She has been built at a cost of over $800,000, and in luxuriousness and comfort her passenger accommodations far surpass anything yet offered on this route. While a comparatively small vessel, she is fitted out in a very handsome manner, and her owners have spared neither pains nor expense in order to have the best equipment possible in their new ship.
The Nautical Gazette, 5 January 1924
At 320 ft. long and 2,916 gross tons, she was the smallest American passenger liner for an overseas route built between the wars. A vest pocket packet belonging to America’s oldest shipping line, she was one of the smartest looking of the many liners designed by Theodore Ferris. Specially built for the tropical route to the Spanish Main—Puerto Rico, the Netherlands Antilles and Venezuela – she went on to serve in the climatic polar opposites of the Alaska Coast and Aleutians in peace and war. She was United States Mail Ship Carabobo of the venerable Red “D” Line, Maracaibo-bound on cobalt Caribbean seas.
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| Carabobo begins another 2,330-mile voyage to Venezuela. Credit: Author's collection. |
RED “D” TO THE SPANISH MAIN
The oldest American shipping company, sadly the Red “D” Line is barely remembered nowadays. Few lines were as associated more with one country and for almost a century the Dallett Family, the “D” stood for, played a unique role in the commercial links between the United States and Venezuela, the Sister Republics of Washington and Bolívar. It was altogether fitting that this most enduring of American shipping enterprises began in Philadelphia, the birthplace of our national government, and flourished in our own hemisphere, fulfilling its own commercial Manifest Destiny for 99 years.
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| John Dallett |
Upon Henry Dallett's return home in 1838, he and his brothers established the shipping firm Dallett Bros. of Philadelphia and appointed Boulton agent in Venezuela. Chartered ships were first used, including the brig Rowena which was later purchased.
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| An early advertisement (The Evening Post, 14 January 1841) for a sailing of the Dalletts' first new ship, Caracas. |
On 11 January 1840 the Dalletts’ first new ship, the brig Caracas (Capt. W.D. Anderson) sailed from Baltimore where she was built, bound for St. Thomas and La Guaira. One of the famous “Baltimore Clippers”, Caracas put in some fast passages including 15 days from La Guaira to Philadelphia in 1843. The Dallett’s house flag, a bold red “D” on a white field, was distinctive enough and its pier featured a large red “D” as well which led draymen to refer to it as “The Red ‘D’ Line” and the name stuck even if it was never officially so named.
Between 1843-1846 the harbor of La Guaira was improved and Red “D” carried all of the materials for the new breakwater and for the country’s first railroad. The company’s fleet was augmented by the barques Venezuela (1845) and Thomas Dallett (1848), Philadelphia-built by John K. Hammitt.
In 1861, an office was opened in New York and upon the death of John Dallett, the company was known as Boulton, Bliss & Dallett, the Bliss family becoming partners through marriage to the Dallett family. The German steamers Augustus, Claudius and Felicia were chartered in 1879-1881 to maintain a New York to La Guaira sailing every ten days by which time Curaçao (Willemstad) was a regular call.
In April 1881, Boulton, Bliss & Dallett of New York and H.L. Boulton & Co. of Caracas formed a corporation registered in Delaware as The Atlantic & Caribbean Steam Navigation Co., but still trading as The Red “D” Line. Headquarters were in New York and operations moved there. That year the line took delivery of its first new steamship, the 2,500 grt Maracaibo which was initially owned by William Bliss and registered in Britain, but re-registered in the U.S. the following year.
True to its Philadelphia roots, Red “D” had Maracaibo built by the local Chas. Hillman yard and then turned to the city’s most famous shipbuilder, Wm. Cramp & Sons, for a series of steamers-- Caracas (II) (1881/1,500 grt), Valencia (1882/1,598 grt), Philadelphia (1885/2,520 grt), Caracas (III) (1889/2,856 grt), Venezuela (II) (1889/2,250 grt) and Curaçao (1895/1,548 grt).
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| Venezuela delivered by Wm. Cramp in 1889 as painted by Antonio Jacobsen. Credit: vallejogallery.com |
The American Merchant Marine was then at low ebb and the Red “D” Line was the only U.S. flag line to even touch South America. The Ocean Mail Act of 1891 encouraged American shipping and provided mail subsidies for lines on overseas routes, including Red “D” Line which was granted a U.S. Mail contract on 25 November 1891 for Route no. 36 New York-La Guaira.
By 1892, Red “D” Line offered a sailing from New York every 10 days to Willemstad, Puerto Cabello and La Guaira by Caracas, Philadelphia, Venezuela and Valencia as well as a shuttle service between Willemstad and Maracaibo by Maracaibo and Merida.
The Spanish-American War of 1898 saw Venezuela sold to the Navy for use as an auxiliary cruiser and Maracaibo was wrecked off the coast of Venezuela that October. To make good these deletions from the fleet, Red "D" Line ordered what would prove its last new ships in some 25 years and its first steel screw steamers: Maracaibo (IV) (1899/1,775 grt) and Zulia (1900/1,713 grt).
With Puerto Rico now an American possession, Red “D” Line added calls at San Juan and Ponce by December 1899. In 1911, Mayaguez replaced Ponce for the smaller ships and the mail service called only at San Juan.
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| By 1890, Red "D" first promoted its services as a "Pleasant Winter Trip" by taking the "short" four-week-long round trip to Venezuela and return. Credit: Pittsburgh Dispatch, 4 January 1890. |
The Spanish-American War of 1898 saw Venezuela sold to the Navy for use as an auxiliary cruiser and Maracaibo was wrecked off the coast of Venezuela that October. To make good these deletions from the fleet, Red "D" Line ordered what would prove its last new ships in some 25 years and its first steel screw steamers: Maracaibo (IV) (1899/1,775 grt) and Zulia (1900/1,713 grt).
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| First advertisement for Red "D" Line's new call at Puerto Rico in the New York Tribune, 13 December 1899. |
With Puerto Rico now an American possession, Red “D” Line added calls at San Juan and Ponce by December 1899. In 1911, Mayaguez replaced Ponce for the smaller ships and the mail service called only at San Juan.
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| A very rare newspaper advertisement.. no other steamship line kept a lower profile than Red "D" and it almost never promoted its services. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 12 June 1904. |
In 1917 Frederic A. Dallett, a grandson of the line’s founder, assumed the presidency having started with the line as a clerk in 1888. Under his leadership, the company’s fleet was completely renewed within a decade having not commissioned a new passenger ship in almost two decades.
