SS Ohioan (1914)
SS Ohioan as she appeared before her U.S. Navy service in World War I
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History | |
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Name | SS Ohioan |
Owner | American-Hawaiian Steamship Company |
Port of registry | New York[2] |
Ordered | May 1912[4] |
Builder |
|
Cost | $730,000[5] |
Yard number | 133[3] |
Launched | 18 April 1914[1] |
Completed | 30 June 1914[3] |
Identification | US official number: 212314[1] |
Fate | Requisitioned by U.S. Navy |
United States | |
Name | USS Ohioan (ID-3280) |
Acquired | 5 August 1918 |
Commissioned | 7 August 1918 |
Decommissioned | 6 October 1919 |
Fate | Returned to American-Hawaiian |
Name | SS Ohioan |
Owner | American-Hawaiian Steamship Company |
Acquired | 22 September 1919 |
Fate | Grounded at San Francisco, October 1936 |
General characteristics | |
Type | Cargo ship |
Tonnage | 6,649 GRT[5] 9,920 LT DWT[5] |
Length | |
Beam | 53 ft 8 in (16.36 m)[7] |
Draft | 29 ft 6 in (8.99 m)[7] |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 12 knots (22 km/h)[7] |
Capacity | Cargo: 438,154 cubic feet (12,407.1 m3)[5] |
Crew | 18 officers, 40 crewmen |
Notes | Sister ships: Dakotan, Montanan, Pennsylvanian, Minnesotan, Washingtonian, Panaman, Iowan[3] |
General characteristics (as USS Ohioan) | |
Troops | 1,400[8] |
Complement | 70[7] |
Armament |
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SS Ohioan was a cargo ship built in 1914 for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. During World War I, she was taken over by the United States Navy and commissioned as USS Ohioan (ID-3280).
Ohioan was built by the
Ohioan's post-war career was relatively uneventful until 8 October 1936, when she ran aground near
Design and construction
In May 1912, the
Ohioan (Maryland Steel yard no. 133)
Early career
When Ohioan began sailing for American-Hawaiian, the company shipped cargo from
As
World War I
Unlike her surviving sister ships,
With the signing of the
In March, Ohioan returned 1,627 men to New York, mostly from the 348th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. 87th Infantry Division,[17] followed by another 1,596 officers and men, and 1,000 homing pigeons on 16 April. Among the pigeons was Cher Ami—the only bird sent out by the Lost Battalion that was able to get a message through—and 100 captured German pigeons.[18] Cher Ami had received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and had been recommended for the U.S. Army Distinguished Service Cross by General John J. Pershing.[19][20]
Ohioan docked at New York on 22 May on her next voyage with a portion of the
On 20 June, Ohioan returned another load of troops that included Base Hospital 98,[25] and the 20th Engineers.[26] By the time Ohioan had completed her sixth and final trooping voyage on 16 September 1919, Ohioan had carried home 8,383 healthy and wounded men.[8] USS Ohioan was decommissioned on 6 October 1919, and returned to American-Hawaiian.[7]
Later career
Ohioan resumed cargo service with American-Hawaiian after her return from World War I service. Although the company had abandoned its original Hawaiian sugar routes by that time,[27] Ohioan continued inter-coastal service through the Panama Canal relatively uneventfully for the next 17 years. On 23 November 1933, Ohioan collided with Liberty in the Ambrose Channel. She was consequently beached near the West Bank Light.[28] Ohioan was refloated on 26 November.[29]
In early morning hours of 8 October 1936, Ohioan ran aground near
The next day, as the seas battered the ship and drove her farther on the rocks, two Coast Guard boats took 31 men from the ship.[Note 5] American-Hawaiian announced that a Los Angeles salvage firm had been hired to retrieve the 1,500-long-ton (1,520 t) cargo,[31] which included explosives and oil.[32] Two heavy-duty electric pumps were lowered to the ship via the breeches buoy, and plans were drawn up for connecting them to the San Francisco municipal electric system in order to pump out the ship.[31]
The crowds of onlookers continued to watch as salvage efforts progressed; a 75-year-old woman from Oakland fell down the embankment while watching the action on 13 October.[33] The mayor of San Francisco, Angelo J. Rossi, rode the breeches buoy to the ship and toured it for 45 minutes on 19 October.[34] On 22 October, the Los Angeles Times ran an Associated Press story saying that marine experts were considering the use of a method first patented by Abraham Lincoln in May 1849 in order to re-float the stranded ship.[35][Note 6] All efforts were unsuccessful, and by 31 October, American-Hawaiian placed an advertisement in the Los Angeles Times requesting bids for the purchase of the ship and her cargo "as and where she now lies ... on the rocks near Point Lobos, San Francisco".[36] E. J. Mitchell was the winning bidder, securing rights to the ship and its cargo for $2,800.[32]
In March 1937, five months after the wreck, the hulk of Ohioan—still aground near Seal Rock—caught fire when a watchman aboard the ship attempted to burn some meat in a refrigerator. The flames died out before reaching the explosives that remained aboard the wreck.[37] A Pacific storm in December the same year caused the hulk of Ohioan to break in two.[38] By 1939, only remnants of some of Ohioan's rusty steel beams were still visible on the rocks.[39]
Author Mark Ellis Thomas suggests that English poet and novelist Malcolm Lowry may have been inspired by the wreck of Ohioan in his poem "In Tempest's Tavern". One excerpt from the poem refers to "The Ohio [sic] smoking in Frisco on a sharp pen / Of rock". At the time of Ohioan's grounding, Lowry was in San Diego, preparing to sail to Acapulco.[40]
Notes
- Maryland Steel had built three ships—Kentuckian, Georgian, and Honolulan—for American-Hawaiian in 1909 in what proved to be a satisfactory arrangement for both companies. In September 1911 and November 1912, American-Hawaiian placed an order for Ohioan's six older sister ships; Minnesotan, Dakotan, Montanan, and Pennsylvanian in the earlier order, Washingtonian and Panamanin the latter.
