USS America (ID-3006)
As Amerika, before the First World War
| |
History | |
---|---|
Germany | |
Name | Amerika |
Namesake | German spelling of America |
Owner | Hamburg America Line |
Builder | Harland & Wolff, Belfast |
Yard number | 357 |
Launched | 20 April 1905 |
Completed | 21 September 1905 |
In service | 11 October 1905 |
Out of service | 1 August 1914 |
Fate | Seized by United States, April 1917 |
History | |
United States | |
Name | USS America (ID-3006) |
Owner | United States Navy |
Acquired | 25 July 1917 |
Commissioned | 6 August 1917 |
Decommissioned | 26 September 1919 |
Fate | Transferred to War Department, 26 September 1919 |
History | |
United States | |
Name | USAT America |
Operator | United States Army |
Acquired | 26 September 1919 |
In service | 26 September 1919 |
Out of service | 1920 |
Fate | Transferred to the USSB |
History | |
United States Lines | |
Name | SS America |
Owner | USSB |
Operator |
|
In service | 1920 |
Out of service | 1931 |
Fate | Transferred to the War Department |
History | |
United States | |
Name | USAT Edmund B. Alexander |
Namesake | Edmund Brooke Alexander |
Owner | United States Army |
Acquired | October 1940 |
In service | January 1941 |
Out of service | 26 May 1949 |
Refit | May 1942 |
Fate | Scrapped 16 January 1957 |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | 22,622 GRT, 13,637 NRT[1] |
Length | 669 ft (204 m) |
Beam | 74.3 ft (22.6 m) |
Propulsion | 2 screw propellers |
Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) |
Capacity |
|
Crew | 577 |
Differences as USS America: | |
Displacement | 41,500 Tons |
Length | 687 ft (209 m) |
Beam | 75 ft 5 in (22.99 m) |
Draft | 39 ft 5.25 in (12.0206 m) |
Speed | 17.5 knots (32 km/h; 20 mph) |
Complement | 994 |
Armament |
|
USS America (ID-3006) was a
Hours before the
Returned to the USSB in 1920, America was initially assigned to the
In October 1940, America was reactivated for the U.S. Army and renamed USAT Edmund B. Alexander. After establishing the
Amerika
Amerika was a steel-hulled, 22,225 gross register tons, twin-screw, steam passenger liner. She was launched on 20 April 1905 at
A slightly larger sister ship, Kaiserin Auguste Victoria was being built at the same time at Hamburg and would remain the largest ship in the world until the Lusitania. Easily one of the most luxurious passenger vessels to sail the seas, Amerika entered upper New York Bay on 20 October, reaching the Hamburg America piers at Hoboken, New Jersey, in mid-afternoon. Some 2,000 people turned out to watch her as she was moored near her consorts at the Hamburg America Line which were bedecked in colorful bunting in nearby slips.
From 1905 to 1914, Amerika plied the North Atlantic trade routes touching at Cherbourg, France, while steaming between Hamburg and New York. Toward the end of that period, her itinerary was altered so that the ship also called at Boulogne, France, and Southampton, England.
On 14 April 1912, a ship's officer sent a telegram message to the Hydrographic Office in Washington, D.C. reporting that the ship "passed two large icebergs in 41 27N 50 8W on the 14th of April" signed "Knutp, 10;51p[m]". This message was, coincidentally, relayed by the Marconi operator on Titanic to the station at Cape Race because the transmitter of Amerika was not powerful enough to reach Cape Race directly.
Amerika was responsible for the accidental loss of British submarine B2 by collision 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) northeast of Dover in the early hours of 4 October 1912.
The eruption of fighting at the outset of
On her voyage from New York to Europe in the second week of April 1911, Amerika carried the mortally ill composer Gustav Mahler back home. He died in Vienna on 18 May 1911.
