SS Corvus (1919)

Corvus was a steam cargo ship built in 1919 by Columbia River Shipbuilding Company of Portland for the United States Shipping Board as part of the wartime shipbuilding program of the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) to restore the nation's Merchant Marine. The freighter was operated on international and domestic routes through 1944. Early in 1945 she was transferred to Soviet Union as part of lend-lease program. After several months of operation, the freighter was rammed by another vessel on 31 May 1945 and was beached to avoid sinking. She was subsequently raised and towed to Seattle where she was scrapped in 1946.[1][2]

For other ships with the same name, see SS Corvus.

Sister ship Karaganda (ex. Circinus). Photo dated between 18 March 1961 and 1 October 1963.


West-class cargo steamers as per U.S. classification and Belorussia-class cargo steamers as per USSR classification [1]
History
United States
Name:
  • Corvus (1919-1930)
  • Flomar (1930-1945)
  • Uzbekistan (1945)
Namesake: Corvus
Owner:
  • Green Star Line (1919–1923)
  • Planet Steamship Co. (1923–Dec 1929)
  • Calmar Steamship Corp. (Dec 1929–10 Jan 1945)
  • Far East Shipping Co. (10 Jan 1945 – summer 1945)
Operator:
Builder: Columbia River Shipbuilding Company, Portland
Yard number: 33
Launched: 6 November 1919
Sponsored by: Mrs. M. E. Thorne
Christened: Frances Smith
Completed: 21 November 1919
Commissioned: 26 November 1919
Maiden voyage: 26 November 1919
Homeport:
Identification:
Fate: Scrapped, August 1946
General characteristics
Class and type: Design 1013 Cargo ship
Tonnage:
Length: 410 ft 0 in (124.97 m)
Beam: 54 ft 2 in (16.51 m)
Depth: 27 ft 5 in (8.36 m)
Installed power: 582 Nhp, 2,800 ihp
Propulsion: Llewellyn Iron Works 3-cylinder triple expansion
Speed: 11 1⁄2 knots (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h)
Complement: 60 (1945)
Armament:

Design and construction

After the United States entry into World War I, a large shipbuilding program was undertaken to restore and enhance shipping capabilities both of the United States and their Allies. As part of this program, EFC placed orders with nation's shipyards for a large number of vessels of standard designs. Design 1013 cargo ship was a standard cargo freighter of approximately 8,800 tons deadweight designed by Skinner & Eddy Corp. and adopted by USSB.

West Hastan was part of the order for 14 vessels placed by USSB with Columbia River Shipbuilding Co. on 28 May 1918.[3] Soon after the end of hostilities, USSB started suspension and cancellation of contracts for ships ordered at war time prices. In April 1919 USSB cancelled or suspended construction of a large number of vessels being built at various shipyards around the country.[4] In July 1919 some of the contracts were briefly reinstated, including the one for West Hastan, however, it was permanently cancelled on 21 August 1919.[5][3] Despite the cancellation, the Columbia River Shipbuilding Co. decided to finish two cancelled freighters, future Corvus and Circinus, and try to sell them privately. The vessel was laid down at the shipbuilder's South Portland yard and launched on 6 November 1919 (yard number 33), with Mrs. M. E. Thorne, aunt of Mrs. Smith, being the sponsor.[6][7] As the ship slipped into the water, she was named Frances Smith in honor of the wife of Alfred F Smith, owner of the Columbia River Shipbuilding Co. Shortly thereafter, the vessel was bought together with thee more freighters of approximately the same size by the newly formed Green Star Steamship Co. and immediately renamed Corvus, after one of the constellations.[8]

The ship was shelter-deck type, had two main decks and had five main holds which allowed for the carriage of variety of goods and merchandise. The vessel also possessed all the modern machinery for quick loading and unloading of cargo from five large hatches, including ten winches and a large number of derricks. She was also equipped with wireless apparatus, had submarine signal system installed and had electrical lights installed along the decks.

