CHESAPEAKE-BUILT & CARIBBEAN-BOUND: U.S.M.S. MUNAMAR

The Munamar was designed by Theodore E. Ferris, of New York, in collaboration with the builders, and in the design of this vessel which is destined for passenger and cargo traffic to and from the United States and the island of Cuba, special regard has been paid to the comfort of passengers in tropical waters while fitting the vessel as a rapid and spacious cargo handler.

The American Marine Engineer, March 1916

Munson Line’s first newbuilding and first passenger ship, she proved to be its versatile jack-of-all-trades, inaugurating more new passenger services and routes than any of its vessels. She figured in the early development of the Port of Miami and Bahama tourism and West Indian immigration to the United States. And a ship that packed into her 17-year-career more storms and sugar than any American merchantman.  Built on the shores of the Chesapeake, the staunch little steamer had one consistent destination throughout her varied career… the white sand and palm fringed islands and cobalt blue seas of the Caribbean, a working cargo, passenger and mail ship where frivolous cruise ships now ply in her wake.  And best remembered today as she was nine decades ago… lying impatiently at Pier 9 East River at the foot of Old Slip in Lower Manhattan,  beckoning us up her gangway, the United States Mail Ship Munamar ready to cast off for Nuevitas and Nassau or Martinique and St. Martin.    

Home again... Munamar coming into New York in the 1930s as painted by Joe Wilhelm (1920-2003). Credit: www.jrusselljinishiangallery.com

Loaded to the marks and making knots, Munamar after her mid 1920s refit. Credit: eBay auction photo. 

Barely remembered today, Munson Line was once one of the largest shipping enterprises on the U.S. eastern seaboard.  It was founded by Walter D. Munson (1843-1908) who, following service in the Union Army, emigrated to Cuba in 1866 and got a job in the crude oil trade. This led in 1878 to acquiring his first ship, the barque Antonia Sala, and by the time he returned to the United States, and settled in Brooklyn in 1882, Munson owned four vessels.  A regular line was established from New York to Cuba in 1892 carrying bulk oil southbound and Cuban molasses back and the first steamship added next year. Munson originated the idea of carrying a principal cargo, Cuban molasses, in shipboard tanks rather than barrels, revolutionizing its shipment.

Munson Line route map c. 1899: no other American line served more of Cuba's ports, although most of its agricultural trade was centered on the eastern side with  Nuevitas the terminus of the New York route.  Credit: worthpoint.com

The ensuing Spanish-American War liberated Cuba from the Spanish Empire but it was also a shotgun wedding with the island to American commerce, tourism and exploitation. On 4 February 1899 the Munson Steamship Line was incorporated and on 24 March the first export shipment of Cuban sugar since the War was landed at New Orleans on the Munson steamer Helios. That year, the company began to actively promote passenger business through a limited number of berths (approximately 30 each) on its steamers Lauenburg, Curityba and Olinda.

First advertisement for Munson Line passenger services, 18 December 1899  

Upon the death of Walter Munson in 1908, his was the largest cargo shipping line on the Atlantic Coast with a fleet numbering 60 vessels.  His son, Carlos, assumed the Presidency.

Hitherto, Munson's passenger traffic was a sideline to its main Cuban sugar and molasses trade, but with Cuba now in the American sphere of influence and trade and with increasing tourism, the prospect of a greater emphasis on the passenger trade was in the offing. This took on new urgency with the outbreak of the First World War in 1914 which largely cut-off Cuba from its European trading partners and led to increased American tourism, now staying "closer to home."

For Munson, the center of its trade remained in still remote Eastern Cuba which The Marine Review described as a "land of comparatively recent development. Land which a few years ago was virgin jungle is now raising large crops of sugar and fruit, and a great deal of American capital is being invested in this region."  Thus, there was prospect of American business travel to the region as well as tourist, although the later never approaching the numbers attracted to Havana.

In  March 1914, the Company added the 3,285 grt, 1906-built Mundale to its fleet, introducing the Mun- prefix naming system maintain henceforth and on 7 May 1914 the 3,190-grt Munwood was launched at Greenock, originally for a British flag subsidiary of Munson, but American-registered by the time she entered service in August.   By then, Olinda was the remaining passenger carrying vessel in the fleet and contemplation began toward the building of a new passenger-cargo vessel to replace her.

The greatest activity in shipbuilding in many years in this country is now underway, according to shipping men in statements made here today. Every firm on the Atlantic seaboard has more orders than it can fill for new vessels and the same activity is said to prevail on the Pacific coast…. A cargo carrier for the Munson line is also under construction.

So reported the Boston Evening Transcript of 9 February 1915 in what was the earliest public reference to the first new Munson Line ship built in America.  The exact date she was ordered or when Yard No. 147 of the Maryland Steel Co. was laid down at its Sparrows Point, Baltimore yard is elusive, perhaps owing to the flurry of newbuilding contracts and shipyard activity as American shipping began to arise from its long slumber as the World War set in.  On 10 April it was reported that Maryland Steel alone had six ships under contract or construction and all five slips occupied.

Indeed, on 22 June 1915 Munson followed up with orders with Maryland Steel for two freighters costing $400,000 each.  The Baltimore Sun of 12 July 1915 reported that the "Next launch will probably be in September, when the Munson liner Munamar will be ready."  That was the first reference to the ship’s name.  More than 2,000 men were engaged at the Sparrow’s Point yard at the time. 

The ship’s christening day was set for 7 September 1915 at noon, but it was a remarkably low-key affair given the fact this was Munson’s first American-built vessel and passenger liner.  The launch party, coming down from New York by train, numbered only 14 occasioning the Baltimore Sun of 8 September to note: "The launching yesterday was informal. No invitations were issued, and with the exception of a few friends of F.C. Munson, vice-president of the Munson Steamship Company, there were no guests." While the Evening Sun added  "The christening of the Munamar was informal, the tendency in these days when so many large ships are launched, being to reserve formal launchings for battleships."

Munamar launched at Sparrows Point, Baltimore on 7 September 1915. Credit: The Cuba Review

The fine weather was cheering and before a good crowd at 3:00 p.m. on 7 September 1915, Mrs. Cora Mallory Munson, wife of the Vice President of Munson Line, Frank C. Munson ((1876-1936), christened no. 174 as Munamar, and sent her down the ways, largely complete included her masts from which she was fully dressed.  Almost immediately, the keel for a new Bull Line ship was laid on the cleared slipway.

Artist's rendering of the new Munamar in The Cuba Review.

So advanced was she at time of launching, that Munamar was but a new months away from completion. On 28 October 1915 the Bangor Daily News reported that “Capt. Cleveland Downs will leave tomorrow for Baltimore where he will superintend the completion of the steamer Munamar.” Capt. Brown was formerly with Ward Line and captained  Morro Castle and later Saratoga.  In Albany on 25 November the Munamar Steamship Company was chartered with a capital of $600,000 to which the new vessel would be registered.  

By early Demember 1915, Munamar was one of three ships (the others being Floridian of American Hawaii and Clare of Bull Line) in the final stages of fitting out and there were 3,000 men employed at Sparrows Point to complete all three by the end of the month--  Munamar by the 15th, Floridian on the 18th and Clare by the 28th. 

Munamar was drydocked at the Baltimore Dry Docks & Ship Building Co. in early December to be painted.  On 17 December 1915 no doubt looking very smart,  the newest addition to the American merchant fleet, sailed from Baltimore for Norfolk.  There, she would load coal to bring her down to her load draught before returning to the Chesapeake Bay for her trials. These were successfully carried out on the Kent Island course on the 18th.  That day Maryland Steel announced that the new ship “had met all requirements and been accepted” and the yard delivered both Munamar and Floridian on the same day.

One of the fastest boats in the West Indian service is the S.S. Munamar… She is smaller than the Huron and the Aeolus, the speed boats of the Munson Line on the South American route, but among the coasters it is said she can cut the blue with the best of them. 

Not only is the Munamar said to be one of the fastest steamers on the coast, but she is also a delightful boat to travel on and voyageurs are always anxious to secure passage on this particular ship, her officers say. 

The Morse Dry Dock Dial, July 1921.

