Yakumo" was sent to Sasebo Naval Arsenal for another refit five days later. On 1 February 1905, the ship was ordered to join Rear Admiral Shimamura Hayao's 2nd Division blockading Vladivostok, although this only lasted for a few weeks as she was ordered to Kure Naval Arsenal for a final refit in mid-February before the anticipated battle with the Russian ships sent from the Baltic Fleet.
Battle of Tsushima.
As the Russian 2nd and 3rd Pacific Squadrons approached Japan on 27 May, having sailed from the Baltic Sea, "Yakumo" was assigned to Kamimura's 2nd Division of the 2nd Fleet. The Russians were spotted by patrolling Japanese ships early that morning, but visibility was limited and radio reception poor. The preliminary reports were enough to cause Tōgō to order his ships to put to sea and the 2nd Division spotted the Russian ships under the command of Vice Admiral Zinovy Rozhestvensky at around 11:30. Kamimura closed to about a range of 8000 meters before sheering off under fire to join Tōgō's battleships. "Yakumo" was fourth of six when Tōgō opened fire on the 2nd Pacific Squadron at 14:10 and, like most of the ships in the division, engaged the battleship which was forced to fall out of formation at 14:50 and sank 20 minutes later. By this time the Russian formation was in disorder and the battleship suddenly appeared out of the mist at 15:35 at a range of about . All of Kamimura's ships engaged her for five minutes or so, with "Yakumo" and the armored cruiser also firing torpedoes at the Russian ship without effect.
After 17:30 Kamimura led his division in a fruitless pursuit of some of the Russian cruisers, leaving Tōgō's battleships to their own devices. He abandoned his chase around 18:03 and turned northwards to rejoin Tōgō. His ships spotted the rear of the Russian battleline around 18:30 and opened fire when the range closed to 8000–9000 meters. Nothing is known of any effect on the Russians, and they ceased fire by 19:30 and rejoined Tōgō at 20:08 as night was falling. The surviving Russian ships were spotted the next morning and the Japanese ships opened fire around 10:30, staying beyond the range at which the Russian ships could effectively reply. Rear Admiral Nikolai Nebogatov therefore decided to surrender his ships, as he could neither return fire nor close the range.
In the meantime, the coast defense ship had fallen well behind Nebogatov's ships and was spotted by the protected cruiser early in the morning, but the Japanese were more intent on locating the main body of the Russian fleet than attacking a single isolated ship. "Admiral Ushakov" was then spotted at 14:10, well after Nebogatov's surrender, by Shimamura who received permission to pursue her with his flagship, the armored cruiser , and "Yakumo". They caught up with the Russian ship at 17:00 and demanded her surrender. "Admiral Ushakov" attempted to close the range to bring the Japanese cruisers within range of her guns, but they were fast enough to keep the range open and the Russian ship never hit either one. After about half an hour, "Admiral Ushakov" was listing heavily enough that her guns could not elevate enough to bear, and her commander ordered his crew to abandon ship and the scuttling charges detonated. The ship sank in three minutes and 12 officers and 327 crewmen were rescued by the Japanese. Between them, "Yakumo" and "Iwate" fired 89 eight- and 278 six-inch shells during the engagement. Over the course of the entire battle, "Yakumo" was struck by a single twelve-inch shell and six others, of which three or four were six inches in size. They inflicted only minor damage.
On 14 June, "Yakumo" was assigned as the flagship of Vice Admiral Kataoka Shichirō, commander of the 3rd Fleet, as part of the operation to capture the island of Sakhalin in July.
World War I.
In November 1914, "Yakumo" was deployed to Singapore preparatory to searching for the German commerce raider , but the ship was sunk before the mission began. "Yakumo" served as the flagship of Destroyer Squadron ("Suiraisentai") 2 from 13 December 1915 to 1 December 1916 and then of "Suiraisentai" 1 from 1 to 12 December. In February 1917, the ship began patrolling the South Pacific and Indian Oceans, searching for German commerce raiders. She began the first of her many training cruises on 5 April when she departed for North America and Hawaii, before arriving back in Japan on 17 August. In October 1918, Kichisaburō Nomura was appointed captain of "Yakumo" for two months, only one of which he spent on board the vessel, as a political appointment to qualify Nomura for flag rank.
Interwar years.
On 1 September 1921, "Yakumo" was re-designated as a 1st class coast-defense ship and used primarily for training duties in long-distance oceanic navigation and officer training for cadets in the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy. In this capacity, she participated in 13 more voyages in the 1920s and 1930s to Europe, North and South America, and the South Pacific, including a circumnavigation of the globe from August 1921 to April 1922, in company with the armored cruiser . Two of the naval cadets that participated in this cruise were Princes Kuni Asaakira and Kachō Hirotada.
In 1924, four of "Yakumo"s 12-pounder guns were removed, as were all of her QF 2.5-pounder guns, and a single 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type anti-aircraft gun was added. In addition three of her torpedo tubes were removed. Three years later, her boilers were replaced by six Yarrow boilers, formerly from the battleship , which reduced her power to and maximum speed to . These boilers used a mix of coal and fuel oil, and the ship now carried a total of of coal and of oil.
During a visit to Tsingtao in 1932, "Yakumo" and "Izumo" had to land marines on 13 January to quell a riot by Japanese residents there. The following year, the ship was reclassified as a training ship. On 6 November 1936, between the islands of Saipan and Truk, an accidental explosion in her front magazine killed four crewmen and flooded her front food locker. Repairs were made underway and "Yakumo" arrived home two weeks later. A month after her return, in December 1936, Captain Matome Ugaki assumed command of "Yakumo" until he took command of the battleship the next year. Her last training cruise ended on 20 November 1939.
World War II.
After the start of the Pacific War, "Yakumo" was reclassified as a 1st class cruiser on 1 July 1942, and her eight-inch guns were replaced by four Type 89 dual-purpose guns in two twin mounts. In addition her light anti-aircraft armament was augmented. However, "Yakumo" remained within the confines of the Seto Inland Sea throughout the war as she was assigned to training duties, and was not used in any combat operations. She was stricken from the navy list on 1 October 1945. "Yakumo" began service as a repatriation transport on 7 December. Her mission was to return troops and civilians to the home islands from Japan's former overseas possessions, primarily from Taiwan and mainland China. She completed her last voyage in June 1946, repatriating a total of 9,010 people. "Yakumo" arrived at the Maizuru shipyard of Hitachi Shipbuilding & Engineering on 20 July 1946 to begin demolition that lasted until 1 April 1947.