Interiors
Lavishly decorated throughout, Amerika boasted of a couple of unique shipboard features; an electric passenger elevator (the first to be installed on a passenger liner), and an à la carte restaurant which, from early morning to midnight, offered a variety of dishes to delight the discriminating gourmet. It was managed by the famous hotelier César Ritz, while the renowned chef Auguste Escoffier was responsible for creating the menu, organizing and staffing the kitchen and restaurant.[3][2]
French architect Charles Mewès was responsible for designing the interiors of Amerika, while the English firm of Waring & Gillow was contracted to decorate the main public rooms.[4][5] The Illustrated London News stated simply that "the rooms which they [Waring & Gillow] have decorated are artistic triumphs."[6] The Sphere wrote of the interiors that "the whole of the vessel is planned on such a scale that the various rooms do not any longer partake of the nature of ship's cabins but are rather a series of sumptuously-furnished and comfortably-contrived apartments such as one would find in a costly house on shore."[4] Amerika's interiors were a departure from the prevailing style on ocean liners up to that point, as they were modelled after a luxury hotel rather than on castles and palaces.[5]
The grand staircase in First-Class was designed in the
The First-Class dining saloon was at the bottom of the three-deck high grand staircase. The saloon, which was in the
In terms of accommodation, the finest suites on board were the two called the "Imperial State Rooms", one decorated in the Adam style, the other in the Empire style. There were also 13 chambres de luxe decorated by Waring & Gillow in a range of historic styles, including Georgian, Queen Anne, Adam, and Sheraton.[8]
USS America (1917 to 1919)
On 6 April 1917, in anticipation that Congress would declare war on Germany, Edmund Billings, the Collector of Customs for the Port of Boston, ordered that Amerika and four other German ships (the Cincinnati, Wittekind, Köln, and Ockenfels) be seized. It remained inactive until it was taken by deputies under the orders of John A. Donald, the Commissioner of the United States Shipping Board (USSB), on 25 July 1917. Upon inspecting the liner, American agents found her filthy and discovered that her crew had sabotaged certain elements of the ship's engineering plant. Nevertheless, with her officers and men detained on Deer Island, Amerika was earmarked by the United States Navy for service in the Cruiser and Transport Force as a troop transport. Given the identification number 3006, she was placed in commission as USS Amerika (ID-3006) at 08:00 on 6 August 1917, at the Boston Navy Yard with Lieutenant Commander Frederick L. Oliver in temporary command. Ten days later, Captain George C. Day arrived on board and assumed command.
Over the ensuing weeks, she was converted into a troopship, and while this work was in progress,
The major part of her conversion and repair work having been completed by late September, America ran a six-hour
On 18 October 1917, America departed the Boston Navy Yard and, two days later, arrived at
For more than a week, the passage was uneventful. Then, on 7 November, Von Steuben struck Agamemnon while zig-zagging. As America's war history states: "The excitement caused by the collision of these great ships was greatly increased when the Von Steuben sent out a signal that a submarine was sighted." The ships in the convoy dispersed as if on signal, only to draw together in formation once more when the "enemy" failed to materialize. All vessels resumed their stations—all, that is, except Von Steuben whose bow was open to the sea from the damage suffered in the collision. Even the crippled transport rejoined the convoy the following afternoon. Met on 12 November off the coast of France by an escort consisting of converted American yachts and French airplanes and destroyers, the convoy reached safe haven at Brest, America's only wartime port of debarkation. She dropped her anchor at 11:15 and began discharging the soldiers.
Underway again on 29 November, the ship returned to the United States, in convoy, reaching Hoboken on 10 December. She then remained pier side through Christmas and New Year's Day and headed for France again on 4 January 1918, carrying 3,838 troops and 4,100 tons of cargo. The following day, she fell in with the transport Mercury, and armored cruiser Seattle, her escort for the crossing. Except for the after control station personnel reporting a torpedo track crossing in the ship's wake on 17 January—shortly before the transport reached Brest—this voyage was uneventful.
America arrived at
Troop ship duty continued:
- Departed Hoboken 27 February 1918 with 3,877 troops, accompanied by Agamemnon and Mount Vernon, arrived at Brest on 10 March.
- Departed Brest 17 March 1918 with French naval personnel (4 officers, 10 petty officers, 77 men), arrived 10 days later.
