For the next seven months she operated on the high seas with Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee's squadron off South American and then as a detached commerce raider. She sank or captured eleven ships in the Pacific and the South Atlantic. Among these was the schoonerWilliam P. Frye, captured on 27 January 1915 and scuttled the next day, the first U.S. flagged vessel sunk in World War I.[1]
On 11 March 1915 Prinz Eitel Friedrich, now low on supplies and burdened by over 300 prisoners, arrived at Newport News, Virginia. Allied warships were lying outside US waters and to avoid them she exceeded the time limit under international law for a combatant ship to remain in a neutral port. As a result, the US authorities interned her. Later she was moved, still under the German flag, to Philadelphia Navy Yard. On 11 April another NDL liner that had been operating as an auxiliary cruiser, Kronprinz Wilhelm, was interned alongside her.[1]
US troop ship
When the United States entered the First World War in April 1917, US Customs officials seized her and she was transferred to the US Navy. She was reconditioned and refitted as a troop transport and renamed USS DeKalb after General Baron Johann de Kalb. She was commissioned 12 May 1917.[1]
DeKalb was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force, Atlantic Fleet, and on 14 June 1917 sailed in the convoy carrying the first troops of the American Expeditionary Forces to France. Unlike the other transports with Army troops embarked, DeKalb transported United States Marine Corps, 5th Regiment of Marines. In the next 18 months DeKalb made 11 such voyages, carrying 11,334 soldiers safely.[1] Among these was the First Marine Aviation Force who flew the day wing bombers of the Northern Bombing Group.[2] With the end of the war, DeKalb continued her transport duty returning 20,332 troops from Europe in eight voyages. On 6 September 1919 she was turned over to the Commandant, 3rd Naval District.[1]
United American Lines
DeKalb was decommissioned 22 September 1919 and returned to the United States Shipping Board for disposal the following day. She returned to civilian control, initially as DeKalb and, after 1920, as Mount Clay.[1]
The ship was acquired by W. Averell Harriman and included with ten previous ships acquired from the Kerr Navigation Company in a name change so that all were prefixed with an American mountain and thus renamed Mount Clay.[3] The ship was specially modified by Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company to be a third class only (described as "first class steerage") immigrant ship for the United American Line of New York.[4][5] The ship was gutted by fire, which began early 15 December 1919, while on the Hudson River at Spuyten Duyvil. Lt. Cmdr. William A. Willetts and his crew were rescued by a tugboat, and it took fireboats several hours to quell the blaze.[6] During the rebuilding extensive tearing out of damaged decking, plating, and dismantling and rebuilding of deck structures was undertaken.[3][4]
The intent of the conversion was to carry the maximum passenger load while offering passengers better conditions than usually found on immigrant ships and "steerage" class.[4] The passenger spaces were to be well ventilated with forced draft air flow, more deck space allocated to passengers and larger and more attractive public rooms provided.[4] Passenger accommodation was in two to six person cabins that included luxuries not usually found in such ships that included washstands, mattresses and linens.[3] A kosherabattoir and galley was furnished for the ship's Jewish passengers.[7] Due to a capacity of 1,452 passengers and crew of 211, special attention had to be focused on life boats. Fourteen sets of Welin davits were fitted to each side with a variety of lifeboats and some rafts with a capacity for 1,663 persons, 1,613 in boats.[4]
In February 1921 Mount Clay inaugurated a new first class mail delivery system for mail to Germany in which mail planes would meet the ship at Cuxhaven for transfer of special bags for air delivery within Germany.[8] On 9 February 1921 Mount Clay stood by and rescued the crew and ship's cat from the sinking freighter Bombardier about four hundred miles southeast of Halifax. The sinking ship's radio operator, Edward Herno, had worked hours to make repairs and get the SOS out as the wireless had been severely damaged in the storm and wreck. All but two of Bombardier's lifeboats had been destroyed so one of the Mount Clay boats launched to assist.[9][10]
Mount Clay made the initial voyage as an immigrant ship on Christmas Day 1920 (Marine Review) or 26 December (DANFS).[3] The ship's last westbound voyage was from Hamburg viaQueenstown, Ireland to New York on 15 October 1925. She was then laid up until 1934 when she was scrapped.[1]
Prinz Eitel Friedrich flying the Imperial German Navy ensign
SS Mount Clay under way circa 1921
SS Mount Clay during refitting from changeover from USS DeKalb
The deck of SS Mount Clay during refitting from changeover from USS DeKalb
^Van Wyen, Adrian O. (1969). Naval Aviation in World War I. Washington, D.C.: Chief of Naval Operations. p. 80.
^ abcd"W. A. Harriman as a Ship Operator". The Marine Review. Vol. 51, no. April. 1921. pp. 175–181.
^ abcdeKelley, James A. (1921). "Rebuilt Harriman Liner". The Marine Review. Vol. 51, no. February. pp. 181–183.
^"An Immigrant Ship, De Luxe". The Marine Review. Vol. 51, no. February. 1921. p. 56.
