.jpg) USSNewport News in San Francisco Bay, circa 1919 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Namesake |
|
| Owner | |
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry |
|
| Builder | Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft |
| Yard number | 232 |
| Launched | 12 December 1903 |
| Completed | 1904 |
| Acquired | for US Navy, 14 May 1917 |
| Commissioned | into US Navy, 14 Jul 1917 |
| Decommissioned | from US Navy, 1 Aug 1924 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | scrapped January 1937 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | cargo liner |
| Tonnage | 3,343 GRT, 2,136 NRT |
| Displacement | 10,000tons |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 45.0 ft (13.7 m) |
| Draft | 23 ft 6 in (7.2 m) |
| Depth | 24.5 ft (7.5 m) |
| Decks | 2 |
| Installed power | 480NHP, 2,400ihp |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 13 knots (24 km/h) |
| Complement | in US Navy: 150 |
| Armament | 4 ×3-inch/23-caliber guns |
| Notes | sister ships:St. Thomas,St. Croix |
USSNewport News (AK-3) was acargo liner that was launched inGermany in 1903 asSt. Jan. She was renamedOdenwald in 1907 when she changed owners, andNewport News in 1917 when the United States seized her. She was renamedArctic in 1925, and scrapped in 1937.
She was the first of three US Navy ships to be namedUSS Newport News. She served in theUnited States Navy from 1918 until 1924. Her Naval service wastransatlantic until 1919, when she was transferred to thePacific.
AsOdenwald she belonged to theHamburg America Line (HAPAG) from 1907 until 1917. She was the first of three HAPAG ships of this name. The secondOdenwald was amotor ship that entered service in 1923 and was captured in 1941.[1] The third was a motor ship that entered service in 1951.[2]
When the First World War began in August 1914,Odenwald took refuge inPuerto Rico. In March 1915 she tried to leave port without permission, so theUnited States Army garrison fired at her. This led to a diplomatic incident between the US and Germany.
In 1904 theDansk Vestindiske Kompagni (DVK) took delivery of a set of three single-screw cargo liners. They were for a service that it ran jointly with HAPAG betweenCopenhagen,Hamburg and theCaribbean, and they were named after the three main islands of theDanish West Indies.Burmeister & Wain in Copenhagen builtSt. Thomas, andFlensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft inFlensburg built hersister shipsSt. Jan andSt. Croix.[3]
St. Jan's lengths were 371 ft 5 in (113.21 m)overall and 355.0 ft (108.2 m) registered. Herbeam was 45.0 ft (13.7 m), her depth was 24.5 ft (7.5 m), and herdraft was 23 ft 6 in (7.2 m). Hertonnages were 3,343 GRT, 2,136 NRT and 10,000 tonsdisplacement.St. Jan had a three-cylindertriple-expansion engine, which was rated at 480NHP or 2,400ihp and gave her a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h).[4][5][6]
DVKregisteredSt. Jan atCopenhagen.[4] Hercode letters were NMPR. By 1905 her ownership was registered in the name of DVK's parent company, theØstasiatiske Kompagni (ØK).[7]
St. Thomas,St. Jan andSt. Croix were found to be too big for their intended use, and in 1907 ØK withdrew from the joint service. HAPAG bought the three ships, renamed themNiederwald,Odenwald, andSachsenwald respectively,[3] and registered them in Hamburg.Odenwald's code letters were RPMW. By 1908 she was equipped to burn oil instead of coal.[8]
At 11:00 hrs on 1 August 1914, with theFirst World War imminent, HAPAG announced the suspension of its services.[9] Germany ordered its merchant ships to take refuge in the nearest German orneutral port.Odenwald and another HAPAG ship took refuge inSan Juan, Puerto Rico. By late January 1915 she had been joined by another HAPAG ship,Präsident,[10] and the British collierFarn, which thecruiserSMS Karlsruhe had captured as aprize and renamedKD-III.[11] "KD-III" was short forKohlendampfer III, meaning "Coal-Steamer 3".[12]
Odenwald's cargo was mostly coffee and hides from various South American ports. After about three months in San Juan, all of her cargo was unloaded onto a wharf in the San Antonio Canal. The cargo was then forwarded toNew York on theNew York and Porto Rico Line's mail steamers, such as theBrazos. However, by 23 January 1915, about a third ofOdenwald's cargo was still on the wharf in San Juan.[13]
In March 1915Odenwaldtook on 1,800 tons of coal and a large amount of provisions. TheUnited States Customs Service responded by having a customs officer aboard her continually, to report in her movements. HerMaster requested permission to leave port, but the Collector of Customs refused, claiming that he needed permission from Washington DC.[14] According to one report, the Collector withheld permission for three days.[15] Earlier in the war the US hadproclaimed its neutrality, stating "The President is authorized and empowered to direct the Collectors of Customs under the jurisdiction of the United States to withhold clearance from any vessel, American or foreign, which he has reasonable cause to believe to be about to carry arms, ammunition, men, or supplies to any warship or tender or supply ship of a belligerent nation in violation of the obligations of the United States as a neutral nation..."[16]
On 19 March the commandant of the US Army garrison in San Juan, Lieutenant-Colonel Burnham, in the Collector's presence, warned the German Consul andOdenwald's Master that he would use force if necessary to prevent the ship leaving port without permission.[17] On 20 MarchOdenwald prepared to leave port.Odenwald had deployed Germans in fishing boats, pretending to be night-fishing, to mark the channel out of the harbour to enable the ship to leave port without apilot. The Collector summoned support from garrison, which sent an infantry unit with fixed bayonets, and a platoon of mountain artillery with six machine guns, with orders to open fire on the ship if she tried to leave port. The troops were in position from 23:00 hrs on 20 March, and withdrawn at 02:00 hrs on 21 March.[14]
At 14:50 hrs on 21 MarchOdenwald again started preparing to leave port. Federal officers telephoned the garrison at theCastillo San Felipe del Morro. At 14:55 hrs, LieutenantTeófilo Marxuach ordered the Morro's guns to open fire. Accounts differ as to how many guns were fired, the caliber of the guns, or how many shots they fired.[14] Puerto Rican and US sources at the time insisted that they were warning shots. Germany at the time insisted that the Morro tried to hitOdenwald without first firing warning shots.