- Departed Hoboken 6 April with 3,877 troops, joined Great Northern on the 8th and Agamemnon on the 12th, made port 15 April.
- A week later, after disembarking her charges, the transport took on board the survivors from the American munitions ship, Florence H, which had exploded at Quiberon Bay five days before, and sailed for the United States. Entered the Hudson River on 1 May.
- Sailed a week later, joined on 10 May by George Washington, De Kalb, coming from Newport News, Virginia. Shortly after 03:00 on 18 May, four men sighted what appeared to be a periscope some 50 yards from the ship, but it vanished. Arrived in Brest later that day.
- Sailed for the United States on 21 May at 15:50, accompanied by George Washington, De Kalb, and a coastal escort of destroyers. Escort attacked a suspected submarine four hours out then continued. Escort left convoy after 22:00 on 22 May. De Kalb fell behind the next day, and America steamed alone on 25 May. Reached Hoboken four days later.
- Left Hoboken 10 June with 5,305 troops, accompanied by Agamemnon, Mount Vernon, and Orizaba. Joined near Europe by coastal escort eight days later, reached Brest 19 June.
- Left Brest 23 June accompanied by Orizaba, parted company three days later, arrived at Hoboken on 1 July.
In the brief respite that followed, America briefly received Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves on board and was painted in a dazzle camouflage pattern designed to obscure the ship's lines, a pattern that she would wear for the remainder of her days as a wartime transport.
Late on 9 July, America sailed on the seventh of her voyages to Europe for the Navy. Just before midnight on the 14th, while the convoy steamed through a storm that limited visibility severely, a stranger, SS Instructor, unwittingly wandered into the formation and ran afoul of America. In spite of attempts at radical course changes by both ships, America struck the intruder near the break of her poop deck and sheared off her stern which sank almost immediately. America's swing threw the wreck of Instructor clear, allowing it to pass down the transport's port side without touching before it sank less than 10 minutes later. America stopped briefly to search for survivors, but the danger of lurking U-boats limited the pause to the most abbreviated of durations, and the storm added other obstacles. As a result, America succeeded in rescuing only the 11 Instructor crewmen who managed to man a lifeboat. Tragically, the exigencies of war forced America to abandon the other 31 to their fate. A court of inquiry held at Brest on 18 July, soon after America arrived there, exonerated her captain from any blame with regard to the sad incident.
Fortunately, since the brush with Instructor had caused but minor damage to America, the transport was still able to carry out her mission. After embarking passengers for the return trip, she got underway on 25 July in company with Matsonia, Manchuria, Aeolus, Sierra, Martha Washington, Powhatan, and SS Patria. Upon parting from these ships three days later, America raced on alone and reached Hoboken on the evening of 3 August.
Her eighth voyage began on 18 August with America's sailing in company with George Washington and Von Steuben. She reached Brest on the 27th, discharged her troops, and embarked the usual mix of passengers. On this trip, she took on board 171 army officers, 165 army enlisted men, 18 French nuns, 10
America parted from George Washington and Von Steuben on 2 September and reached the Boston Navy Yard on the 7th. Following drydocking, voyage repairs, and the embarkation of another contingent of troops, she arrived at Hoboken on the morning of the 17th. Three days later, she cleared the port, in company with Agamemnon, bound for France on her ninth transatlantic voyage cycle.
Influenza epidemic
By this time, the
The day after reaching home, America commenced coaling and loading stores in preparation for her 10th voyage and completed the task at 02:25 on 15 October. In addition, the ship was thoroughly fumigated to rid her of influenza germs. By that time, all troops had been embarked and the ship loaded, ready to sail for France soon thereafter.
Sinking and salvage
At 04:45, America, without warning, began listing to port and kept heeling over as water entered through the coaling ports which were still open although the coaling process had been completed over two hours before. Soon after the ship began listing, the general alarm was sounded throughout the ship. In the troop spaces, the urgent sound of that alarm awakened the sleeping soldiers who sought egress from their compartments. Soldiers and sailors both streamed up ladders topside; others jumped for safety on the coal barges, still alongside, or down cargo nets to the dock. Sentries on deck fired their rifles in the air as they sought to warn their comrades on board.