Munamar on her Baltimore-New York delivery voyage flying her name pennant at the foremast.

The "Munamar" was designed by Theodore E. Ferris, of New York, in collaboration with the builders, and in the design of this vessel which is destined for passenger and cargo traffic to and from the United States and the island of Cuba, special regard has been paid to the comfort of passengers in tropical waters while fitting the vessel as a rapid and spacious cargo handler.

The American Marine Engineer, March 1916.

Naval Architect Theodore E. Ferris (1872-1953), designer of Munamar. 

In an era when an American ship not designed by Theodore E. Ferris was seemingly an exception and an unattractive one even less likely, Munamar was pleasingly and predictably true to Ferris Form. Munson did well with its first newbuilding and obtained a handsome, practical and well found vessel for $600,000 that was ideally designed for its route yet one that proved remarkable adaptable to others.

A beautiful half-hull builders model of Munamar her handsome, trim lines.  As noted by Pacific Marine Review, 'her lines show rather a fine model forward for this class of vessel...' Credit: bonhams.com

Designed on the traditional three island model, Munamar was, like all of the ships then built by Maryland Steel, built on the Isherwood system of longitudinal framing, with a slightly raked stem and a neat counter stern.  Ferris gave her a neat, compact superstructure that housed all of her passengers and crew (except for seamen who were quartered in the raised forecastle) affording maximum air and light on her tropical run while leaving the whole of the hull for cargo, storage and bunkers.  With two substantial masts and booms and a well proportioned oval funnel with a modest cowl, Munamar was the classic Ferris melding of the practical and the pleasing-- a thoroughly classic and handsome vessel.

Builders photo of Munamar on 15 January 1916. Credit: U.S. National Archives

Even for her day, Munamar was of modest dimensions, but ideally suited to her role with principal measurements of 3,477 tons (gross), 2,180 tons (nett), 368 ft. 3 in. (overall), 353 ft. 9 in. (b.p.), 47 ft. 3 in. beam, and loaded draft of 22 ft. 6 in.

Munamar was powered by a triple-expansion reciprocating engine with cylinders 27¼, 46 and 78 inches diameter by 51 inches stroke, supplied by three Scotch boilers, each measuring 16.6 ft. dia. by 11.6 ft. length, working at 200 psi, burning oil and operated under the Howden system of forced draft.  The indicated horsepower was 3,500. Her contract speed was 13.5 knots and she exceeded 15 knots on trials fully loaded.  The American Marine Engineer, March 1916, commented that "On trial and subsequent service the Munamar showed herself a remarkably steady boat, without any evidence of vibration anywhere. On the voyage from New York to Antilla, Cuba, she has averaged 14½ knots from dock to dock on reduced power, and during the trip from Nuevitas to New York, ended 9 February, she covered the distance of 1,280 miles in the record time of 3 days, 9 hours."

The ship has a complete outfit of engine-room auxiliaries, including Blake and Knowles pumps, two 15-kw. generating sets for electric lighting purposes, driven by Terry turbines; a two-ton refrigerating plant with Brunswick ice-making set, American Blower Co.'s forced draft blowers, Sturtevant hold ventilating fans, Schutte & Koerting distiller, evaporator and feed water heater, GriscomRussell's Goubert heater for heating water for the baths, etc.

The American Marine Engineer, March 1916.

Integral to Munamar's role and design was that of a large and commodious cargo carrier especially of bulk cargo especially bagged sugar. With a deadweight capacity of 4,000 tons, she had four holds, two forward and two aft, and substantial cargo handling gear including four five-ton booms and one 30-ton booms. She carried 150,204 gallons of bunker oil giving her a steaming radius of 4,049 miles.

Divided by seven watertight bulkheads, the hull had a full double bottom with those under the boiler room fitted for the carriage of bunker oil in addition to wing bunkers on the boiler room hull sides.  Life saving equipment comprised three 24 ft. metal lifeboats, one 28-ft. powered metallic lifeboat and one 16 ft. working boat in radial davits. 

U.S.M.S.  MUNAMAR

General Arrangement Plans & Profile

credit: Marine Engineering, April 1916

(LEFT CLICK on image to view full size scan)

U.S.M.S. Munamar profile section.

Bridge Deck, Poop Deck and Forecastle Decks.

Bridge Deck detail showing First Class accommodation, veranda, smoking room and music room.

Upper Deck.

Upper Deck detail showing accommodation (crew portside and passengers starboard).

Second Deck.

Hold Deck.

The First Class Social Hall, forward, had windows on three sides and built around the main staircase to the Dining Room below. 

Social Lounge & Music Room. Credit: Morse Dry Dock Dial.

Social Lounge & Music Room. Credit: Morse Dry Dock Dial.

Forward on Upper Deck and built around the forward main staircase, the Social Lounge/Music Room (with a upright piano and victorola) was panelled in sycamore with blue upholstery and drapes and had windows facing out to sea on three sides. Amidships were 12 cabins and two de luxe staterooms. 

The First Class Smoking Room aft on Bridge Deck with its stained glass dome over the staircase leading down to the Upper Deck cabins. 

Smoking Room, facing aft to the veranda. Credit: Morse Dry Dock Dial.

Furthest aft was the Smoking Room, panelled in quartered oak wainscoting and white enamel with leather upholstered settees and chairs, topped by a stained glass dome and leading aft to a covered veranda overlooking the stern. A walk-around open promenade deck encircled the cabins and public rooms.

Main Staircase. Credit: Morse Dry Dock Dial.

Entrance to Dining Saloon. Credit: Morse Dry Dock Dial.

The First Class Dining Room forward on Upper Deck had large portholes on three sides and had 48-seats. 

Dining Saloon. Credit: Morse Dry Dock Dial.

Forward on Bridge Deck, directly below the Social Lounge/Music Room and accessed via the main staircase and on the same deck on the starboardside was the Dining Saloon. With large windows on three sides, it was finished in white enamel with butternut wainscoting and golden brown silk brocade tapestry covered decorative panels. Seat 48 at table of two to eight,  it boasted  mahogany "armchairs" with cane backs but still of the traditional bolted to the deck, swivel design common to ships of the era. The galley and crew accommodation was adjoining aft on the portside.

Upper Deck passenger passageway. Credit: Morse Dry Dock Dial.

One of the two "Stateroom De Luxe" with private bath.

A standard First Class two-berth cabin on Bridge Deck where they had windows instead of portholes.  All had built-in settees.  

A total of 52 First Class passengers were accommodated in 24 two-berth cabins and two suites, all outside, on Bridge and Upper (starboardside only) Decks. The two suites on Bridge Deck had full private bathrooms with hot and cold salt and fresh water, the remaining cabins had the traditional tank supplied cold fresh water only and wash basins with hot and cold fresh water supplied to the public facilities.  All cabins had electric fans and many of the two-berth cabins had settees.

The Second Class for 38 was accommodated in the poop deck house in two, four and six-berth cabins, all of which were outside facing.  Inboard of the cabins on aft Upper Deck was the dining space of two long longitudinal tables and the comparable space on the deck above was arranged with chairs and settees as a social hall with open promenade space outside.

The crew numbered 74 including 10 officers.  The captain's cabin was immediately aft of the pilot house on Boat Deck and accommodation for the remaining officers, engineers and wireless operator midships.  Steward accommodation was on the portside of Upper Deck while seamen were quartered in the forecastle.

From a 1916 Munson brochure. Credit: Björn Larsson Collection

Outward Bound: Munamar, the picture of the perfectly proportioned purposeful cargo-passenger liner steams out of the East River, Cuba-bound.  Credit: American Shipping

On 19 December 1915 the new Munamar arrived at her home port of New York and docked at the Munson Line terminal, Pier 9 Old Slip, East River.  At a reception and luncheon for 200 guests hosted by President Frank C. Munson held aboard on the 28th it was announced that she had maintained a speed of 14.5 knots on her delivery trip and would depart on her maiden voyage on New Years Eve.  Munson Line had a new flagship and new President with which to close out 1915.

