SS Washingtonian (1913)

SS Washingtonian was a cargo ship launched in 1913 by the Maryland Steel Company of Sparrows Point, Maryland, near Baltimore, as one of eight sister ships for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. At the time of her launch, she was the largest cargo ship under American registry. During the United States occupation of Veracruz in April 1914, Washingtonian was chartered by the United States Department of the Navy for service as a non-commissioned refrigerated supply ship for the U.S. fleet stationed off the Mexican coast.

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

SS Washingtonian in port, c. 1914
History
Name:	Washingtonian
Owner:	American-Hawaiian Steamship Company
Ordered:	September 1911[1]
Builder:	Maryland Steel Sparrows Point, Maryland
Yard number:	131[2]
Launched:	11 October 1913[3]
Completed:	16 January 1914[2]
Identification:	U.S. official number: 211297[3]
Fate:	sunk in collision, 26 January 1915
General characteristics
Type:	cargo ship
Tonnage:	6,649 GRT[4] 10,250 LT DWT[4]
Length:	360 ft 11 in (110.01 m) (LPP)[3]
Beam:	50 ft 2 in (15.29 m)[3]
Propulsion:	oil-fired boilers[5] 1 × quadruple-expansion steam engine[3] 1 × screw propeller[5]
Speed:	12.5 knots (23.2 km/h)[3]
Capacity:	490,858 cubic feet (13,899.6 m^3)[4]
Crew:	40[6]
Notes:	Sister ships: Minnesotan, Dakotan, Montanan, Pennsylvanian, Panaman, Iowan, Ohioan[2]

In January 1915, after a little more than one year of service, Washingtonian collided with the schooner Elizabeth Palmer off the Delaware coast and sank in ten minutes with the loss of her $1,000,000 cargo of 10,000 long tons (10,200 t) of raw Hawaiian sugar. In the days after Washingtonian's sinking, the price of sugar in the United States increased almost nine percent, partly attributed to the loss of Washingtonian's cargo. Lying under approximately 100 feet (30 m) of water, Washingtonian's wreck is one of the most popular recreational dive sites on the eastern seaboard.

Design and construction

In November 1911, the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company placed an order with the Maryland Steel Company of Sparrows Point, Maryland, for two new cargo ships—Panaman and Washingtonian.[Note 1] The contract cost of the ships was set at the construction cost plus an eight percent profit for Maryland Steel, but capped at a maximum cost of $640,000 each. The construction was financed by Maryland Steel with a credit plan that called for a five percent down payment in cash and nine monthly installments for the balance. The deal had provisions that allowed some of the nine installments to be converted into longer-term notes or mortgages. The final cost of Washingtonian, including financing costs, was $71.49 per deadweight ton, which totaled just under $733,000.[1]

Washingtonian (Maryland Steel yard no. 131)[2] was the second ship built under the contract. The ship was 6,649 gross register tons (GRT),[4] and was 360 feet 11 inches (110.01 m) in length (between perpendiculars) and 50 feet 2 inches (15.29 m) abeam.[3] She had a deadweight tonnage of 10,250 LT DWT,[4] and, at the time of her launch, was the largest American-flagged cargo ship.[7] Washingtonian had a speed of 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h),[3][5] and was powered by a single steam engine with oil-fired boilers which drove a single screw propeller. Washingtonian's cargo holds, providing a storage capacity of 490,858 cubic feet (13,899.6 m³),[4] were outfitted with a complete refrigeration plant so she could carry perishable products from the West Coast to the East Coast, such as Pacific Northwest salmon or fresh produce from Southern California farms.[7][8]

