Wikipedia

USS Shoshone (ID-1760)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Shoshone, SS Manoa, and USS General G. W. Goethals.

USS Shoshone (ID-1760) was a German-built cargo liner that the United States Navy chartered during the First World War. She was launched in 1911 for the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) as Wasgenwald. The Kerr Steamship Company bought her in 1917 and renamed her Shoshone. In 1919 she spent six months in the United States Navy, in which she made two round trips to and from France to repatriate US troops.

The ship as Wasgenwald
History
Name
  • 1912: Wasgenwald
  • 1917: Shoshone
  • 1920: Manoa
  • 1926: Grunewald
Namesake
Owner
Operator
Port of registry
BuilderBremer Vulkan, Vegesack
Yard number552
Launched30 December 1911
CompletedFebruary 1912
Commissionedinto US Navy, 19 Feb 1919
Decommissionedfrom US Navy, 5 Aug 1919
Identification
Fatescrapped 1932 or 1933
General characteristics
Typecargo liner
Tonnage4,708 GRT, 2,880 NRT
Displacement4,707 tons
Length
  • 367 ft 11 in (112.14 m) overall
  • 353.1 ft (107.6 m) registered
Beam48.7 ft (14.8 m)
Draft34 ft 2 in (10.4 m)
Depth25.0 ft (7.6 m)
Decks2
Installed power400 NHP; 3,200 ihp
Propulsion
Speed13 knots (24 km/h)
Capacitypassengers: 50 1st class
ComplementIn US Navy: 41
Armament
Notessister ships: Grunewald, Schwarzwald, Steigerwald

American Interlake Line bought her in 1920 and renamed her Manoa. Canada Steamship Lines bought her in 1921. In 1926 the Boston Iron & Metal Company bought her and sold her back to HAPAG, who renamed her Grunewald. She was scrapped in Germany in 1932 or 1933.

This was the first of two steamships that HAPAG named Wasgnenwald. The second was completed in 1922, seized and renamed in 1940, and sunk in 1943.[1] She was the also second of three steamships that HAPAG named Grunewald. The first was her sister ship, which the US seized and renamed General G. W. Goethals in 1917.[2] The third was a ship that was built in 1940, and HAPAG bought and renamed in 1951.[3]

Building

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In 1907 and 1908 Furness, Withy & Co in England built a class of three single-screw ships for HAPAG: Westerwald, Spreewald, and Frankenwald.[4] In 1911 HAPAG ordered a class of four sister ships for the "–wald" class that were similar, but with a beam about 3.6 feet (1.1 m) wider; a quadruple-expansion engine instead of a triple-expansion engine; and built in Germany instead of in England. Bremer Vulkan in Bremen-Vegesack built two of the ships: Grunewald and Schwarzwald. Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft in Flensburg built Steigerwald, and Schichau-Werke in Danzig (now Gdańsk in Poland) built Wasgenwald.[5]

Bremer Vulkan built Wasgenwald as yard number 552.[6] She was launched on 30 December 1911 and completed her in 1912.[7] Her lengths were 367 ft 11 in (112.14 m) overall and 353.1 ft (107.6 m) registered. Her beam was 48.7 ft (14.8 m), her depth was 25.0 ft (7.6 m) and her draft was 34 ft 2 in (10.4 m). Her tonnages were 4,708 GRT, 2,880 NRT, and 4,707 tons displacement. She had berths for 50 first class passengers.[8][9]

Wasgenwald

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HAPAG registered Wasgenwald in Hamburg. Her code letters were RSDV.[8] She was equipped with wireless telegraphy, and by 1914 her call sign was DWG.[10]

Wasgenwald traded to the Caribbean and the East Coast of the United States. On 3 January 1913 she was slightly damaged in port in Newport News, Virginia when a "terrific windstorm" caused a coal barge to crash into her.[11] On 16 May that year she was delayed in Philadelphia by a longshoremen's strike.[12] In August 1913 the wife and family of former President of Venezuela Cipriano Castro crossed the Atlantic on Wasgenwald. They embarked in Tenerife on 6 August[13] and disembarked in Havana on 20 August.[14]

At 11:00 hrs on 1 August 1914, with the First World War imminent, HAPAG announced the suspension of its services.[15] Germany ordered its merchant ships to take refuge in the nearest German or neutral port. Wasgenwald took refuge in Saint Thomas in the Danish West Indies, where the Danish authorities sealed her wireless telegraph apparatus. On 26 September the Norwegian steamship Falk arrived from Brazil to take Wasgenwald's cargo, which was bound for Colón, Panama and ports in the Pacific.[16]

On 10 October 1914 a hurricane hit the Danish West Indies. It sank or drove ashore several ships in Saint Thomas.[17][18] Wasgenwald and another HAPAG ship, Calabria, dragged their anchors and were driven ashore.[19] Wasgenwald was refloated by 13 October.[20]

