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SS Northern Pacific

January 01, 1970

SS Northern Pacific was built as a passenger ship at Philadelphia by William Cramp & Sons under supervision of the Great Northern Pacific Steam Ship Company for the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Company. Northern Pacific, along with sister ship Great Northern, were built to provide a passenger and freight link by sea between the Great Northern Railway Lines and Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway terminal at Astoria, Oregon and San Francisco beginning in spring of 1915. The ship was acquired on 17 September 1917 for use as a transport ship for the United States Navy during World War I, commissioned USS Northern Pacific and later, after transfer to the United States Army, as the Army transport USAT Northern Pacific. She was destroyed by fire in 1922.

SS Northern Pacific in harbor, probably at the time of her completion in 1914.
History
Commercial
NameNorthern Pacific
OwnerSpokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Company
BuilderWilliam Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia
Yard number408
Laid down23 September 1913
Launched17 October 1914
Completed1915
FateTransferred to Navy
United States
NameUSS Northern Pacific
Builder
Laid down23 September 1913
Launched17 October 1914
Completed1915
Acquired17 September 1917
Commissioned3 November 1917
Decommissioned20 August 1919
FateTransferred to War Department for use by U.S. Army
United States
NameUSAT Northern Pacific
OwnerWar Department
OperatorUnited States Army
Acquired20 August 1919
In service20 August 1919
Out of service22 November 1921
FateSold 2 February 1922; burned and sank during delivery, 8 February 1922
General characteristics U.S. Navy
Typetransport
Displacement9,708 t[1]
Length525 ft 8 in (160.22 m)[1]
Beam63 ft 1 in (19.23 m)[1]
Propulsionsteam engines
Speed23 knots (43 km/h)
Complement371[1]
Armament
Rescue of passengers on January 2, 1919
Breeches buoy during the rescue

History edit

Commercial edit

Northern Pacific and sister ship Great Northern were built by William Cramp & Sons for the Great Northern Pacific Steam Ship Company, Astoria, Oregon to the order of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Company to serve between Astoria and San Francisco.[2][3] Contracts for both ships were let on 26 April 1913 with keel laying for Northern Pacific on 23 September 1913, the day after Great Northern, and launch on 17 October 1914 with service due to start in March 1915.[2]

Both ships were designed for 856 passengers and 2,185 tons of freight with a 23 knot speed making possible the run between the ports in 25–26 hours, equal to the time for an overland route, under favorable conditions and thus allowing direct service to San Francisco from the east using Great Northern Railway Lines.[2] Both ships were classed A100 according to British Lloyds and met the latest requirements of the United States Steamboat Inspection Service.[2]

Design specifications were for a 8,255 GRT ship with 524 ft (159.7 m) length overall, 500 ft (152.4 m) length between perpendiculars, 63 ft (19.2 m) beam, 21 ft (6.4 m) full load draft, 50 ft 8 in (15.4 m) depth molded to A deck with 2,185 DWT and approximately 200,000 cubic feet of cargo space.[2] The 856 passenger capacity was broken down into 550 first class, 108 second class and 198 third class served by a crew of 198.[2] The double bottomed hull was divided into eleven watertight compartments with ten extending to the bottom of second deck above full load waterline.[4]

Twelve Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers provided steam for Parsons turbines on three shafts with a requirement that the 23 knot speed be available with steam from only ten boilers.[4] One high-pressure turbine 21 ft 7.5 in (6.6 m) long with 5 ft 8 in (1.7 m) diameter rotor drum with four stages of expansion and two low-pressure turbines, with integrated astern and each 32 ft 2 in (9.8 m) long with 7 ft 8 in (2.3 m) ahead and 6 ft 7 in (2.0 m) astern diameter rotor drums, develop about 25,000 shaft horsepower at 325 revolutions.[5] Four 35 kilowatt, 110 volt steam driven Diehl Manufacturing Company generators provided electric power for lighting and auxiliary electric machinery.[6]

Northern Pacific departed Philadelphia for San Francisco with all reservations taken on 25 March 1915.[7]