As built, the ship was 410 feet 0 inches (124.97 m) long (between perpendiculars) and 54 feet 2 inches (16.51 m) abeam, a depth of 27 feet 5 inches (8.36 m).[9][10] Corvus was originally assessed at 5,749 GRT and 3,550 NRT and had deadweight of approximately 8,600.[10] The vessel had a steel hull with double bottom throughout with exception of her machine compartment, and a single 2,800 ihp triple expansion steam engine, with cylinders of 24 1⁄2-inch (62 cm), 41 1⁄2-inch (105 cm) and 72-inch (180 cm) diameter with a 48-inch (120 cm) stroke, that drove a single screw propeller and moved the ship at up to 11 1⁄2 knots (13.2 mph; 21.3 km/h).[10][9] The steam for the engine was supplied by three single-ended Scotch marine boilers fitted for both coal and oil fuel.

The sea trials were held in the Columbia River on 21 November 1919 with the ship performing satisfactorily. Following their successful completion, Corvus was handed over to her owners next day.[11]

Operational history

Following delivery to the Green Star Steamship Co., the ship departed from the shipbuilder's yard on 26 November 1919 and after a short stop at the oil dock departed on her first trip in the morning of November 27 bound for Arica.[12][13] The vessel reached Antofagasta on December 21 loaded a cargo of nitrates and from there proceeded to Europe via the Panama Canal.[14][15] The ship eventually returned to the East Coast on 1 April 1920, successfully concluding her maiden voyage.[16]

Corvus continued tramp trading between the East Coast and ports of United Kingdom and Europe. She chiefly transported coal on her eastward journeys. For example, she carried about 7,000 tons of coal to Gibraltar and England in February and June 1921.[17][18] In June 1921 Corvus, as she was leaving Baltimore on her way to England, came across Matson liner SS Buckeye State with fire raging in her fire room. Hoses were run from the freighter to the liner, and the fire was quickly subdued.[19] A shipping crisis that started in 1921 due to overabundance of tonnage and scarcity of cargo hit Green Star Steamship Co. very hard. After it's organization it chose rapid expansion, acquiring close to forty vessels and incurring large amount of debt. As business dried up, and many of ships were forced to be either laid up or sit idle in ports, the company defaulted on its debt obligations and after a two year long struggle to get help from USSB, it was forced into receivership and had to sell its assets. Corvus remained idle during this period of time, but eventually was sold to Planet Steamship Co. at the end of February 1923 together with several other vessels at the U.S. Marshal auction held in Baltimore for US$45,000.[20][21]

Following the acquisition, Planet Steamship Co. decided to allocate Corvus and another freighter, SS Santa Cecilia, to intercoastal East to West Coast trade. Corvus was reconditioned in Baltimore and left the port on 25 April 1923 for her first voyage under new flag carrying 7,500 tons cargo of steel and general merchandise to West Coast ports.[22][23][24] On her return trip the ship carried 4,600 tons of lumber and general cargo to New York. The vessel remained in this coastal trade through the second half of 1924.


During and right after World War I, the Shipping Board's sales campaigns urged Americans to buy ships for wealth and patriotism. Other ethnic groups set up shipping lines by appealing to group solidarity. So, Irish businessmen created the "Green Star Line" and purchased five steel steamers, the Corvus being one of them.[25]

  • 18 January 1920. The newspaper "The Sunday Oregonian", Portland, wrote on the page 46:
GREEN STAR WILL PLY ATLANTIC

Four Steamers Purchased Here to Sail From Baltimore.