Advertisement for Munamar's maiden voyage in the Buffalo Daily Express, 26 December 1915

Under Capt. C.M. McDonald who joined Munson Line as master of Mobile in 1907, Munamar sailed for Eastern Cuba at noon on 31 December 1915.  Henceforth she would leave New York every other Saturday.  Her first Saturday departure was 15 January 1916.

For years, the warm Caribbean and the shores of Cuba started at the foot of Old Slip in Lower Manhattan and Pier 9 East River as did the maiden voyage of Munamar on the last day of 1915. Credit: The Cuba Review.

Munamar's first arrival at Antilla, Eastern Cuba, January 1916. Credit: The Cuba Review

Wonderful photo from Munson's own magazine The Cuba Review of Munamar loading her first cargo of Cuban sugar at Antilla.  For most of her career, Cuba, especially the Eastern region and sugar, played an integral part.  

Showing her speed, Munamar reached New York on 17 February 1916 from Nuevitas, doing the 1,280-mile run in a record three days and nine hours.  Coming in on 22 June from Antilla she bested this with a three-day, seven-hour passage.

The Boston Globe of 16 April 1916 reported that "Antonio Giura arrived in New York recently on the steamer Munamar from Cuba. ‘Tony’ is a professional stowaway who had been a well-known ocean wanderer for the past 10 years. He has just wintered in Cuba and has now come north for the winter."

By autumn 1916, Munamar served Antilla exclusively and Olinda sailed to Nuevitas.  Credit: The Cuba Review

Munson Line brochure  (December 1916) for Munamar's Eastern Cuba service. Credit: Björn Larsson Collection.

On a more serious note, the same paper 12 October 1916 reflected the ever encroaching war near American shores:  "Indication that an American naval patrol has been placed on duty along the North Atlantic Coast was given today, when Capt. McDonald of the steamship Munamar, in from Cuban ports, reported that off the New Jersey coast, about 6 this morning an American destroyer dashed up through the mists and circled his ship several times. Capt. McDonald said he broke out the National colors and the destroyed immediately headed northeast, soon disappearing."

Missed the Boat: back when no self respecting ship did not have its cat mascot and no newspaper could miss a good ship's cat story.  Credit: Meridian Daily Journal, 10 November 1916.

Advertisement for Munamar 1 November 1916, The Baltimore Sun

Of more immediate concern for Munamar's owners was the 1917 liberal insurrection in Cuba following the re-election of conservative Cuban President Mario Menocal in November 1916.  The left wing forces were mostly active in the eastern part of the island, precisely where the sugar plantations and Munson's port facilities at Antilla and Nuevitas were located.  American plantation owners in the region requested protection and on 12 February U.S. Marines were landed in the region. Their role was mostly passive, safeguarding property and ensuring continued sugar production as well as the safe loading of Munson ships. The Marine presence continued  until late 1921 and Marine personnel were occasional passengers in Munamar when taking leave or rotating assignments. 

Munamar in wartime grey at New York on 7 June 1918. Credit: U.S. National Archives.

The eventual entrance of the United States into the First World War in April 1917 had little impact on Munamar. Although put under U.S. Shipping Board control, she maintained her peacetime run and indeed was needed more than ever as wartime trade with Cuba (which also declared war on Germany) expanded especially imports of sugar and molasses.  She was eventually painted overall grey, but was unarmed and continued to carry civilian passengers, cargo and mails.

Munamar alongside at New York 7 June 1918 showing her traditional open bridge above the wheelhouse, cowled funnel and her 30-ton derrick forward.  Credit: U.S. National Archives.

Munamar was released from Shipping Board control on 17 January 1919 and repainted in company colors and continued on her now accustomed run. Olinda did not resume service after the war and Munamar had the passenger service to herself.

On 13 February 1919 Munamar arrived at New York from Antilla with five members of the crew of the schooner Andrew Nebinger which was grounded and wrecked near the harbor of Banes, Cuba, earlier that month en route to Mobile.

First post-war advertisement for Munamar in the New York Herald, 2 February 1919. 

On her next New York arrival on 26 February 1919, Munamar had 8 million pounds of sugar in her holds, part of a bumper crop that year, and numbered among her passengers, Col. William Brackett (USMC) who commanded two regiments of Marines in Cuba who told reporters that "the presence of the marines was a stabilizing infuence" and that the biggest problem in Cuba was a shortage of labor. Indeed, there was a sugar shortage in the U.S. that year so that each arrival of Munamar and her fleetmates was newsworthy.

Sensing perhaps the importance of her cargo, Munamar arrived at New York on 10 April 1919 after setting a new record from Antilla of 3 days 1 hour 40 minutes.  She carried 23,000 bags of sugar and after discharging her passengers, mail and general cargo at Pier 9, she shifted across New York Harbor to Edgewater, N.J.  to unload her sugar at the huge Warner's Sugar Refinery there. On 21 August she came in with another large 6.7 million pounds of raw sugar in 20,568 bags, more than enough for a pound per person for every person in Greater New York.  Ward Line’s Mexico landed 18,000 bags the same day.

The 48 passengers sharing Munamar with 21,000 bags of sugar arriving at New York on 29 October 1919 were delayed two hours "due to the fact that immigration authorities who went down the bay to meet them failed to locate the boat. Other immigration authorities were called and went through the necessary formalities."  Officialdom was more efficient on the ship’s 3 March arrival when they seized 150 of Bacardi rum and on 7 April 18 cases of rum and cognac. Prohibition had arrived and inbound ships from the Caribbean would endure special attention from inspectors on each arrival.

Munamar had left New York 24 April 1920 and bound for home when in a heavy gale off San Salvador in the Bahamas on the evening of 2 May, she went aground on Gardners’ Reef on Watling Island, off Coral Rocks.  She was holed but fortunate given the rough seas, was firmly aground, otherwise she might have foundered.  Capt. Gardiner sent out a distress call which was almost immediately answered by an unlikely savior: White Star Line’s Athenic, bound from New Zealand to England, and having just passed through the Panama Canal was just miles away.  

Waiting for daybreak, Munamar’s 83 passengers were transferred to Athenic using her boats in three hours along with the mails and essential passenger baggage before she sailed for Norfolk. Initial reports on Munamar’s prospects were initially discouraging: "believed to be in danger of going to pieces or certainly has no chance of being refloated in the near future."  Only when 2,000 valuable bags of sugar were jettisoned did the vessel lift herself off the reef on 5 May 1920. 

Her compartments holding, she was able to continue to Jacksonville, Florida, for repairs. The following day Athenic docked at Norfolk at 8:00 a.m. and landed her 83 “survivors” who continued to New York by train later that day.  Interviewed by the local press, Athenic’s Capt. J.E. Crossland said "There was nothing to it-- a thing like that is all in day's work." The President of the United States, Warren Harding, thought otherwise and presented Capt. Crossland with a gold watch in recognition of his rescue efforts.  After repairs at the Morse Drydock & Repair Co. in Brooklyn, Munamar resumed service on 3 July 1920 with her sailing for Antilla from New York.

Credit: Morse Dry Dock Dial, July 1921.

The Munamar came to this yard for drydocking, painting and the repairing of several plates strained during rough weather. Knowledge of her speed feats had preceeded her and she was regarded with more than usual interest, winning much favorable comment on her smart appearance and comfortable accommodations.

The Morse Dry Dock Dial, July 1921.

Munamar set up a new speed record for the Antilla-New York run, leaving the Eastern Cuban port the afternoon of 31 December 1920 and arriving New York at noon on 2 January 1921, "completing the voyage in the remarkable time of 3 days and 2 hours. " (The Morse Dry Dock Dial, July 1921). 

Blue pencil: her captain was Asborn with a "A" not "O"... Credit: New York Herald 30 June 1921.

Hitherto, Munamar had prospered in her originally designed role as a cargo-passenger liner engaged on Munson’s core U.S. Eastern Seaboard-Eastern Cuba trade. Indeed, Munson’s prospects were brighter than many lines during the prolonged world wide shipping slump prompted by severe immigration restrictions enacted by the U.S. Government that came into effect after 1921, high tariffs on many goods which depressed cargo revenues and high shipbuilding costs.