^United Press, "Transport Is Gutted By Fire at Pier", Riverside Daily Press, Riverside, California, Saturday evening 15 December 1919, Volume XXXIV, Number 297, page 1.
^"World Charter Market Reviewed by Experts in This Country and Abroad". The Marine Review. Vol. 21, no. January. 1921. p. 56.
^"Airplane Mail Service Started for German Centers". The Nautical Gazette. Vol. 100, no. 26 February. 1921. p. 295.
^White, James Andrew (1921). "Bombardier's Crew Saved by Radio". The Wireless Age. Vol. 8, no. April. p. 261.
^"Marine Casualties". The Nautical Gazette. Vol. 100, no. 19 February. 1921. p. 261.
Havern, Christopher B., Sr. (2 May 2018). "DeKalb (Id. No. 3010)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command. Retrieved 29 August 2018.
External links
Auxiliary cruiser
The Minnesota Military Museum has the original German ships log. It is in a collection given to them by Russell C. Duncan along with pictures of the ship and letters written to his mother during the 11 voyages. He was a chief and the paymaster of the ship.
dekalb, 3010, german, mail, ship, prinz, eitel, friedrich, that, served, during, early, part, first, world, auxiliary, cruiser, hilfkreuzer, imperial, german, navy, later, after, entry, into, navy, troop, ship, post, returned, civilian, service, transatlantic,. USS DeKalb ID 3010 was the German mail ship Prinz Eitel Friedrich that served during the early part of the First World War as an auxiliary cruiser Hilfkreuzer in the Imperial German Navy and later after the US entry into the war as a US Navy troop ship Post war she returned to civilian service as the US transatlantic liner SS Mount Clay 1 The ship underway as USS DeKalb circa 1918HistoryGerman EmpireNamePrinz Eitel FriedrichNamesakePrince Eitel Friedrich of PrussiaOperatorNorth German Lloyd then Kaiserliche MarinePort of registryBremenRouteBremen TsingtaoBuilderAG Vulcan Stettin GermanyCost4 895 million German GoldmarkLaunched18 June 1904Maiden voyage13 October 1904ReclassifiedAuxiliary cruiserCapturedInterned April 1915FateSeized April 1917United StatesNameUSS DeKalbNamesakeGeneral Baron Johann de KalbOperatorUnited States Navy 1919 United American LinesRouteNew York Hamburg as liner Recommissioned12 May 1917Decommissioned22 September 1919RenamedSS Mount ClayReclassifiedTroop ship transatlantic liner 1919 Refit1917 as troop ship 1920 as immigrant ship all 3d class IdentificationID 3010FateScrapped 1934General characteristicsTonnage8 865 GRTDisplacement14 180 long tons 14 410 t Length506 ft 6 in 154 38 m Beam55 ft 6 in 16 92 m Draft26 ft 7 9 m Installed power7 500 bhp 5 600 kW Propulsion2 quadruple expansion steam engines 2 screwsSpeed15 knots 28 km h Capacity as passenger liner 158 1st Class 156 2nd Class 48 3rd class plus 706 tween deck passengers when not in mail service as immigrant ship 1920 1 452 3rd class steerageComplement as passenger liner 222 men as troop ship 534 officers and enlisted crew as immigrant ship 1920 211 crewArmament4 105 mm 4 1 in guns 6 88 mm 3 5 in guns Contents 1 German civilian service 2 German auxiliary cruiser 3 US troop ship 4 United American Lines 5 References 6 External linksGerman civilian service EditMain article SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich 1904 The ship was a North German Lloyd NDL mail ship and ocean liner built by AG Vulcan Stettin Germany and launched on 18 June 1904 as Prinz Eitel Friedrich NDL had ordered her for the German Mail route between Germany and the Far East for which she began her maiden voyage on 13 October 1 German auxiliary cruiser EditWhen the First World War broke out on 1 August 1914 she was in Shanghai China and was ordered to Tsingtao in the then German Kiaochow Bay concession There she was quickly converted to an auxiliary cruiser for the Imperial German Navy by transferring the guns and crews of the German gunboats SMS Tiger and SMS Luchs to Prinz Eitel Friedrich 1 For the next seven months she operated on the high seas with Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee s squadron off South American and then as a detached commerce raider She sank or captured eleven ships in the Pacific and the South Atlantic Among these was the schooner William P Frye captured on 27 January 1915 and scuttled the next day the first U S flagged vessel sunk in World War I 1 On 11 March 1915 Prinz Eitel Friedrich now low on supplies and burdened by over 300 prisoners arrived at Newport News Virginia Allied warships were lying outside US waters and to avoid them she exceeded the time limit under international law for a combatant ship to remain in a neutral port As a result the US authorities interned her Later she was moved still under the German flag to Philadelphia Navy Yard On 11 April another NDL liner that had been operating as an auxiliary cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm was interned alongside her 1 US troop ship EditWhen the United States entered the First World War in April 1917 US Customs officials seized her and she was transferred to the US Navy She was reconditioned and refitted as a troop transport and renamed USS DeKalb after General Baron Johann de Kalb She was commissioned 12 May 1917 1 DeKalb was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Force Atlantic Fleet and on 14 June 1917 sailed in the convoy