Like any steamship company, Red “D” Line’s fortunes were hinged on the countries it served. The line carried much of Venezuela’s exports which, prior to the First World War, were the traditional regional ones of sugar, cocoa, hides and coffee. The 20th century introduced a new global commodity: oil and the epicenter of its production centered on the line’s main destinations of Venezuela and the Netherlands Antilles.
Venezuelan President Juan Vicente Gómez (whose three terms spanned 1908-1935) transformed the country’s economy from an agrarian base to one almost wholly centered on oil. Gómez granted the first concessions to foreign companies to prospect for, produce and refine oil in the country. Almost all of the exploration and development was by American and Dutch oil companies, the later centered in the Netherlands Antilles islands of Aruba and Curaçoa. The first oil field was developed in 1914 in the Maracaibo Basin, but it was in 1922 that the huge Cabimas oil field was discovered and the boom was on. In just six years, Venezuela was the world's largest oil exporter.
Much of the equipment and machinery for the oil facilities came from the United States as did many of the engineers and technical staff while workers from the Netherlands Antilles were contracted for construction jobs and most were transported by Red “D” Line ships.
RED “D” REAWAKENING
Few companies wrung the last ounce out of its ships as much as did Red “D” Line. Its fleet at the end of the First World War was little changed from that at the end of the Spanish-American War. All of its principal ships dated from 1885-1899. Not only did management husband its finances, but the unique requirements of its route, specifically the need for ocean going vessels of maximum deadweight capacity with the lowest possible draft owing to the Maracaibo bar, precluded many “off the peg” ship designs and existing vessels.
You can learn something about Lake Maracaibo on the Brooklyn waterfront, between Fulton and Montague sts. There you will see peculiarly shaped ships, some bearing the American flag and some the Dutch.
These ships, of the Red “D” Line and various Dutch companies, have to sail on both the ocean and inland waters of Lake Maracaibo. They have therefore been built with very shallow draft. They must pass through the narrow strait that leads to Lake Maracaibo, a body of water 102 miles long by 75 miles wide, which, though connected with the sea, is filled with fresh water.
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 11 March 1928
In 1920 began the speculation that the line would build “two 5,000-ton passenger-cargo ships” to the design of Theodore Ferris. In June 1921 specifications were announced: 375 ft. long, powered by geared turbines giving a speed of 14 knots and carry 200 passengers. That August, this was refined to 360 ft. long with a 50 ft. beam, 23 ft. draft and carrying 100 First Class and 40 Second Class with 251,000 cu. ft. cargo space.
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| Theodore Ferris (1872-1953) already America's busiest naval architect had his hands full with Red "D" Line's on and off again proposed newbuildings and ever changing specifications in the first two years of the 1920s. His patience netted two of his more interesting vessels, Carabobo and Caracas (1927). |
Indicative of the blank order books of American shipbuilders at the time, nine shipyards submitted bids by 18 July 1921. Merchants Shipbuilding Corp. was announced to be the lowest bidder on 9 September. Then on 30 October the Baltimore Sun reported: "An award for contracts to build two steamers for the Red “D” Line of New York has been practically rejected and will not be made until the Shipping Board has definitely put the Merchant Marine Act into effect, officials of the company give out.”
If the 1920 Jones Act did not elicit an immediate revival of the U.S. Merchant Marine, the United States Post Office was of no help, either. On 10 December 1921 it was reported that all mail contracts made under the 1891 law would expire in 1922. A total of $469,108 was paid that year to Red “D” Line, Ward Line and Oceanic Steamship. For 1915, the actual amount received by Red “D” Line was $110,326. In July 1922 the Post Office announced that in place of yearly mail contracts, it would instead pay 80 cents a pound for mail dispatched in American ships or 35 cents for foreign flag carriage.
Like Munson Line, Red “D” Line proceeded with its own privately funded construction plans. And like Munson, it wound up trimming its sails, but still managed to construct the first new American passenger liners of the inter-war era: Munargo and Carabobo.
The New York Herald of 22 April 1922 noted that “The Red ‘D’ Line is preparing to build two additional freight and passenger ships for its services to Venezuelan ports… about a year ago the line asked for bids on a type of ship somewhat larger than that now under construction, but the cost was considered too high. An official of the company said that the present seemed more propitious for an undertaking of this sort.“
The 22 August 1922 New York Herald reported that, “The Red ‘D’ Line early in September will receive bids for the construction of two steel passenger and cargo ships, it was learned yesterday. The plans, drawn by Theodore E. Ferris… call for vessels with an overall length of 320 feet, of the two deck shelter deck type, driven by twin screws and equipped to carry about fifty first class and twenty five second class passengers."
In early November 1922, Red “D” Line contracted its first new passenger ship in more than two decades. Marine News of 4 November writing that “Red ‘D’ Line has just awarded a contract to New York Shipbuilding for the building of an oil burning steamer, 6000 displacement tonnage, 305 ft. long by 48 ft. wide and 18 ft. draft, 80 passengers. The vessel will go into the New York-West Indies service of the line which had under consideration yesterday the award of another contract for a similar ship.”
The keel of hull no. 278 was laid down on 19 February 1923. By the time her launching approached, she was almost finished, complete with superstructure, davits, funnel and masts up to the cross trees.
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| The launch of Carabobo at Camden as reported in The Philadelphia Inquirer, 29 October 1923. |
The first launching at Camden in two years took place just before 4:00 p.m. on 27 October 1923 when “using genuine champagne” (apparently noteworthy during Prohibition days!), Miss Kathryn Dallett, daughter of Frederic Dallett, christened her Carabobo. At the launching luncheon were President and Mrs. Frederic A. Dallett, company officials and P.R. Rincones, Consul General from Venezuela.
On 20 December 1923 the $830,000 Carabobo ran her trials in Delaware Bay which the Evening Journal (Wilmington) described as "highly successful". She was handed over on the 28th and the venerable Red "D" houseflag was hoisted on the penultimate new vessel for the Nation’s oldest shipping line.
With whistles screeching and sirens blowing, the new passenger and freight steamship Carabobo, built for the Red “D” Line of New York by the New York Shipbuilding Company, left the builders' yards on Saturday [29 December 1923] for New York to be placed in the New York-Venezuela service of the line.