Munson used its own proceeds to instead finance a larger running mate for Munamar, Munargo (detailed in a separate monograph on this site) and expand its product and market to the one expanding segment of shipping: leisure, travel, tourism and cruising from the United States.  One of the chief movers of this was Prohibition which made nearby islands like Bermuda and the Bahamas instant favorites and both, in turn, would soon be added to Munson’s existing liner services to South America and Cuba.

Announcing Munson Line's new Nassau call, inaugurated by Munamar 31 December 1921. Credit: Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 18 December 1921.

On 1 December 1921 Munson announced a new combined service from New York to Nassau and Eastern Cuba which would be inaugurated by Munamar on 31 December 1921, joined by the new Munargo on her maiden voyage on 7 January 1922 and offer weekly sailings thereafter.

As per plan, Munamar sailed on 31 December 1921 for Nassau, Nipe and Banes, but her initial deployment on the new route was fleeting and her 27 January 1922 was her last following the announcement that Munargo, better equipped for the tourist trade, would sail exclusively to Nassau from New York for the winter, putting Munamar back on her accustomed Eastern Cuba trade from 11 February onward.

It is a source of satisfaction and should be to every worker in the yard that crack ships such as the Munson liner Munamar make return visits to us just as often as repair work is necessary upon them. 

The Munamar visited us last June and returned to the big Morse dry-dock in December. The sight of her trim figure is always something worth stopping to look at. Nor the exterior view any more delectable than that of its cozy cabins and salons. She is a fast ship, you can tell that by her lines, but more, a vessel which can provide luxury not excelled by many coasters. 

The Morse Dry Dock Dial, January 1922

Henceforth, the little ship proved herself to be patient maid-of-all-work for an increasingly restless and resourceful Munson Line and few American merchantman changed routes and roles under the same houseflag as did Munamar in the last dozen or so years of her life.

On 8 April 1922 she resumed the combined Bahamas/Cuba run with Munargo and plied this until 30 April 1924 when she docked at New York from Nuevitas.

Summer 1923 sailing list for Munamar and Munargo on the New York-Nassau-Eastern Cuba service.  

New Orleans increasingly figured in Munamar's post-war voyages, en route from Cuba to New York, based on demands for sugar there. She made her maiden call at there on 22 March 1922 from Nuevitas (18th) followed by a second stop on 5 April and a final call at that year on 15 August. The following year she made two calls on 28 February and 25 April 1923 respectively.  The market was attractive enough to prompt Munson Line to acquire the New Orleans-Havana route of Southern Pacific Steamships (Morgan Line) and its steamers Excelsior and Chalmette on 10 January 1924 with the first sailings under the Munson houseflag made simultaneously on 2 February by Excelsior from New Orleans and Chalmette from Havana. 

When Excelsior went aground at the mouth of the Mississippi en route to New Orleans in May 1924, Munamar was "dispatched from Havana at full speed" to be able to take her scheduled sailing to Cuba, arriving New Orleans on the 24th and sailing the same afternoon. The New Orleans Item (23 May 1924) speculated that "It is possible that the Munamar will continue in the New Orleans, said Mr. Cadzow (Munson Line Asst. Manager, New Orleans), inasmuch as her equipment for loading and unloading are much better and faster than the ships now engaged on this run."

This was indeed the case and Munamar, which last docked at New York on 30 April 1924 from Nuevitas, would now ply the New Orleans-Havana run through the summer and early autumn.  This was first advertised on 31 May 1924 with her first New Orleans sailing on the regular run on 7 June and the ship extolled as "Commodious and Luxurious" which she indeed was for the route. Rates were $45 one-way in First and $22.50 Intermediate or $75 roundtrip in First.  When Munamar docked at New Orleans from Havana on 2 June on her fill-in voyage for Excelsior, Munson Secretary J.W. Reynolds was among her passengers, returning from a business trip to Cuba and entrained for New Yok the next day. 

Munamar left Havana on 22 Octover 1924 directly for New York, "to undergo her annual survey and inspection, afterwhich she will be extensively overhauled and have several changes and improvements made in her passenger accommodations. The Munamar will later return to New Orleans to re-enter the Cuban trade." (Times-Picayune, 24 October 1924).

Back on the Nassau/Eastern Cuba service  for winter 1924-25, effective with her 7 November 1924 departure from New York, Munamar's redeployment on the New Orleans-Havana run was announced on 20 February 1925. Munamar sailed on 14 February from Pier 9 for Banes.  The ship proceeded direct to the Crescent City from Havana on the 23rd and with her southbound sailing on the 28th, replace Excelsior and give Munson a weekly service, departing New Orleans on at noon  Saturdays and arriving Havana at 7:00 a.m. Monday with Tuesday sailings from Havana. The Times-Picayune of the 21st reported that "The Munamar makes a speed of 17 knots [!] and has been reconditioned for this service. She will carry only first-class passengers and will have a capacity of ninety; all in outside cabins or private suites."

Credit: Times-Picayune, 26 February 1925.

On 10 May 1925 it was reported that Munamar which had been "in port for a week undergoing a few repairs," resumed service the previous day and that "travelers between the two ports will be pleased to learn the street report that she had been withdrawn was incorrect," and "will continue the service indefinitely."  She arrived at New Orleans on the 21st with 60 passengers, 10,000 bags of sugar for Godchaux Sugars, Inc., and a quantity of vegetables and fruits, discharging the sugar at Stuyvesant Dock on the 22nd and then shifted to Munson's Robin Street wharf.  Among her "passengers" departing New Orleans on 27 June were 31 cows and 21 calves, blooded stock, bound for breeding herds in Cuba. 

As events proved, the "street reports" that Munamar would be withdrawn from the New Orleans-Havana run were slightly premature but not inaccurate.  Replaced by Walter D. Munson, Munamar sailed from Havana for New York on 1 July 1925 and arrived the following day. She then resumed her Nassau/Eastern Cuba service.  When Munamar docked at New York on 26 August 1925, six stowaways, who had come aboard at Antilla, Cuba, were discovered but one was dead, having hidden in  disused coal bunker and died of carbon monoxide poisoning. He died three days before the ship reached port. 

On 7 October 1925 Munamar arrived at New York from Antilla and given a major refit at an undisclosed shipyard.  This included expanding her aft Boat Deck deck house to the sides and repositioning her boats one deck higher, the addition of two additional suites with private bath and 10 new cabins to give her 160 First Class berths.

Munamar as she appeared after her late 1925 refitting which included expanding her aft Boat Deck deckhouse and raising her lifeboats one deck. She's "loaded to the marks" in this photo!  Credit: Mariners' Museum. 

Munson Line announced on 7 December 1925 that Munamar would be put on the New Orleans-Havana run effective 5 January 1926 with a weekly sailing from Havana every Tuesday and from New Orleans every Saturday.  This continued until late spring and her 24 April call at Havana.

Advertisement for Munamar's return to the New Orleans-Havana run and mentioning her refit.  Credit: Atlanta Constitution 2 January 1926.

A passenger contributed a travelogue of his trip to Cuba from New Orleans to the Buffalo News which included his observations of Munamar:

The Munamar is neither a leviathan of the deep nor an ocean grey hound . Forward over the hold, is painted: "Gross Tons 3440. Net Tonage 2150." We took the legend to mean 'that the net displacement of the ship was 2150, but we have since been convinced that that is her carrying capacity and that he actual weight unload is 7500 tons, which is something less than tremendous. 

Our stateroom is just long enough to accommodate a berth and not quite so wide as it is long. There are a wish basin, a tiny closet, two chairs, two berths one over the other. On the side of each berth, hooked over the rail to be quickly accessible, is a Horrid Suggestion. The first impulse is to have the steward remove it… but it stays. 

One is a crowd in such a room. 

We have lunched lightly and not too well. The ship's food would have been better if they had not seen fit to keep the paint in the icebox. As it is, everything tastes exotically of paint, the butter and cream particularly.

The Buffalo News, 18-20 January 1926.

First advertisement for Munamar's new service calling at Miami. Credit: Miami Daily News 7 May 1926.