[...]
The three other steamers purchased here by the Green Star line are the Corvus, which went in ballast to Arica, Chile, to load nitrates for Europe; the Centaurus, which took a part cargo of lumber here and went to San Francisco to finish a general cargo for the west coast, and the Clauseus, which went from here to San Francisco in ballast to load beans for Hamburg.[26][27]

Planet Steamship Company (1923-1929)

In 1923 the Green Star Line sold five of its ships and the Planet Steamship Corporation, a new company, bought the remainder of ships. In September 1923 an official exchange of securities began, allowing holders of "Green Star Line" stock to trade for stock in the new company (NYT, 8 March and 4 September 1923).[28]

Calmar Steamship Corporation (1929-1945)

In 1927 the Calmar Steamship Co (1927-1976), a subsidiary of Bethlehem Steel Corp., was founded to compete with United States Steel's Isthmian Line. Calmar carried exclusively Bethlehem's steel westbound, but carried lumber from a variety of shippers on the return voyage to the East Coast, functioning as a common carrier. In addition, Calmar collaborated with Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc., in these voyages.[29]

  • 13 of December 1929. The newspaper "Oakland Tribune" in Oakland, California, wrote:
Isthmian Lines House Flag from 1910 to 1974.
  "CALMAR BUYS SHIPS.

  The "Calmar Line" has purchased five freighters from the "Planet Steamship company", according to announcement from New York.[...]

  The vessels involved are all well known on this coast, consisting of the Circinius, Corvus, Clauseus, Centaurus and Eurana. They have run into local ports for several years under the Isthmian Line houseflag".[30][31]

In 1930 the ship, Corvus ,was renamed Flomar.[1][2] In the immediate post-World War II period, Calmar purchased eight Liberty ships and modified them for the company's purposes.[29] Seems the ship Flomar (ex. Corvus) was counted as one of this eight Liberty ships, but she was not really a Liberty class ships.

Far East Shipping Company (1945)

In January 1945, the US cargo ship Flomar was adopted by the Soviet Purchasing Committee and renamed Узбекистан (English: Uzbekistan) and entered into the Far Eastern State Shipping Company. During World War II, the ship Узбекистан performed export and import carriages between the Soviet Union Pacific ports and ports of the allies, as one of the Far Eastern basin paramilitary vessels. The ship was armed with one 102 mm, one 76.2 mm and eight 20 mm machine guns.[1]

In May 1945, The ship was damaged badly in a collision with American Star (Alaska Steamship Company) at the exit of Dutch Harbor. To avoid being flooded after the collision Узбекистан was run aground on the coastal shallows of the island of Unalaska (Aleutian Islands).[1][32] In June 1945 she was taken out from the shallows by US rescuers and in August 1945 she was handed over to the US for dismantling and scrapping as restoration was impossible.[1] She was officially scrapped in 1946.[1][2]