carrying the first troops of the American Expeditionary Forces to France Unlike the other transports with Army troops embarked DeKalb transported United States Marine Corps 5th Regiment of Marines In the next 18 months DeKalb made 11 such voyages carrying 11 334 soldiers safely 1 Among these was the First Marine Aviation Force who flew the day wing bombers of the Northern Bombing Group 2 With the end of the war DeKalb continued her transport duty returning 20 332 troops from Europe in eight voyages On 6 September 1919 she was turned over to the Commandant 3rd Naval District 1 United American Lines EditDeKalb was decommissioned 22 September 1919 and returned to the United States Shipping Board for disposal the following day She returned to civilian control initially as DeKalb and after 1920 as Mount Clay 1 The ship was acquired by W Averell Harriman and included with ten previous ships acquired from the Kerr Navigation Company in a name change so that all were prefixed with an American mountain and thus renamed Mount Clay 3 The ship was specially modified by Morse Dry Dock and Repair Company to be a third class only described as first class steerage immigrant ship for the United American Line of New York 4 5 The ship was gutted by fire which began early 15 December 1919 while on the Hudson River at Spuyten Duyvil Lt Cmdr William A Willetts and his crew were rescued by a tugboat and it took fireboats several hours to quell the blaze 6 During the rebuilding extensive tearing out of damaged decking plating and dismantling and rebuilding of deck structures was undertaken 3 4 The intent of the conversion was to carry the maximum passenger load while offering passengers better conditions than usually found on immigrant ships and steerage class 4 The passenger spaces were to be well ventilated with forced draft air flow more deck space allocated to passengers and larger and more attractive public rooms provided 4 Passenger accommodation was in two to six person cabins that included luxuries not usually found in such ships that included washstands mattresses and linens 3 A kosher abattoir and galley was furnished for the ship s Jewish passengers 7 Due to a capacity of 1 452 passengers and crew of 211 special attention had to be focused on life boats Fourteen sets of Welin davits were fitted to each side with a variety of lifeboats and some rafts with a capacity for 1 663 persons 1 613 in boats 4 In February 1921 Mount Clay inaugurated a new first class mail delivery system for mail to Germany in which mail planes would meet the ship at Cuxhaven for transfer of special bags for air delivery within Germany 8 On 9 February 1921 Mount Clay stood by and rescued the crew and ship s cat from the sinking freighter Bombardier about four hundred miles southeast of Halifax The sinking ship s radio operator Edward Herno had worked hours to make repairs and get the SOS out as the wireless had been severely damaged in the storm and wreck All but two of Bombardier s lifeboats had been destroyed so one of the Mount Clay boats launched to assist 9 10 Mount Clay made the initial voyage as an immigrant ship on Christmas Day 1920 Marine Review or 26 December DANFS 3 The ship s last westbound voyage was from Hamburg via Queenstown Ireland to New York on 15 October 1925 She was then laid up until 1934 when she was scrapped 1 Prinz Eitel Friedrich flying the Imperial German Navy ensign SS Mount Clay under way circa 1921 SS Mount Clay during refitting from changeover from USS DeKalb The deck of SS Mount Clay during refitting from changeover from USS DeKalbReferences Edit a b c d e f g h i j Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Van Wyen Adrian O 1969 Naval Aviation in World War I Washington D C Chief of Naval Operations p 80 a b c d W A Harriman as a Ship Operator The Marine Review Vol 51 no April 1921 pp 175 181 a b c d e Kelley James A 1921 Rebuilt Harriman Liner The Marine Review Vol 51 no February pp 181 183 An Immigrant Ship De Luxe The Marine Review Vol 51 no February 1921 p 56 United Press Transport Is Gutted By Fire at Pier Riverside Daily Press Riverside California Saturday evening 15 December 1919 Volume XXXIV Number 297 page 1 World Charter Market Reviewed by Experts in This Country and Abroad The Marine Review Vol 21 no January 1921 p 56 Airplane Mail Service Started for German Centers The Nautical Gazette Vol 100 no 26 February 1921 p 295 White James Andrew 1921 Bombardier s Crew Saved by Radio The Wireless Age Vol 8 no April p 261 Marine Casualties The Nautical Gazette Vol 100 no 19 February 1921 p 261 Havern Christopher B Sr 2 May 2018 DeKalb Id No 3010 Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Naval History And Heritage Command Retrieved 29 August 2018 External links EditAuxiliary cruiser The Minnesota Military Museum has the original German ships log It is in a collection given to them by Russell C Duncan along with pictures of the ship and letters written to his mother during the 11 voyages He was a chief and the paymaster of the ship Profile amp plan immigrant ship Photos of 1919 20 rebuild Detailed engineering specifications Marine Engineering January 1921 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title USS DeKalb ID 3010 amp oldid 1145183369, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