The Munamar will be one of the largest passenger vessels in Miami service, in point of tonnage and dimensions, although her passenger capacity had been held down to a smaller number than is common on the coastwise ships entering here. As a result, all her passenger accommodations are above the main deck, according to officials of the Munson Line. Staterooms are somewhat largest than ordinary, all facing on the outside of the vessel, and only 100 first class accommodation are provided. A smaller number of second class passengers can be carried in a part of the ship entirely separated from the first cabin section.

Miami Herald, 15 May 1926

Munamar's first arrival into the Port of Miami. Credit: The Miami Herald, 21 May 1926

In yet another new deployment and beginning a new association with Miami, Munson announced on 7 May 1926 that Munamar would replace Muneastern on its new Miami-Nassau run.  She would leave New York on 15 May, arrive at Miami 20 May via Nassau and sail from Miami to Nassau and New York 21 May. From 3 June Munamar would maintain fortnightly sailings.

The SS Munamar is well known to the public as being an able seaboat and a very comfortable ship with large, airy outside staterooms, as well as de luxe suites with bath and large, spacious decks…The advent of this steamer in the Nassau-Miami trade will tend to increase the trade between Miami and Nassau to a large extent, as the Munamar is far superior and larger and faster than any other steamer ever operating out of Miami to Nassau.it is evident the Munson steamship lines has faith in the future of Miami and from the beginning has made plans for a permanent Miami organization.

 It was the first foreign service that included both New York and Miami as ports of call.

The important of Munson's new service to Miami was reflected in the extensive press coverage including this feature on the line's expanded facilities in the port.  Credit: The Miami Herald, 19 May 1926. 

Munson made a major capital commitment to the Port of Miami, acquiring the Meteor Transport and Trading Co. dock property on the east side of the causeway terminal dock to have complete sole of the south end of the pier on both sides, building three new large warehouses and having towboats, heavy lighters and barges at their disposal.  

"With the sailing from New York today of the Munson Line SS Munamar for Nassau and Miami, the most extensive foreign steamship schedule ever to serve Miami will be inaugurated." So the Miami Herald reported the departure of Munamar from New York on 15 May 1926, adding that  "Her service will be the only foreign schedule out of Miami since operation last winter of a Miami-Nassau service by the Muneastern and of Miami-Havana schedule of the Seneca. She is a combination freight and passenger vessel, and will be first of her general type in Miami."

Munamar sails into the Port of the Miami for the first time.  Credit: The Miami Herald, 22 May 1926

Munamar arrived at Miami on 20 May 1926, delayed owing to a late departure from Nassau. She was met outside the harbor by the Munson tug Orleans and the Atlantic Towing Co. tug Miami and brought  into the harbor by Pilot C.T. Swanson and berthed at Meteor Pier.

"Only a limited number of Miami passengers were carried by the Munamar, as nearly all her space was required for New York-Nassau business. Development of a passenger business out of Miami in the future will result in the reserving of more space in the Munamar for Miami traffic according to agents of the line." (Miami Herald).  Her northbound sailing from Miami was on 21 May, "Her sailing marked the first time that a foreign route to New York had been opened out of Miami on one steamship line in direct service."

Atmospheric study of Munamar working a heavy cargo at Pier 9 East River May 1926 reminding of when New York Harbor was alive with tugs, lighters, barges and the endless hustle and bustle of a working port.  Credit: The Mariners' Museum.

On her second arrival at Miami on 8 June 1926 Munamar brought in $250,000 in furnishings for the seven-story, 235-room Boulevard Hotel being built at Miami Beach.

The 1926 Hurricane Season, from July through November, was one of the most active and deadly to date with six cat. 3 hurricanes and Munamar seemed to figure in too many of them.

Munamar coming into hurricane devastated Nassau... she was the first ship to enter port after the storm.  Note the motor cruiser carried on her forward well deck that was toppled from its cradle by the force of the waves.  Credit: The Miami Herald, 31 July 1926.

More than three days late, the battered Munamar finally arrived at Miami at 8:00 a.m. on 30 July after navigating around one of the worst hurricanes to strike the Bahamas.  With winds clocked at 135 mph, the storm lashed the islands, destroying 40-50 boats and causing $4-5 million in damage. Munamar was the first ship to enter Nassau harbor after the storm and among her 60 passengers were refugees from the storm.

The Miami Herald of 31 July 1926 takes up the story in detail:

Capt. C.M. McDonald on Munamar's flying
bridge on arrival at Miami 30 July 1926.
Credit: Historicimages.com

Passengers from New York were warm in praise of the handling of the ship by Capt. C.M. McDonald,a reticent hero of the hurricane. Captain McDonald brought the liner through a corner of the storm, after trying to get entirely out of its path, and stayed on the bridge continuously for 32 hours at one time while his vessel was in the disturbance. During a portion of that time seas were breaking entirely over the Munamar.

Three windows on the promenade deck were broken during that interval, but despite the high seas and lashing wind, no other damage was incurred.  

A boat carried as cargo in the forward well deck was loosened from its lashings, but was saved by members of the crew, working under tons of water which cascaded over the bow.

The Munamar was forced to heave-to twice during her course from New York to Nassau, which she reached Tuesday [27th] afternoon. She sailed from Nassau Thursday night.

Chief Officer A.W. Gavin and other members of the Munamar's staff shared in credit for work that was at all times exacting and that several times brought forth qualities of heroism in bringing the Munamar safely through the storm.

At Nassau the ship was welcome as the city's only helping agency available in the city's hour of distress.  With her wireless station crippled, Nassau was unable to tell the outside world of her plight until the Munamar arrived. Then the Munamar's radio set was called into service to dispatch official communications asking for aid, and to send private messages telling of the storm's toll.

The Munamar left New York last Friday [23rd]. She began getting a strong ground swell, advance notice of the hurricane approach, at 8 p.m. Sunday. At midnight Sunday the swell was stronger, and the wind had picked up considerably. The ship had been running a bit to the east of her usual course, as Captain McDonald sought to sidestep the path of the storm.

At 12:40 a.m. Monday, the Munamar heaved-to under slow speed, steering eastwards in heavy seas with a heavy gale on her port bow. At 4 a.m. she began edging eastward under increased speed, and ran that day in the edge of the hurricane until 4 p.m.

At noon that day a full east gale was blowing, according to the log. The ship was rolling heavily, and taking 'green seas over forward; spray aft.' It was that afternoon, while the storm was at its worst, that that three windows were smashed and a boat carried in the forward well deck broke loose from its lashings, which were restored while seas thundered over the bow and flooded the scene.

Then, according to the laconic entries of Chief Officer Gavin in the ship's log, there were 'seas over all decks and hatches.' At midnight the weather was the same. At 8 p.m. it was necessary to heave-to again. At 6 a.m. Tuesday, however, the weather had moderated, and, still in heavy seas, the Munamar continued into Nassau.

Munamar's officers photographed on arrival in Miami after sailing through the hurricane. Credit: The Miami Herald, 31 July 1926.

Munson’s new tourist oriented route for Munamar had to be balanced against her traditional and vital role as a primary carrier of Cuba’s sugar harvest to New York.   In addition to hurricanes, 1926 produced a bumper crop which had to be catered to.  On 11 August she arrived at Miami from Nassau and New York but her sailing from the port was delayed 18 hours when she sailed that evening on a detour to Matanzas, Cuba, to take on 20,000 bags of sugar, before returning to Miami and then onwards to New York.  So well laden, she drew too much (22 ft.) water to enter the channel into the port and the tug Miami took out her 24 embarking passengers to the ship lying off Miami Bar.

The perfect trip for those with a sweet tooth... Munamar's mini cruise from Miami to Matanzas where she loaded sugar for New York. So much so, she drew too much water to enter the Port of Miami and had to anchor off.  Credit: Miami News, 3 September 1926

That September the ship again detoured to Matanzas but with sufficient notice that the side trip was even sold as a mini cruise for $55, sailing from Miami on the 8th with two days in Matanzas and returning on the 11th.  Again, the passengers had to be lightered to the heavily laden (22,000 bags of sugar) Munamar.  On the return passage she passed through the center of yet another of 1926’s hurricanes on the 15th (the fringes of the Great Miami Hurricane), “shipping water on all decks and speed reduced to eight knots”, but her passengers must have appreciated her deep draught, including Governor Sir H.S.E. Cordeaux of the Bahamas, en route to England via New York. Munamar arrived at New York the 17th, a day late. 