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| Dated 1923, this probably shows Carabobo at the builders yard in Camden about to depart on her delivery voyage to New York or on her trials. Credit: Shipscribe.com |
With whistles screeching and sirens blowing, the new passenger and freight steamship Carabobo, built for the Red “D” Line of New York by the New York Shipbuilding Company, left the builders' yards on Saturday [29 December 1923] for New York to be placed in the New York-Venezuela service of the line.
As guests of the company nearly 100 persons, representatives of shipping companies and merchants, made the voyage. During the trip extensive data will be collected on engine performance and other engineering and seaworthy qualities of the vessel, including turning circle and stops, both from the ahead and astern motion.
The Morning Post (Camden), 31 December 1923
On 30 December 1923 Carabobo docked at Red “D” Line’s Pier 10, foot of Montague Street in Brooklyn and began provisioning and cargo loading for her maiden voyage.
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| Carabobo was one of the best looking ships designed by Theodore Ferris and one of his most challenging projects. Credit: Marine Review |
RED “D” POCKET-SIZED PACKET
The Carabobo has been designed to fit the special conditions of the trade with South America and is in every way an excellent product of the shipbuilder’s art. She is fitted with the latest marine equipment throughout and special attention has been directed toward making the passengers comfortable. The cabins, when finally completed, will have every modern convenience and there will be several de luxe suites. The social halls, stairways and dining saloon will be handsomely decorated and provision has been made for ample deck space, without in the least sacrificing cargo-carrying capacity.
Marine Journal, 3 November 1922
Only the second newly built ocean going American passenger ship since the First World War, Carabobo was also the smallest such ship built between the wars and one of the most interesting designs of America’s most productive naval architect, Theodore E. Ferris. Few lines demanded more of its ships owing to the unique characteristics of its principal port, Maracaibo. Carabobo proved equal to the task and one of the most distinctive American passenger ships ever built.
With principal dimensions of 320 ft. overall length (305 ft. b.p.) and 48 ft. beam, 2,916 gross tons, the new Carabobo was only modestly larger than the 1885-built Philadelphia (2,520 grt, 300 ft. x 35 ft.) and as Nautical Gazette related, one of the most challenging projects Theodore Ferris had ever worked around:
In preparing the specifications for the Red “D”’s new outfit, her designer, Theodore E. Ferris, displayed considerable ingenuity. The principal point around which the design hinged was that the vessel on 11 ft. draught, hardly more than what a good size yacht draws, should carry around 900 tons of cargo so that it would be able to cross the sand bar at the entrance to Maracaibo Lake at the foot of which the City of Maracaibo lies. Another stipulation was that the vessel make a speed of 12.5 knots at 16 ft. draught. The vessel on leaving New York will be able to carry about 3,000 tons of cargo, two-thirds of which will be unloaded on reaching Porto Rico, the first stopping point, this enabling the vessel to cross the Maracaibo bar. However, as is at present the custom, when more than 900 tons is still on board, the surplus will be unloaded on to lighters at the bar.
Ferris gave her a bluff form forward with fine lines to the after body, but with a good amount of sheer forward and flair to her bows. She must have been a lively seaboat off Cape Hatteras in a blow, but southbound, at least, she was usually well-laden. But even when loaded to the marks, she drew only 18.2 feet.
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| A murky Delaware River in winter was the setting for Carabobo's official builders photos upon her completion. She was one of Theodore Ferris' best looking projects. Credit: Marine Review |
Built to the traditional three-island model with an almost straight stem and counter stern and a perfectly proportioned compact superstructure, single funnel with modest cowl and twin masts, with just a bit of rake, Carabobo was a handsome vessel-- sturdy, businesslike, but graceful and pleasing from every angle. Her lines were complimented by Red “D” Line’s smart livery of light grey hull, red boot topping, white superstructure, varnished teak wheelhouse, bridge and radio shack with buff masts and funnel with black top.
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| De Laval was proud of its manufacture of Carabobo's turbine machinery but she came close to being the first American cargo-passenger motor ship. |
Her machinery was much contemplated and reciprocating, turbine and diesel propulsion considered. Diesels were favored and Carabobo would have been the pioneering American passenger-cargo motorliner. But the lowest possible deadweight tonnage was essential and a diesel installation would have weighed more and taken more space so geared turbines were chosen instead. As an economy, New York Shipbuilding adopted the turbine plant of the Shipping Board freighter Ashby which it was converting into a motorship for use in the new liner.
Built by W.A. Fletcher, Hoboken, two sets of Parsons type turbines—one high pressure ahead and one high pressure astern driving the port shaft and one low pressure ahead and one low pressure astern on the starboard shaft—De Laval double reduction geared to twin screws and supplied by two single-ended oil-burning Scotch boilers working at 200 psi developed 2,200 shaft horsepower and at 112 rpm gave Carabobo a 12.5 knot service speed. Her bunker capacity of only 648 tons reflected both the requirement to reduce deadweight tonnage and the cheap bunkering available at Willemstad.
A true cargo-passenger ship, Carabobo’s deadweight cargo capacity of 2,200 tons (138,291 cu. ft. (bale)) in two holds forward and two aft, worked by cargo booms, was at the heart of her design and duty. In classic American “shelter decker” tradition, she also had two side ports on each side for working packaged cargo from the ‘tween decks.
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| First Class deck plan of Carabobo: given her size, she packed in a full range of passenger amenities with maximum use made of a limited amount of space and rendered in a pleasant, practical manner. Note the cabins on Promenade Deck opened directly out onto the deck with no central interior passageway. |
First Class accommodation for 59 passengers comprised 21 cabins and four suites. All cabins were outside, had hot and cold running water, dressers, wardrobes and electric fans. Staterooms on Promenade Deck opened directly out onto the deck and had full windows. Forward were Suites A and B with full bathrooms, staterooms C and D with shower and toilet and aft were suites G and H and staterooms E and F with the same facilities. Eight standard cabins, each with twin beds and washbasins were amidships. On Main Deck were seven cabins with two lower beds and one folding upper berth and two two-berth cabins, all with two portholes each.
