SS President Cleveland (1920)

Add links
Coordinates: 33°40′N 7°35′W / 33.667°N 7.583°W / 33.667; -7.583
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see SS President Cleveland.
This article is about USS Tasker H. Bliss. It is not to be confused with USS General T. H. Bliss.
USS Tasker H. Bliss
History
United States
Name
  • Golden State
  • President Cleveland
  • Tasker H. Bliss
Namesake
Builder
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock
Cost$6,291,944.92[2]
Yard number256
Launched17 July 1920[1]
Acquired19 August 1942
Commissioned
  • USS Tasker H. Bliss (AP-42),
  • 15 September 1942
Stricken7 December 1942
IdentificationU.S. Official number 220485
Honors and
awards		1 Battle Star
FateSunk, 12 November 1942
General characteristics
TypeEmergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 ship
Displacement12,568 long tons (12,770 t)
Length535 ft (163 m)
Beam72 ft 2 in (22.00 m)
Draft27 ft 8 in (8.43 m)
PropulsionSteam turbine(s)
Speed16.5 kn (19.0 mph; 30.6 km/h)
Complement235
ArmamentUnknown

SS President Cleveland was originally built as Golden State for the

Second World War
.

President Cleveland was acquired by the

Fedala Bay, Morocco. From the 235 men on board, 31 died in the sinking or afterwards from their wounds.[3]

Construction

Golden State, one of the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) Design 1029 ships, often called in the trade "535s" for their length overall, planned as a troop transport, but redesigned and built as a passenger and cargo ship, with yard hull number 256, was launched 17 July 1920 in

Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and completed in 1921 assigned United States official number 220485.[1][4]

Commercial service

Golden State was originally owned by the United States Shipping Board (USSB), allocated to and operated by its agents.[4] The ship was renamed President Cleveland by May 1921 and was eventually owned and operated as a passenger liner by the American President Lines.[2][4][5]

The USSB first placed the ship in service with Pacific Mail Steamship Company for service between San Francisco and Asia with the ship arriving 7 March 1921, second after sister ship

Matson Navigation Company arrived on 5 March in what some described as a race from Baltimore, but the company noted was not as Golden State made several more port calls on the voyage.[6] By December 1923, the ship, now President Cleveland, was operating with sailings every 14 days from San Francisco to Honolulu, Japan, China, and the Philippines in a route dubbed "The Sunshine Belt to the Orient" with President Lincoln, President Pierce, President Taft, and President Wilson.[7] As late as May 1925, the ships were seen as USSB vessels of the California Orient Line operated by Pacific Mail Steamship Company, but the next month those vessels were seen in an advertisement headed "Now serving the transpacific and round-the-world fleets of Dollar Steamship Line.[8][9]

Robert Stanley Dollar, son of the founder Captain Robert Dollar, had already acquired a fleet of the smaller Design 1095 ships, commonly known in the trade as "502s" or less frequently as "522s" for their length between perpendiculars and overall, respectively, and established a successful service circling the globe with 22 port calls when the government approached the company about purchase of the larger "535s".[10] President Cleveland and the other former USSB ships of Pacific Mail's fleet continued to operate in this service until 1938 when the United States Maritime Commission, successor to the USSB, judged the Dollar company unsound and took over the assets including the ships to be operated by a new company, American President Lines.[11] The seven "502s" were to remain on the Round the World service while the five "535s" along with larger and newer ship President Coolidge were to go into New York-San Francisco-Asiatic service for American President Lines.[12]

One of the ship's most famous passengers was the Nobel Prize–winning author Sigrid Undset, who fled the Nazis by travelling across Russia and sailed to the USA on the President Cleveland.[13]

World War II service

U.S. Army

The American President liner President Cleveland was chartered by the U.S. Army in July 1941 and renamed USAT Tasker H. Bliss for General Tasker H. Bliss, who was Army Chief of Staff in 1917 to 1918.[5][14] The ship was quickly converted at San Francisco into a troop transport and made an initial voyage to Alaska by way of Seattle.[5] After returning to San Francisco in August, Bliss made quick turn around for a voyage to Manila by way of Honolulu and Guam, returning in September 1941.[5] In October 1941, Bliss made another round trip to Manila, and after voyage repairs and additional alterations at San Francisco, made a round trip to Hawaii.[5]

After the

Guantanamo, Key West, and Hampton Roads.[5]

U.S. Navy

The ship was transferred to the

Maryland Drydock Co., Baltimore, Maryland, and commissioned on 15 September 1942 as USS Tasker H. Bliss designated as transport AP-42.[14]

