SSSaint Paul under steam
History
United States
Name	USSSaint Paul
Builder	William Cramp & Sons,Philadelphia
Yard number	278
Launched	10 April 1895
Acquired	by charter, 12 March 1898
Commissioned	20 April 1898
Decommissioned	2 September 1898
Recommissioned	27 October 1917
Decommissioned	14 January 1919
Fate	Scrapped in 1923
Notes	Returned to owner, 24 March 1919
General characteristics
Type	Passenger ship/Auxiliary cruiser
Displacement	14,910 long tons (15,150 t)
Length	553 ft 2 in (168.61 m)
Beam	63 ft (19 m)
Draft	28 ft (8.5 m)
Speed	22 kn (25 mph; 41 km/h)
Capacity	1,420 passengers (320 first class, 200 second class, 900 steerage)
Complement	381 officers and enlisted (as naval ship)
Armament	6 ×5 in (130 mm) guns 6 ×6-pounder guns 6 ×3-pounder guns

SSSaint Paul was a trans-Atlanticocean liner named for thecapital ofMinnesota.

Saint Paul was launched on 10 April 1895 byWilliam Cramp & Sons,Philadelphia, as a steel passenger liner. The ship later was chartered for United States Navy service as anauxiliary cruiser from her owner,International Navigation Company, by a board appointed on 12 March 1898; and commissioned on 20 April 1898 forSpanish–American War service, CaptainCharles D. Sigsbee in command.

At about 2A.M. on January 25, 1896, the SSSt. Paul, of the American line, went aground while on its way toward New York Harbor.^[1][2] It was alleged that the steamship had been racing theRMSCampania, a British ocean liner owned by the Cunard Line, but that fog had caused the grounding. At the time, theSt. Paul and her sister ship, theSt. Louis, were the largest vessels ever constructed in America, with each able to carry 320 first class passengers, 200 second class passengers, and 900 emigrants. The RMSCampania was additionally the largest and fastest passenger liner afloat at the time. No one was hurt in the incident, with approximately 265 passengers (65 first class, 75 second class, and 125 steerage passengers) from theSt. Paul successfully evacuated from the ship and ferried on to New York. TheSt. Paul, however, remained grounded for more than a week afterwards.^[3]

In the aftermath, both captains and their respective companies denied allegations that a race had occurred just before the grounding, despite reports to the contrary from passengers and even crew members. Vernon H. Young, a representative of the Cunard Steamship Company (of which theCampania was a part), forbade theCampania’s captain, Capt. Walker, from speaking with the media about the incident. Captain Walker had already admitted to the race, however, saying in an interview: “We sighted theSt. Paul at 8:30 o’clock Friday morning, when she was fifteen miles ahead of us on the port bow. Then we both went at it as hard as we could. […] We kept on at racing speed for four hours, and finally passed her.”^[4] Similarly, a crew member from theSt. Paul, Mall Master Hart, told the media plainly: “We were racing when we struck.”^[5]

At the time of the incident, theSt. Paul had already been the scene of several other accidents. One of these accidents involved the death of several crewmembers on December 18, 1895 when the main steam pipe supplying one of the engines burst in two places, filling the engine room with steam and scalding 5 men to death while severely injuring 5 others, 4 of whom subsequently died.^[6][7]

Departing Philadelphia on 5 May 1898,Saint Paul's first assignment was to cruise in search of AdmiralCervera's squadron between Morant Point, Jamaica, and western Haiti. She captured the British collierRestormel—bound for Cuba with a critical cargo of Cardiff coal—on 25 May and sent her intoKey West under aprize crew. She cruised offSantiago de Cuba andGuantanamo Bay into mid-June, then sailed to join the force blockading San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Saint Paul arrived off San Juan on the morning of 22 June. Shortly after midday, in thesecond battle of San Juan, the Spanish cruiserIsabel II, emerged from the harbor and, remaining under protection of shore batteries, opened fire onSaint Paul at long range without success.Isabel II was joined shortly by the destroyerTerror, which attempted to closeSaint Paul to launch torpedoes.Saint Paul tookTerror under heavy fire, scoring at least one direct hit which heavily damaged the destroyer.Terror gave up the attack and returned to port, followed byIsabel II.Saint Paul was relieved byYosemite off San Juan on the 26th and made forNew York to coal.

Saint Paul spent the remainder of her Spanish–American War service as a transport, operating for 48 days in July–August as a War Department vessel. She landed troops atSiboney, Cuba, andArroyo, Puerto Rico, subsequently returning soldiers fromGuantanamo Bay toNew York City through 15 August. Entering the Cramp shipyard on 22 August for re-conversion to mercantile service,Saint Paul was decommissioned on 2 September and returned to her owner the same day.

On 25 April 1908, outward bound fromSouthampton, England, in a late snowstorm,Saint Paul was involved in a collision with the British cruiserHMS Gladiator in theNeedles Channel.Gladiator foundered in shallow water with the loss of 27 crew, butSaint Paul was able to return to Southampton for repairs.^[8]

Saint Paul was again taken over for wartime service on 27 October 1917. Operated by theUnited States Shipping Board as a transport on the War Department account, she retained her merchant crew and carried anaval armed guard on board. She made twelve voyages between New York andLiverpool,England. She was transferred to the Navy account in April 1918; designatedSP-1643; and overhauled at New York. Then, while being towed to her berth from dry dock on 28 April with her ballast removed, she capsized in theNorth River. Righted on 11 September, she was subsequently turned over to the Commandant,3rd Naval District, on 17 October.

Saint Paul entered theNew York Navy Yard the following day, but the end ofWorld War I led to cancellation of plans to convert the ship to atroopship.

Placed in temporary commission on 14 January 1919 for the purpose of fixing responsibility for her care outside the Navy Yard,Saint Paul soon began reconversion for mercantile service. Returned to her owner on 24 March 1919,Saint Paul was scrapped inGermany in 1923.

As part of the celebrations surrounding the 1901Pan-American Exposition a set of six commemorativepostage stamps were issued. The highest value, 10 cents, showsSaint Paul under steam.^[9] While the three lowest stamps in the series include rareinverted printings, no errors are known for this issue.

•  This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere.

Media related toUSS Saint Paul (SP-1643) at Wikimedia Commons

• Photo gallery of USSSaint Paul at NavSource Naval History
• Video dedicated to the ocean liner SS St. Paul

• Passenger ships of the United States
• Ships built by William Cramp & Sons
• Ships of the American Line
• World War I cruisers of the United States
• Auxiliary cruisers of the United States Navy
• 1895 ships
• Spanish–American War cruisers of the United States
• Maritime incidents in 1908

• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
• Commons category link from Wikidata