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| Dating from her days as North Coast, this brochure shows some of Carabobo's interiors with the main lounge (top left) with the main staircase leading to the dining saloon below, veranda of the smoking room (top right) and a deluxe cabin. |
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| Superior cabin "F" aboard Carabobo. Even the best accommodation had bare overhead and exposed wiring! Credit: Author's collection |
Carabobo's First Class boasted a full range of public rooms, albeit small. Aft on Boat Deck was the Sun Parlor built around the stair landing, the Smoking Room and leading off that and facing aft was the Veranda. The Lounge, forward on Promenade Deck, was encircled on three sides by the glass enclosed portion of this deck. Stairs led directly down to the Dining Saloon which had large portholes on three sides. The foyers of the amidships staircase were fitted with settees and labelled as "Social Rooms". The purser’s office and hospital were aft on Main Deck.
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| Carabobo's First Class Lounge was pleasantly decorated but like all her public rooms, of modest dimensions. Credit: Author's collection |
Second class for 26 was accommodated in 10 cabins, four four-berth and the rest two berths in the Promenade Deck poop deck house and aft on Main Deck. All were outside and with running water.
Deck passengers were often carried on the 17-hour-passage between Willemstad and Maracaibo in the aft well deck off which was a day baggage room for their belongings.
Officers and crew numbered 74.
Loaded to the marks, sailing from Brooklyn and with the lower Manhattan skyline as a matchless backdrop, Carabobo heading out to sea must have been a pleasing sight and part of the New York Harbor scene for almost 14 years.
RED “D” RED LETTER DAY
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| Carabobo leaving New York on her maiden voyage. Credit: eBay auction photo. |
This new Red “D” Line steamship arrived at the harbor on Tuesday (22nd) morning at 8 o'clock and steamed in a little later, and went directly to the Schottegat to load fuel oil. It took a long time before it was finished, so that it was already 12 o'clock when it was moored at the Wharf. Hundreds of curious people were already waiting here, eager to take a look on board.
The garrison music corps also came on board, played Dutch and American folk songs.
The boat makes an excellent impression compared to the old boats of the Red “D” Line. In addition to being much larger and more spacious and offering more space for passengers, comfort and more modern furnishings have also been thought of. The opportunity to inspect the ship was very busy. At two o'clock, SEL Maduro & Sons, the agents of the Red “D” Line here, offered a lunch on board to many invitees
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| Soon after her maiden voyage, Carabobo's grey hull paint was extended to the Shelter Deck level, but reverted to the original configuration by c. 1927. Credit: The Mariners Museum. |
RED “D” ROUTINE
Carabobo returned from her maiden voyage on 5 February 1924 and begin her second voyage to Venezuela on the 10th. Thus began the reliable routine that distinguishes a successful ship on her regular trade, one that Carabobo would faithfully ply for almost 14 years. There were no cruises or deviations to her route nor was her career punctuated by incidents. She was, instead, all that her owners and designer desired of her-- a consistent carrier of passengers, cargo and mails.
NEW YORK sail 24 September Pier 10 (foot of Montague Street, Brooklyn)
San Juan call 29 September
La Guaira call 1-2 October
Puerto Cabello call 3 October
Willemstad call 4 October
MARACAIBO arr 5 October
MARACAIBO sail 9 October
Willemstad call 10 October
Puerto Cabello call 11 October
La Guaira call 12 October
San Juan call 15 October
NEW YORK arr 20 October Pier 10 (foot of Montague Street, Brooklyn)
DISTANCES (nautical miles)
New York-San Juan 1,399
San Juan-La Guaira 538
La Guaira-Puerto Cabello 68
Puerto Cabello-Willemstad 115
Willemstad-Marcaibo 210
New York-Marcaibo one-way crossing 2,330 miles, round voyage 4,660 miles
The ship had a four-day turnaround in New York before heading south again. Red “D” Line’s sailing day was usually Wednesday.
Carabobo’s passenger lists were composed of oil industry executives, engineers and contractors, businessmen, diplomatic staff and winter tourists. Puerto Rico, even if more frequently served by the Porto Rico Line, was a well patronized and profitable port of call in both directions. She also carried construction workers as deck passengers on the 17-hour voyage between Willemstad and Maracaibo.
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| The original Maracaibo jetty in the 1920s with Carabobo (right) alongside. Judging from the passengers coming down the gangway, white linen suits and straw boaters were the "rig of the day". Credit: https://www.wayfarersbookshop.com/ |
Carabobo’s passenger lists were composed of oil industry executives, engineers and contractors, businessmen, diplomatic staff and winter tourists. Puerto Rico, even if more frequently served by the Porto Rico Line, was a well patronized and profitable port of call in both directions. She also carried construction workers as deck passengers on the 17-hour voyage between Willemstad and Maracaibo.
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| Carabobo at San Juan, 25 April 1925. Credit: oldpostcards.com |
Outbound cargoes included machinery for the oil industry, machined goods, packaged merchandise, clothing, appliances, pharmaceuticals, construction equipment, building supplies and motorcars. In early October 1924 Carabobo sailed from New York with 84 new cars on board, 21 of which were destined for Puerto Rico, 12 for Puerto Cabello, 19 for La Guaira and Caracas, two for Willemstad and 30 for Maracaibo. On her next call at Willemstad she brought two new motorbuses to replace the town’s former tram line. Return cargoes included cocoa, hides and skins, mostly loaded at Puerto Cabello and from Curaçoa came aloe resin (used for dyes and medicines).
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| Wonderful photo card of Carabobo coming into Puerto Cabello sent by one her cadets June-July 1929. Credit: eBay auction photo. |
RED “D” REVIVAL
The commissioning of Carabobo augured a renewal of the Red "D" fleet, buoyed by the Venezuelan oil boom.
In November 1922, the freighter Elisabeth R. (2,325 grt) was purchased and renamed Táchira. She joined the New York-Venezuela run in June 1923. Relieved by the new Carabobo, Philadelphia, dating from 1885, was laid up at New York in January 1924 and sold the following year for scrap. Three more ex-Shipping Board ships were added in 1925: the 2,967-grt Lara, the 2,966-grt Falcón and the 2,013-grt Trujillo all of which were “Laker” type ships with low drafts and able to cross the Maracaibo bar even well laden. Táchira, Lara and Falcón had accommodation for 10 passengers and Trujillo 20. The 1889-built Caracas was sold to Baltimore breakers in October 1926.
