SPRECKELS' SOUTHERN CROSS SISTERS: U.S.M.S. SIERRA, SONOMA & VENTURA

 

Men who for many years have been meeting the notable liners Sonoma, Ventura and Sierra, formerly in the Spreckels' Oceanic Steamship service, which two years ago passed to the Matson Line, aver that these ships each sail under a lucky star.

Old-time sailormen on these boats, with assurance born of superstition, which more or less engenders into their lives, that the grand old ships are blessed by the Southern Cross under the influence of which they pass to and from the Northern and Southern hemisphere in their journey from San Francisco to Sydney. 

San Francisco Examiner, 10 March 1928

If ships have minds-- and any sailor who had wrestled to keep a cranky Hilonian on course or nursed the sick boilers of a Hawkeye State will swear they not only have minds but malevolence to spare-- then the creaking old Ventura must have gone smiling to the ironmongers. Inexpertly designed, repeatedly repaired, remodelled, and patched up, she plowed the South Pacific for thirty years with her sisters, Sierra and Sonoma, at first the best in business and at the last sad, outmoded, outspeeded, and mostly ignored by shippers and passenger alike. 

Cargoes: Matson's First Century in the Pacific, William L. Worden.

Over a three-decade period they... as a trio, then a pair and a threesome again... first with two funnels, then but one, held down U.S. Ocean Mail Route No. 75 San Francisco-Antipodes.  Conceived with the unbounded  confidence of The Gilded Age, they arrived with the dawn of a new century which saw America emerge as a  Pacific power.  Late in delivery, flawed in design and fittings,  they matured into stalwarts of the U.S. Merchant Marine through good times and bad, government encouragement and indifference, the vagaries of trade and travel patterns, war and peace. They figured, too, in the history of Australia and New Zealand from originating the now legendary paper streamer "farewelling" tradition to returning the triumphant All Blacks after their first overseas tour. No trio of liners served longer on the same route than U.S.M.S. Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura which between them put in a good six and a half million ocean miles beneath the Stars & Stripes and the U.S. Mail flag.

U.S.M.S. Ventura in San Francisco Harbor, c. 1901-02. The large flag from her mainmast gaff is not the national ensign, but uniquely for Oceanic, the U.S. Mail Flag, on one of the longest express mail routes in the world.  

Three decades later, U.S.M.S. Ventura at Sydney. Credit: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 5-2723

Get up and get away! The Oceanic Steamship offers you the opportunity. Go and learn what the other half of humanity is doing and how it lives. It will “pay,” as we Americans say.

The Oceanic Steamship Company is an American line, sailing under American register and the American Flag, its ships having been built in American ship-yards, namely Cramp's in Philadelphia, is engaged in building up the traffic, both freight and passenger, between the United States and various islands and countries in the Pacific, namely, Hawaii, Samoa, New Zealand, Australia, and the Island of Tahiti.

International Railway Journal, May 1904

It was one of the  oldest and the most enduring American-flag trans-ocean route as well as the longest. From 1885-1977 with a few lapses and gaps, the Oceanic Steamship Co. and successors maintained a passenger, mail and cargo service from Golden Gate to Sydney Heads.  Known variously as The Oceanic, The Spreckels Line, the A. & A. (American & Australian), The Sydney Short Line,  Matson-Oceanic and Pacific Far East Line, from the first voyage of Alameda in November 1885 to the last San Francisco homecoming by Mariposa (III) in April 1978, it is the story of success and struggle and of American ships and seafaring along 7,500-miles of ocean highway in the South Seas as rich and varied as any in the annals of the U.S. merchant service.  They came to be known as "The Yankee Mailboats" Down Under and no moniker was as proud or more deserved.

In an uniquely American beginning to the oldest of all U.S.-flag shipping companies-- a confluence of one of the most famous and successful magnates and empire builders, a German immigrant named Claus Spreckels, and an obscure Swedish immigrant seafarer, Capt.William Matson-- two shipping enterprises both began services in 1882 linking Hawaii and later the islands of the South Pacific and the Antipodes with the boundless and buoyant America of the Gilded Age. 