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TheBoletín mercantil de Puerto Rico reported that six guns of the Morro fired warning salvoes: two acrossOdenwald's bow, and one across her stern. She was warned that the next shots would be aimed at her hull.Odenwald hove to and dropped anchor. The same report claimed that a total of 58 shells were fired.[14] However, the report is not specific about the caliber, and the total may include machine-gun rounds.
On 22 MarchThe New York Times reported that the Morro fired "three shots".[18] The next day it quoted Lieut-Col Burnham as reporting "warning shots were fired with machine guns and one shot was fired across her bows with afive-inch rifle from El Morro".[17] On 30 MarchThe New York Times reported that oneseven-inch gun fired one shell acrossOdenwald's bow.[19] One modern source says that the Morro fired one round from a4.7-inch gun at a range of 300yards.[12]
International rules, as set forth by the USNaval War College, required that "the vessel is brought to by firing a gun with ablank charge. If this is not sufficient to cause her to lie to a shot is fired across the bows, and in case of flight or resistance force can be used to compel the vessel to surrender." Germany alleged that the Morro firedsolid shot, without first firing a blank warning shot,[15] and that the Morro continued "a sharp fire" even afterOdenwald hove to.[20] TheUnited States Department of State replied to the German government that "the United States authorities at San Juan in the performance of their duties avoided any act endangering the safety of the vessel and the lives of the persons on board and exercised no greater force than was necessary to prevent the illegal departure of the Odenwald from the port of San Juan".[21]
AfterOdenwald hove to, the Collector and Deputy Collector of Customs, the chief customs officer, the head of the wireless station atPuerta de Tierra, the Attorney General, a pilot, and other officials, went out to her in threelaunches. The chief customs officer and the pilot boarded the ship; the chief customs officer ordered her back into port; and by 16:45 hrs she was returning to port, under the pilot's command. Two customs officers were put aboardOdenwald, and a picket of soldiers was embarked on thebuoy tenderIvy, which was deployed as a guard ship to watch over her. Soldiers could not be put aboardOdenwald, as she was amerchant ship.[14]
On 23 March theUnited States Department of the Navy sent twodestroyers to San Juan to deterOdenwald from trying to leave again.[16]
On 1 February theImperial German Navy resumedunrestricted submarine warfare. On 3 FebruaryJosephus Daniels,United States Secretary of the Navy, ordered the internment of all German andAustro-Hungarian ships in US-controlled ports, includingOdenwald in San Juan.[22] On 6 April 1917 the US declared war on Germany, and at the same time seized 91 German ships in its ports,[23] includingKD-III,Odenwald, andPräsident in San Juan.[11]
On 14 May the US Navy took overOdenwald underExecutive Order2619-A. She was defensively armed with four3-inch/23-caliber guns,[6] and on 14 July she wascommissioned into the Navy as USSNewport News, with thehull classification symbol AK-3. She made transatlantic round trips to Europe. On 9 January 1918 she was assigned to theNaval Overseas Transport Service (NOTS), with whom she continued her transatlantic service. On 2 February 1918 she reachedHampton Roads from Europe. She then took coal toBoston, and on 24 March left New York carrying military supplies to theUnited Kingdom. She discharged her cargo inLiverpool,Dublin, and Queenstown (nowCobh), leftIreland on 18 May, and reachedPhiladelphia on 31 May.[5]
By 1918Newport News was equipped withwireless telegraphy. Hercall sign was listed as DQS, which was a German call sign.[24]
Newport News made three more transatlantic round trips carrying mixed cargo for the NOTS. The last was in April 1919. It took her toGibraltar, where after discharging her cargo she loaded food, clothing and other supplies that she took to Constantinople (nowIstanbul) to relieve famine in theNear East. She returned via Gibraltar, reachedNorfolk, Virginia on 27 June, and was detached from the NOTS.[5]
Newport News’ crew was authorized theWorld War I Victory Medal, with Transportclasp.[6]
By 1 July 1919 theUnited States Shipping Board wasNewport News' registered owner. Her USofficial number was 215052, she was registered in New York, and her code letters were LHCP.[25] She left Hampton Roads on 27 July 1919, passed through thePanama Canal to the Pacific, and reachedMare Island Naval Shipyard in California on 5 August. From there she was employed on supply runs, primarily to theFar East. On 1 August 1924 she was decommissioned atPuget Sound Navy Yard,Washington, and struck from theNaval Vessel Register.[5]
On 4 April 1925Newport News was sold for scrap to John F Blaine ofBerkeley, California.[5] However, on 10 November theAlaska Packers' Association bought her,[6] renamed herArctic, and registered her inSan Francisco.[26] By 1934 her wireless call sign was WQCM, and this had superseded her code letters.[27] She was scrapped inJapan in January 1937.[6]