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| One of the World War One built Shipping Board "Laker" class freighters added to the Red "D" Line in the 1920s, Falcón had berths for 10 passengers. Credit: Author's collection. |
Maracaibo was the principal port for western Venezuela and its oil fields. In addition to its shallow entrance, its single jetty was inadequate and once in 1925, Carabobo had to wait four days to berth. Red “D” Line took immediate steps to remedy the situation and on her maiden voyage from New York in May 1925, Trujillo towed with her two 500-ton barges. When she called at Willemstad on the 2 June, she loaded the motor tug Winifred as deck cargo which would tow these barges on Lake Maracaibo and permit ships to efficiently work cargo in the roadstead if necessary. In November 1925 improvements began to the port including a new 1,050-meter-long concrete seawall that could accommodate 5-6 ships.
Carabobo also got her long planned consort. The Baltimore Sun of 19 October 1925 reported that “the Red “D” Line expects to order a new ship for its Venezuela business.“ It was not until the following August that the new vessel, designed by Theodore Ferris, was contracted by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co. for $1.26 mn.
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| Porto Rico's Line's San Juan was chartered by Red "D" Line from September 1926-August 1927. Credit: Collection of Björn Larsson |
Porto Rico Line’s elderly San Juan (b.1900/3,503 grt) was chartered until the new ship was ready. Her first voyage for Red D from New York was on 8 September 1926 and her last departed on 24 August 1927.
Hull no. 319 was laid down on 8 November 1926 and launched as Caracas on 30 June 1927. By 14 September the last new Red "D" ship was off on her maiden voyage from New York. At 3,265 grt and measuring 336 ft. (o.a.) by 51 ft., Caracas carried 162,200 cu. Ft. of cargo and 113 First and 24 Second Class passengers.
Atlantic & Caribbean Steam Navigation Co. applied for a 10-year mail contract under the 1928 Jones-White Act which was granted on 29 August. From 1 October it was paid a $375,878 annual mail subsidy for Route 18, New York-Maracaibo, for a weekly service with two Class 5 ships (13-knot) and Class 6 (10-knot) vessels.
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| The last new Red D liner was the 3,265 grt Caracas of 1927, designed, like Carabobo, by Theodore E. Ferris, and unique among his liners in having a cruiser stern. Credit: Author's collection. |
Atlantic & Caribbean Steam Navigation Co. applied for a 10-year mail contract under the 1928 Jones-White Act which was granted on 29 August. From 1 October it was paid a $375,878 annual mail subsidy for Route 18, New York-Maracaibo, for a weekly service with two Class 5 ships (13-knot) and Class 6 (10-knot) vessels.
The 1899-built Maracaibo was sold in 1930 and to replace her on the Curaçoa-Aruba-Maracaibo shuttle service, Trujillo was converted for $100,000 by Captaff & Hunter, Hoboken, to plans by Theodore Ferris into a smart little 72-passenger ship with all new superstructure. She arrived at Willemstad on 5 June 1930. The last veteran, Zuila, was out of the fleet the following year after an explosion and fire in her engine room.
The onset of the Depression years found Red “D” Line at its apogee with weekly service by Caracas, Carabobo, Falcón, Lara and Tachira as well as Trujillo’s Curaçoa-Aruba-Maracaibo shuttle service.
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| Carabobo, most likely at Maracaibo, Venezuela. Credit: Author's collection. |
RED “D” WHALE OF A TALE
WHALE HITCHED ONTO HER BOW SLOWS UP STEAMER CARABOBO
Mammal Got Hooked On, Swam Wrong Way, Stork Flew Aboard-- Well, Ask Skipper
The good ship Carabobo came into Brooklyn today with enough notions in Skipper Stephen Morris's log to gladden the hearts of all in sundry in the publicity department of the Red “D” Line.
Little in the way of romance and adventure has come the way of the Carabobo in all the years the little ship has been plying between her slip at the foot of Montague St., Porto Rico and Venezuelan ports. But the round trip she finished today has ended all that.
First on the southward bound trip, the stork visited the Carabobo for the first time, Mr. & Mrs. Marcos Delgado returning to their native San Juan, were blessed with a seven-pound boy. Proudly, they planned to call him Stephen Carabobo Delgado, honoring both the skipper and the ship. But Henry was later substituted for Carabobo-- in Spanish means 'funnyface'-- because the ship was off Cape Henry.
This part of the Carabobo's saga was vouched for by Dr. Stephen Dana Hubbard, whose home is in Freeport, and who recently retired from the City Health Department after 40 years to become the Carabobo's surgeon. Dr. Hubbard delivered the baby. But the second part of the saga, the adventure of the return voyage, well-- the press agent swore it was true; Skipper Morris displayed his log notations and George Dewindt, a winchman, has never seen the like of it before and he's sailed the seven seas man and boy for night on 30 years. It seems---
About 5:15 yesterday afternoon the Carabobo was off the Virginia Cape, her screw turning over a little faster to get the ship into Quarantine before midnight. On the bridge it suddenly became apparent that her speed was not commensurate with the laborings of the engines. And that's where Winchman Dewindt comes in.
Peering down from the head of the fo'c'stle, Dewindt saw a tremendous churning at the water line of the bow. He rubbed his eyes, called on several witness and otherwise disbelieved his faculties before reporting to the bridge that a whale was somehow fast to the ship. And it could be seen that the sea monster's head was pointed around the bow and facing astern. Ergo, it was swimming in the opposite direction to that of the ship. Well, that's what the press agent, the skipper and the winchman said today.
The ship was slowed down, and finally stopped, but still the whale was fast. To make matters worse, the whale's lashings were rocking the boat. Yes, that's what they all said, pointing out that the gross tonnage of the Carabobo is a mere 2,900 tons and has an extremely light draught.
It was by driving the ship at top speed astern for three minutes that the skipper finally dislodged the whale in a welter of crimson foam.
A ship news reporter sneered something about a 'whale of a story' down at Montague st. today and the press agent burst into tears.
Times Union (Brooklyn), 16 May 1933
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| Carabobo at the line's new Brooklyn pier 11 in Red "D" Line's revised livery of 1934 of black hull and a red "D" affixed to the buff and black funnel. Credit: Mariners' Museum |
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| Center spread of the final Red "D" Line brochure, c. 1935-36. Credit: Author's collection |
RED "D" DEMISE
Red “D” Line announced on 19 February 1934 revision of its livery to that of forty years previously with black hulls and a red “D” on the buff and black capped funnel. Caracas had already been so repainted, followed by Carabobo which arrived at New York on the 21st in the new colors. At the same time, the line shifted its Brooklyn terminus to Pier 11, foot of Furman Street.
