SS Czar

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"SS Pulaski" redirects here. For the steamship that sank off North Carolina in 1838, see Steamship Pulaski disaster.

SS Czar in port before May 1920
SS Czar in port before May 1920
History
NameSS Czar (Царь)
Owner
Operator
Port of registry
  • 1912–1917: Russia Libau
  • 1917–1920: United Kingdom London
  • 1920–1921: Latvia Liepāja
  • 1921–1930: Denmark Copenhagen
  • 1930–1946: Gdynia
  • 1946–1949: United Kingdom Liverpool
Route
  • 1912–1914: Libau – New York
  • 1914–1917: Arkhangelsk – New York (in summer)
  • 1914–1917: Romanov-na-Murmane – New York (in winter)
  • 1920–1930: Liepāja – Danzig – Copenhagen – New York
  • 1930–1935: Danzig – New York
  • 1935–1939: Gdynia – Buenos Aires
  • 1940: Marseille–Dakar
Builder
  • Barclay, Curle & Company
  • Glasgow, Scotland
Yard number494
Launched23 March 1912
Maiden voyageLibau – Copenhagen – New York, 30 May 1912
Renamed
  • SS Estonia, January 1921
  • SS Pułaski, April 1930
  • SS Empire Penryn, 16 April 1946
Identification
FateScrapped 1949
General characteristics
TypeOcean liner
Tonnage
  • 6,345 GRT
  • tonnage under deck 4,801
  • 3,820 NRT
Length425 ft (130 m)
Beam53.2 ft (16.2 m)
Draught32 ft 4 in (9.86 m)
Depth29.4 ft (9.0 m)
Installed power889 NHP
Propulsion2 ×
screws
Speed15 knots (28 km/h)
Capacity
  • Passengers (as built):
  • 30 first class
  • 260 second class
  • 1,086 third class and steerage
Troops2,050 troops (World War II)
Sensors and
processing systems		gyrocompass (from 1934)
Notestwo funnels; two masts

SS Czar[a] was an ocean liner for the then Russian American Line before World War I. In 1920-1930, the ship was named Estonia for the Baltic American Line, then named Pułaski for the PTTO (later Gdynia America Line) and as a UK Ministry of War Transport troopship, and as Empire Penryn after World War II. The liner was built in Glasgow for the Russian American Line in 1912 and sailed on North Atlantic routes from Liepāja (Libau) to New York. On one eastbound voyage in October 1913, Czar was one of ten ships that came to the aid of the burning Uranium Line steamer Volturno.

After the

East Asiatic Company
, the parent company of the Russian American Line, who placed her on their Baltic American Line sailing in roundtrip passenger service to New York under the name Estonia.

In 1930 the East Asiatic Company sold Baltic American Line to Polish owners who renamed the company Polskiego Transatlantyckiego Towarzystwa Okrętowego ("Polish Transatlantic Shipping Company Limited" or PTTO).[1] In 1931 PTTO renamed the ship Pułaski for passenger service to North and South America. In 1934 PTTO became Gdynia – America Line.

After the outbreak of World War II Pułaski served as an Allied troopship, at first under French control and, after the Fall of France, under UK control. Pułaski sailed variously in the North Atlantic, between African ports, and in the Indian Ocean. In 1946 the ship's name was changed to Empire Penryn and she continued trooping duties under the management of Lamport and Holt. She was scrapped in 1949 at Blyth.

Launching and early career

East Asiatic Company. Her yard number was 494. She was launched on 23 March 1912[2] and completed that May.[3] Czar measured 425 feet (130 m) long by 53.2 feet (16.2 m) abeam and 34 ft 4 in (10.46 m) draught. Her tonnages were 6,345 GRT, 3,820 NRT and 4,801 under deck.[3]

Czar had a pair of four-cylinder Barclay, Curle

lbf/in2 single-ended boilers with a total heating surface of 13,302 square feet (1,236 m2). Her boilers were heated by 18 corrugated furnaces with a grate surface of 322 square feet (30 m2).[3] She had two funnels and two masts
.