Commander Edward C. S. Baker, the executive officer, in the absence of Captain Zeno E. Briggs whose wife was seriously ill, directed Lieutenant John G. M. Stone, the gunnery officer, to clear the lower compartments. Stone was credited with leading to safety many soldiers and sailors who had been blindly plunging through various compartments (the flooding of the engine rooms had put the lights out aboard the ship) seeking some means of escape.
Rear Admiral Gleaves arrived at the dock soon after the ship sank, the water covering her main deck, to see personally what had happened to one of the largest transports in the Cruiser-Transport Force. Before the day was out, a court of inquiry began meeting to determine what had happened. Over the ensuing days, salvage efforts continued, including the removal of guns, cargo, and other equipment, as well as the search for the six men unaccounted for at muster. Eventually, the bodies of all, four soldiers and two sailors, were recovered. Divers worked continuously, closing open ports (almost all on "G" deck had been left open to allow the air to be cleared of the smell of disinfectants that had been used to cleanse and fumigate the compartments). She was raised and refloated on 21 November 1918, 10 days after the
While unable to determine definitely what had caused the sinking, the court of inquiry posited that water had entered the ship through open ports on "G" deck. An unofficial opinion held by some officers in the case maintained that the listing of the ship had been caused by mud suction, that the ship, to some extent, had been resting on the bottom, and that, when the tide rose, one side was released before the other.
After the war
Foreshadowing the
USAT America (1919 to 1920)
On 22 September 1919, shortly after America completed that voyage, the Chief of the Army Transportation Service (ATS), Brigadier General Frank T. Hines, contacted the Navy, expressing the Army's desire to acquire America and Mount Vernon ". . . to transport certain passengers from Europe to the United States." Four days later, America was decommissioned while alongside Pier 2, Hoboken, and transferred to the War Department. Capt. J. Ford, ATS, simultaneously assumed command of the ship.
USAT America conducted two more voyages between Hoboken and Brest. Trouble highlighted her second voyage under the Army colors. An unruly crew at Brest on 4 December 1919 prompted Capt. Ford to appeal to the colonel commanding Base Section Number Five, at Brest, for an armed guard, fearing mutiny. Apparently, the Army matter was resolved, for the ship reached Hoboken five days before Christmas 1919.
On 20 December, the day America was scheduled to arrive at the port of debarkation, arrangements were made to turn America and two other Army transports, President Grant and George Washington, over to the USSB for operation while they were being carried on the roll of the Army Transport Reserve. However, before the year 1919 was out, events in a faraway land caused a temporary change in this plan.
A glance back at developments on the
This development left
However, before this could be accomplished, the Czechs, who had tried to remain aloof from Russia's internal struggles, incurred the hostility and opposition of the Bolsheviks and found themselves involuntarily embroiled in the Russian Civil War as something of a rallying point for various counterrevolutionary forces. Moreover, prior to the armistice, some factions within the Allied powers hoped that the Czechs might be used to reopen the fighting on the eastern front against the Central Powers. As a result, some two tempestuous years passed before the entire Czech legion finally assembled at Vladivostok ready for evacuation.
On 30 December 1919, a representative of the War Department contacted the
America reached
While the transport had been on her way to the Russian far eastern port, the situation in Russia had deteriorated markedly. Bolshevik armies had driven the
SS America (1921 to 1931)
For America, further service awaited with the
For the next eleven years, America plied the
Fire and rescue
The first occurred on 10 March 1926, as the ship lay moored in the yard of the
The second newsworthy incident began on 22 January 1929 when America—then commanded by Captain
After the boat had been rowed to within 50 feet (15 m) of the listing Florida, Manning had a line thrown across to the eager crew of the distressed freighter One by one, the 32 men from the Italian ship came across the rope. By the time the last of them, the ship's captain, had been dragged on board the pitching lifeboat, the winds had reached gale force, with violent snow and rain squalls, with a high, rough, sea running. Then, via ladders, ropes, cargo nets, and two homemade breeches buoys, sailors on board America brought up Florida's survivors, until all 32 were safe and sound. Finally, they pulled their shipmates from the rescue party back on board. Chief Officer Manning was brought up last. Captain Fried felt that it was highly dangerous to attempt to hoist the number one lifeboat on board and, rather than risk lives, ordered it cut adrift.