With the Depression biting hard, the first retrenchment occurred in late February 1934 when Trujillo returned to New York and was laid up at Brooklyn, ending the weekly Curaçoa-Aruba-Maracaibo shuttle service. In its place, the New York ships began to call at Aruba between their regular Curacao-Maracaibo stops. On 18 July 1934 Carabobo made her first sailing on the revised itinerary calling southbound at San Juan (22nd, La Guaira (25th), Puerto Cabello (27th), Willemstad (28th), Oranjestad (29th) and arriving Maracaibo on the 30th. Trujillo was eventually sold to Mexican owners in 1938.
With the Depression biting hard, the first retrenchment occurred in late February 1934 when Trujillo returned to New York and was laid up at Brooklyn, ending the weekly Curaçoa-Aruba-Maracaibo shuttle service. In its place, the New York ships began to call at Aruba between their regular Curacao-Maracaibo stops. On 18 July 1934 Carabobo made her first sailing on the revised itinerary calling southbound at San Juan (22nd, La Guaira (25th), Puerto Cabello (27th), Willemstad (28th), Oranjestad (29th) and arriving Maracaibo on the 30th. Trujillo was eventually sold to Mexican owners in 1938.
Carabobo came to the rescue of Falcón which, after leaving Willemstad on 23 September 1934 bound for New York with 11 passengers, lost her propeller at 12:30 a.m. on the 30th 650 miles off the Florida coast. The southbound Carabobo raced to the ship which drifted helplessly for 36 hours and the tug Willett was dispatched from New York to tow her to port. Upon arrival on 1 October, Carabobo lowered her boats and transferred Falcón’s passengers to her and they were landed at San Juan. On the 4th the northbound Caracas embarked them for passage to New York.
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| Taken from Carabobo as one of her lifeboats approaches with passengers from the disabled Falcón. Credit: Daily News, 11 October 1934. |
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| Last (c. 1936) brochure for Red "D" Line, credit: Author's collection |
The Maritime Commission determined the lines and the routes and picked the winners and losers among the Nation’s Depression-wracked steamship lines and was not immune from political and lobbyist influences. Many of the country’s venerable lines did not survive the cull including Munson and Red “D” Line as well as some of the newer ones like Colombian Line and Baltimore Mail Line.
For Red “D” Line, the $374,680 annual mail subsidy became more needed than ever although passenger demand remained surprisingly buoyant. Indeed, in 1936 Caracas was refitted to expand her First Class accommodation.
President Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy with the United States’ hemisphere partners influenced the reorganization of shipping routes and lines. The welter of lines to the region would be reduced to American Republic, United Fruit and Grace with the later absorbing the Colombian Line and Red “D” Line routes while relinquishing its trans-Panama Canal intercoastal trade.
The phase out of Red “D” Line was done quietly and efficiently although no less regrettably as the Nation’s oldest line seemed to be a victim of policies designed to further what it had largely created on its own for 99 years. Hastening the firm’s decision to wind up operations were a series of crippling strikes in 1937 including a “sit down strike” aboard five of the line’s ships in August. On 30 June 1937 the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 took effect, ending mail contract payments. Red “D” Line was paid a final $400,000 for the first six months of the year by which time negotiations to sell the company to Grace Line were well advanced.
The phase out of Red “D” Line was done quietly and efficiently although no less regrettably as the Nation’s oldest line seemed to be a victim of policies designed to further what it had largely created on its own for 99 years. Hastening the firm’s decision to wind up operations were a series of crippling strikes in 1937 including a “sit down strike” aboard five of the line’s ships in August. On 30 June 1937 the Merchant Marine Act of 1936 took effect, ending mail contract payments. Red “D” Line was paid a final $400,000 for the first six months of the year by which time negotiations to sell the company to Grace Line were well advanced.
On 6 October 1937 the sale of the Atlantic & Caribbean Steam Navigation Co. to Grace Line was announced. Red "D" Director Lloyd Sanderson said labor troubles and an “inadequate” subsidy were among the reasons for the sale. First to sail under Grace-Caribbean Services management was Falcón from New York on 4 November and the ships were repainted in Grace Line colors although with their hulls already black, it meant merely repainting their funnels in the green/white/black of their new owners.
Grace Line announced termination of its intercoastal run on 18 November 1937. The 1932-33-built Santa Rosa, Santa Elena and Santa Paula would be transferred a new, expanded New York-West Indies weekly service incorporating the Red “D” Line operation and retaining the Puerto Colombia and Cartagena calls already on their intercoastal route. Santa Rosa’s last intercoastal run was on 27 November followed by Santa Paula on 4 December and Santa Elena on 18 December.
Transferring the faster (20-knot) and larger (9,135-grt) “Santas” to the West Indies route rendered the Red "D" passenger ships superfluous (the freighters, however, were absorbed into the Grace Line fleet) and Caracas, Carabobo and long idle Trujillo were offered for sale.
On 9 December 1937 Grace Line set its new itinerary: New York to San Juan, Puerto Colombia, Cartagena, Oranjestad, Willemstad, La Guaira, Puerto Cabello, San Juan and Nassau. It is worth noting the deletion of Maracaibo owing to the inability of the deeper draft Santas to enter the harbor. Santa Rosa would make the first sailing on 7 January 1938 followed by Santa Paula on the 14th and Santa Elena on the 21st. On 18 February the Maritime Commission awarded Grace Line the routes of the Colombian Line although its ships went to AGWI.
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| First advertisement for the new Grace Line West Indies and Venezuela service replacing the Red "D" Line. Credit: Brooklyn Daily Eagle, 12 December 1937. |
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| A rare photo of Carabobo underway in New York in Grace Line colors on one of her two voyages for the company before being sold. Credit: Mariners' Museum. |
It remained for Caracas and Carabobo to make their final voyages in November-December. Carabobo sailed from New York on 24 November 1937 on what would have been her second to last voyage. It proved to be the ship’s most eventful of her almost 14-year career.
On 11 December 1937 William Semar, General Manager of the Northland Transportation Company announced purchase of Carabobo for its Seattle-Alaskan coast service. She was to be delivered to her new owners in New York on 17 January 1938 at the end of her last voyage.