Shoshone

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In August 1916 Denmark and the United States signed the Treaty of the Danish West Indies, under which the US was to buy the islands. The treaty was ratified in January 1917, and the territory became the United States Virgin Islands on 31 March. Also on 31 March, the Kerr Steamship Company bought Wasgenwald, renamed her Shoshone, and registered her in New York.[9] She was owned via the "Shoshone Navigation Corporation", which was a one-ship company. Her manager was listed as one "EF Geer".[21]

 
US troops embarking on Shoshone in 1919, presumably in Saint-Nazaire

In mid-October 1917 the United States Army chartered her. Later that month the 5th Naval District inspected her for possible naval use, and gave her the Naval Registry ID-1760. The Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships says she was "probably" operated by the United States Shipping Board on Army account with a civilian crew for the remainder of the war.[9] Another source says the Army used her as a collier.[7] She was defensively armed with one 5-inch/51-caliber gun and one 3-inch/50-caliber gun.[22]

On 18 February 1919 Shoshone was commissioned into the US Navy at Shooters Island, New York, as USS Shoshone.[9] Her US Navy code letters were LHWB.[22] On 11 April she moved to Bush Terminal, Brooklyn, where she was dry docked. On 1 May she left New York on her first of two round trips to France. She reached Saint-Nazaire on 14 May, embarked members of the American Expeditionary Forces on 15 and 16 May, and left on 17 May. On 1 June she reached Philadelphia and disembarked her troops. On 5 June she left Philadelphia on the second of her two round trips. She reached Saint-Nazaire on 17 June, but waited until 1 July to embark her troops. She left on 2 July, and reached Bush Bluffs Army base in Virginia on 16 July. On 5 August she was decommissioned at Bush Bluffs, and returned to the Kerr Steamship Company.[9]

Manoa and Grunewald

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The ship as Grunewald

In 1920 the American Interlake Line bought Shoshone and renamed her Manoa.[6] In 1921 Canada Steamship Lines bought her and registered her in London. Her UK official number was 143208, but neither Lloyd's Register nor the Mercantile Navy List records a set of code letters for her when she was registered in the UK.[23][24]

In 1926 the Boston Iron and Metal Company of Baltimore, Maryland bought Manoa, and sold her back to HAPAG.[6] A new HAPAG ship called Wasgenwald had been built in 1922,[1] so HAPAG gave Manoa the name of her sister ship Grunewald. HAPAG registered her in Hamburg, and her code letters were RFVW.[25] Deutsche Werft in Hamburg scrapped her in December 1932[2] or the first quarter of 1933.[6]

References

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  1. ^ a b Haws 1980, p. 133.
  2. ^ a b Haws 1980, p. 104.
  3. ^ Haws 1980, p. 185.
  4. ^ Haws 1980, pp. 90, 99.
  5. ^ Haws 1980, pp. 104–105.
  6. ^ a b c d "Wasgenwald (2215631)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b Silverstone 2006, p. 148.
  8. ^ a b Lloyd's Register 1912, WAS–WAT.
  9. ^ a b c d e "Shoshone I (Screw Steamer)". Naval History and Heritage Command. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  10. ^ The Marconi Press Agency Ltd 1914, p. 379.
  11. ^ "Coast swept by gale and many may be lost". New-York Tribune. 4 January 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 20 March 2024 – via Library of Congress.
  12. ^ "Ocean liners tied up by longshoreman strike". Newark Evening Star. 16 May 1913. p. 22. Retrieved 20 March 2024 – via Library of Congress.
  13. ^ "Castro's family embarks". Birmingham Age-Herald. 7 August 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 20 March 2024 – via Library of Congress.
  14. ^ "Mrs Castro has not seen husband". The Times Journal. Russell Springs, KY. 21 August 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 20 March 2024 – via Library of Congress.
  15. ^ "English lines stop ships to Continent". The New York Times. 2 August 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 20 March 2024 – via Times Machine.
  16. ^ "The Norwegian steamer "Falk"..." St. Croix Avis. No. 77. Christiansted. 26 September 1914. p. 4. Retrieved 20 March 2024 – via Library of Congress.
  17. ^ "St. Thomas, Oct. 10th". St. Croix Avis. No. 83. Christiansted. 14 October 1914. p. 2. Retrieved 20 March 2024 – via Library of Congress.
  18. ^ "The Hurricane". Supplement to St. Croix Avis. No. 83. Christiansted. 14 October 1914. p. 5. Retrieved 20 March 2024 – via Library of Congress.
  19. ^ "Devastation in cyclone's wake at West Indies". Honolulu Star-Bulletin. 12 October 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 20 March 2024 – via Library of Congress.
  20. ^ "St. Thomas, Oct. 13th". St. Croix Avis. No. 83. Christiansted. 14 October 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 20 March 2024 – via Library of Congress.
  21. ^ Lloyd's Register 1917, Supplement: S.
  22. ^ a b Radigan, Joseph M. "Shoshone (ID 1760)". NavSource Online. Retrieved 20 March 2024.
  23. ^ Lloyd's Register 1924, MAN.
  24. ^ Mercantile Navy List 1923, 338.
  25. ^ Lloyd's Register 1927, GRO–GUA.

Bibliography

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  Media related to USS Shoshone (ID-1760) at Wikimedia Commons

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