Other ships with the names Corvus and Uzbekistan (Узбекистан)
  • Another cargo steamship SS Corvus was built in 1920 or 1921 in Northern Europe and sunk due to a German submarine attack in February 1945.
  • Another Soviet Union cargo ship Узбекистан (GRT = 3,400 tons) was built in France for the Far East State Shipping Company in 1937 and was lost near the Strait of Juan de Fuca (Seattle, USA) as a result of a navigation accident on the 1st of April 1943.[33][32] It means that ship Corvus inherited the name Uzbekistan in 1945. And here is the last photo of this ship Узбекистан (1938) on the reefs near Pachena Point on Vancouver Island (48.43N 125.03W) dated 3 April 1943.
  • The tanker ship Павел (1893) was built in Tsat Russia and run in Caspian Sea. During the World War I the ship was rebuilt as a cargo-passenger ship. From 1920 she was in Soviet Union Caspian fleet and renamed Узбекистан in 1953. She was decommissioned in 1960.[34]
  • The passenger ship Узбекистан, IMO number 6421543, was built in 1962 for the Black Sea Shipping Company and scrapped in 2000.[35]
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References
  1. Тип "Белоруссия" (пр. 1013) - 25 единиц >> 24. УЗБЕКИСТАН (до 1930 г. "Corvus", до 1945 г. "Flomar").
  2. Columbia River Shipbuilding, Portland OR
  3. Colton, Tim. "EFC Contracts Sorted by Shipbuilder and EFC Hull Number". Shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
  4. "2 Million Tons Ship Work Ends". The San Francisco Examiner. 26 April 1919. p. 1. Retrieved 12 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. "Orders Ships At Portland". The Spokesman-Review. 31 July 1919. p. 14. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Corvus (2219269)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  7. "Steamer Launched Today". The Oregon Daily Journal. 6 November 1919. p. 18. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "Shipping News: Portland". The San Francisco Examiner. 16 November 1919. p. 15. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motorships. London: Lloyd's Register. 1920–1921.
  10. Merchant Vessels of the United States. Washington, DC: United States Printing Office. 1919–1920.CS1 maint: date format (link)
  11. "Steamer Corvus Is Turned Over To New Owners". The Oregon Daily Journal. 22 November 1919. p. 16. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Corvus Goes to Oil Dock". The Oregon Daily Journal. 26 November 1919. p. 10. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "Vessel On Trial Trip". The Oregon Daily Journal. 27 November 1919. p. 17. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Shipping News". New York Tribune. 23 December 1919. p. 20.
  15. "Shipping News". New York Tribune. 12 January 1920. p. 9.
  16. "Shipping News". New York Tribune. 2 April 1920. p. 21.
  17. "Activities in the Export and Bunker Trades". The Black Diamond. 66 (7). 12 February 1921. p. 193.
  18. "Activities in the Export and Bunker Trades". The Black Diamond. 66 (25). 18 June 1921. p. 686.
  19. "Ship Is Disabled; Eagle Tourists To Return To New York". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 13 June 1921. p. 1. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "Police Boat Escorts, Too". The Baltimore Sun. 28 February 1923. p. 22. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  21. "News of the Ships and Shipping Men". The Philadelphia Inquirer. 9 March 1923. p. 26. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. "Planet Steamers Coming". The San Francisco Examiner. 21 March 1923. p. 22. Retrieved 11 August 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. "Sailed". The Baltimore Sun. 26 April 1923. p. 17.
  24. "Movements of Ocean Vessels". The Panama Canal Record. XVI (41). 23 May 1923. p. 546.
  25. Judith Stein. "The World of Marcus Garvey: Race and Class in Modern Society. >> The Black Star Line". p. 71.
  26. The Sunday "OREGOXIAX, PORTLAND," JANUARY 18, 1920. >> GREEN STAR WILL PLYS ATLANTIC
  27. Historic Oregon Newspaper >> The Sunday Oregonian. (Portland, Ore.) 1881-current, January 18, 1920, SECTION TWO, Image 46
  28. Marcus Garvey, Robert A. Hill, Universal Negro Improvement Association. Volume IV. "The Marcus Garvey and Universal Negro Improvement Association Papers". p. 873.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  29. Kenneth J. Blume (2012). "Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Maritime Industry. >> Calmar Steamship Co. (1927-1976)". The Scarecrow Press, Inc. Lanham, Toronto, Plymouth U.K. pp. 90, 91.
  30. "Calmar Buys Ships". The newspaper "Oakland Tribune" in Oakland, California. 1929-12-13. p. 61.
  31. "Calmar Buys Ships". Oakland Tribune. 13 December 1929. p. 61. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
  32. Библиотека военно-морской литературы. >> К. Б. Стрельбицкий. Август 1945. Советско-японская воина на море - Цена Победы. >> ПРИЛОЖЕНИЕ 1.
  33. Митронов В.П. >> © Митронов В.П., 2000 >> ШТОРМОВЫЕ ГОДЫ.
  34. Kruiznik.ru >> Всё о круизах >> Теплоход "Узбекистан" (1893). >> Юрий Трифонов: "Товаропассажирский теплоход Каспийского государственного морского пароходства «Узбекистан» (1893 года постройки)".
  35. Водный Транспорт >> Omega.
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