On 18 October 1926 Munson announced the temporary suspension of the New York, Miami and Nassau service. Munamar was to to arrive Miami 21st and then sail to Matanzas for a cargo of sugar and return to New York without stops.  And then go into drydock for reconditioning before returning to Miami on 4 December.

Then came the Great Havana-Bermuda Hurricane of October 1926.  Munamar was in Nassau on 22 October when the hurricane, which had devastated Cuba earlier, veered from the lower east Florida cost and she immediately put to sea to ride out the storm. She was unable to re-enter Nassau harbor for a day owing to high seas and finally docked at Miami on the 24th and sailed that evening with a large cargo of food supplies for hurricane stricken Cuba.  Sailing finally from Nassau on the 30th, she arrived back at New York on 2 November. 

Resuming service on 26 November 1926, Munamar left New York for Nassau and Miami. There, on 5 December she ran aground in the Channel, blocking the passage for the also departing Mary Weems bound for Baltimore.  Munamar was pulled free on high tide by two tugs and continued her voyage.  Back at New York on the 10th, that was her last such voyage. 

Munamar was to have gone on the New Orleans-Havana run that winter, but Munson opened yet another new service in December from Baltimore to Jacksonville, Miami and Havana with Munorleans and Munplace.  On 11 December 1926 Munson announced that instead, Munorleans would inaugurate the service on 24 December from Baltimore followed by a 7 January 1927 voyage and then be joined by Munamar on 14 January to offer weekly sailings.  The northbound trip would omit the Jacksonville call. 

Advertisement for Munamar's shortlived Baltimore-Havana service, The Evening Star (Washington, DC) 4 January 1927.

As it turned out, Munamar made a roundtrip to Nassau from New York after which she proceeded to Baltimore and made her first voyage from the Port on the 7th rather than the 14th.  Back in her birthplace, Munamar cast off from Pier 3 Locust Point at 3:00 p.m. on 7 January 1927. The Baltimore Sun noted that "This is the first passenger service to be established between Baltimore and Havana. Officials of the company said yesterday bookings of first-class passenger cabins on the Munamar have been satisfactory."

Apparently not satisfactory enough, for two ships on the route was too many and as early as early as 29 January 1927 Munamar left Miami for Baltimore for the last time.  Instead, just as originally intended she was back on the New Orleans-Havana run instead as of 5 February.  The weekly service had her sailing from New Orleans on Saturdays and Tuesdays from Havana.  Munorleans was left to continue the Baltimore-Havana run singlehanded.

Sailing list for Munamar's New Orleans-Havana service, January 1927. Credit: Björn Larsson Collection.

Arriving  at New Orleans from Havana on 3 February 1927, Munamar sailed two days later to begin her every Saturday service to the Cuban capital.  A typical inbound sailing from Havana on the 15th, had 10,000 bags of raw sugar, 22,000 bags of refined sugar and  46 passengers.  On 10 March, she landed 21,000 bags of refined sugar, 10,300 bags of raw sugar, 4,000 crates of vegetables and 400 bunches of bananas-- the first shipment of its kind to New Orleans from Cuba. 

Photo feature on Munamar's New Orleans service showing her loading Cuban sugar onto barges at Robin Street Wharf.  Credit: La Crosse Tribune, 1 May 1927.

Munamar arrived at New Orleans on 12 May 1927 for the last time for the season, replaced by was Munorleans. She sailed for Havana on the 14th.   Instead of returning to New Orleans from Havana, Munamar arrived at Miami on the 19th and was to have to have sailed the next day for Nassau and New York.  Instead, the sailing was abruptly cancelled when it was discovered that she had a damaged stern plate. This was later found to include a broken stern frame.  It was originally intended that she be convoyed to New York in company with Munalbro which left Cuba the previous evening and was to meet her off Miami.  Meanwhile, Munorleans which was to have replaced her on the New Orleans-Havana run, was ordered to proceed instead to Nassau to assume Munamar’s sailing for New York.  

By 24 May 1927, Munamar had still not left Miami and with the discovery of the broken frame, she would have to be towed to Newport News for major repairs.  On the 31st she left under tow by the tug Barrenfolk.  It was not until 16 July that Munamar sailed from Newport News for New York.  She finally resumed serviced on the 22nd sailing for Nassau after “being completely renovated and overhauled and fitted with a new stern frame” and docked at Miami on the 26th.

Munamar was one of the very first ships fitted with the new radio telephone apparatus and docked at Miami on 10 August 1927 numbering among her passengers two engineers from AT&T testing the equipment aboard and were able to contact New York within 300 miles of Nassau.  Before she sailed north from Miami on the 13th, 300 cases of “high grade and assorted whiskies” were seized by agents when they were discovered concealed aboard.

Clearing the slip between Piers 2 and 3 upon sailing from Miami for Nassau and New York on 7 October 1927, Munamar hit the pilings at the end of Pier 2 and bent a propeller blade.  After inspection, she proceeded on her voyage.

As announced on 22 October 1927, Munamar was back on the winter New Orleans-Havana run effective with her sailing on the 29th. As before Crescent City departures were every Saturday and from Havana on Tuesdays. Munamar left the Cuban port on the 25th and arrived at New Orleans on the 27th. Among those sailing in her to Havana on the 29th was Felix F. Palavincini, founder and publisher of El Universal, the big daily newspaper in Mexico City, who was going into political exile in Cuba after opposing the Diaz regime in Mexico. 

Munargo's turnaround at New Orleans was enlivened the evening of 11 November 1927 when Thomas Barker, customs inspector, was aboard the ship at her Robin Street wharf and saw a skiff pull away from the side of the ship and heading for a nearby ferry slip. In pursuit, Barker "jumped off the ship and ran to the landing, where he arrested the three occupants of the skiff and found 36 bottles of liquor in the bottom of their boat." (New Orleans Item, 12 November 1927). More criminal enterprises ensued when on 3 December a crewman, 22-year-old Jose Davis of Porto Rico, was arrested for having stolen a watch valued at $125 watch and $181 cash from the cabin of First Officer William A. Blake while he was sleeping in his cabin and woke up just as Davis was getting away. 

Credit: New Orleans Item, 24 December 1927.

A typical outbound cargo was represented by Munargo's 10 December 1927 sailing for Havana, her bill of lading including 50 tons of feed, 16 automobiles, 293 tons of flour, 21 tons of lard, 480 tons of rice, 12 tons steel beds, 42 tons of onions, 611 tons of garbanzo beans, 18 tons of pulp, 251 tons of corn, 48 tons of bran, 21 tons of oats and 13 tons general merchandise. 

Customs inspectors seized 13 bottles of champagne secreted in Munamar's engine room on 13 January 1928 while she was alongside Mandeville Street wharf, New Orleans.  Five gallons of rum was seized when Munamar docked from Havana on 17 February.

Among those departing New Orleans for Havana on 25 February 1928 was Paramount movie star Florence Vidor.  She arrived in the city from Hollywood via Southern Pacific just three hours before sailing time and she, and secretary Suzanne Gedeon, were on board barely 10 minutes before Munamar cleared her Mandeville Street wharf.

Munamar's final voyage from New Orleans for the season, she arrived at Havana on 9 April 1928 with a  fire in her hold, filled with automobile tires. The fire has been discovered at 6:00 a.m. but passengers were not informed as she ship anchored in the harbor rather than coming alongside. With the help of shoreside firefighters, the blaze was extinguished by noon. 

Ending her seasonal employment, Munamar sailed from New Orleans on 20 April 1928 for Nassau and  from there, returned to New York, replacing Munargo on the 12-day cruise schedule to Nassau, Miami and Havana. 

Credit: Decatur Herald, 24 May 1928

Shortly after Munamar docked at New York on 17 May 1928 agents discovered an unintended “cocktail” of epic proportions when 2,800 bottles of wines, brandies and whisky, worth some $30,000, were found in one of the ship’s empty water tanks and some of the bottles broke and the liquor leaked out of the tank.