Navy and Army service edit

She was acquired by the United States Shipping Board (USSB) from the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway of Portland, Oregon, on 17 September 1917 and commissioned on 3 November 1917 at Bremerton, Washington.[1]

Northern Pacific departed San Francisco on 7 March for New York via the Panama Canal. Joining the Cruiser and Transport Squadron during the war, Northern Pacific operated between the Army's Hoboken Port of Embarkation, Hoboken, New Jersey and Brest, France, making a total of 13 trips taking 22,645 troops and passengers to France and returning 9,532 to the United States. The influenza epidemic hit the ship hard in September 1918 en route to Brest. Cots were set up in the brig and in the open corridors. There were 7 deaths. On 2 October, sister ship USS Great Northern collided with the British ship Brinkburn, which caused Great Northern to lose contact with the convoy. Northern Pacific searched and found her sister seaworthy enough to rejoin the convoy.[1]

Northern Pacific ran aground off Fire Island, New York on 1 January 1919 with 2,481 soldiers aboard.[1][3] [8] Her troops were transferred to other ships or, in cases ashore, on 3–4 January by use of Submarine Chasers to transfer troops from the grounded ship.[9] The evacuation was under the supervision of Lieutenant George R. Le Sauvage and involved SC-291, SC-292, SC-293 and SC-294 along with other small vessels that transported troops to the hospital ship Solace, cruisers and destroyers standing off shore.[9] The last troops were evacuated on the afternoon of Saturday, 4 January.[9] Northern Pacific was refloated on 18 January, and proceeded to Staten Island. She was decommissioned on 20 August 1919 and was transferred to the Army Transport Service (ATS) on that date.[1][3]

USAT Northern Pacific was assigned to the ATS Pacific Fleet and homeported at Fort Mason in San Francisco.[3] On 12 September 1919 the ship departed for Siberia in order to transport the American Expeditionary Force Siberia to the Philippines.[3]

On 9 May 1920,[10] USAT Northern Pacific ran aground on Collnas Shoal[10] at the entrance to the harbor at San Juan, Puerto Rico, while carrying General of the Armies John J. Pershing on an inspection tour of troops and military installations on the island.[11] The ship was re-floated with significant effort led by LCDR Virgil Baker, a retired U.S. Navy lieutenant commander who was formerly commander of the San Geronimo Naval Reservation, and was back underway on 10 May 1920.[12]

By 1920 the Army found both Northern Pacific and Great Northern too fast and too expensive to operate in peacetime and was attempting to lease them to private operators.[13]

Sale and loss edit

Northern Pacific was returned to the USSB on 22 November 1921 and laid up in its New York reserve fleet.[3] She was sold to the Pacific Steamship Company on 2 February 1922, but while being towed to their yard for reconditioning at Chester, Pennsylvania, she caught fire, burned, capsized, and sank in 150 feet (46 m) of water 30 nautical miles (56 km; 35 mi) south of Cape May, New Jersey, on 8 February 1922. Four draftsmen on board died.[1][14][15]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships: Northern Pacific.
  2. ^ a b c d e f International Marine Engineering (December 1914), p. 535.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Clay 2011, p. 2173.
  4. ^ a b International Marine Engineering (December 1914), p. 536.
  5. ^ International Marine Engineering (December 1914), pp. 542–543.
  6. ^ International Marine Engineering (December 1914), p. 544.
  7. ^ Spokane Daily Chronicle (25 March 1915), p. 4.
  8. ^ "254 Taken From Transport Before Night Ends Work". The New York Times. January 3, 1919. By Means Of A Ferry Line Wounded Reach Shore From Northern Pacific. Three Lifeboats Capsize Soldiers Drenched In Icy Water, But No One Is Injured By Mishaps. Those On Board All Safe Hospital And Private Homes Of Bay Shore Ready To Care For All The Rescued. Men In No Danger. 254 Taken From Stranded Ship Ready For The Rescue. Bonfires On The Beach. Indian Trooper Capsized.
  9. ^ a b c Koppel, Motor Boating February 1919.
  10. ^ a b Anonymous, Reports of the Department of Commerce, 1920, Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1921, p. 715.
  11. ^ El Fortín San Jerónimo... Virgil Baker’s Castle, Dr. Gerardo M. Piñero Cádiz, July 28, 2007 http://www.puertadetierra.info
  12. ^ Anonymous, "Pershing Buys Store of Sugar," The Sun and the New York Herald, May 11, 1920, p. 5.
  13. ^ United States Congress, Hearings, 1921, pp. 11, 267.
  14. ^ "The Thirteenth Voyage of the USS Northern Pacific". Magic Masts and Sturdy Ships. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  15. ^ "Annual report of the Supervising Inspector-General Steamboat-Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1922". Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office. 1922. p. 16. Retrieved 28 January 2020 – via Penn State University.