USS Basilan

USS "Basilan" (AG-68/ARG-12) was a "Basilan"-class miscellaneous auxiliary acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. The ship was designed as a combined barracks-stores-water distillation ship, but was later converted to an electronics repair ship. She spent her Navy career in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations.
Liberty ship built in New Orleans, Louisiana.
"Basilan" (ARG 12) originally projected as the EC-2 "Liberty Ship" "Jacques Phillipe Villere"—was laid down on 5 February 1944 at New Orleans, Louisiana, by the Delta Shipbuilding Corporation. under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract (MCE hull 2460); redesignated as a miscellaneous auxiliary, "AG-68", on 14 March 1944, and allocated for conversion in response to the urgent need for self-propelled special barracks-stores ships; launched on 21 March 1944; and sponsored by Mrs. Percy H. Brown.
Delivered to the Navy on 21 April 1944, "Basilan" was placed in reduced commission that same day for the voyage from New Orleans to Mobile, Alabama. Placed out of commission at the latter port on 24 April 1944, she underwent conversion for her new role as a combined barracks-stores-distilling ship by the Waterman Steamship Company; and was recommissioned at Mobile on 10 October 1944, Lt. Comdr. Lawrence A. Parks, USNR, in command.
World War II service.
East coast operations.
Ordered to proceed to Pilottown, Louisiana, on 21 October, "Basilan" departed as directed and there joined convoy HK-293 on 22 October. She reached Key West, Florida, on 25 October, joining convoy KN-346 later the same day and proceeding thence to Norfolk, Virginia. Anchoring in Hampton Roads on 31 October, the ship moved into Chesapeake Bay the following morning.
After shakedown training, "Basilan" entered drydock to undergo repairs and the installation of her evaporators at the Norfolk Navy Yard from 5 to 25 November, after which time she shifted to the Naval Operating Base (NOB), Norfolk, to load supplies.
Underway on the morning of 4 December, "Basilan" proceeded independently to New York City, arriving at her destination the following afternoon. Proceeding thence in convoy on the afternoon of 7 December, she arrived at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on the morning of the 14th. She sailed on the afternoon of 15 December in convoy GZ-109 for Panama, reaching the Panama Canal and commencing her transit of the isthmian waterway on the morning of 19 December.
Drydocked that same afternoon at Balboa, Panama Canal Zone, for the complete realignment of her engine crankshaft, "Basilan" underwent repairs into the new year 1945.
Pacific theatre operations.
After her main engine broke down during the post-repair trials on 15 January 1945, she was towed back to Balboa for additional work that lasted over almost a fortnight. Following a successful post-repair trial run, "Basilan" shaped a course, proceeding independently, for Pearl Harbor on 27 January.
Three-quarters of an hour into the afternoon watch on 1 February, however, she received dispatch orders re-directing her to San Francisco, California, for reconversion to an "electronic repair and staff maintenance ship." She reached the Bethlehem Steel Company's shipyard at San Francisco on 12 February. Shifting to the Naval Supply Depot to unload stores two days later, she returned to Bethlehem Steel's yard on 20 February. She remained there, undergoing conversion for her new role, through the end of March 1945.
Underway for the Western Caroline Islands on 1 April, "Basilan" arrived at Ulithi Atoll on the 24th, reporting for duty with Service Squadron (ServRon) 10 and assignment to work in conjunction with "Jason" (ARH-1). The skilled artificers of "Basilan's" ship repair unit (SRU) worked alongside those of "Jason" and under the direction of the latter's repair officer. Simultaneously, the workload of "installing, maintaining and repairing electronic equipment" kept "Basilan's" electronic repair force busy.
The advent of the typhoon season made it imperative to shift ServRon 10's principal base of operations from the Western Carolines to the Philippine Islands. With the selection of San Pedro Bay, Leyte Gulf, as the base site, the movement toward Leyte began on 7 May. "Basilan" sailed with the fourth increment of ServRon 10 on 20 May, and reached her destination on 25 May. ServRon 10's maintenance staff (later designated as Service Division 101, Maintenance) reported on board on 28 May.
"Basilan" carried out her support mission in Philippine waters as the Pacific War progressed to its victorious conclusion that summer. During her time in Leyte Gulf, again working with "Jason", she also provided important services in conjunction with the modern repair ship "Ajax" (AR-6) and the veterans "Vulcan" (AR-5) and "Prometheus" (AR-3). "Basilan's" "skilled workmen in (the ship's) SRU and electronic repair forces," her chronicler noted modestly, performed "commendable work on such ships as the "Missouri" (BB-63), "Bennington" (CV-20), "Randolph" (CV-15), "Essex" (CV-9), and others…
"Her unique equipment also enabled her to fulfill another key sustaining role in supporting the forces afloat. "Due to our large evaporator capacity," her historian later wrote, "we were able to issue water to many of the LCIs (infantry landing craft), LCS's (support landing craft) and other small craft."
End-of-war operations.
On 13 September, "Basilan" stood out of Leyte Gulf, bound for Jinsen (later Inchon), Korea, to participate in the occupation of that former Japanese territory, briefly retracing her course in response to warnings of two typhoons crossing her proposed course.
Earmarked for disposal on 21 September, the ship nevertheless remained on occupation duty, first at Jinsen and later at Shanghai, China, into the late autumn of 1945. "Basilan" concluded her occupation work on 2 December, when she sailed from Shanghai, bound for Pearl Harbor, arriving at her destination on Christmas Day 1945. She sailed for the Pacific Northwest two days later.
Reaching Seattle, Washington, on 6 January 1946, "Basilan" began pre-inactivation overhaul soon thereafter. Before stripping could be completed, however, on 22 February the ship received orders to report to Commandant, 14th Naval District, for berthing and eventual assignment to Joint Task Force (JTF) 1 being constituted to take part in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll (Operation Crossroads). On 25 February, the ship departed for Pearl Harbor, and reached her destination on 8 March.
Post-war decommissioning.
Decommissioned at Pearl on 22 April 1946, "Basilan", never ultimately employed in Crossroads, remained in Hawaiian waters until 30 March 1947, when she sailed, in tow of tug "VO-69", and in company with the fleet tug "Abnaki" (ATF-96) and five other small tugs and their tows, for San Francisco, California.
Reaching Drake's Bay on 15 April, she was turned over, having been stripped, to the U.S. Maritime Commission on 14 May. Her name was stricken from the Naval Register on 28 May 1947, and the ship remained in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Suisun Bay, California, until 12 June 1972 when she was sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc., for scrapping.