After leaving Miami for Nassau on 11 August 1928 at 5:00 p.m., Munamar went aground in bad weather the following day on a sandbar west of Gorda Key, 70 miles north of Nassau and at the southern end of Great Abaco Island while steaming through West Providence Channel.  She had run through a heavy squall and rough seas between midnight and 4:00 a..m. and was 22 miles south of her course. Although protected in the lee of the heavy seas, she was very heavily laden with sugar loaded in Havana bound for New York and not going to be freed without assistance.  The tender Lady Cordeaux was dispatched from Nassau at 10:00 a.m. on the 12th  and took off the 75 passengers and conveyed them to Nassau.  It was still rough and most of them were seasick before the tender reached port. 

The Merritt, Chapman & Scott tug Warbler was sent from Key West on 13 August 1928 and arrived on the 15th and assisted in the removing of Munamar’s cargo including 50 tons of sugar.  Late that day she managed to pull her free. Found to be undamaged, Munamar sailed to Nassau to pick up her passengers and continued to New York where she docked, four days late, on the 20th. She resumed service on the 31st.

There was no let up in the contraband liquor searches and on 12 December 1928, alongside her East River pier, after her port bilges were searched and the hatches left open, a fire then broke out in refuse oil in the tank which took an hour to extinguish the blaze.  

And no let up in bad weather.  Munamar, now under Capt. J.H. Lum, sailed from New York on 4 January 1929 and was due to reach Miami on the 7th.  Instead she was delayed by storms and didn’t dock until the morning of the 9th. There, Capt. Lum told the Miami Herald that “the storm was as bad as he had every experienced in his years of coastwise sailing." The height of the storm was on Saturday afternoon through Sunday (6-7th) off Cape Hatteras when the ship was lashed by 40-foot waves and 100 mph winds.  The fortunately unoccupied Second Class cabin aft were flooded, 20 feet of the port bow bulwark torn away, decks chairs and blankets washed overboard and a brand cabin cruiser carried on the fore well deck damaged.

The damaged motor yacht Shadow IV on the well deck of Munamar after it and the liner were pummeled by one of the worst storms off Cape Hatteras in years.  Credit: The Miami Herald, 10 January 1929. 

The Miami News (10 January 1929) interviewed one of the passengers:

William H. Lowe, New York engineer, declared the captain remained on the bridge continuously for two days. 'His action in keeping the vessel on her course and the wind from the starboard undoubtedly keep the heavy machinery from being thrown down the hatches. If that had happened we have been in Davy Jones' locker now,' Mr. Lowe said. The heavy sugar machinery was on the port side of the fore well deck.

The gigantic waves, washing fully 40 feet above the waterline, shattered a window in the stateroom of Edward R. Morawetz, New York importer and exporter. The stateroom door was split from top to bottom by the wave. Water rushing down the companionway flooded the second class compartments but no passengers were quartered there.

The velocity of the wind increased noticeably Saturday afternoon when the vessel was off the Capes and between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Sunday it had reached a velocity of 100 miles an hour, officers said. The heavy machinery went overboard at 1:25 p.m. Sunday.

The Shadow IV, Rodman Wanamaker's boat, was one of the four cabin cruisers on the forward well deck that were damaged and boats on the aft deck were also damaged by the waves.

Munamar unloaded her Miami cargo and sailed for Havana.  From there, she proceeded to New Orleans, arriving 17 January 1929, to resume her Havana sailings from the Crescent City through winter. 

A passenger, William Hawkins, aged 68, from Galveston, Texas, was reported missing when Munamar docked at New Orleans on 8 March 1929 from Havana. He was last seen at 11:00 p.m. on the 6th and when not seen the following day by 11:00 a.m., a search was conducted and no trace was found of him.

On 11 April 1929, Munamar was back in Miami, in ballast, from New Orleans and Havana to begin a new series of 12-day cruises from New York to Nassau, Havana and Miami alternating with Munargo on the route.  

And, right on cue, atrocious weather was encountered on the homeward passage of her first spring voyage.  Munamar reached New York on 17 April 1929 a day late and with 93 passenger and like the other ships coming into the port, had her fair share of horror stories of the terrific cyclone which hit the Eastern Seaboard from the evening of the 15th through early the 17th.

As the Standard Union (Brooklyn) reported:

The Munson liner Munamar from Nassau, with sixty-five passengers, was the second boat to dock. Capt. J.H. Lum said without reservations it was the worst voyage he ever made, although he has traveled over every sea for the past thirty-five years.

'It was the first time I was every really worried,' he said. 'I have never seen anything like what happened to use.' An then the captain told how his ship was caught in a dead calm, surrounded by dense fog, off the Delaware Capes at midnight Monday, the while its wireless room received messages of a raging hurricane on all sides.

There was no way the boat could turn. At every point of the compass reports indicated violent weather conditions, but where the Munamar lay there was only calm.

And in this calm, Capt. Lum said, he waited for whatever might come. Whether the cyclone would close in and form a waterspout, or one side of the circular wind strike the vessel and wreck it, he did not know. Nor did he know at what moment it might happen.

But the Munamar missed. Four large motorboats, private yachts being shipped north, were lashed to the deck. They were safely in place when the ship came in.

Munson Line announced on 24 November 1929 the return of Munamar to her weekly winter service from New Orleans to Havana every Saturday commencing in mid January 1930. Munamar sailed from New York on 3 January 1930. She left Havana for New Orleans on the 14th and made her first departure for the season from the Crescent City on the 18th.  It would be an abbreviated (and final) season out of New Orleans for Munamar which sailed on 9 March for Havana and she proceeded to New York, arriving on the 19th.  She then took up her usual pattern of 12-day cruises to Nassau, Havana and Miami the following day.

New horizons beckoned in late summer 1930 for the already well-travelled little liner as Munson, too, extended it operations to the West Indies.  

Quite possibly the most overlooked American flag passenger service of the inter-war years was that from New York to the West Indies by the Western Ocean Steamship Corporation which operated from December 1929 to November 1930 before it was taken over by Munson Line.  Credit: Björn Larsson Collection.

In December 1929 the Western Ocean Corp. opened a new U.S. flag service to the West Indies with two former U.S. Shipping Board Emergency built cargo ships. The first, the 5,869-grt Western Ocean, was rebuilt with accommodation for 115 passengers in First and Second Class.  She made her first voyage from New York on 18 December and  joined on 16 January 1930 by the smaller and slower Western Wave. Sailing from New York, they called at St. Thomas, St. Croix, St. Martin, St. Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Guadaloupe, Dominca, Martinique, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Vincent, Grenada, Trinidad and Demerara. 

First advertisement for Western Ocean's new West Indies service inaugurated by Western Ocean on 18 December 1929.  Credit: Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 10 December 1929

By later summer 1930, Munson Line had finalized plans to operate the Western Ocean service as managing agents and place Munamar on the route to replace Western Wave.  Following her arrival in New York from Havana on 30 July, Munamar was refitted and on 25 September she made her first voyage on the Western Ocean service and did so from Pier 24 North River, that company’s pier.  She made her first call at St. Thomas on the 30th with 59 passengers, three who disembarked there and the rest in transit, and landed 12 bags of mail.  She returned to New York on 20 October. Her final voyage advertised for Western Ocean left on the 23rd.

First advertisement for Munamar on the Western Ocean service with Munson as managing agents, Philadelphia Inquirer, 5 October 1930. 

Henceforth she or Western Ocean sailed every other Thursday from New York.  The full voyage comprised 15 ports, 5,300 ports and 25 days at a $200 lead in fare.  But starting 6 November 1930, the route was integrated with Munson’s South American Service so that one could opt for a shorter 18-day trip ending at Trinidad and transferring there to one of Munson’s“535s” for an express return to New York and avoiding the long layover at Georgetown, Demerara where sugar was loaded for the voyage home.  

Effective with her 5 November 1930 sailing for St. Thomas, Munamar was back to using Munson’s Pier 9 East River and the service was advertised by Munson Line. 