Bibliography edit

  • Clay, Steven E. (2011). U. S. Army Order Of Battle 1919–1941 (PDF). Volume 4. The Services: Quartermaster, Medical, Military Police, Signal Corps, Chemical Warfare, And Miscellaneous Organizations, 1919–41. Vol. 4. Fort Leavenworth, Kansas: Combat Studies Institute Press. p. 2173. ISBN 9780984190140. LCCN 2010022326. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  • "S.S. Great Northern and Northern Pacific". International Marine Engineering. XIX (December 1914). Aldrich Publishing Company: 535–545. 1914. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  • Koppel, Harwood (1919). "Motor Boats Rescue Thousands of Soldiers". Motor Boating. 23 (February 1919). New York: 14–15. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  • Naval History And Heritage Command. "Northern Pacific". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  • Spokane Daily Chronicle (25 March 1915). "New Steamship Sails for Frisco". Spokane Daily Chronicle. 29 (25 March 1915): 6. Retrieved 8 November 2014.
  • United States Congress; House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries (1921). Transport Service of the Government: Hearings Before the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives, Sixty-Seventh Congress. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links edit

  • Photo gallery of Northern Pacific at NavSource Naval History
  • Advertisement showing New York Evening Post headline and photo of stranded ship and Submarine Chasers evacuating troops, January. 3 1919