Service

When Washingtonian began sailing for American-Hawaiian, the company shipped cargo from East Coast ports via the Tehuantepec Route to West Coast ports and Hawaii, and vice versa. Shipments on the Tehuantepec Route arrived at Mexican ports—Salina Cruz, Oaxaca, for eastbound cargo, and Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, for westbound cargo—and traversed the Isthmus of Tehuantepec on the Tehuantepec National Railway.[9] Eastbound shipments were primarily sugar and pineapple from Hawaii, while westbound cargoes were more general in nature.[10] Washingtonian sailed in this service, but it is not known whether she sailed on the east or west side of North America.[11] After the United States occupation of Veracruz on 21 April 1914 (which took place while six American-Hawaiian line ships were being held in various Mexican ports), the Huerta-led Mexican government closed the Tehuantepec National Railway to American shipping. This loss of access (the Panama Canal was not yet open until later that year) caused American-Hawaiian to return to its historic route of sailing around South America via the Strait of Magellan in late April.[12] During the U.S. occupation, the Washingtonian was chartered by the U.S. Navy Department to serve as a non-commissioned refrigerator and supply ship for the U.S. naval fleet off Mexico. She was outfitted for her first voyage at the New York Navy Yard and sailed with 500,000 pounds (230,000 kg) of fresh meat for the United States Navy and the U.S. Army.[13][14] Washingtonian sailed in a rotation with the commissioned Navy stores ships USS Culgoa and USS Celtic.[14]

With the official opening of the Panama Canal on 15 August 1914, American-Hawaiian line ships switched to taking the isthmus canal route.[12] In late August, American-Hawaiian announced that the Washingtonian—her Navy charter ended by this time—would sail on a San Francisco – Panama Canal – Boston route, sailing opposite vessels Mexican, Honolulan, and sister ship Pennsylvanian.[15]

Washingtonian sailed from Los Angeles in early October with a load of California products—including canned and dried fruits, beans, and wine—for New York City and Boston.[8] After delivering that load, Washingtonian then headed for Honolulu, Hawaii, to take on a 10,000-long-ton (10,000 t) load of raw sugar valued at about $1,000,000. Departing Honolulu on 20 December, Washingtonian arrived at Balboa on 17 January 1915 and transited the Panama Canal. Sailing from Cristóbal on the eastern end two days later, she headed for the Delaware Breakwater en route to Philadelphia.[6]

Collision

At 3:30 a.m. on 26 January, some 20 nautical miles (37 km) from Fenwick Island, Delaware, the American schooner Elizabeth Palmer[Note 2] was under full sail at 8 knots (15 km/h) on a southwest by south course. Elizabeth Palmer's captain saw a large steam vessel, Washingtonian, on an apparent collision course ahead, but did not change course since navigational rules require steam-powered vessels to yield to vessels under sail power. The captain of Washingtonian, two quartermasters, and a seaman were all on watch and saw Elizabeth Palmer, but misjudged the schooner's rapid pace. When Washingtonian, underway at 12 knots (22 km/h), did not change course or speed, Elizabeth Palmer collided with the starboard side of the steamer, leaving a large hole that sank Washingtonian ten minutes later. Less than a mile (2 km) away, Elizabeth Palmer, with her jib boom and the top of her foremast stripped away by the impact, began taking on water through her split seams. When it became apparent that the big schooner would sink, her captain ordered her abandonment, and she slowly settled and went down about an hour after the collision.[16] After Washingtonian's crew abandoned ship, one crewman, a water tender, was found to be missing and was presumed drowned.[6] Washingtonian's 39 survivors and all 13 crew members from Elizabeth Palmer were picked up about an hour after the collision by the passenger liner Hamilton of the Old Dominion Line, which arrived at New York the next day.[7]

The collision had repercussions for American-Hawaiian and the world sugar market. The financial impact of the collision on American-Hawaiian, estimated at $2,000,000, was devastating.[17][Note 3] Contemporary news reports in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal both told of the collision's impact on the sugar market. Claus A. Spreckels, president of Federal Sugar Refining, noted that the loss of even such a large cargo would not normally have much effect on the sugar market. However, weather in Cuba, then the largest supplier of sugar for the United States, had reduced that island nation's crop by more than 200,000 tons. Further affecting the situation was World War I, then ongoing in Europe,[Note 4] which had reduced the tonnage of shipping available to transport commodities like sugar.[7][18] With all of these factors, the asking price for sugar futures contracts for February 1915 delivery was 2.90 cents per pound (6.39 cents per kg) a week before Washingtonian's sinking,[19] but had risen to 3.16 cents per pound (6.96 cents per kg) the day after the sinking.[20]