Tembek

Tembek a Q-Flex ship is the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier to berth at Milford Haven
at the South Hook LNG terminal.
Technical dates.
The auxiliary boilers EB150120 and MB0106DS08 were designed and manufactured by Kangrim. The emergency diesel generator power unit (KTA38-D(M)) was produced by Cummins Inc.
The five main generator engines (7L32/40) were of MAN Diesel SE manufacture.
The two main propulsion engines are diesel (6S70ME-C) and were supplied by MAN B&W.
The two propellers are mono-block and were supplied by MMG (Mecklenburger Metallguss).
Speed recorded (Max / Average) 20.4 / 18.4 knots


Protected cruiser

Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers resemble armored cruisers, which had in addition a belt of armour along the sides.
Evolution.
From the late 1850s, navies began to replace their fleets of wooden ships-of-the-line with armoured ironclad warships. However, the frigates and sloops which performed the missions of scouting, commerce raiding and trade protection remained unarmoured. For several decades, it proved difficult to design a ship which had a meaningful amount of protective armour but at the same time maintained the speed and range required of a "cruising warship". The first attempts to do so, armored cruisers like , proved unsatisfactory, generally lacking enough speed for their cruiser role.
During the 1870s the increasing power of armour-piercing shells made armouring the sides of a ship more and more difficult, as very thick, heavy armour plates were required. Even if armour dominated the design of the ship, it was likely that the next generation of shells would be able to pierce such armour. The alternative was to leave the sides of the ship vulnerable, but to armour a deck just below the waterline. Since this deck would only be struck very obliquely by shells, it could be less thick and heavy than belt armour. The ship could be designed so that the engines, boilers and magazines were under the armoured deck, and with enough displacement to keep the ship afloat and stable even in the event of damage. Cruisers with armoured decks and no side armour became known as "protected cruisers", and eclipsed the armoured cruisers in popularity in the 1880s and into the 1890s.
HMS "Shannon" was the first warship to incorporate an armoured deck; hers stretched forward from the armoured citadel to the bow. However, "Shannon" principally relied on her vertical citadel armour for protection. By the end of the 1870s ships could be found with full-length armoured decks and little or no side armour. The Italian of very fast battleships had armoured decks and guns but no side armour. The British used a full-length armoured deck in their of corvettes started in 1878; however the "Comus" class were designed for colonial service and were only capable of a speed, not fast enough for commerce protection or for fleet duties.
The breakthrough in protected-cruiser design came with the Chilean cruiser , designed and built by the British firm Armstrong at their Elswick yard. "Esmeralda" had a high speed of (dispensing entirely with sails), and an armament of two and six guns. Her protection scheme, inspired by the "Italia" class, included a full-length protected deck up to thick, and a cork-filled cofferdam along her sides. "Esmeralda" set the tone for cruiser construction for the years to come, with "Elswick cruisers" on a similar design being constructed for Italy, China, Japan, Argentina, Austria and the United States.
The French Navy adopted the protected-cruiser concept wholeheartedly in the 1880s. The "Jeune École" school of thought, which proposed a navy composed of fast cruisers for commerce raiding and torpedo boats for coastal defence, became particularly influential in France. The first French protected cruiser was , laid down in 1882, and followed by six classes of protected cruiser – and no armoured cruisers.
The Royal Navy remained equivocal about which protection scheme to use until 1887. The large , begun in 1881 and finished in 1886, were built as armoured cruisers but were often referred to as protected cruisers. While they carried an armoured belt some 10 in thick, the belt only covered of the length of the ship, and the belt was also submerged below the waterline at full load. The real protection of the class came from the armoured deck thick, and the arrangement of coal bunkers to prevent flooding. These ships were also the last armoured cruisers to be designed with sails. However, on trials it became clear that the masts and sails did more harm than good. The masts, sails and rigging were removed and replaced with a single military mast with machine-guns.
The next class of small cruisers in the Royal Navy, the , were protected cruisers, but the Royal Navy returned to the armoured cruiser with the , begun in 1885 and completed in 1889. However, in 1887 an assessment of the "Orlando" type judged them inferior to the protected cruisers and thereafter the Royal Navy only built protected cruisers, even for very large first-class cruiser designs, returning to armoured cruisers only in the late 1890s with the , laid down in 1898.
The sole major naval power to retain a preference for armoured cruisers during the 1880s was Russia. The Imperial Russian Navy laid down four armoured cruisers and one protected cruiser during the decade, all large ships with sails.
Around 1910, armour plate began to increase in quality and steam-turbine engines, lighter and more powerful than previous reciprocating engines, came into use. Existing protected cruisers became obsolete as they were slower and less well protected than new ships. Oil-fired boilers were introduced, making side bunkers of coal unnecessary but losing the protection they afforded. Protected cruisers were replaced by "light armoured cruisers" with a side armoured belt and armoured decks instead of the single deck, later developed into heavy cruisers.
Protected cruisers in service.
United States.
The first protected cruiser of the United States Navy's "New Navy" was , launched in October 1884, soon followed by in December, and a year later. A numbered series of cruisers began with "Newark" (Cruiser No. 1), although "Charleston" (Cruiser No. 2) was the first to be launched, in July 1888, and ending with another "Charleston", Cruiser No. 22, launched in 1904. The last survivor of this series is , preserved as a museum ship in Philadelphia.
The reclassification of 17 July 1920 put an end to the U.S. usage of the term "protected cruiser", the existing ships designated as plain "cruisers" with new numbers (so that the armored cruisers could retain their numbers unchanged).
Austria-Hungary.
The Austro-Hungarian Navy built and operated two classes of protected cruisers. These were two ships of the and three of the .
Britain.
The Royal Navy rated cruisers as first, second and third class between the late 1880s and 1905, and built large numbers of them for trade protection requirements. For most of this time these cruisers were built with a "protected", rather than armoured, scheme of protection for their hulls. First class protected cruisers were as large and as well-armed as armoured cruisers, and were built as an alternative to the large first class armoured cruiser from the late 1880s till 1898. Second class protected cruisers were smaller, displacing and were of value both in trade protection duties and scouting for the fleet. Third class cruisers were smaller, lacked a watertight double bottom, and were intended primarily for trade protection duties, though a few small cruisers were built for fleet scout roles or as "torpedo" cruisers during the "protected" era.
The introduction of Krupp armour in six inch thickness rendered the "armoured" protection scheme more effective for the largest first class cruisers, and no large first class protected cruisers were built after 1898. The smaller cruisers, unable to bear the weight of heavy armoured belts retained the "protected" scheme up to 1905, when the last units of the and es were completed. There was a general hiatus in British cruiser production after this time, apart from a few classes of small, fast scout cruisers for fleet duties. When the Royal Navy began building larger cruisers (less than ) again around 1910, they used a mix of armoured decks and/or armoured belts for protection, depending on class. These modern, turbine powered cruisers are properly classified as light cruisers.
France.
The French Navy built and operated a series large variety of protected cruisers classes starting with in 1882. The last ship built to this design was in 1897.
Germany.
The German Imperial Navy ("Kaiserliche Marine") built a series of protected cruisers in the 1880s and 1890s, starting with the two ships of the in the 1880s. The Navy only completed two additional classes of protected cruisers, comprising six more ships: the unique , and the five ships. The type then was superseded by the armored cruiser at the turn of the century, the first of which being . All of these ships tended to incorporate design elements from their foreign contemporaries, though the "Victoria Louise" class more closely resembled German battleships of the period, which carried lighter main guns and a greater number of secondary guns.
These ships were employed as fleet scouts and colonial cruisers. Several of the ships served with the German East Asia Squadron, and , , and took part in the Battle of Taku Forts in 1900 during the Boxer Rebellion. During a deployment to American waters in 1902, participated in the Venezuelan crisis of 1902–1903, where she bombarded Fort San Carlos. Long since obsolete by the outbreak of World War I, the five "Victoria Louise"-class vessels briefly served as training ships in the Baltic but were withdrawn by the end of 1914 for secondary duties. "Kaiserin Augusta" and the two "Irene"-class cruisers similarly served in reduced capacities for the duration of the war. All eight ships were broken up for scrap following Germany's defeat.
Italy.
The Italian "Regia Marina" (Royal Navy) ordered twenty protected cruisers between the 1880s and 1910s. The first five ships, and the , were built as "battleship destroyers", armed with a pair of large caliber guns. Subsequent cruisers were more traditional designs, and were instead intended for reconnaissance and colonial duties. Some of the ships, like and the , were designed specifically for service in Italy's colonial empire, while others, like and the , were designed as high speed fleet scouts.
Most of these ships saw action during the Italo-Turkish War of 1911–1912, where several of them supported Italian troops fighting in Libya, and another group operated in the Red Sea. There, the cruiser and two destroyers sank or destroyed seven Ottoman gunboats in the Battle of Kunfuda Bay in January 1912. Most of the earlier cruisers were obsolescent by the outbreak of World War I, and so had either been sold for scrap or reduced to subsidiary roles. The most modern vessels, including "Quarto" and the "Nino Bixio" class, saw limited action in the Adriatic Sea after Italy entered the war in 1915. The surviving vessels continued on in service through the 1920s, with some—"Quarto", , and , remaining on active duty into the late 1930s.
The Netherlands.
The Royal Netherlands Navy built several protected cruisers between 1880 and 1900. The first protected cruiser was launched in 1890 and called . It was a small cruiser with a heavy main gun; four years later a larger and more heavily armed protected cruiser was commissioned, which was called . In addition to these two cruisers, the Dutch also built six protected cruisers of the . The "Holland"-class cruisers were commissioned between 1898 and 1901, and featured, besides other armaments, two 15 cm SK L/40 single naval guns.
The Dutch protected cruisers have played a role in several international events. For example, during the Boxer Rebellion two protected cruisers ( and "Koningin Wilhelmina der Nederlanden") were sent to Shanghai to protect European citizens and defend Dutch interests.
Russia.
The Imperial Russian Navy operated a series of protected cruisers classes. The last ships built to this design where the in 1901.
Spain.
The Spanish Navy operated a series of protected cruisers classes starting with . The last ship built to this design was in 1899.
Surviving examples.
A few protected cruisers have survived as museum ships:


