SS El Occidente
port-side view of SS El Occidente as she appeared before World War I
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History | |
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Name | SS El Occidente |
Owner | Morgan Line |
Builder |
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Yard number | 133 |
Launched | 24 September 1910 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. C. W. Jungen[1] |
Completed | 2 December 1910 |
Fate | Expropriated for U.S. Army service, 30 May 1917 |
History | |
United States | |
Name | USAT El Occidente |
Acquired | 30 May 1917 |
Fate | Transferred to U.S. Navy, 27 August 1918 |
United States | |
Name | USS El Occidente (ID-3307) |
Acquired | 27 August 1918 |
Commissioned | 27 August 1918 |
Decommissioned | 18 March 1919 |
Fate | Returned to Morgan Line |
Name | SS El Occidente |
Owner |
|
Operator |
|
Port of registry | |
Route | 1919–1941: New York – Galveston |
Fate | Sunk by U-435, 13 April 1942 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Cargo ship |
Tonnage | 6,008 GRT |
Length | 430 ft 2 in (131.11 m) |
Beam | 53 ft 1 in (16.18 m) |
Draft | 26 ft (7.9 m)[2] |
Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h) |
Capacity | 800 horses and mules (World War I) |
Complement | 112 (World War I) |
Crew | 41 (World War II) |
Armament | 4 × 4-inch (100 mm) guns (World War I)[2] |
Notes | Sister ship of El Sol, El Mundo, El Oriente |
SS El Occidente was a cargo ship for the Morgan Line, a subsidiary of the
Built in 1910, SS El Occidente 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. Army after the United States entered World War I in April 1917, and converted to carry horses and mules to France. In February 1918, she fought a 20-minute gun battle with two German submarines, destroying the periscope of one. In August 1918, the ship was transferred to the U.S. Navy and continued transporting animals through the end of the war.
El Occidente 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. While serving as a civilian-crewed cargo ship during World War II, El Occidente was torpedoed and sunk by German submarine U-435 on 13 April 1942.
Early career
SS El Occidente was a cargo and passenger steamship
In April 1913, The New York Times reported that El Occidente, loaded only with cargo, had rammed a schooner in fog off the New Jersey coast. Responding to a wireless message, the Savannah steamer City of Montgomery came alongside El Occidente to offer assistance, but was refused. The name and fate of the schooner were not reported.[5]
World War I
After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, the United States Army, needing transports to get its men and materiel to France, had a select committee of shipping executives pore over registries of American shipping. The committee selected El Occidente and thirteen other American-flagged ships that were sufficiently fast, could carry enough fuel in their bunkers for transatlantic crossings, and, most importantly, were in port or not far at sea.[6][7] After El Occidente discharged her last load of passengers and cargo, she was officially handed over to the Army on 30 May.[4]
Before any troop transportation could be undertaken, all of the ships had to be hastily refitted. Of the fourteen ships, four, including El Occidente, were designated to carry animals and cargo; the other ten were designated to carry human passengers. The four ships designated to carry animals had to have ramps and stalls built. All the ships had to have gun platforms installed, before each ship docked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to have the guns themselves installed.[8][Note 1] All the ships were manned by merchant officers and crews but carried two U.S. Navy officers, Navy gun crews, quartermasters, signalmen, and wireless operators. The senior Navy officer on board would take control if a ship came under attack.[9]
The American convoy carrying the first units of the
El Occidente departed Saint-Nazaire on 14 July in the company of her convoy mates Dakotan, Montanan, and Edward Luckenbach. Joining the return trip were Army transport
Sources do not reveal El Occidente's movements over the next eight months. But in April 1918, the
El Occidente's next recorded convoy trip took place on 23 March, when she sailed with Navy transports
On 27 August 1918, El Occidente was transferred to the Navy and
In port when the
Interwar civilian service
Returned by the USSB in March 1919, El Occidente resumed cargo service with the Morgan Line, where she had almost 15 years of routine operation.[2] However, in the 1930s, sailing on a New York – Galveston route, El Occidente was involved in several notable events.
