USS Martha Washington

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USS Martha Washington inbound to Hampton Roads, Virginia, from Brest, France, 1918.
History
Civil ensign of Austria-HungaryAustria-Hungary
NameSS Martha Washington
NamesakeMartha Washington
Owner
Austro-American Line
Port of registryTrieste, Austria-Hungary
RouteTrieste–New York
Builder
Launched1908
FateInterned in the United States, 1914
United States
NameUSAT Martha Washington
Acquired6 April 1917
Fatetransferred to the U.S. Navy, November 1917
United States
NameUSS Martha Washington (ID-3019)
AcquiredNovember 1917
Commissioned2 January 1918
Decommissioned18 November 1919
Stricken18 November 1919
FateTransferred to the War Department for use by the U.S. Army
United States
NameUSAT Martha Washington
Acquiredafter 18 November 1919
FateSold to Cosulich Line, 1922
Civil Ensign of ItalyItaly
NameTel Aviv
Owner
Port of registryTrieste, Italy
Renamed1932: Tel Aviv
FateScrapped, 1934
General characteristics
Tonnage8,312 GRT[2]
Displacement12,700 tons
Length460 ft (140.2 m)
Beam56 ft (17.1 m)
Draft24 ft 6 in (7.5 m)
Propulsionsteam engine powered by screw propeller made by Rankin & Blackmore[1]
Speed17.2 knots (31.9 km/h)
Troops3,380
Complement949
Armament
  • 4 × 5-inch (130 mm) guns
  • 2 ×
    1-pounder guns

USS Martha Washington (ID‑3019) was a

Italia Flotte Riunite
(English: United Fleets Italy), the ship was renamed SS Tel Aviv. The ship was scrapped in 1934.

Early career

Martha Washington in 1913

Martha Washington was launched in 1908 by Russell & Co. of Port Glasgow, Scotland for the Austro-American Line (formal name: Unione Austriaca di Navigazione).[3] The liner sailed between Trieste and New York City.[2]

On the evening of 20 November 1911, while steaming in the Ionian Sea from Patras and headed for New York, Martha Washington came under fire from an Italian battleship for a period of ten minutes, with shells falling within one ship length (approximately 500 ft or 150 m) of the liner. According to the captain of the liner, the Italians, fighting against Turkey in the Italo-Turkish War, mistook Martha Washington for a Turkish ship. The ship was allowed to pass unharmed after the crew used a signal lamp to communicate her identity to the Italians.[4]

At the outbreak of World War I, Martha Washington was interned at Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1914.[3]

World War I

After the United States entered the war, Martha Washington was taken over by the

U.S. Army Quartermaster Department on 6 April 1917. The former liner was acquired by the Navy in November 1917. She was commissioned on 2 January 1918.[3]

Transporting troops to France

Two months of round‑the‑clock effort restored the ship to seaworthiness and modified her as a troop transport. Martha Washington sailed on eight wartime voyages carrying troops to France, embarking a total of 24,005 passengers.

El Occidente, Powhatan, Finland, and cruiser Pueblo, arriving in France on 4 April. Martha Washington and Powhatan returned to the U.S. on 22 April.[7]

Martha Washington next departed Newport News on 30 April 1918 with Powhatan. Rendezvousing with the two transports was a convoy sailing from New York consisting of

Frederick, and destroyer Stevens—reached France on 18 June. Martha Washington returned to the U.S. on 30 June.[9]

Departing Newport News once again for France on 10 July, Martha Washington, accompanied by Aeolus, Powhatan, and Matsonia, joined with the New York contingent—Navy transports

Fairfax, Mayrant, and Paul Jones served as escorts on the eastbound crossing. Aeolus and Matsonia joined Martha Washington in arriving in Virginia on 5 August.[10]

With Manchuria, Henderson, Aeolus,

Rochester, Seattle, and Frederick. Records of this convoy are sketchy, but Henderson and Matsonia are known to have arrived in France on 25 August, and the other ships probably arrived around that same time. Upon Martha Washington 's return to the U.S. she shifted to New York.[11]

After embarking 3,029 troops,

Calamares, Finland, Powhatan, and steamer Ulua. Martha Washington 's New York group met up with a Virginia group of Navy transports Aeolus and Koningen der Nederlanden, and steamers Patria and Kursk. Escorts—consisting of battleship New Hampshire, cruisers St. Louis and Pueblo, and destroyers Stribling, Hopkins, and Stringham—helped to ensure the safe arrival of all ships in France on 28 September. Finland and Pocahontas accompanied Martha Washington on her return journey and arrived at New York on 12 October.[13]

Beginning what would be her final wartime crossing, Martha Washington sailed with Aeolus and Italian steamer

Armistice, Martha Washington made eight additional voyages—from 26 November 1918 to 11 November 1919—returning 19,687 troops and passengers from foreign ports. During her seventh voyage she also disembarked 945 interned German aliens at Rotterdam in the Netherlands.[3]

On her final voyage she arrived at Brest on 14 August and received new orders to transport an American relief mission to

Batum, Russia, on 18 September, spent the following three weeks there. In this period of civil turmoil, Martha Washington brought 324 Armenian and Polish refugees to Constantinople. Sailing for the United States on 15 October, she called at Malta, Marseille, and Brest before arriving at New York on the first anniversary of the Armistice signing. She was decommissioned on 18 November 1919 and was turned over to the War Department.[3]

Later career

In November 1922, Martha Washington was sold to the

Italia Flotte Riunite in 1932, Martha Washington was renamed Tel Aviv. The liner was scrapped in 1934.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ "Screw Steamer MARTHA WASHINGTON built by Russell & Co in 1908 for Unione Austriaca di Navigazione, Trieste, Passenger".
  2. ^ a b c "Unione Austriaca (Austro-Americana) / Cosulich Line". 3 May 2008. Archived from the original on 1 October 2011. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Martha Washington". DANFS.
  4. ^ "Italian warship shelled the liner" (PDF). The New York Times. 6 December 1911. p. 14. Retrieved 22 June 2008.
  5. ^ Gleaves, p. 240.
  6. ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 605.
  7. ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 606.
  8. ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 608.
  9. ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 610.
  10. ^ Crowell and Wilson, pp. 612–13.
  11. ^ Crowell and Wilson, pp. 614–15.
  12. ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 559.
  13. ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 617.
  14. ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 619.

References

External links