SS Edward R. Squibb

SS "Edward R. Squibb" was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Edward R. Squibb, a US Navy surgeon, and founder of E. R. Squibb and Sons.
Construction.
"Edward R. Squibb" was laid down on 6 October 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2384, by J.A. Jones Construction, Brunswick, Georgia; she was sponsored by Mrs. Paul Jones, daughter-in-law of James Addison Jones, and launched on 9 November 1944.
History.
She was allocated to India Steamship Co., on 21 November 1944. On 30 October 1948, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in Beaumont, Texas. On 13 April 1971, she was sold for $40,100, to Luria Brothers & Co., Inc., for scrapping. She was removed from the fleet on 11 May 1971.


Dunay-class motorship

"Dunay "class is a class of Russian river passenger ships. It is named after Danube River.
Two-deck cargo-passenger ships built in Hungary, 1959–1964.


USS Richland (YFD-64)

USS "Richland" (YFD-64/AFDM-8) was an "AFDM-3"-class medium auxiliary floating drydock built in California for the U.S. Navy. Originally named USS "YFD-64", she was towed to the Philippines and Guam where she served until war's end.
In 1946 she was placed back into service to support submarine maintenance at Guam for the next forty years.
History.
United States Navy.
Construction.
The second ship to be so named by the Navy, "Richland" (AFDM-8) was built by the Chicago Building & Iron Co., Eureka, California, and commissioned as "YFD-64" on 28 November 1944.
World War II.
Drydock "YFD-64" remained on the west coast until 15 December 1944 when she was towed to Pearl Harbor. On 25 January 1945 she was towed into Eniwetok and then on to Ulithi. She was next towed to San Pedro Bay where she worked until November when she was towed to Guam. She decommissioned there on 8 June 1946.
Post-war reactivation and service.
"YFD-64" was redesignated "AFDM-8" on 1 August 1946, placed in service at Guam on 1 January 1947. The floating drydock supported Fleet Ballistic Missile submarine maintenance at Guam for over forty years. She was named "Richland" on 6 April 1968.
Dispositioning at end of service.
The drydock was struck from the Navy List on 22 August 1997 and transferred to the local redevelopment authority in Guam on 6 April 1999.
Transfer to the Philippines.
After its service with the U.S. Navy, Richland became an asset owned by Guam Shipyard. The drydock was reportedly bought from Guam Shipyard in January 2016 to an undisclosed buyer. Richland was then moved to the Philippines. On January 28, 2016, local tugboats and the 467-ton Philippine tug Rhocas began moving the drydock an operation that would take several days.
It was later reported that Philippine maritime service provider Harbor Star Shipping Services bought the floating drydock, and was also providing the towing from Guam to the Philippines.
October 2017
Currently waiting for repair, in RRYD, yacht and ship repair, AFAB, Mariveles, Bataan. Coincidentally is same location for the Zero KM Bataan Death March Marker
Honors and awards.
Qualified "Richland" personnel were eligible for the following:


CMA CGM Christophe Colomb

CMA CGM Christophe Colomb is an built for CMA CGM. It is named after Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. When delivered in November 2009, it was the largest container ship which carried passengers.


Volga-class motorship

The "Volga" class is a class of Russian river passenger ships. It is named after the first ship in the class "Volga", which in her turn was named after Volga River.
Three deck cruise ships built by Österreichische Schiffswerften AG at their shipyard in Korneuburg, Austria in 1970.