January 01, 1970
northern, pacific, built, passenger, ship, philadelphia, william, cramp, sons, under, supervision, great, northern, pacific, steam, ship, company, spokane, portland, seattle, railway, company, northern, pacific, along, with, sister, ship, great, northern, were. SS Northern Pacific was built as a passenger ship at Philadelphia by William Cramp amp Sons under supervision of the Great Northern Pacific Steam Ship Company for the Spokane Portland and Seattle Railway Company Northern Pacific along with sister ship Great Northern were built to provide a passenger and freight link by sea between the Great Northern Railway Lines and Spokane Portland and Seattle Railway terminal at Astoria Oregon and San Francisco beginning in spring of 1915 The ship was acquired on 17 September 1917 for use as a transport ship for the United States Navy during World War I commissioned USS Northern Pacific and later after transfer to the United States Army as the Army transport USAT Northern Pacific She was destroyed by fire in 1922 SS Northern Pacific in harbor probably at the time of her completion in 1914 History Commercial NameNorthern Pacific OwnerSpokane Portland and Seattle Railway Company BuilderWilliam Cramp amp Sons Philadelphia Yard number408 Laid down23 September 1913 Launched17 October 1914 Completed1915 FateTransferred to Navy United States NameUSS Northern Pacific BuilderWilliam Cramp amp Sons Philadelphia Pennsylvania Laid down23 September 1913 Launched17 October 1914 Completed1915 Acquired17 September 1917 Commissioned3 November 1917 Decommissioned20 August 1919 FateTransferred to War Department for use by U S Army United States NameUSAT Northern Pacific OwnerWar Department OperatorUnited States Army Acquired20 August 1919 In service20 August 1919 Out of service22 November 1921 FateSold 2 February 1922 burned and sank during delivery 8 February 1922 General characteristics U S Navy Typetransport Displacement9 708 t 1 Length525 ft 8 in 160 22 m 1 Beam63 ft 1 in 19 23 m 1 Propulsionsteam engines Speed23 knots 43 km h Complement371 1 Armament4 6 inch 152 mm guns 2 1 pounder guns 2 machine guns 1 Rescue of passengers on January 2 1919 Breeches buoy during the rescue Contents 1 History 1 1 Commercial 1 2 Navy and Army service 2 Sale and loss 3 References 4 Bibliography 5 External linksHistory editCommercial edit Northern Pacific and sister ship Great Northern were built by William Cramp amp Sons for the Great Northern Pacific Steam Ship Company Astoria Oregon to the order of the Spokane Portland and Seattle Railway Company to serve between Astoria and San Francisco 2 3 Contracts for both ships were let on 26 April 1913 with keel laying for Northern Pacific on 23 September 1913 the day after Great Northern and launch on 17 October 1914 with service due to start in March 1915 2 Both ships were designed for 856 passengers and 2 185 tons of freight with a 23 knot speed making possible the run between the ports in 25 26 hours equal to the time for an overland route under favorable conditions and thus allowing direct service to San Francisco from the east using Great Northern Railway Lines 2 Both ships were classed A100 according to British Lloyds and met the latest requirements of the United States Steamboat Inspection Service 2 Design specifications were for a 8 255 GRT ship with 524 ft 159 7 m length overall 500 ft 152 4 m length between perpendiculars 63 ft 19 2 m beam 21 ft 6 4 m full load draft 50 ft 8 in 15 4 m depth molded to A deck with 2 185 DWT and approximately 200 000 cubic feet of cargo space 2 The 856 passenger capacity was broken down into 550 first class 108 second class and 198 third class served by a crew of 198 2 The double bottomed hull was divided into eleven watertight compartments with ten extending to the bottom of second deck above full load waterline 4 Twelve Babcock amp Wilcox water tube boilers provided steam for Parsons turbines on three shafts with a requirement that the 23 knot speed be available with steam from only ten boilers 4 One high pressure turbine 21 ft 7 5 in 6 6 m long with 5 ft 8 in 1 7 m diameter rotor drum with four stages of expansion and two low pressure turbines with integrated astern and each 32 ft 2 in 9 8 m long with 7 ft 8 in 2 3 m ahead and 6 ft 7 in 2 0 m astern diameter rotor drums develop about 25 000 shaft horsepower at 325 revolutions 5 Four 35 kilowatt 110 volt steam driven Diehl Manufacturing Company generators provided electric power for lighting and auxiliary electric machinery 6 Northern Pacific departed Philadelphia for San Francisco with all reservations taken on 25 March 1915 7 Navy and Army service edit She was acquired by the United States Shipping Board USSB from the Spokane Portland and Seattle Railway of Portland Oregon on 17 September 1917 and commissioned on 3 November 1917 at Bremerton Washington 1 Northern Pacific departed San Francisco on 7 March for New York via the Panama Canal Joining the Cruiser and Transport Squadron during the war Northern Pacific operated between the Army s Hoboken Port of Embarkation Hoboken New Jersey and Brest France making a total of 13 trips taking 22 645 troops and passengers to France and returning 9 532 to the United States The influenza epidemic hit the ship hard in September 1918 en route to Brest Cots were set up in the brig and in the open corridors There were 7 deaths On 2 October sister ship USS Great Northern collided with the British ship Brinkburn which caused Great Northern to lose contact with the convoy Northern