SS Roosevelt (1905)
SS Roosevelt participating in a naval parade on the Hudson River as part of the Hudson-Fulton Anniversary Celebration in 1909.
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United States | |
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Name | Roosevelt |
Namesake | Theodore Roosevelt |
Owner | Peary Arctic Club |
Operator | Peary Arctic Club |
Builder | McKay and Dix Shipyard, [[Verona Island, Maine ]], Maine |
Laid down | 19 October 1904 |
Launched | 23 March 1905 |
Sponsored by | Mrs. Josephine Peary |
Completed | July 1905 |
Fate | Sold August 1910 |
United States | |
Name | SS Roosevelt |
Namesake | Previous name retained |
Operator | John Arbuckle |
Acquired | August 1910 |
Fate | Sold 1915 |
U.S. Bureau of Fisheries | |
Name | SS Roosevelt |
Namesake | Previous name retained |
Acquired | 1915 |
Commissioned | 1917 |
Fate | Transferred to United States Navy 18 March 1918 |
Acquired | Transferred from U.S. Navy 11 June 1919 |
Fate |
|
United States Navy | |
Name | USS Roosevelt |
Namesake | Previous name retained |
Acquired | Transferred from U.S. Bureau of Fisheries 18 March 1918 |
Commissioned | 18 March 1918 |
Decommissioned | 1919 |
Identification | SP-2397 |
Fate | Transferred to U.S. Bureau of Fisheries 11 June 1919 |
General characteristics as Bureau of Fisheries vessel | |
Type | Cargo liner |
Tonnage | 654 GRT |
Displacement | 1,600 tons |
Length | 182 ft (55 m) |
Beam | 35 ft 6 in (10.82 m) |
Draft | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
Propulsion | KW), one screw |
Speed | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
General characteristics as U.S. Navy vessel | |
Type | Patrol vessel |
Displacement | 1,600 tons |
Length | 182 ft (55 m) |
Beam | 35 ft 7 in (10.85 m) |
Draft | 16 ft (4.9 m) |
Speed | 8 knots (15 km/h; 9.2 mph) |
Armament | 3 x 3-pounder guns |
SS Roosevelt was an American steamship of the early 20th century. She was designed and constructed specifically for Robert Peary′s polar exploration expeditions, and she supported the 1908 expedition in which he claimed to have discovered the North Pole.
After her career with Peary, Roosevelt saw commercial use as a
Design and construction
United States Navy Commander Robert Peary designed Roosevelt specifically for operations in support of his Arctic exploration expeditions.[1][2] His design attempted to incorporate the best features of previous polar exploration ships with innovations that would give her first-of-their-kind capabilities.[3]
Peary designed the ship along the same lines as the
Previous Arctic exploration ships had relied on
Roosevelt was the first ship ever built in the
Operational history
Peary expeditions
On 16 July 1905, Roosevelt, captained by Robert Bartlett, set out from New York City on what was called the Roosevelt Expedition, sponsored by the Peary Arctic Club, with Peary and his party aboard.[1] Roosevelt withstood a fire, rudder damage, and encounters with fog and icebergs and proceeded northward to Cape Sheridan in the north of Ellesmere Island.[1] Made fast to the ice on 5 September 1905, she remained there through the winter of 1905–1906,[1] becoming the second-largest ship ever to spend a winter in the Arctic.[5] Peary and his party disembarked in January 1906 to head northward across the ice, and set a record for Farthest North, reaching a latitude of 87 degrees 6 minutes North before turning back.[8] Roosevelt broke out of the ice on 4 July 1906, prior to the return of the expedition.[1] Carried 20 nautical miles (37 km) south, she crashed against an ice foot a few days later, losing propeller blades, her rudder, and her sternpost.[1] On 30 July 1906, Peary and his party returned to her after a six-month absence, and on 24 August 1906 Roosevelt broke free and turned southward.[1] By mid-September 1906 she was far enough south to assure her escape from the ice before the winter freeze and in December 1906 she arrived at New York City.[1]
On 8 July 1908, Roosevelt, again captained by Robert Bartlett, cleared
After his return to New York, Peary proposed that the Peary Arctic Club and the National Geographic Society jointly undertake an expedition to the Antarctic, with the Peary Arctic Club contributing Roosevelt to the expedition.[5] However, Roosevelt required expensive repairs because of ice damage she had suffered, and the Antarctic expedition never took place.[10]
John Arbuckle
In August
On 3 March 1915, the
U.S. Bureau of Fisheries
On 21 April 1910, the
On 19 July 1915,
Ultimately, the total cost of the ship and her repairs came to US$72,000, but it was still a significant saving compared to the estimated cost of constructing a new vessel.[2] With her repairs finally complete, Roosevelt departed Norfolk on 23 January 1917, bound for Seattle, Washington, but endured further delays en route, first impeded by an international incident which detained her for over a month at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, followed by yet another delay of three weeks for repairs at Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone.[2] She finally arrived at Seattle on 23 April 1917, carrying supplies for the United States Navy and the United States Lighthouse Service.[2] On 4 July 1917, a dedication ceremony took place in Seattle to mark the opening of the Government Locks, which connected Puget Sound with the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Lake Washington, and Roosevelt – leading a flotilla of hundreds of boats that included the newly built BOF boat USFS Auklet[2] – became the first large ocean-going vessel to enter the canal and the first such ship to enter Lake Washington.[14]
On 7 July 1917, Roosevelt began her duties as the first "Pribilof tender," departing Seattle for the Pribilof Islands and
Meanwhile, the
While in naval service, Roosevelt continued her "Pribilof tender" duties, making voyages on behalf of the BOF between Seattle, Unalaska, and the Pribilof Islands.