Of Course I Still Love You


SS City of Washington


STV Royston Grange

STV "Royston Grange" was a Houlder Line refrigerated cargo liner steamship that was built in England in 1959. In 1972 she collided with the tanker "Tien Chee" in the Río de la Plata. The resulting fire killed all 74 people aboard "Royston Grange" and eight people aboard "Tien Chee". "Royston Grange"s burnt-out hulk was scrapped in Spain in 1979.
Royston or Roystone Grange is an 18th-century farmstead next to the site of a medieval monastic grange at Ballidon in Derbyshire, England. Houlder Line had named ships after several English granges, including Royston, since the 1890s. This ship was the company's fifth and last "Royston Grange".
Building.
Hawthorn Leslie (Shipbuilders) Ltd. built "Royston Grange" in 1959, launching her on 23 June and completing her that December. She was long, her beam was and her depth was . She had a single screw, driven by two steam turbines via reduction gearing. Between them the two turbines developed 8,500 shp and gave her a speed of .
"Royston Grange"s holds were refrigerated to carry perishable cargo such as meat and dairy products. Her refrigeration system was electrically powered and its refrigerant was freon gas. Her refrigeration room was at the starboard side of her engine room. The gas was compressed, then cooled and injected into a large evaporation cylinder which then supercooled brine that was circulated through the evaporator. The supercooled brine was pumped at three temperature levels to the various cargo holds where the brine circulated through fan blown radiators to cool the cargo.
"Royston Grange"s superstructure was in two separate parts. Her bridge was amidships, above accommodation for her deck officers and 12 passengers. Accommodation for her crew and engineering officers was slightly aft, and also included her four lifeboats. The hatch to one of her holds separated the two parts of her accommodation. Such a division of the superstructure was not unique for ships of her era, e.g. Royal Mail Lines' and "Three Graces" "Amazon" (1959), "Aragon" (1959) and "Arlanza" (1960). But it was very unusual for a Houlder Line ship.
Hawthorn Leslie built a sister ship and running mate, "Hardwicke Grange". She was launched on 21 October 1960 and completed in March 1961. The two sisters carried chilled and frozen produce from the River Plate ports of Argentina and Uruguay to London, Liverpool and ports in the Bristol Channel.
Collision and disaster.
In May 1972 "Royston Grange" loaded a cargo of chilled and frozen beef and butter in Buenos Aires. She embarked 12 passengers, including six women and a five-year-old child, and left port bound for London. At 0540 hrs on 11 May "Royston Grange" was in the Punta Indio Channel, off Montevideo, Uruguay, under the direction of an Argentine maritime pilot, in dense fog.
Also in the Punta Indio channel, inbound to the River Plate, was the Liberian-registered tanker "Tien Chee" carrying 20,000 tons of crude oil. "Tien Chee" was also under the direction of an Argentine pilot.
According to maritime rules, the two ships should have passed each other's port sides. But "Royston Grange"s bow struck "Tien Chee"s port side, rupturing the tanker's number seven wing tank. "Tien Chee"s cargo caught fire, which almost instantly spread to "Royston Grange", and the butter in the latter's cargo contributed to the intensity of the fire. The collision also ruptured "Royston Grange"s refrigeration tanks.
"Royston Grange"s passengers and many of her crew would have been asleep. The effects of the fire killed all 61 of her crew, all 12 passengers and her Argentine pilot, and also eight Chinese members of "Tien Chee"s crew. Argentine Naval Prefecture cutters rescued from "Tien Chee" 32 surviving members of her crew and her Argentine pilot. All complement and passengers in "Royston Grange" were British nationals, exception made of a Dutch boatswain and an American able seaman from the crew, an Australian, a New Zealander, two Germans and two Argentine passengers.
The collision swung "Tien Chee" across the channel, grounding her and blocking all traffic in or out of Buenos Aires. Uruguayan tugs with water hoses doused the fire aboard both ships.
Aftermath.
Houlder Line flew 130 relatives of the victims to Uruguay for a mass funeral of the victims. On 20 May 1972 their remains, mostly little more than ashes and charred bones, were buried in six urns in two communal graves in The British Cemetery Montevideo.
The funeral was followed by a memorial service in London on 8 June at the parish church of All Hallows-by-the-Tower. One of the windows of All Hallows now includes a stained glass panel commemorating all who died aboard "Royston Grange".
"Royston Grange" was initially towed to Montevideo. In March 1974 she was towed to Barcelona, where her scrapping began on 20 May 1979. "Tien Chee" was scrapped at Buenos Aires in August 1976.
Investigations.
Argentina, Liberia and the United Kingdom all investigated the disaster. Argentina initially detained "Tien Chee"s master, pending the outcome of its investigation.
The Liberian inquiry concluded that "Tien Chee"s Master and pilot, in an attempt to get enough water for her deep draught, had probably navigated too far to the south side of the channel, forcing "Royston Grange" farther south onto the shelf that formed its southern boundary. The bank deflected "Royston Grange", causing her to shear to port and strike "Tien Chee".
The officers of "Royston Grange", it concluded, were probably not to blame, although there may have been some human error in trying to avoid the collision. The master and pilot of "Tien Chee" probably should not have entered the channel in the first place in the tidal conditions prevailing at the time. The report severely criticised the lack of maintenance of the channel.
In 1972 the United Kingdom held a preliminary inquiry under the Merchant Shipping Act 1894. In 1973 the UK's National Physical Laboratory also conducted tank tests to understand the technical circumstances that led to the collision.
In June 1973 in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, opposition MP John Prescott claimed that Argentina did not comply with an IMCO recommendation that interested parties should be allowed to attend the inquiry into the disaster. The Minister of State for Aerospace and Shipping, Michael Heseltine, stated that UK inspectors were not allowed access to "Tien Chee" or to take statements from witnesses pending the holding of the judicial inquiry, but were later shown a record of the proceedings and given a report of the inquiry. They were also invited to attend the final stages of the administrative tribunal.
Heseltine also said he was "favourably impressed by the quality of the Liberian Board's findings", and considered that a further inquiry by the United Kingdom would be unlikely to reach different conclusions.