"Boilers out of commission. Need assistance. Latitude 27.26 N., longitude 69.44 W." was the radio message received at 1:00 a.m. on 14 December 1937 by the U.S. Coast Guard Station at Jacksonville, FL. from Carabobo, 585 miles east southeast of the city. The liner, with 50 passengers and a crew of 60 aboard, had sailed from San Juan and due to dock at Brooklyn on the 16th. The USCG Mojave (WPG-47) was immediately dispatched. Grace Line also sent its nearby freighter Cacique to the ship’s aid.
Mojave reached Carabobo on the morning of 16 December, 430 miles east by north from Fort Lauderdale and took her under tow permitting Cacique to be on her way. The next day, the Merritt, Chapman & Scott salvage tug Relief arrived to assume the tow, but in a tragic accident, the handover caused the death of Mojave’s Chief Boatswain’s Mate John. H.R. Handsen, who was crushed to death during the handling of the towline. The cutter made for Port Everglades where the body was landed.
On 18 December 1937 the Panama Line’s northbound Cristobal arrived off Carabobo and took off her 56 passengers by lifeboat and took them to New York. Towed by Relief, Carabobo reached Jacksonville, with her crew and one stowaway from Puerto Rico, on the 20th. It was estimated that she suffered $20,000 damage to her boilers. Where Carabobo was repaired and when she was handed over to her new owners is unclear, although it is quite possible it was as originally announced, on 17 January 1938 at New York. In any event, her days cleaving cobalt Caribbean seas were over. And America’s oldest shipping line, “The Red D”, passed into history after 99 years.
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| Showing off her trim lines to advantage, the former Carabobo never looked better than she did in her new role as North Coast. Credit: Author's collection. |
NORTH COAST TO AN AISLE OF ISLES
Dating from 1927, the Northland Transportation Company initially operated a cargo and passenger service from Puget Sound to Hydra, Alaska, via Ketchikan. The company was acquired by G.W. Skinner & Associates three years later and its fleet was expanded with the addition in 1930 of the 1,255-ton Northland and in 1934 by the North Sea, ex-Admiral Peoples.
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| Northland Transportation's Northland was purchased in 1930 while still under construction as W.B. Foshay. Credit: eBay auction photo. |
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| North Sea had been "around the block" a few times by the time Northland acquired her in 1934, originally a U.S. Shipping Board 1919-built freighter which was converted to passenger service as Mary Weems in 1923 by the Baltimore & Carolina Steamship Co. and then sold to Admiral Line in 1927 which renamed her Admiral Peoples for West Coast service. Credit: eBay auction photo. |
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| Northland route map, c. 1940 |
On 5 February 1938 Miss H. Hansen, General Passenger Agent for Northland Transportation Company announced a new Alaska service from Seattle to Westward and Southeastern Alaska to start in April. "This vessel, after considerable overhaul and conversion to fit it for the northern service, will inaugurate the new run." She would be renamed North Coast. "The new service, which is something new in Alaskan travel, will be in the nature of a series of Summer Vagabond cruises. Practically all of the regular southeastern ports will be visited and on the outward route a number of ports that only trading vessels get into. The inauguration of the Vagabond cruises, leisurely wanderings along the coast forming The Bight, promises to an added incentive to this increase in sightseers."
Carabobo made her delivery voyage with cargo under her original name. On 11 February 1938 her arrival at Philadelphia from Baltimore was recorded and she docked at San Pedro on 1 March and proceeded up the coast to reach San Francisco on the 4th. On the 10th she arrived at Seattle.
On 19 March 1938 Lake Washington Shipyards, Seattle, was awarded the conversion contract. The work entailed expanding her accommodation to 103 First Class including eight former officer cabins offered for passenger sale and 235 Steerage, adding a large amount of reefer space and refurbishment of her cabins and public rooms. With her extra compliment, a pair of lifeboats were added to her poop deck house. Her revised cargo capacity was 138,291 cu. ft. (bale) and 34,272 cu. ft. (reefer) Gleaming in all-white livery, she looked, if anything, more like the tropical liner she had been for 14 years.
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| Looking more tropical than she ever did actually plying the tropics, North Coast in her handsome new livery. Credit: Author's collection. |
On 8 March 1938 it had been announced that North Coast would make her first sailing from Seattle on 23 April with 18-27 day round trips from Seattle to Southwestern Alaska as far the Aleutians. Most trips would call at Seward, Kodiak and Sand Point but the rest of the itinerary was determined by cargo inducement. In the event, she did not undertake her first voyage until 1 June.
For a ship which under original name blotted her copy book but once in 14 years, North Coast’s career was shorter and more eventful.
In heavy fog just after midnight on 25 August 1938, North Coast rammed and sunk the 62-ton British freighter Coaster in Puget Sound, off Point No Point, 20 miles northeast of Seattle. Coaster sank in two minutes and swift lifeboat crews from North Coast were credited with saving the eight-man crew. North Coast kept her bow impaled into the ship until everyone was rescued. North Coast returned to Seattle for inspection, then continued her voyage.
North Coast ran into a 80 mph gale in the Gulf of Alaska 17 September 1938 and forced to hove to for several hours and was damaged by the storm.
On 8 October 1938 the northbound North Coast with 36 Alaska-bound passengers, grounded in dense fog Shelter Point near Cape Mudge off Vancouver Island. Undamaged, she was refloated at 5:00 am the next morning. After a diver’s survey, she returned to Seattle. Her passenger and cargo were transferred to North Sea, sailing from Seattle 13th for Alaska.
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| An immaculate North Coast on her post-refit trials in the Puget Sound. Credit: Author's collection |
On 8 October 1938 the northbound North Coast with 36 Alaska-bound passengers, grounded in dense fog Shelter Point near Cape Mudge off Vancouver Island. Undamaged, she was refloated at 5:00 am the next morning. After a diver’s survey, she returned to Seattle. Her passenger and cargo were transferred to North Sea, sailing from Seattle 13th for Alaska.
Labor troubles continued and on 3 February 1939, North Coast’s sailing was cancelled when deck officers went on strike. North Coast did not resume service until the 15th.
Upon arrival at Seattle on 16 November 1939, North Coast’s Captain reported that a Canadian naval vessel fired a shot across her bows at Prince Rupert, BC the evening of the 12th when the warship thought the liner had not stopped quickly enough when challenged. The Captain explained his ship was in dangerous waters and he did not want to lose steerage way or risk grounding.