Pacific searched and found her sister seaworthy enough to rejoin the convoy 1 Northern Pacific ran aground off Fire Island New York on 1 January 1919 with 2 481 soldiers aboard 1 3 8 Her troops were transferred to other ships or in cases ashore on 3 4 January by use of Submarine Chasers to transfer troops from the grounded ship 9 The evacuation was under the supervision of Lieutenant George R Le Sauvage and involved SC 291 SC 292 SC 293 and SC 294 along with other small vessels that transported troops to the hospital ship Solace cruisers and destroyers standing off shore 9 The last troops were evacuated on the afternoon of Saturday 4 January 9 Northern Pacific was refloated on 18 January and proceeded to Staten Island She was decommissioned on 20 August 1919 and was transferred to the Army Transport Service ATS on that date 1 3 USAT Northern Pacific was assigned to the ATS Pacific Fleet and homeported at Fort Mason in San Francisco 3 On 12 September 1919 the ship departed for Siberia in order to transport the American Expeditionary Force Siberia to the Philippines 3 On 9 May 1920 10 USAT Northern Pacific ran aground on Collnas Shoal 10 at the entrance to the harbor at San Juan Puerto Rico while carrying General of the Armies John J Pershing on an inspection tour of troops and military installations on the island 11 The ship was re floated with significant effort led by LCDR Virgil Baker a retired U S Navy lieutenant commander who was formerly commander of the San Geronimo Naval Reservation and was back underway on 10 May 1920 12 By 1920 the Army found both Northern Pacific and Great Northern too fast and too expensive to operate in peacetime and was attempting to lease them to private operators 13 Sale and loss editNorthern Pacific was returned to the USSB on 22 November 1921 and laid up in its New York reserve fleet 3 She was sold to the Pacific Steamship Company on 2 February 1922 but while being towed to their yard for reconditioning at Chester Pennsylvania she caught fire burned capsized and sank in 150 feet 46 m of water 30 nautical miles 56 km 35 mi south of Cape May New Jersey on 8 February 1922 Four draftsmen on board died 1 14 15 References edit a b c d e f g h i j Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Northern Pacific a b c d e f International Marine Engineering December 1914 p 535 a b c d e f Clay 2011 p 2173 a b International Marine Engineering December 1914 p 536 International Marine Engineering December 1914 pp 542 543 International Marine Engineering December 1914 p 544 Spokane Daily Chronicle 25 March 1915 p 4 254 Taken From Transport Before Night Ends Work The New York Times January 3 1919 By Means Of A Ferry Line Wounded Reach Shore From Northern Pacific Three Lifeboats Capsize Soldiers Drenched In Icy Water But No One Is Injured By Mishaps Those On Board All Safe Hospital And Private Homes Of Bay Shore Ready To Care For All The Rescued Men In No Danger 254 Taken From Stranded Ship Ready For The Rescue Bonfires On The Beach Indian Trooper Capsized a b c Koppel Motor Boating February 1919 a b Anonymous Reports of the Department of Commerce 1920 Washington D C Government Printing Office 1921 p 715 El Fortin San Jeronimo Virgil Baker s Castle Dr Gerardo M Pinero Cadiz July 28 2007 http www puertadetierra info Anonymous Pershing Buys Store of Sugar The Sun and the New York Herald May 11 1920 p 5 United States Congress Hearings 1921 pp 11 267 The Thirteenth Voyage of the USS Northern Pacific Magic Masts and Sturdy Ships Retrieved 29 January 2020 Annual report of the Supervising Inspector General Steamboat Inspection Service to the Secretary of Commerce for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30 1922 Washington D C Government Printing Office 1922 p 16 Retrieved 28 January 2020 via Penn State University Bibliography editClay Steven E 2011 U S Army Order Of Battle 1919 1941 PDF Volume 4 The Services Quartermaster Medical Military Police Signal Corps Chemical Warfare And Miscellaneous Organizations 1919 41 Vol 4 Fort Leavenworth Kansas Combat Studies Institute Press p 2173 ISBN 9780984190140 LCCN 2010022326 Retrieved 6 November 2014 S S Great Northern and Northern Pacific International Marine Engineering XIX December 1914 Aldrich Publishing Company 535 545 1914 Retrieved 6 November 2014 Koppel Harwood 1919 Motor Boats Rescue Thousands of Soldiers Motor Boating 23 February 1919 New York 14 15 Retrieved 19 July 2015 Naval History And Heritage Command Northern Pacific Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Naval History And Heritage Command Retrieved 6 November 2014 Spokane Daily Chronicle 25 March 1915 New Steamship Sails for Frisco Spokane Daily Chronicle 29 25 March 1915 6 Retrieved 8 November 2014 United States Congress House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries 1921 Transport Service of the Government Hearings Before the Committee on the Merchant Marine and Fisheries House of Representatives Sixty Seventh Congress Washington D C Government Printing Office a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint multiple names authors list link External links editPhoto gallery of Northern Pacific at NavSource Naval History Advertisement showing New York Evening Post headline and photo of stranded ship and Submarine Chasers evacuating troops January 3 1919 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title SS Northern Pacific amp oldid 1207127152, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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