2010.007

Lukacs, Claire

Gift

Museum Collections. Gift of a friend of the Museum.

1918 - 1918

Date: 1918-1918

3 in

4 in

Good

Notes: S.S. St. Louis (1894) (From Wikipedia as of Sept. 2010) SS St. Louis, a transatlantic passenger liner built by the William Cramp & Sons Building & Engine Company, Philadelphia, Pa., was launched on 12 November 1894; sponsored by Mrs. Grover Cleveland, wife of the President of the United States; and entered merchant service in 1895, under United States registry for the International Navigation Co., of New York with her maiden voyage between New York and Southampton, England. She was acquired by the United States Navy during the Spanish–American War and commissioned under the name USS St. Louis in 1898, and again during World War I under the name USS Louisville (ID-1644) from 1918 to 1919.[Note 1] After she reverted to her original name in 1919, she burned in 1920 while undergoing a refit. St. Louis was scrapped in 1924 in Genoa World War I For many years, SS St. Louis was prominent as a passenger liner between New York and Liverpool. On 17 March 1917, she was furnished an armed guard of 26 United States Navy sailors and armed with three 6-inch guns, to protect her from enemy attack as she continued her New York-to-Liverpool service. On 30 May, while proceeding up the Irish Sea and skirting the coast of England, she responded rapidly to the orders, "Hard Starboard," at the sighting of a periscope, and succeeded in dodging a torpedo while apparently striking the submarine which fired it. Later dry-dock examination revealed that 18 feet of her keel rubbing strake had been torn away. On 25 July, her gunners exchanged fire with a surfaced U-boat, some three miles away, and sighted many near misses. On 17 April 1918, St. Louis was delivered to the Navy at New York to be wholly manned and operated by the Navy as a troop transport. She was renamed Louisville (SP-1644), as a cruiser named St. Louis was already in service in the Navy. Louisville was commissioned on 24 April. Louisville first put to sea on 12 October bound for Portland and Southampton, England, and returned to New York on 7 January 1919. From then until 19 August of that year, she made six voyages from New York to Liverpool or to Brest, France, to return American soldiers from the Great War. On 20 August, she shifted to Norfolk and was decommissioned there on 9 September 1919. She was returned to her owner on the 11th and resumed her original name, St. Louis. Destruction To be reconditioned as a passenger liner, St. Louis entered a shipyard at Hoboken, N.J., where early in January 1920, a workman's blow torch set her afire. After control of the fire was lost, she was scuttled alongside the dock and allowed to burn out. She was later refloated and taken over by insurance underwriters. Over the next five years, under ownership of various investors, she lay at docks in different parts of New York Harbor. Finally, she was sold in 1925; and two Dutch tugs towed her to Italy where she was scrapped by an Italian salvage company. Original or Copy: Original Status: OK Status By: dw Status Date: 2010-09-21