Northland Transportation announced on 23 January 1940 that North Coast’s 1 June sailing from Seattle would inaugurate regular service to Kodiak, Sand Point and other southwestern ports via southeastern Alaska. Service by North Coast would be on a tri-weekly basis with Saturday departures.
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| North Coast in Kodiak harbor. Credit: http://www.tanignak.com/howtogettokodiakuss.htm |
North Coast came to the rescue of the Alaska Steamship Co.’s Alaska when, on 28 October 1940, she struck a reef, 96 miles south Ketchikan in Arthur Passage, north of Prince Rubert, B.C. The ship was holed and her 278 passengers were landed in lifeboats on Elliott Island as a precaution. North Coast, bound for Seattle and only 50 miles, sped to the scene and arrived shortly after dawn and embarked all the stranded passengers and the mail in her own lifeboats and landed them at Prince Rupert shortly before 2:00 p.m.
In heavy fog, North Coast snagged a tow line between a tug and a log raft at the entrance to Puget Sound off Marrowstone Point at 4:53 a.m. 9 November 1941, sinking the tug Canada and fouling the liner's propeller with the hawser. The tug's crew of 10 was rescued before it sank. But North Coast was still effectively anchored to the sunken tug by the fouled line and it took two tugs from Seattle to finally free her after seven hours. She docked at Seattle at 6:00 p.m.
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| North Coast coming into Sitka. Credit: eBay auction photo |
U.S.A.T. NORTH COAST
Alaska found itself on the front lines after Pearl Harbor and almost all of its commercial vessels were requisitioned for government service. On 17 December 1941 North Coast was bare bottom chartered by the War Shipping Administration and assigned to the Army Transport Service. Painted grey, she kept her name and mostly kept to her regular route carrying both military and civilian passengers.
On 6-7 June 1942 Japanese forces occupied the islands of Kiska and Attu in the Aleutian Islands. American forces were landed on Attu on 11 May 1943 and North Coast along with U.S.A.T. St. Mihiel, William L. Thompson, Yukon and cargo ship Franklin Macveagh made up Task Group 16.10 forming the Shemya Occupation Group.
North Coast was returned to Northland Transportation on 17 September 1945 but although the Vancouver Sun reported “she will resume her peacetime run to southeastern Alaska”, that proved not to be the case. Her owners reported that “due to excessive wear and tear during… Army service, it was deemed advisable by the United States Maritime Commission and ourselves to sell the vessel foreign than to expend the amount necessary for reconditioning for the first-class passenger trade".
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| News clipping for Mayon and the only depiction of the ship the author can find which, of course, isn't of Mayon but rather of North Coast. Credit: http://bobblume.com/philippine-inter-island-travel-via-luxury-ships-1930s/ |
S.S. MAYON, QUEEN OF PHILIPPINE SEAS
North Coast was sold on 8 April 1946 to Manila Steamship Co. and renamed Mayon, after the pre-war ship which had been sunk in the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. Manila Steamship Co. was managed by Elizalde y Compania, founded by Manuel Elizalde, Sr. one of the richest men in the Philippines at the time.
After refitting, Mayon accommodated 84 First Class, 150 Second Class and 420 Third Class and her listed service speed was then 11 knots. Mayon was considered the best equipped of all the Philippine local steamers and like her predecessor “The Queen of the Philippine Seas”. She was initially used on the Manila-Iloilo-Pulupandan route and later on the longer route to Zamboanga in the south.
In July 1951 Mayon was chartered by the Indonesian Navigation Co. (INACO) for six months to carry Indonesian Haj Pilgrims from Surabaya to Mecca. This was repeated in 1953 although the ship suffered a mechanical breakdown, stranding pilgrims from Surabaya for several weeks.
It was on another pilgrim voyage for INACO that Mayon caught fire (believed caused by a short circuit) on 18 February 1955 in the Karimata Straits which separate the Islands of Borneo and Sumatra. She was intentionally grounded near Tg Satai, later refloated and towed to Tandjung Satai in early March and finally to Tandjong Priok. The tug Tibugan towed her back to Manila where she was declared a constructive total loss and broken up locally. Manila Steamship Co. wound up operations in the wake of Mayon’s loss and INACO, too, went bankrupt by the end of the year.
So ended the story of the little Carabobo... in the Caribbean or Gulf of Alaska or the Philippine Sea, she was a credit to Camden shipwrights and her designer.
So ended the story of the little Carabobo... in the Caribbean or Gulf of Alaska or the Philippine Sea, she was a credit to Camden shipwrights and her designer.
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| A singularly perfect photo of the handsome little North Coast. Credit: author's collection. |
U.S.M.S. CARABOBO
Built by New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey, Yard no. 278
Gross tonnage: 2,916
Length: (o.a.) 320 ft.
(b.p.) 305 ft.
Beam: 48 ft
Machinery: two Parsons turbines double reduced geared to twin screws. 2,300 shp. Two oil-burning Scotch boilers 200 psi.
Speed: 12.5 knots service
13 knots trials
Passengers
USMS Carabobo: 59 First, 26 Second
SS North Coast: 103 First, 285 Steerage
SS Mayon: 84 First, 150 Second, 420 Third Class
Officers & Crew
USMS Carabobo: 74
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| Carabobo's builders plate, now in the collection of Puget Sound Maritime. Credit: Puget Sound Maritime. |
BIBLIOGRAPHY
American Passenger Ships, The Ocean Lines and Liners, 1873-1983, Frederick E. Emmons
Dictionary of American Fighting Ships
The Geneology of The Dallett Family, Francis James Dallett, Jr. 1946
Going Bananas, 100 Years of American Fruit Ships of the Caribbean, Mark H. Goldberg
American Shipping
Marine Engineering
Marine Review
Pacific Marine Review
The Marine Journal
The Nautical Gazette
Amiogoe di Curaçoa
Baltimore Sun
New York Herald
New York Tribune
The Daily News (New York)
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle
https://www.histarmar.com.ar/LineasdePaxNAaSCA/RedDLine.htm
http://www.timetableimages.com
https://www.histarmar.com.ar/LineasdePaxNAaSCA/RedDLine.htm
http://www.timetableimages.com
© Peter C. Kohler
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