Czar had accommodation for 30 passengers in first class, 260 in second class, and 1,086 in third class and steerage.[4]

Czar sailed on her maiden voyage on 30 May 1912 from Libau (present-day Liepāja, Latvia) to Copenhagen and New York,[4] arriving in the latter city on 13 June. She replaced Lituania on the Libau – New York route, and sailed with various combinations of Kursk, Russia, Birma, and Dwinsk until July 1914.[5]

On her 5 August 1913 sailing from Libau, Czar carried a young

King George V of the UK, on recommendation of the Board of Trade, awarded 19 of Czar's crew the Silver Sea Gallantry Medal, along with a £3 award each.[8]

World War I

After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Czar switched to service from

Russian Revolution, the East Asiatic Company suspended service on the Russian American Line, and transferred several ships, including Czar, to UK registry.[4] The UK Shipping Controller initially placed the liner under the management of John Ellerman's Wilson Line, but Czar was transferred to the Cunard Line management by the end of 1917.[10]

Now called HMT Czar, the ship, along with former Russian American Line ships

Hoboken Port of Embarkation, with U.S. Navy transports Maui, Calamares, Pocahontas, El Oriente, and UK troopship HMT Czaritza. The convoy was joined by transport Mount Vernon[Note 2] and was escorted by American cruiser Seattle. The convoy arrived safely in France on 28 April.[12]
Sources do not report when Czar returned to the United States, but she had done so by early June.

Czar loaded troops at Newport News, Virginia, and set out on her second US convoy crossing on 14 June, sailing with American transports Princess Matoika, Wilhelmina, Pastores, and Lenape. On the morning of 16 June, lookouts on Princess Matoika spotted a submarine and, soon after, a torpedo missed that ship by a few yards.[13] Later that morning, the Newport News ships met up with the New York portion of the convoy—which included DeKalb, Finland, Kroonland, George Washington, Covington, Rijndam, Italian steamship Dante Alighieri, and UK troopship Vauban — and set out for France.[14][15] The convoy was escorted by American cruisers North Carolina and Frederick, and destroyers Stevens and Fairfax;[15] battleship Texas and several other destroyers joined in escort duties for the group for a time.[14] The convoy had a false alarm when a floating barrel was mistaken for a submarine, but otherwise uneventfully arrived at Brest on the afternoon of 27 June.[15][16]

HMT Czar seen in port, c. 1917–1920

When she departed Newport News on 7 October, Czar began her last voyage ferrying American troops to France. Sailing in company with U.S. Navy transports Tenadores, Susquehanna, and America, she rendezvoused with American transport Kroonland, Italian steamship Caserta, and UK steamship Euripides out of New York. The convoy ships were escorted by cruisers Seattle and Rochester, and destroyers Murray and Fairfax. The ships arrived safely in France on 20 October.[17]

Throughout 1919 and into 1920, HMT Czar continued carrying Commonwealth troops under Cunard management. The troopship primarily sailed between UK ports and Mediterranean ports such as

North Russia Campaign of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War when the liner departed Hull for North Russia on 28 August 1919.[20]
HMT Czar arrived in the Tyne, from Murmansk last Friday (15 August 1919), with about 1,800 UK and Italian troops from the Syren Force North Russia. Amongst them were about 100 officers, N.C.O's and men of the 6th and 13th Battalions Yorkshire Regiment.[21]

Interwar civilian service

By late 1920 Czar had been returned to the East Asiatic Company, who placed her in service for its

Danzig, and Libau, arriving at the latter by mid-February. Departing from Libau on 23 February, she began a regular Libau – Danzig – Boston – New York service, sailing opposite Lituania and Polonia.[4][22][Note 3]

In February 1925, Estonia was reconditioned and outfitted with accommodations for 290 cabin-class and 500 third-class passengers. The following March, her accommodations were altered for 110 cabin-class, 180 tourist-class, and 500 third-class passengers. Her last voyage for the Baltic American Line began on 31 January 1930 when she sailed from Danzig to Copenhagen,

Halifax, and New York. Sold to the Polish-owned PTTO (later Gdynia America Line
), she sailed on 13 March for one more trip on the Danzig – New York route under the name Estonia.