Munamar could still show a good turn of speed and she arrived at New York from St. Thomas (11th) the evening of 16 November 1930, a day early, only to be among some 13 liners stuck in one of the heaviest fogs in New York Harbor in some years. She anchored off Sandy Hook in company with California and Coamo. She did not dock at Pier 9 until 9:00 a.m., a full day late. 

St. Thomas was afforded calls in both direction to give it the best mail service and the local newspaper in Charlotte Amalie, the Virgin Islands Daily News, recorded every arrival and departure in detail, indicative of the importance of the service to the residents:

11 November 1930 Munamar arrived St. Thomas from St. Kitts with 2120 tons of cargo for New York. She landed 5 tons of cargo and 2 bags of mail and 3 bags for St. Croix. Western Ocean arrived same day from New York with 2920 tons, 32 passengers. Landed 15 tons.

27 October 1930 Munamar arrived St. Thomas from New York with 53 passengers, 11 of whom were Chinese and 969 tons of cargo. Landed 7 passengers and 11 tons and continued south

4 December 1930 Munamar arrives st. Thomas from St. Vincent with 88 tons of cargo, two passengers and 3 bags of mail

6 January 1931 Munamar arrived St. Thomas yesterday from New York with 680 tons of general cargo, 14 1/2 tons landed and 8 passengers. 

Advertising the "Windward Islands" service and now from Pier 64 North River.  Credit: Philadelphia Inquirer, 22 February 1931.  

Effective 2 February 1931 all ships of Munson Line except the three ships on the South American service shifted to Pier 64 North River from Pier 9 East River.   Munamar’s final sailing from Pier 9 was on 21 January and her first from Pier 64 was on 11 February.

Munamar was still needed for the peak sugar export trade from Cuba and also the busy Easter travel season on the Nassau/Miami run.  Arriving from the West Indies on 2 April 1931, she off the next day for Nassau and Miami.  She then departed for Matanzas to load sugar and then Havana and back to Miami and New York. She was replaced for one voyage on the West Indies run by Contoy (b.1919/2,014 grt), wartime “Laker” class freighter with passenger accommodation that came with the purchase of the Gulf Steamship Co. and had also been used by Munson for Miami-Nassau sailings.

With her 1 May 1931 sailing from New York for St. Thomas, St. Martin, St. Kitts, Guadelope, Martinique, Barbados, Trinidad, Paranjaribo, Georgetown, Grenada and St. Vincent, Munamar was back on the West Indies run through November.  

From November 1931-April 1932, Munorleans plied the New York-West Indies run and upon her 21 November departure from New York, Munamar resumed her Nassau, Miami and Havana sailings. On 29 April 1932 she made her traditional sugar season return to Eastern Cuba, sailing from New York for Nuevitas, before resuming West Indies sailings in May. That year, calls were added at San Juan en route from New York to St. Thomas.  Her 29 June arrival at St. Thomas was newsworthy when her cargo landed there included a new Ford V-8 Phaeton which “is now displayed at V.A. Miller’s Ford Station.”

"The Munamar was pushed two knots faster than ever before in her career. By radio she asked for an ambulance at her North River pier; by blinker system she arranged to be rushed through quarantine while three big Atlantic liners waiting. "  So the Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported on 18 August 1932, after Capt. H. Lum explained why Munamar had docked at New York a full day early on her last arrival on the 14th after a passenger came down with appendicitis three days after the ship left St. Thomas.  The ship’s surgeon Harold McEurney asked the Captain to increase speed to get into New York as soon as possible as the hospital aboard was not equipped for an operation at sea.  Munamar was met by an ambulance as soon as she was alongside and the patient rushed to Fifth Avenue Hospital and successfully operated on.

Photo feature in the Miami News Christmas Day 1932 heralding the arrival of Munson's Pan America the following month "to prove Miami is a world port" and tracing the role of Munson Line in making it so, starting with Munamar (top).  Yet, 1933 would also prove her final year in service and the run-down of the Munson company as a whole. 

The Munson empire, overextended as the Depression continued to extract its ruthless toll, was collapsing in the meantime.  In early 1933, the Company began to trim its sails and discontinued both the former Gulf Steamship Co. and Western Ocean mail routes with the expectation that the new Roosevelt Administration would not be renewing the mail contracts of the 1928 Jones-White Bill.

Final advertisement for Munamar's West Indies service.  The announced 10, 24 February and 10 March sailings never took place and her 29 January departure was the last.  Credit: Virgin Islands Daily News, 31 January 1933.  

On 29 January 1933 Munamar sailed from New York on what proved to be her final West Indies voyage. On 6 February she called at St. Thomas with 2 bags of mail, 97 passengers and 667 tons of cargo.  She landed four passengers and the mail and continued to St. Croix.  She docked at New York on 23 February and was laid up at Hoboken’s Pier 4.  Late in May she was moved across the slip to join a nested row of idle ships to make room for the supreme and saddest symbol of Hard Times for the American Merchant Marine… the mighty Leviathan which took her place alongside Pier 4.

Munamar laid up on 14 May 1933. Credit: The Mariners' Museum

After nine lonely months, Munamar was roused by what must have been a mad rush of workmen, painters, cleaners and embarking crew when was was she very suddenly called back to service after Munargo had been seriously damaged in collision with the HAPAG liner Deutschland in New York Harbor the evening of 17 November 1933.  Munamar was hastily detailed to take her next sailing to Nassau, Miami and Havana.  In an astonishingly short time, she took on Munargo’s crew, cargo and most of her intending passengers and a new master, Capt. L.A. Bowen, and managed to sail just two days later on the 19th.  

Munamar docked at Miami on 24 November 1933 at 8:00 a.m. and sailed that same afternoon for Havana.  She paid her farewell to Cuba on the 26th and returned to Miami the next morning.  At 5:00 p.m. she also said good-bye to Miami as she cast off for New York where she arrived at Pier 64 on 2 December at 9:30 a.m.  After unloading her cargo and destoring, she was shifted back to Hoboken and once again laid up.

The well-known aerial photo of Leviathan laid up at Pier 4 Hoboken includes to her immediate left the idle Munamar and other unwanted tonnage in 1935. Credit: The Mariners' Museum.

Destined never again to turn a screw, Munamar did manage to find a new owner during the flurry of rumors and premature announcement on 2 January 1934 that International Mercantile Marine had acquired Munson Line.  While that did not materialize, for some reason and for an unknown sum, ownership of Munamar transferred to IMM at the same time.

Forgotten and forlorn, the big and the small of the former prides of the 1920s U.S. Merchant Marine at Hoboken just before both were towed away and scrapped in 1937.  Credit: The Mariners' Museum.  

In increasingly derelict condition, Munamar spent her final days alongside the equally decrepit looking Leviathan.  Finally on 29 January 1937 she was put out her misery and sold by IMM for scrap for $25,000 to Union Shipbuilding Co. of Baltimore.  Once the pride of Sparrows Point, she would meet her end near the place of her birth.

Built by Maryland Steel Co. Shipbuilding, Sparrows Point, Baltimore, Maryland, Yard no. 147
Gross tonnage       3,477
Length: (o.a.)        368 ft. 3 ins.
              (b.p.)         353 ft. 9 ins..
Beam:                     47 ft. 3 ins.
Machinery: triple-expansion reciprocating engine with cylinders 27¼, 46 and 78 inches diameter by 51 inches stroke, three oil-burning Scotch boilers 200 psi. 3,500 ihp.
Speed:                    13.5 knots service
                                15 knots trials
Passengers            52 First Class 38 Second Class
Officers & Crew   74

American Passenger Ships, The Ocean Lines and Liners, 1873-1983, Frederick E. Emmons

American Shipping

Marine Engineering

Marine Review

Pacific Marine Review

The Cuba Review

The Marine Journal

The Nautical Gazette

Baltimore Sun

New Orleans Item

New Orleans States

New Orleans Times-Picayune

New York Herald

New York Tribune

The Daily News (New York)

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Miami Herald

The Miami News

Virgin Islands Daily News

http://www.timetableimages.com

https://www.marinersmuseum.org/

Additions/Corrections/Contributions welcomed

contact the author at posted_at_sea@hotmail.com

© Peter C. Kohler