Submarine Voyage

The Submarine Voyage was an attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. The attraction features vehicles designed to resemble submarines. It first opened on June 14, 1959, as one of the first rides to require an E ticket. It was part of a major expansion of Tomorrowland, which included the Matterhorn Bobsleds roller coaster, an expanded version of Autopia, the Disneyland Monorail, and the Motor Boat Cruise. The Submarine Voyage closed on September 9, 1998; at that time, it was reported that the attraction would reopen with a new theme by 2003, but that did not occur. The attraction ultimately reopened in June 2007 themed to Disney and Pixar's "Finding Nemo", and now operates as Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage.
Attraction.
As initially conceived, the Submarine Voyage was to feature real fish and other sea creatures, though the idea proved to be unfeasible. A major portion of the ride simulated the voyage under the Arctic Ocean's polar ice cap undertaken by the nuclear submarine on August 3, 1958.
Ride.
The submarines followed a long guide rail through the following sections of the ride:
Getting under way.
As the guest enters the submarine, taped narrations play that help create an illusion that the guest is actually getting ready to submerge in a submarine. The Captain gives the order to clear the bridge and secure hatches and vents. When the last guest boards, the dock operators raise the ramps and secure the hatches. As the submarine leaves the dock, the Captain gives the "all ahead one-third" order.
Diving and lagoon.
As the submarine leaves the dock, it dives below the surface to view the undersea life of a tropical lagoon. The diving effect is accomplished by a dense curtain of small bubbles rushing towards the surface on a slight angle, giving the feeling that the submarine is moving forward and down. Guests can view seaweed, coral reefs, rock formations, and mysterious caves.
Some of the specific oceanic creatures on the voyage were:
Graveyard of Lost Ships.
After a quiet cruise through the lagoon, the navigation room receives word of a surface storm ahead. The submarine begins a dive, which takes it to 250 feet, a point safely below the violence of the turbulent hurricane. The submarine passes through the wreckage of other ships that have not fared so well. Ships from many periods of history lie barnacle-covered and decayed, including Greek, Roman, and Viking ships. A shark guards a treasure chest in the hold of a Venetian galley. Nearby, deep-sea divers work to carry other treasures to the surface.
North Pole.
Sonar detects a polar ice cap ahead, and the diving officer takes the ship deeper in order to clear the ice. The submarine travels directly beneath the North Pole. This is a recreation of the historic voyage of when it left Hawaii on July 22, 1958 and set its course for the North Pole.
The Bottom of the Sea.
After passing beyond the polar region, the submarine journeys to deeper waters where sunlight has never penetrated. Strange creatures can be sighted, including a giant squid and creatures that can change color at will.
Mermaids.
Mermaids can now be seen. Unlike the mermaids on the lagoon, these mermaids are animatronic creations.
Lost Continent of Atlantis.
The submarine continues and enters an area resembling the lost continent of Atlantis. There is some volcanic activity in this area, but the submarine travels safely between teetering columns.
Sea Serpent.
As the submarine safely leaves the area of volcanic disturbance, a sea serpent is sighted. The Captain calls the crew to man their battle stations and stand by for action. He then becomes convinced that he has been at sea too long when the comical cross-eyed laughing sea serpent appears.
Return to the Surface.
As the submarine reaches the surface, preparations are made for entering port. When all lines are secured, the "All ashore" is given and guests depart the submarine.
Vehicles.
The hulls (eight in all) for "one of the world's largest peacetime submarine fleets" cost $80,000 each to build. They were fabricated at Todd Shipyards in San Pedro, California, then transported to the "Disneyland Naval Yard" in Anaheim for outfitting under the direction of retired Admiral Joe Fowler. Technical data and advice regarding the design were provided by General Dynamics' Electric Boat Division, builder of the U.S. Navy's nuclear-powered submarines, and also the first company in the world to manufacture submarines. The windows in the submarines, or portholes, were first cut out by hand—this cutout was then used to carve out the other windows on the submarine. The vessels were painted in military gray livery with black lower hulls until 1986, when the attraction was updated. The exterior color of the submarines was changed to yellow with white around the 'periscope towers' along with pastel blue or pastel pink trim on the hatch doors, periscope tower and lower hull. However, the newly painted subs' paint started peeling almost immediately and had to be repainted yet again within a few months. This time they were painted mustard yellow along with orange and black trim; the design would remain the same until the attraction closed in 1998. The yellow color made the submarines look like research submarines instead of the previous militarian gray and black subs. (The reason research subs are typically painted yellow is that yellow is one of the last colors to be visible at great depths.)
The vessels are not actual submarines as they do not submerge, but are in fact boats, where inside the 38-passenger (now 40-passenger) seating area was positioned below the water level. Portholes along the sides allowed guests to view the many underwater sights. Above the seating area was the conning tower, where the operator stood and controlled the sub's speed. The "diving" effect was made by bubble screens and using the waterfalls at the entrance to the caves that led the submarines into the cleverly disguised show building. The bubble jets can be seen from outside if one were to look just past the loading dock. In case of a broken porthole, a cushion in the conning tower could be used to plug the hole until the repair crew arrived. Atop of the show building are the majority of the Autopia tracks, some monorail tracks, trees and the currently derelict Rocket Rods/PeopleMover track.
During the attraction's opening in June 1959, the Disneyland fleet was christened by Mrs. Mildred Nelson, a former WAVE and wife of Chief Machinist Mate Stuart N. M. Nelson of .
Lagoon.
The lagoon that houses the ride requires of water to fill. It is difficult to maintain, since divers had to be sent underwater every night to clean up debris and fix the audio-animatronics whenever they broke down.
During the summers of 1959–1967, female cast members dressed in mermaid costumes could be seen sun-bathing themselves and performing synchronized swimming and underwater stunts for four hours each day. Disney ended this feature in 1967 after several mermaid performers reported health concerns related to the submarines' diesel exhaust fumes and the highly chlorinated water. In addition, tourists taking pictures of them would block the thoroughfare between the Matterhorn and the submarine lagoon. The mermaids received $1.65 an hour,
which in 2018 dollars would be $13.15 an hour.
In 2005, an auction took place at the Disneyland Resort, where several pieces of the original attraction's scenery were sold, such as the shark fighting with the octopus on a rock. They were removed from the lagoon prior to the auction so new scenery for the updated Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage could be built into the lagoon.
Queue.
In and around 1982, the waiting line for the attraction had various spiels combined with sea chanties as mood music. Some of these sea chanties were:
Closing and re-opening.
In April of 1998, when the Orange County Register interviewed Disneyland president Paul Pressler regarding the attraction’s fate after rumors circulated about the attraction’s closure, Pressler stated: “We know in the future we need to do something in that location, but we have not made a decision on the subs, and we won’t make a decision until we know what we want to do in the future there.”
On July 29, 1998, Disneyland announced the Submarine Voyage's closure. The attraction closed on September 7, because park executives at that time considered it too costly to operate in relation to its capacity. The lagoon stood derelict, filled with water, for seven years, serving as nothing more than a scenic viewpoint. Many rumors went around over the years, saying that a proposed attraction based on the 2001 Disney animated film "" was going to replace Submarine Voyage in 2003. However, after the film did poorly at the box office, this was scrapped. Another rumor was that the lagoon was going to be destroyed in a similar fashion to the submarine lagoon of Walt Disney World's . In 2005, the lagoon was drained and construction began on a new attraction: Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage, which opened on June 11, 2007.
Similar attractions.
The successor of this attraction was the Jules Verne themed at Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom. The attraction was given a Nautilus theme and a narration by Peter Renaday, whose voice was similar to that of actor James Mason, who portrayed Captain Nemo in the 1954 Disney film. The attraction was closed in 1994 for a "rehabilitation" period, but never reopened. Executive leadership felt that continual maintenance of the attraction was simply too costly. The space was cleared of ride elements, and in 2004, ten years after its closure, the water was drained. A small portion of the area was remade into [Pooh's Playful Spot] playground until April, 2010. The remaining open field backstage was ultimately paved over in 2010 to create new space for Fantasyland.
A similar voyage attraction now exists at the Tokyo DisneySea in Japan, using the same Nautilus theme from Florida, except instead of boats in water, it is a dark ride through a show building, in enclosed suspended cars ("mini-subs"). There was a walk-through of the Nautilus sets from the 1954 film at Disneyland from 1955 until 1966, when they were destroyed. However, an updated version of the walk-through was built in 1994 in Discoveryland in Disneyland Paris, known as Les Mystères du Nautilus, along with the construction of Space Mountain. The attraction involves not only an accurate recreation of the Nautilus interiors, but a mock attack from a large animatronic giant squid.
Legoland Windsor has a similar ride themed around Lego's Atlantis theme, named "Atlantis Submarine Voyage".
The West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, Alberta used to have an indoor submarine that operated into 2005, though they were not removed until 2012. The submarines were the world's first recreational submarines, and were fully deep-sea tested before delivery.