Before her next voyage on 25 April 1930, she was renamed Pułaski, after Polish soldier and

Kazimierz Pułaski. As Pułaski her code letters were PBRF.[3] When maritime call signs were given to merchant ships in 1934 she was given the call sign SPEC. Around the same time she was fitted with a gyrocompass.[23]

SS Pułaski continued sailing the same route through August 1935, when she was moved to Gdynia – Buenos Aires service. She began her last voyage on this route on 21 April 1939.

World War II

Pułaski in port circa 1930–1939

With the signing of the

under charter to the French Fabre Line.[25] At the end of the 1930s, the Fabre Line sailed ships on a Marseille–Dakar route with intermediate stops in other African ports.[26]

On 10 March, Pułaski departed Marseille on the first of three voyages from that port. She sailed to Algiers and from there to Dakar on 13 March. Pułaski left Dakar for Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Conakry, French Guinea, returning to Dakar in early April. Sailing for Marseille on 5 April, the ship returned on 13 April as a part of convoy DF 29. Leaving again about two weeks later, she repeated the trip and returned to Marseille on 29 May as a part of convoy DF 41.[24] By the time of her return, the German invasion of France had been underway for nearly three weeks.

Pułaski sailed on her third and final French voyage on 6 June. The liner arrived at Dakar on 15 June, and sailed the next day for Freetown, where she arrived on 18 June.

shore batteries at Conakry,[25] the ship arrived back at Freetown on 9 July.[24]

UK troopship

On 14 August Pułaski, Kościuszko (the latest name of the former Czaritza), and Batory were chartered by the Ministry of War Transport for trooping duties and placed under the management of Lamport and Holt of Liverpool. All three ships retained their Polish crews but also carried a Lamport and Holt liaison officer aboard.[27] Four days later, Pułaski joined convoy SL 44, the 44th wartime convoy from Sierra Leone to Liverpool, with nearly 30 other ships and 10 escorts. Pułaski and about half of the ships departed the convoy at Liverpool on 7 September, while the other half continued on for Methil.[28]

Pułaski next made her way to the Clyde in late October. Between 10 May and 12 June 1941, she sailed on three roundtrip trooping runs between Clyde and Iceland.[24] In late June, Pułaski, loaded with 2,047 troops, sailed from Clyde to join convoy WS 9B headed for Freetown.[24][29] The convoy arrived at its destination on 13 July. After three days, Pułaski and four other ships sailed on to Cape Town, arriving on 27 July. Leaving behind one ship at Cape Town, Pułaski and the others sailed on 30 July to their final destination of Aden, where they arrived in mid August.[24][29]

FECB
was housed in the Allidina Visram school in 1942–43 (pictured here in 2006).

Over the next seven months, Pułaski operated in the

bridge in what may have been sabotage.[25]

The damaged Pułaski made her way to

Tamatave in March, and Djibouti in April.[24]

After a return to East London from Durban on 30 May, the ship put in for another extended stay, this time for four months. Resuming her trooping runs on 29 September, Pułaski began a year of almost continuous sailing. During this span, which lasted until mid-September 1944, the ship called at

Bombay twice in addition to numerous stops in Aden, Suez, Durban, and Kilindini. Putting in at Durban on 15 September,[24] Pułaski had a general refit over the next four months.[25]

Pułaski resumed her Indian Ocean service when she left Durban on 21 January 1945, headed for Kilindini. She visited

Sourabaya, and Batavia.[24]

Pułaski made her first visit to Singapore two days after the Japanese garrison there surrendered on 12 September.