Tasker H. Bliss arrived at

Fedhala, Morocco on 8 November.[14] During the landings, Bliss had to re-embark the 3d Reconnaissance Troop of 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment after a failed night attack to destroy a heavy antiaircraft gun battery at Beach Yellow, on Cap de Fedala southwest of the town of Fedhala.[17]

The Naval Battle of Casablanca delayed off-loading cargo, and postponed departure from the Moroccan coast. On the evening of 12 November 1942, she was riding at anchor in Fedhala Roads when the Kriegsmarine submarine U-130 commanded by Ernst Kals slipped in among the ships and fired five torpedoes at three transports. All torpedoes hit their targets, and they burst into flames. The victims were transports Edward Rutledge, Hugh L. Scott, and Tasker H. Bliss. All were abandoned and the first two sank shortly, but Tasker H. Bliss burned until 02:30 the next morning and then sank. There were 31 casualties. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 7 December.[14]

Tasker H. Bliss received one battle star for World War II service.[14]

References

  1. ^ a b The Marine Review February 1921, p. 99.
  2. ^ a b Pacific Marine Review July 1922.
  3. ^ Wrecksite
  4. ^ a b c McKellar: Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917–1921, Part III, p. 140a.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g Charles 1947, p. 60.
  6. ^ Nautical Gazette March 12, 1921, p. 339.
  7. ^ Pacific Marine Review December 1923, p. 616.
  8. ^ Pacific Marine Review May 1925, p. 22.
  9. ^ Pacific Marine Review June 1925, p. 250.
  10. ^ Pacific Marine Review June 1925, pp. 251, 254.
  11. ^ APL History, p. 64.
  12. ^ Hoffman: Pacific Marine Review, November 1938, p. 28.
  13. ^ Montreal Gazette Aug 27, 1940, p. 11
  14. ^ a b c d e f Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Tasker H. Bliss.
  15. ^ Leighton & Coakley 1968, p. 146.
  16. ^ Leighton & Coakley 1968, p. 147.
  17. ^ Howe 1993, pp. 127–128.

Bibliography

  • APL (American President Lines). "APL History" (PDF). APL (American President Lines). Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  • Charles, Roland W. (1947). Troopships of World War II (PDF). Washington: The Army Transportation Association.
    LCCN 47004779. Archived from the original
    (PDF) on 30 October 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  • Hoffman, Gene (1938). "Full Steam Ahead for the American President Lines Round the World". Pacific Marine Review. 35 (November). San Francisco: J.S. Hines: 22–28. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  • Howe, George F. (1993). The Mediterranean Theater of Operations — Northwest Africa: Seizing The Initiative In The West. United States Army In World War II. Washington, DC: Center Of Military History, United States Army.
    LCCN 57060021. Archived from the original
    on 2015-05-28. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  • Leighton, Richard M; Coakley, Robert W (1968) [1st. Pub. 1955]. The War Department — Global Logistics And Strategy 1940–1943. United States Army In World War II. Washington, DC: Center Of Military History, United States Army.
    LCCN 55060001. Archived from the original
    on 2017-10-11. Retrieved 2015-08-07.
  • McKellar, Norman L. "Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921, Part V, Contract Steel Ships". Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917–1921. ShipScribe. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  • Naval History And Heritage Command. "Tasker H. Bliss". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command. Retrieved 5 August 2015.
  • Marine Review (1921). "1920 Construction Record of U.S. Yards". The Marine Review. 51 (February). New York: 99. Retrieved 4 August 2015.
  • Nautical Gazette (1921). "First 535's to Reach Pacific Get Warm Welcome". The Nautical Gazette. 100 (March 12, 1921). New York: The Nautical Gazette, Inc.: 339. Retrieved 6 August 2015.
  • Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (1922). "Cost of U.S.S.B. Vessels". Pacific Marine Review. 19 (July). San Francisco: J.S. Hines: 434. Retrieved 5 August 2015.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (1923). "Pacific Mail Trans-Pacific Service (advertisement)". Pacific Marine Review. 20 (December). San Francisco: J.S. Hines: 616. Retrieved 6 August 2015.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (1925). "United States Government Combination Freight and Passenger Service From Pacific Ports (advertisement)". Pacific Marine Review. 22 (May). San Francisco: J.S. Hines. Retrieved 7 August 2015.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  • Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (1925). "Pacific Marine Review (multiple articles)". Pacific Marine Review. 22 (June). San Francisco: J.S. Hines. Retrieved 7 August 2015.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

  • Photo gallery of USS Tasker H. Bliss (AP-42) at NavSource Naval History

33°40′N 7°35′W / 33.667°N 7.583°W / 33.667; -7.583

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=SS_President_Cleveland_(1920)&oldid=1209729449"