- Tehuantepec National Railway. See: Hovey, p. 78.
- ^ Washingtonian had been in a collision and sank in New York Harbor in January 1915.
- ^ Dakotan, Montanan, Pennsylvanian, Minnesotan, Panaman, and Iowan had all been chartered by the U.S. Army and most carried cargo and horses in that duty. Montanan was torpedoed and sunk while in Army service in 1917.
- ^ Three officers and two cooks remained on board Ohioan to prevent a completely abandoned ship from becoming a salvage prize.
- ^ The patent, No. 6469, dated 22 May 1849, was entitled "Buoying vessels over shoals".
References
- ^ a b c d e f g "Ohioan". Miramar Ship Index. R.B.Haworth. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
- ^ a b c "San Francisco rocks trap New York ship". The New York Times. Associated Press. 9 October 1936. p. 51.
- ^ a b c d e Colton, Tim. "Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point MD". Shipbuildinghistory.com. The Colton Company. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
- ^ a b Cochran and Ginger, p. 358.
- ^ a b c d e f g Cochran and Ginger, p. 365.
- ^ a b c Cochran and Ginger, p. 357.
- ^ Naval Historical Center. "Ohioan". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- ^ a b Gleaves, pp. 258–59
- ^ "California cargo of produce shipped to East". Los Angeles Times. 3 October 1914. p. II–8.
- ^ Cochran and Ginger, p. 355–56.
- ^ Cochran and Ginger, p. 360.
- ^ Cochran and Ginger, p. 362.
- ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 562.
- ^ Gleaves, p. 31.
- ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 316.
- Naval Historical Center. "Minnesotan". DANFS.
- ^ "More 27th troops return from front" (PDF). The New York Times. 12 March 1919. p. 8. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
- ^ "6,000 arrive from France" (PDF). The New York Times. 17 April 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
- ^ "Cher Ami—World War I Carrier Pigeon". National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
- ^ Julian, C. V. (17 April 1919). "Chicago pigeon, hero of victory, to get medal". Chicago Daily Tribune. p. 1.
- ^ "Hero of heroes is back". The Washington Post. 24 May 1919. p. 2.
- ^ "York, Alvin C". Medal of Honor Recipients – World War I. U.S. Army Center of Military History. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
- ^ "Sergeant York, Argonne marvel, back from war". Chicago Daily Tribune. 23 May 1919.
- ^ Lee, p. 34.
- ^ "The friend of the soldier". Chicago Daily Tribune. 17 June 1919. p. 8.
- ^ "The friend of the soldier". Chicago Daily Tribune. 1 July 1919. p. 8.
- ^ Cochran and Ginger, p. 363
- ^ "Two American steamers in collision". The Times. No. 46610. London. 24 November 1933. col D, p. 25.
- ^ "Casualty reports". The Times. No. 46613. London. 28 November 1933. col C, p. 24.
- ^ Sprout and Sprout, p. 54.
- ^ a b "31 saved off ship as crowds watch". The New York Times. Associated Press. 10 October 1936. p. 19.
- ^ a b "Flames menace explosives". The Washington Post. 7 March 1937. p. 13.
- ^ "Woman viewing ship salvaging injured". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 14 October 1936. p. 12.
- ^ "Bay City mayor visits stranded ship". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 19 October 1936. p. 3.
- ^ "Lincoln's old patent found". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 22 October 1936. p. 10.
- ^ "For Sale: S. S. "Ohioan" and Cargo.". Los Angeles Times (display advertisement). 31 October 1936. p. 6.
- ^ "Grounded for five months .". The Washington Post. 8 March 1937. p. 5.
- ^ "Havoc wrought by storms, east and west". Chicago Daily Tribune. 12 December 1937. p. 2.
- ^ Riesenberg, p. 216.
- ^ Thomas, p. 233.
Bibliography
- OCLC 216113867.
- OCLC 18696066.
- OCLC 976757.
- Hovey, Edmund Otis (1907). "The Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Tehuantepec National Railway". Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. 39 (2). New York: OCLC 2097765.
- Lee, David D. (1985). Sergeant York: An American Hero. OCLC 10779862.
- Naval Historical Center. "Minnesotan". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
- Naval Historical Center. "Ohioan". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
- Riesenberg, Felix (1945) [1940]. Golden Gate: The Story of San Francisco Harbor. New York: Tudor Pub. Co. OCLC 19356199.
- Sprout, Jerry; Janine Sprout (2001). Golden Gate Trailblazer: Where to Hike, Stroll, Bike, Jog, Roll in San Francisco and Marin. Markleeville, California: Diamond Valley Co. OCLC 47856075.
- Thomas, Mark Ellis (1992). "Under the Shadow of the Volcano; Malcolm Lowry's Poetry". In Sherrill Grace (ed.). Swinging the Maelstrom: New Perspectives on Malcolm Lowry. OCLC 28547699.
External links
- Photo gallery of Ohioan at NavSource Naval History
- "Images of the Ohioan" from San Francisco Public Library's photo database
- "Wreck of the Ohioan" from the Cliff House Project, with several images of Ohioan while aground
37°46′43″N 122°30′58″W / 37.77861°N 122.51611°W