One of America's great merchant adventurers, empire builders and developers… of communities, industry and commerce... Claus Spreckels (1828-1908) was the quintessential American success story.  In 1846, he emigrated from Germany to America, first New York City and then San Francisco and from running a grocery store to a brewery to resorts and sugar beet refineries. By 1876 he set his entrepreneur vigor upon the Kingdom of Hawaii which had signed a Reciprocity Treaty with the United States the previous year, removing duty on sugar imports and opening up commerce between the two. In 1878 Spreckels founded Spreckelsville, a company town on Maui which became the largest sugarcane producer in the world.  

A Dynasty of Destiny: Claus Spreckels (1828-1908) (left) and his son John D. Spreckels (1853-1926).

Matching his father in  business acumen, the eldest of Claus Spreckels' five children, John D. Spreckels (1853-1926), started J.D. Spreckels & Bros. in 1880 which concerned itself with the refining, transport and distribution of Hawaiian sugar. With shipping services from Hawaii to California wholly inadequate, the Spreckels set their sights on starting their own line.  On 23 December 1881 the Oceanic Steamship Co. was incorporated in San Francisco with a capital stock of $2.5 mn.  and began regular San Francisco sailings with the chartered British steamer Suez in June 1882. 

There was business enough to share with a Capt. William Matson (1849-1917) who was a Swedish emigrant seafarer and captain of Spreckel's yacht Lurline.  The two established a friendship and Spreckels bought shares to  finance Matson's first vessel in 1882, the 195-ton schooner Emma Claudina, named after Spreckel's daughter, which made her first voyage under the Oceanic houseflag in April.  Thereafter, Oceanic and Matson cooperated fully and came to dominate the island trade. 

Remarkably, Spreckel's new Oceanic Steamship Co. (left: first sailing advertised in San Francisco Examiner 1 June 1881 and Honolulu Pacific Commercial Advertiser 10 June 1881) and Capt. Matson's first ship's maiden voyage (right: Oakland Tribune 10 April 1881 and Evening Bulletin (Honolulu) 2 May 1881)  occurred with with a month or two of one another. 

Mariposa and Alameda, Oceanic's first new ships of 1883, established a tradition of longevity for the line's ships unmatched in the U.S. Merchant Marine. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

Spreckels lost little time in ordering its own tonnage and in 1883  two new steamers, the 3,158-grt, 14-knot Mariposa and Alameda were delivered by Wm. Cramp of Philadelphia. After making their epic delivery voyages from Philadelphia to San Francisco, around Cape Horn, in record times (46 days), they made their maiden voyages to Honolulu on 25 July and 22 September respectively. They went on to be among the most enduring and successful of all American passenger vessels, indeed setting a tradition of longevity that would characterize no fewer than four generations of Oceanic liners. Reliable, fast and more comfortable than anything yet seen on the South Pacific, Alameda and Mariposa were instantly popular and opened up a new era in travel to and from Hawaii, long before Matson operated passenger steamers and indeed in advance of Hawaii as a popular tourist destination. 

The first advertisement for the new Oceanic San Francisco-Antipodes service, San Francisco Examiner, 5 November 1885, and improvements to steamer Alameda which, with sister Mariposa, would maintain it in cooperation with Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand. 

Far wider horizons beckoned when, in 1885 Pacific Mail Steamship Co. relinquished its Australian mail contract which Oceanic together with the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand now shared, securing a three-year contract with both Australia and New Zealand for a four-weekly service from San Francisco, Honolulu, Pago Pago, Auckland and Sydney, effective in November. Towards, this New Zealand paid $100,000, New South Wales $50,000 and the United Stated, $20,000 per annum.  Alameda and Mariposa were assigned to this with Union contributing Mararoa (1885/2,598 grt).  Alameda undertook the first sailing of the new service from San Francisco on 23 November 1885 to the Antipodes.  

In February 1886, Oceanic bought Australia and Zealandia from Pacific Mail and put them on the direct Honolulu run and they were uniquely registered in Hawaii, retaining their names. 