SS El Oriente

SS "El Oriente was a cargo ship built in 1910 for the Morgan Line, a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Company. During World War I, she was known as USS "El Oriente" (ID-4504) in service with the United States Navy. At the end of war, she reverted to her original name of SS "El Oriente". During World War II she was chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) as SS "Henri Dunant (sometimes also spelled Henry Dunant), but reverted to her original name of SS "El Oriente" at the end of the charter.
SS "El Oriente" was one of four sister ships that carried cargo and a limited number of passengers for the Morgan Line. She was acquired by the U.S. Navy in July 1918, and converted to carry horses and mules to France, and after the Armistice, was converted again to carry American troops home from Europe.
"El Oriente" returned to the Morgan Line in 1919 and sailed with them until June 1941, when the entire Morgan Line fleet was purchased by the United States Maritime Commission. "El Oriente" served as a civilian-crewed cargo ship during World War II, sailing primarily between the United States and the United Kingdom. In September 1944, she was chartered by the ICRC and sailed under the Swiss flag carrying food parcels to American prisoners of war held in German camps. "Henri Dunant" continued to sail under Swiss charter until October 1945, when she was returned to the United States and reverted to her former name. "El Oriente" was placed in the James River Reserve Fleet in November 1945, and was sold for scrapping in July 1946.
Early career.
SS "El Oriente" was a cargo and passenger steamship launched on 11 May 1910 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. of Newport News, Virginia (yard no. 132), and delivered to the Atlantic division of the Morgan Line on 24 October 1910. She was the third of four sister ships; the other three being , "El Mundo", and . "El Oriente" was , was long by abeam, and made . The vessel sailed for the Morgan Line, the brand name of the Southern Pacific Steamship Company (a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad), which employed her to carry cargo and a limited number of passengers between New York; New Orleans, the eastern terminus of the Southern Pacific line; and Galveston, Texas.
World War I.
After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, it's unclear what role, if any, "El Oriente" played early on in the war. Her sister ships and were both requisitioned by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) on behalf of the United States Army, and both were designated as animal transport ships. If "El Oriente" were used by the Army as an animal transport ship, she would have needed a refit which typically meant that any second- or third-class passenger accommodations had to be ripped out and replaced with ramps and stalls for the horses and mules carried. It is known that "El Oriente" sailed in an American convoy to France on 16 April 1918 with U.S. Navy transports , , , and , British transports "Czar" and "Czaritza", and U.S. cruiser , and reached France on 28 April.
The next recorded activity of "El Oriente" was on 29 July, when she was acquired by the U.S. Navy and commissioned the same day with Lieutenant Commander William Delahanty, USNRF, in command. "El Oriente" was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service () and carried animals and supplies for the U.S. Army, joining her two sister ships, and in that duty.
"El Oriente"'s first Navy voyage to France began when she sailed from Newport News with 500 animals on 11 August. Unlike earlier animal transport crossings for the Army, where there was as much as a 4% mortality rate, the voyages in August 1918 and after carried a transport veterinarian and a permanent veterinary detachment to care for the animals while on board the ship. As part of this new program, "El Oriente" delivered her full load of horses and mules— suffering no losses—at Bordeaux on 2 September. "El Oriente" made an additional roundtrip with 500 more animals in October, losing only three of her equine cargo during the voyage. "El Oriente" continued sailing for the through April 1919, sometimes carrying a small number of troops on return voyages to the United States. At that time "El Oriente" was converted to carry troops, and assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force to help return larger numbers American servicemen from Europe.
She sailed on 11 June for Bordeaux and returned with officers and men of the 6th Cavalry Regiment on 4 July. She made additional voyages in July and August, returning 978 members of the 3rd Infantry Division to Philadelphia on the latter voyage. In all, "El Oriente" returned 2,986 healthy and wounded American servicemen from France in three voyages. On 15 September at Philadelphia, "El Orente" was decommissioned, and returned to the Morgan Line soon after.
Interwar civilian service.
"El Oriente" resumed cargo service with the Morgan Line, and enjoyed a quiet career, typically sailing between New York and Galveston. One event of note occurred in February 1922 when "El Oriente" came upon the wreck of the schooner, "Caldwell H. Colt", which had run aground on a reef near the Tortugas Light during a gale. When "El Oriente" came upon the hulk, only her captain remained alive, surviving without food or water for several days before his rescue. "El Oriente" continued on to Galveston and landed the man there.
World War II.
In June 1941, the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) announced that it had requisitioned the entire Morgan Line fleet of ten ships, including "El Oriente" and her remaining sister ships, "El Occidente" and "El Mundo". The ships were to finish previously scheduled cargo runs and be handed over to the USMC over the following six weeks. The USMC had been charged with assembling a U.S. fleet to "aid the democracies" fighting Germany in World War II, and paid $4.7 million for the ships and a further $2.6 million for repairs and refits.
"El Oriente" was handed over to the USMC and assigned to United States Lines, Inc., for operation. The cargo ship was placed under Panamanian registry by U.S. Lines. Little is known of "El Oriente"'s movements over the next eight months, but on 17 February "El Oriente" sailed from Houston, Texas, to Philadelphia and on to Reykjavík. From Reykjavík, she sailed to the Clyde, arriving there at the end of July. Over the next 5 months, "El Oriente" sailed around the British Isles, calling at Kirkwall, Belfast Lough, Barrow-in-Furness, and Liverpool, and back to Clyde in late December. From there, she sailed on one trip to Murmansk where she arrived on 27 January 1943.
Murmansk had limited port facilities and slow unloading of cargo (often performed by Soviet women and political prisoners), which, coupled with inclement weather and long waits for convoy escorts, often required lengthy stays by Allied cargo ships. "El Oriente" was no exception, staying in Murmansk for nearly five weeks. To compound the lengthy wait (and, often, accompanying boredom) faced by cargo ships waiting to unload, the nearest German airfield was away—about 7 to 10 minutes flying time—which gave almost no advance warning of air raids. German dive bombers would silently glide in below Soviet anti-aircraft fire, drop their payloads, and fly away. "El Oriente" was caught in one such attack on 27 February, with four of the ship's Naval Armed Guards men killed in the attack.
"El Oriente" departed Kola Inlet on 1 March and returned to Liverpool, from which she sailed in a convoy for New York on 6 April, and returned to Belfast Lough in late June. After calling at Barry and Milford Haven, "El Oriente" began two roundtrips to New York at the end of June. In October the ship visited Loch Ewe, Methil, and Immingham before returning to New York again in November. After another transatlantic crossing and circuit amongst British ports, "El Oriente" returned to New York in May 1944.
In June, the cargo vessel sailed to Cuba, calling at Havana and Puerto Tarafa before returning to New York. She next sailed to La Guaira, Venezuela; Maracaibo, Venezuela; and Júcaro, Cuba, before returning to New York in mid August. "El Oriente" sailed to Philadelphia in mid September in preparation for a charter.
Red Cross ship.
On 28 September 1944, "El Oriente" was chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross, reflagged as a Swiss ship, and renamed SS "Henry Dunant" (sometimes erroneously spelled as "Henri Dunant"), after Red Cross movement founder Henry Dunant. She was last of 14 ships chartered by Swiss interests to sail under the Swiss flag during World War II. On 5 October, "Henry Dunant" departed Philadelphia with a cargo of mail and 900,000 food parcels intended for Allied prisoners of war interned in German camps.
"Henry Dunant" continued sailing for the ICRC through 24 October 1945. The ship returned to Norfolk, resumed her former name of "El Oriente", and entered the James River Reserve Fleet on 7 November 1945. On 3 July 1946, "El Oriente" was sold for scrapping to the Patapsco Scrap Co., of Baltimore, Maryland, for $12,175.