Inactivated
In 1931 and 1932, after two modern ships, Washington and SS Manhattan, had been added to the fleet of the United States Lines, America was laid up at Point Patience, Maryland, on the Patuxent River, along with her consorts of days gone by – George Washington, Agamemnon, and Mount Vernon, all veterans of the old Cruiser-Transport Force. For the next eight years, America were placed in reserve.
USAT Edmund B. Alexander (1940 to 1949)
When the United States transferred fifty surplus destroyers to the British government in the
As a result, in October 1940, America was acquired by the
With the ship's new role came a new name. Possibly to avoid confusion with the liner
Edmund B. Alexander sailed from New York in early
Extensive repairs in the yards of the Atlantic Basin Iron Works followed. The ship operated briefly between New Orleans and the Panama Canal Zone. Subsequently, ordered to Baltimore in May 1942, Edmund B. Alexander spent almost a year undergoing a major refit. In the overhaul, she was given a single funnel, replacing the two, and was converted to burn fuel oil instead of coal. After the refit, she could make 17 knots (31 km/h).
Edmund B. Alexander carried troops between New York and the European and Mediterranean theaters for the remainder of
Altered in February and March 1946 to carry military dependents (904 adults—possibly
The ship was placed in reserve at Hawkins Point, Maryland, on 26 May 1949. Taken thence on 28 January 1951 to lay-up in the Hudson River, Edmund B. Alexander remained there for almost six more years. During this time in lay up the call back to active service never sounded. The ship was sold to the Bethlehem Steel Company of Baltimore, on 16 January 1957 and was broken up a short time later.
Awards
- World War I Victory Medal with "Transport" clasp
- American Defense Service Medal
- American Campaign Medal
- battle star
- World War II Victory Medal
- Army of Occupation Medal with "Germany" and "Japan" clasps
Notes
- ^ Bykofsky has departure from "Brooklyn Army Base" on 15 January while Conn has departure from "New York" on 20 January with both citing official reports. Bykofsky cites a New York Port of Embarkation (NYPE) report. Conn cites WPD reports mainly noting slight differences in number and composition of troops.
References
- ^ "Trade and Transportation". 27 March 2024.
- ^ a b c Kenneth James (2006). Escoffier: The King of Chefs. Hambledon and London. p. 195.
- ^ Anne Wealleans (2006). Designing Liners: A History of Interior Design Afloat. p. 41.
- ^ a b c "A Revolution in Ship Decoration". The Sphere. 14 October 1905. p. 59.
- ^ a b c Anne Wealleans (2006). Designing Liners: A History of Interior Design Afloat. p. 38-41.
- ^ "A Triumph of Ship Decoration". Illustrated London News. 28 October 1905. p. 615.
- ^ a b c d L.R.E. Paulin (1905). "The Interior Design of the New Steamship "Amerika"". Inside and Out. p. 66-69.
- ^ Anne Wealleans (2006). Designing Liners: A History of Interior Design Afloat. p. 41.
- ^ "America II (Id. No. 3006)". public1.nhhcaws.local. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
- ^ Bykofsky & Larson 1990, p. 9.
- ^ Conn, Engelman & Fairchild 2000, pp. 385, 400.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Bykofsky, Joseph; Larson, Harold (1990). The Technical Services: The Transportation Corps: Operations Overseas. United States Army in World War II. Washington, D.C.: Center of Military History, United States Army. LCCN 56-60000.
- Conn, Stetson; Engelman, Rose C.; Fairchild, Byron (2000) [1964]. Guarding the United States and Its Outposts. ISBN 978-14102019-2-8.
- Daniel Othfors & Henrik Ljungström. "Amerika/America (I)". The Great Ocean Liners. Archived from the original on 16 January 2010. Retrieved 6 July 2013.