In July 1933, El Occidente had a fire in her No. 1 cargo hold while she was southbound 15 nautical miles (28 km) out from Norfolk, Virginia. El Occidente's initial radio message reported that her crew had the blaze under control,[20] but when that proved not to be the case, she headed in, docked at the Norfolk grain elevator, and requested assistance from local firefighters.[21]
In September 1935, El Occidente came to the aid of Morgan passenger liner
In January 1937, El Occidente issued a distress call while she was in the Gulf of Mexico. After she reported a fire while some 200 nautical miles (370,000 m) south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, U.S. Coast Guard cutters Kimball and Triton and German freighter Leubeck all responded to the call. Before any reached the burning vessel, El Occidente reported that she had gotten the fire under control and needed no further assistance. El Occidente headed to Galveston.[24] The following month, El Occidente issued another distress call, this time for a broken rudder while 80 nautical miles (150 km) off the Virginia Capes.[25] Coast Guard cutter Sebago responded and towed El Occidente to Norfolk, delivering her there on 7 February.[26][27]
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 Occidente and her remaining sister ships, El Oriente and El Mundo.[Note 3] 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 2,000,000 GRT U.S. fleet to "aid the democracies" fighting Germany in World War II,[28] and paid $4.7 million for all ten ships and a further $2.6 million for repairs and refits.[29]
El Occidente was handed over to the
Two days later, El Occidente sailed for
Notes
- ^ The only exception was for SS Finland, an American Line steamer in transatlantic service to Liverpool. Finland had already been outfitted for guns in early 1917.
- ^ The individual groups of the first convoy were typically counted as separate convoys in post-war sources. See, for example, Crowell and Wilson, Appendix G, p. 603.
- ^ The fourth sister, El Sol, had been involved in a collision in 1927 and had been scrapped afterwards. See: Colton, Newport News Shipbuilding Archived 19 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Also in Convoy PQ 12 was El Coston, another former Morgan Line ship.
References
- ^ a b "Last of steamer quartet launched". The Washington Post. 25 September 1910. p. 3.
- ^ Naval Historical Center. "El Occidente". DANFS.
- ^ a b Colton, Tim. "Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News VA". Colton Company. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ^ a b c Crowell and Wilson, p. 315.
- ^ "Steamer hits a schooner" (PDF). The New York Times. 13 April 1913. Retrieved 5 August 2008.
- ^ Sharpe, p. 359.
- ^ Crowell and Wilson, pp. 313–14.
- ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 316.
- ^ Gleaves, p. 102.
- ^ Gleaves, p. 38.
- ^ Gleaves, p. 42.
- ^ Gleaves, pp. 42–43.
- ^ Gleaves, p. 45.
- ^ Gleaves, p. 54.
- ^ "U.S. Gunners beat 2 U-boats in long battle". Chicago Daily Tribune. 10 April 1918. p. 2.
- ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 606.
- ^ Crowell and Wilson, pp. 609–10.
- ^ Crowell and Wilson, pp. 612–13.
- ^ Krenzelok, Greg. "Newport News Animal Transport ship List overseas to France during WW1". Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
- ^ "Ship fire fought at sea". The New York Times. 17 July 1933. p. 3.
- ^ "Fire still burning in El Occidente". The New York Times. 18 July 1933. p. 7.
- ^ "Rescuers delayed by gale and error". The New York Times. 4 September 1935. pp. 1, 3.
- ^ "Dixie passengers all safe ashore; storm dead 256". The New York Times. Associated Press. 6 September 1935. pp. 1, 10.
- ^ "Freighter afire in Gulf". The New York Times. 7 January 1936. p. 43.
- ^ "Freighter, off Norfolk, asks aid". The New York Times. 6 February 1937. p. 11.
- ^ "Cutter reaches ship in distress off Fear". The New York Times. 7 February 1937. p. 49.
- ^ "Cutter off to aid a disabled trawler". The New York Times. 8 February 1937. p. 35.
- ^ "Government takes Morgan Line ships". The New York Times. 11 June 1941. p. 43.
- ^ "House group finds U.S. lost in ship deal". The Washington Post. Associated Press. 9 December 1944. p. 5.
- ^ Maritime Administration. "El Occidente". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
- ^ a b c d Helgason.
- ^ "Convoy HX.174". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ "Convoy PQ.12". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
- ^ a b "Convoy QP.10". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 6 August 2008.
Bibliography
- OCLC 18696066.
- OCLC 976757.
- Helgason, Guðmundur. "Allied Ships hit by U-boats: El Occidente". The U-Boat War 1939–1945. uboat.net. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
- Naval Historical Center. "El Occidente". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 4 August 2008.
- OCLC 7980339.
External links
- Photo gallery of El Occidente at NavSource Naval History