Sainte Genevieve (dredge)

Sainte Genevieve, also known as The Genny, was a steam powered Cutterhead dredge. At the time she was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986 she was located on the Mississippi River along the levee near downtown Davenport, Iowa, United States.
History.
The boat was built by the Dravo Contracting Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1932. She was Hull #1139 and weighed 947 tons. The "Sainte Genevieve" had a steel hull and a superstructure of wood with steel for strengthening. Between 1963 and 1973, 97% of her hull bottom and 71% of her sides were replated. Her paint scheme of gray and ivory with trim colors of dark red, black and gray was consistent[sissippi River]] to keep it open to barge traffic. She was the last sternwheel vessel and the last steam-powered dredge operated by the Corps when she retired in 1984. She was given to the city of Davenport for use as a tourist attraction. Plans were to turn her into a dockside restaurant, a floating museum, or a bed and breakfast. Those plans were never realized, and she left Davenport in October 1990 for a new home on the Missouri River in St. Charles, Missouri, where there were plans to turn her into a museum, but that plan never materialized. The "Sainte Genevieve" sank in 1992 near Cairo, Illinois. She was raised and sank again in Cape Girardeau, Missouri in 1994. She was reportedly scrapped. The vessel was delisted from the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.


SS Rutland Victory

The SS "Rutland Victory" was a Victory ship built during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. It was built and launched by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation on May 9, 1944, and completed on May 29, 1944. The ship's United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3 and hull number 104 (1020). The ship was Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation's 20th victory ship. The Maritime Commission turned it over for Merchant navy operation to a civilian contractor, the United States Lines.
Mrs. Ada May Brannor, of La Grande, Oregon, christened the SS "Rutland Victory". She worked at the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation yard on the swing shift. Mrs. Brannor was given a gold jewel case with her name and the ship engraved on it.
World War II.
In 1944, for the vessel's first mission, the "Rutland Victory" took ammunition from Washington, D.C., to Pearl Harbor.
On August 29, 1944, the "Rutland Victory" transferred cargo to and from the USS Massachusetts (BB-59) at Enewetak Atoll. Task force 38 was at the Enewetak Atoll in August 1944 and the "Rutland Victory" delivered cargo and goods to the Task force.
In May 1945, she traveled from California to Iwo Jima with 82 days-worth of supplies for the American troops stationed at Iwo Jima for the purpose of preparing them for the Battle of Okinawa, lasting from April 1 to June 22, 1945. After the war she moved to ports where supplies were required.
Honors.
"Rutland Victory" earned Battle Stars for combat action from June 17, 1945, to June 30, 1945, at the Battle of Okinawa at Okinawa in the Pacific Ocean. On those days, the "Rutland Victory" used its deck guns to defend itself and other ships from Japanese Kamikaze plane attacks.
Film.
A short film about the Panama Canal featured the "Rushville Victory" crossing was made entitled ""Ocean to Ocean: Panama Canal"; it shows the crossing of the "Rushville Victory" through the Panama canal to demonstrate how the canal worked. The film is now part of a DVD titled "USN Oil Tankers Supply and Cargo Ships"" by Campbell films, with a running time of 8:10 min.
Private use.
In 1948, the SS "Rutland Victory" was sold to the American President Lines of San Francisco and renamed the SS "President Fillmore. In 1962, the boat was sold to Victory Shipping Enterprises Inc. from Wilmington, Delaware and renamed SS "Smith Victory. In 1965, Victory Shipping Enterprises renamed it the SS "US Victory. The vessel was later sold to Transpacific Container Services of Liberia in 1969 and renamed the SS "Oriental Arrow. In 1969, Transpacific Container Services converted it to a 7,511 g.t. container ship and in 1972, it was sold to Universal Enterprise Inc. of Monrovia, Liberia, and renamed the SS "Oriental Ace".
In 1976, the "Oriental Ace" sank. The SS "Oriental Ace", operating as a Liberian container ship, started to leak in rough seas on its way from Seattle to Kobe, Japan. The crew abandoned ship into the lifeboats and it sank on February 13, 1976 at 32.05N 152.43E, 600 miles East of Tokyo, Japan.


USS Coasters Harbor (AG-74)

USS "Coasters Harbor" (AG-74) was a "Basilan"-class miscellaneous auxiliary acquired by the U.S. Navy during World War II. She was configured as a repair ship and sent to the Pacific Ocean just as the war ended. She was retained to participate in atomic testing at Bikini Atoll.
Constructed in Portland, Maine.
"Coasters Harbor" was launched 17 November 1944 by New England Shipbuilding Corporation, South Portland, Maine, under a U.S. Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. M. M. Naples; transferred to the Navy 26 November 1944; commissioned the same day, ferried to Todd Shipbuilding Company, Brooklyn, New York; decommissioned 30 November 1944 for conversion to an electronics repair ship; and was recommissioned 29 July 1945, Commander T. H. Mover, USNR, in command.
World War II-related service.
Sailing from Norfolk, Virginia, 29 August, "Coasters Harbor" reached San Diego, California, 19 September and Sasebo, Japan, 31 October. She remained there servicing vessels of the occupation force until 5 March 1946.
Atomic testing at Bikini Atoll.
"Coasters Harbor" sailed westward to take part in Operation Crossroads. Following the atomic weapons tests "Coasters Harbor" returned to the U.S. West Coast, arriving at San Pedro, California, 14 September.
Post-war decommissioning.
She was placed out of commission in reserve at San Diego, California, 3 July 1947. She was redesignated "AKS-22", 18 August 1951 and stricken from the Navy List on 1 April 1960.


MV Navios Apollon

Navios Apollon is an Ultra-Handymax bulk carrier vessel with a capacity of 52,073 deadweight.
History.
Built in 2000.
Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. sold it to Navios Maritime Partners L.P. in 2009. Call Sign: SYNY<br>MMSI: 240115000
Hijacking.
In the evening of 28 December 2009, the Panama Flag (Greek owned) Bulk Carrier, the MV "Navios Apollon", was hijacked approximately east of the Seychelles by Somali pirates. It was destined for India when hijacked, and carrying a cargo of rock phosphate from Tampa, Florida.
The ship and crew was later released after an unknown ransom was paid.


MS Sumner Pierce