The first meaningful American encouragement of its overseas shipping, the Ocean Mail Act of 3 March 1891 came in the nick of time after John D. Spreckels threatened to end the Oceanic service unless there was a substantial increase in subvention by the U.S. Government to support the route, already a sore point with the governments of Australia and New Zealand whose contribution towards it were far higher. Under the Act, Oceanic was paid $2 per ocean mile for outbound sailings. For the rest of the company's existence, however, Oceanic's fate and relative fortunes were dependent on mail contracts on what had already proved to be a marginally profitable enterprise.  For its part, Union S.S. Co. placed the new 3,915-grt Moana, its largest steamer, on the route in 1897 and the combined service reached a pinnacle  of popularity and efficiency. 

What had, hitherto, been the efforts of private business modestly encouraged by government, to further American interests in the Pacific would now give way to national purpose and power at the dawn of a New Century.

Mr. J.D. Spreckels has given a substantial guarantee for the future in the steamships he has placed on the route, and by substituting the existing three-weekly for the former monthly service. These high-class liners are over 6,000 tons each, nearly double the tonnage of the ships which did their work up to the end of 1900. They have a guaranteed speed of 17 knots. They perform their portion of the journey from Sydney to London, by way of America, in such time that travellers may find themselves in London in about 31 days after leaving Circular Quay. These are entirely new ships, having been built expressly for the A. and A. Line at a coast of over half a million sterling… As Mr. Spreckels puts it, the Company is determine to make the fit for its opportunities and 'we have got the desired steamers.'  They have necessitated a large expenditure, but the directors do not begrudge it.

Oceanic A. & A. Line brochure, c. 1904

1899

In the wake of the Spanish-American War, America suddenly embraced her navy and merchant marine, the later having entered a long decline that predated the Civil War.  The Age of Steam not only relegated the storied American tea clippers to oblivion but was harnessed by locomotive not steamships to open up the expanses not of oceans, but of the great American West.  The trans-continental railroad and the Panama Canal were bookends to America's remarkable Gilded Age, both accomplished by the national government and traditional Whig Republican policies.  Yet the connecting shipping lanes to compliment them lagged with no meaningful government encouragement of the U.S. merchant marine since the 1891 Ocean Mail Act.  Such was the decline, that Oceanic Steamship Co. was one of but a handful of American overseas lines still in business along with American Line, Pacific Mail and Red D Line.  The United States was suddenly an  ocean empire with neither the sufficient navy or merchant marine to maintain it.  

In the space of three months in 1898 the United States of America became a Pacific power and cobbled together, by war with Spain, treaty with Germany in Samoa and a bit of guile  and chicanery with the Kingdom of Hawaii.  The Battle of Manila Bay took but the morning of 1 May but the ensuing annexation of what Oceanic still referred to in some of its brochures as the Sandwich Islands was both more peaceful and gradual.  President McKinley announced the annexation of the Hawaiian Islands on 7 July which would see Hawaii became a fully fledged Territory of the United States on 14 June 1900.  What Spreckels and other American businessmen had wedded to the United States commercially was now joined to it politically. 

From an Oceanic brochure c. 1890s: "The Sandwich Islands" were no longer just the heart of Spreckels' Sugar Empire but now America's first Pacific Territory. Credit: Huntington Museum.

For the United States and for Oceanic, it was a New Century that saw the power, prestige and commerce of the country reoriented to the expanses of the Pacific, both North and South, and extend to the British Dominions of the Antipodes which were closer to U.S. West Coast than they were to the Mother Country.  That and the growing popularity of the "American & Australian" route via America to Australia and New Zealand promised expanded cargo, mail and passenger trade.  

Moreover, Hawaii as an American territory meant that as an American line, Oceanic like Matson, would enjoy a monopoly on  a domestic route excluding foreign ships from carrying passengers or cargo. At a stroke this rendered the successful joint Oceanic-Union S.S. Co. Antipodes service unworkable as Moana could no longer participate in the lucrative Hawaii-Mainland sector of the route.  Ironically, American expansion in the Pacific which owed much to Oceanic, put the company and its New Zealand partners in a difficult position and engendered competition instead of profitable and efficient cooperation.  As events proved, it also facilitated the rapid rise of Matson on the Mainland-Hawaii trade at expense of Oceanic as it concentrated solely on that route.   