Pułaski arrived at Calcutta on 23 December 1945.

Poland. The crew members all signed UK articles.[27]

On 16 April 1946 Pułaski was formally handed over to UK authorities, who renamed the vessel Empire Penryn. Empire followed the naming convention for UK merchant ships under MoWT ownership. Penryn was after the port of Penryn, Cornwall.[25] Remaining under Lamport and Holt management,[27] Empire Penryn carried troops in the Mediterranean. She was taken out of service in 1948, and on 19 February 1950 she reached Blyth, Northumberland to be scrapped.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ Царь in Russian
  1. ^ In this case, HMT stands for His Majesty's Transport. For other uses as a ship prefix, see here, under the heading of "United Kingdom".
  2. ^ Mount Vernon had sailed from Hoboken on 19 April 1918, three days after Czar and her group.
  3. ^ Lituania and Polonia were the former Czaritza and Kursk, respectively. See: "Baltic American Line". The Ships List. 5 February 2005. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  4. ^ The ship's movements after December 1945 are not found in source materials.

References

  1. ^ Gibbs 1970, p. 174.
  2. ^ a b "Czar". Scottish Built Ships. Caledonian Maritime Research Trust. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  3. ^ a b c d Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1933–1934. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Ship Descriptions – C". TheShipsList.com. Archived from the original on 12 May 2008. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  5. ^ Immigration Information Bureau, pp. 163, 172, 181.
  6. ^ Weiss et al., p. 333.
  7. ^ "Need more money for Volturno aid" (PDF). The New York Times. 22 October 1913. p. 6. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
  8. ^ "Gallantry at sea". The Times. 11 March 1914. Archived from the original (reprint) on 19 October 2009. Retrieved 30 July 2008.
  9. ^ Immigration Information Bureau, pp. 186, 190.
  10. ^ "EMPIRE – P". The 'Empire' Ships. Mariners. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  11. ^ Gleaves, p. 240. (Page 240 shows the date as "July 1, 1916", but is wrong. See p. 102 for a description of the appendices with the correct date of 1 July 1918, listed.)
  12. ^ Crowell and Wilson, pp. 607–08.
  13. ^ Cutchins and Stewart, p. 66.
  14. ^ a b Cutchins and Stewart, p. 67.
  15. ^ a b c Crowell and Wilson, pp. 610–11.
  16. ^ Cutchins and Stewart, p. 68.
  17. ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 618.
  18. ^ Czar's ports of call were listed in the "Movements of liners" or "Latest shipping news" features in The Times newspaper. For visits to the ports of Trieste, Malta, Alexandria, and Constantinople, see the editions of 30 December 1920 (p. 19), 27 February 1920 (p. 19), 30 January 1919 (p. 14), and 14 June 1920 (p. 23), respectively.
  19. ^ "Seasick soldiers". The Times. 14 January 1920. p. 8.
  20. ^ "Movements of liners". The Times. 30 August 1919. p. 2.
  21. ^ The Seham Weekly News for weekending 22 August 1991
  22. ^ Immigration Information Bureau, p. 203.
  23. ^ Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships (PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1934–1935. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  24. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Port Arrivals/Departures: Pulaski". Arnold Hague's Ports Database. Convoy Web. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  25. ^ a b c d e f "SS Pulaski". WarSailors.com. 27 March 2003. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  26. ^ Brochure: Services Combinés, Fabre – Farissinet: Dakar et coté occidentale d'Afrique. Compagnie Générale de Navigation à Vapeur Cyprien Fabre. 1939. (Summary of port information online here.)
  27. ^
    OCLC 1765313
    . Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  28. ^ "Convoy SL.44". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 29 July 2008.
  29. ^ a b "Convoy WS.9B". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 29 July 2008.

Bibliography

Media related to IMO 1142324 at Wikimedia Commons

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