Washingtonian's wreck, a skeletal framework of hull plates and bulkheads, lies upside down in about 100 feet (30 m) of water,[21] and is one of the most-visited wreck sites along the eastern seaboard.[22][Note 5] A popular night dive, Washingtonian's wreck is also a favorite with sport divers catching lobster.[23]

Notes

1. Maryland Steel had built three ships—Kentuckian, Georgian, and Honolulan—for American-Hawaiian in 1909 in what proved to be a satisfactory arrangement for both companies, and in September 1911, American-Hawaiian placed an order for Washingtonian's four older sister ships—Minnesotan, Dakotan, Montanan, and Pennsylvanian.
2. Elizabeth Palmer was a five-masted, 300-foot-4-inch (91.54 m) wooden schooner built in Bath, Maine, in 1903, and considered one of the largest U.S. sailing ships at the time. See: Shomette, p. 207.
3. Washingtonian's captain and the company were at fault because navigation rules required that steam-powered vessels yield to sail-powered vessels. See: Shomette, p. 209.
4. The still-neutral United States did not enter World War I until April 1917.
5. Lying about a mile away from that of Washingtonian, the wreck of Elizabeth Palmer—"worm-eaten and disintegrating"—is, in contrast, little visited. See: Shomette, p. 212.

References

1. Cochran and Ginger, p. 358.
2. Colton, Tim. "Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point MD". Shipbuildinghistory.com. The Colton Company. Archived from the original on October 8, 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2008.CS1 maint: unfit url (link)
3. "Washingtonian". Miramar Ship Index. R. B. Haworth. Retrieved 12 August 2008.(subscription required)
4. Cochran and Ginger, p. 365.
5. Cochran and Ginger, p. 357.
6. "Big ship sinks in crash". The Washington Post. 27 January 1915. p. 3.
7. "Two big ships sink in collision at sea" (PDF). The New York Times. 27 January 1915. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
8. "California cargo of produce shipped to East". Los Angeles Times. 3 October 1914. p. II–8.
9. Hovey, p. 78.
10. Cochran and Ginger, p. 355–56.
11. "American-Hawaiian Steamship Co". Los Angeles Times. 13 April 1914. p. I–4.
12. Cochran and Ginger, p. 360.
13. "New Washingtonian for supply ship" (PDF). The New York Times. 28 April 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-08-15.
14. "Army and Navy Gossip". The Washington Post. 3 May 1914. p. E2.
15. "Pacific-Boston sailings begun". The Christian Science Monitor. 29 August 1914. p. 19.
16. Shomette, pp. 209–10.
17. Shomette, p. 211.
18. "Hawaiian liner carrying $1,000,000 raw sugar, sunk". The Wall Street Journal. 27 January 1915. p. 3.
19. "Sugar". The Wall Street Journal. 21 January 1915. p. 3.
20. "Sugar". The Wall Street Journal. 28 January 1915. p. 3.
21. Shomette, p. 206.
22. Shomette, p. 212.
23. "Popular wreck dives along our Delaware and Maryland coast: Washingtonian". Aqua Ventures. Retrieved 28 August 2008.

Bibliography

• Cochran, Thomas C.; Ray Ginger (December 1954). "The American-Hawaiian Steamship Company, 1899–1919". The Business History Review. Boston: The President and Fellows of Harvard College. 28 (4): 343–365. doi:10.2307/3111801. ISSN 0007-6805. JSTOR 3111801. OCLC 216113867.
• Hovey, Edmund Otis (1907). "The Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Tehuantepec National Railway". Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. New York: American Geographical Society. 39 (2): 78–91. doi:10.2307/198380. ISSN 0190-5929. JSTOR 198380. OCLC 2097765.
• Shomette, Donald (2007). Shipwrecks, Sea Raiders, and Maritime Disasters Along the Delmarva Coast, 1632-2004. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN 978-0-8018-8670-6. OCLC 77573873.