While Roosevelt was quarantined at Unalaska, several
On 17 January 1919, a little over two months after the conclusion of World War I, it was reported that Roosevelt needed extensive repairs and an overhaul, and the Steamboat Inspection Service later confirmed it.[2] She arrived at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington, on 21 April 1919, where she was discovered to have dry rot.[2] After additional inspections, the cost of repairs was estimated at US$186,000, which the BOF deemed prohibitive.[2] Roosevelt was condemned on 4 June 1919,[2] and the Navy transferred her to the BOF on 11 June 1919.[1][2][7] The BOF moved her to Seattle for auction.[2] Her crew remained aboard her long enough to transfer equipment from her to her replacement, MV Eider, which the BOF had purchased in the summer of 1919 to serve as its next "Pribilof tender".[2][15] On 15 July 1919, Roosevelt was sold in an auction at Salmon Bay Wharf in Seattle for US$28,000 to the high bidder, Captain M. E. Tallakson.[1][2][7]
Later career
After her sale, Roosevelt was resold several times but ultimately was rebuilt and issued a certificate of seaworthiness by the Steamboat Inspection Service.
In November 1924 the Washington Tug and Barge Company of Seattle acquired Roosevelt and put her to work towing
While operating as a tug, Roosevelt had a number of mishaps. During the winter in early 1926 she lost her rudder while towing two barges from Seattle to
The Steamboat Inspection Service inspected Roosevelt for the final time on 22 May 1936 and did not renew her license.[2][13] Shortly afterwards, the California Towing Company of San Francisco, California, purchased her.[2][13] In what turned out to be her last voyage, she left Seattle on 31 October 1936 bound for New York City, towing the decommissioned 19,250-ton U.S. Navy collier USS Jason.[2][13] She encountered heavy seas in the Pacific Ocean that strained her aging hull,[2] and a leaking condenser forced her to put into San Francisco for three days for repairs.[13] She resumed her voyage, but on 8 December 1936 her chief engineer reported to her captain that her engine needed to be stopped; the captain ordered him to keep it running, and Roosevelt limped into Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone on 12 December 1936.[13] After undergoing repairs at Balboa, she transited the Panama Canal on 23 December 1936,[13] and on 24 December 1936 she left Cristóbal in the Panama Canal Zone and set out into the Caribbean Sea. By that evening, a leaking fuel tank and filled her bilge with fuel oil and, due to the danger of a fire breaking out, she returned to Cristóbal.[13] After more repairs, Roosevelt again departed Cristóbal on 8 January 1937.[13] She had steamed about 250 nautical miles (460 km; 290 mi) into the Caribbean Sea when, on 14 January 1937, she reported herself unable to handle her tow due to heavy seas, a leaking hull, and engine and boiler problems.[2][13] The Panama Canal tug Tavernilla set out on 15 January 1937 to rendezvous with Roosevelt and relieve her of her tow of Jason, but when Tavernilla met Roosevelt on 16 January 1937, she was unable to take over the tow due to heavy seas.[13] Tavernilla returned to Cristóbal shortly before midnight on 16 January, and Roosevelt arrived there with Jason in tow early on 17 January 1937.[13] During her ordeal, Roosevelt′s forward topmast had fallen and the booms had been carried away.[13]
With her hull still leaking, Roosevelt arrived at Mount Hope Shipyard in the Panama Canal Zone for repairs on 20 January 1937.[13] No repairs were made, however, and to keep her from sinking alongside the pier she was beached on a mud bank in the Old French Canal on 21 January 1937.[2][13][7] Her crew, whose pay was long overdue, salvaged equipment from her to compensate for unpaid wages,[2] and she was abandoned on the mud bank.[2] An effort to have her salvaged and preserved as a museum failed,[13] and she subsequently rotted away where she had been beached.[2][16]
References
Footnotes
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af "Roosevelt (steamer)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca "Roosevelt, Bureau's First Pribilof Tender". AFSC Historical Corner. Retrieved September 15, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Grigore, p. 14.
- ^ Grigore, pp. 14, 15
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Grigore, p. 15.
- ^ "Peary Gets $50,000; M.K. Jesup Gives $25,000". New York Times. July 13, 1905. p. 7.
- ^ "Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum: The Roosevelt". bowdoin.edu. Archived from the original on December 20, 2017. Retrieved September 16, 2018.
- ^ "Peary Polar Expedition Flags (U.S.)", CRW Flags, April 4, 2015 Accessed May 19, 2022
- ^ Grigore, pp. 15–16.
- ^ a b c d Grigore, p. 16.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Pribilof Islands Tender Vessels". AFSC Historical Corner. Retrieved September 4, 2018.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Grigore, p. 22.
- ^ "Timeline of Significant Events". afsc.noaa.gov. AFSC Historical Corner.
- ^ "Eider, Pribilof Tender and Patrol Vessel". AFSC Historical Corner. Retrieved September 7, 2018.
- ^ Grigore, pp. 14, 22
Bibliography
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Grigore, Julius Jr. “Peary and the Roosevelt: When Man and Ship Were One.” Panama Canal Review, Vol. 16, No. 5, August 1965, pp. 14-16, 22.