Union S.S. Co. began negotiations with the New Zealand Government towards a subsidy for a parallel route of its own from San Francisco, but calling instead at Tahiti and Raratonga rather than Hawaii. For its part, Oceanic began its own lobbying with the U.S. Government for an expanded mail contract and subsidy to replace Alameda, Mariposa and Union's Moana with three new ships  maintaining a three-weekly service to Honolulu, Pago Pago (American Samoa since 1899 when the island was partitioned by treaty between Germany and the United States), Auckland and Sydney.  It was the beginning of a remarkable period, indeed a Golden Age, of trans-Pacific services to the Antipodes that would flourish up to the Second World War and represent the only real American competition to British lines on the imperial sealanes. 

In addition to renegotiating its U.S. Mail contract, Oceanic lobbied for passage of the Hanna-Payne Shipping Bill (introduced by Sen. Mark Hanna (R-Ohio) on 19 December 1899, the first of several unsuccessful Whig Republican efforts to spur development of the American Merchant Marine through direct government subsidies to private shipowners. These were all variation of "differential" payments to offset the greater operational and labor costs incurred by American flag operations vs. foreign flag lines. These were opposed by Democrats who objected to public monies subsidizing private firms.

That the U.S. Merchant Marine was at its nadir was shown by dismal example.  In 1897, British and German tonnage carried 85% of U.S. grain exports. Not a single U.S. flag merchant ship passed through the Straits of Gibraltar or the Suez Canal in 1898. Hamburg, then the third largest port in the world, had not seen an American flag ship in 30 years. And not a single U.S. flag ship entered the port of Buenos Aires in 1897. 

But there were stirrings of a modest revival,  not surprisingly centered on the East Coast to Cuba route with Cramp delivering Havana to Ward Line in January 1899 and on 7 February Plant Line placed an order with Cramp for a new steamship;  "to have more extensive passenger accommodation than any vessel ever built in the United States excepting the two big American Line liners, the St. Paul and St. Louis." The ship would be 400 ft. by 50 ft. and have an 18-knot maximum speed.  Next, the Pacific, long the only somewhat level playing field against foreign passenger and mail lines for American companies, would see an awakening. 

Two and possibly three magnificent steamships are to be built by the Oceanic Steamship Company this year to ply between this port and Sydney, Australia. They will be of 6000 tons burden and will have a speed of seventeen knots an hour. The indications are they will be construction at the Union Iron Works, although that has not yet been decided.

San Francisco Chronicle, 22 January 1899

On the occasion of the Annual Shareholders Meeting of the Oceanic Steamship Co. at San Francisco on 21 January 1899, John D. Spreckels announced an ambitious newbuilding program entailing two or three new 6,000-grt, 17-knot steamers for the Antipodes service as well the re-engining and reboilering of Alameda and Mariposa for other duties. 

Paramount in these plans was speed, with two objects in mind. One was to reduce the transmission time of the English mails to Sydney via San Francisco from 37 days (compared to 34 via Suez and 40 via Vancouver) to 30 days. And the other was to qualify for the augmented operational subsidies being proposed by the pending Hanna-Payne Shipping Bill. This would increase the existing mail subsidy of $10,478 per voyage to the Antipodes to $21,136 for 6000-ton, 17-knot ships. Such plans were also encouraged by the company's high stock prices and windfall profits arising from transport work during the Spanish-American War.  Oceanic's reported 1898 net income of $177,776 for its regular trade but considerably augmented by $54,608 for the chartering of Australia for Alaska service and by $93,173 for transport charter to the U.S Government during the war. 

With the new ships, Spreckels aimed to offer a 5½-day passage to Honolulu at 16 knots and then average 15 knots to the Antipodes to fulfill Oceanic's role in achieving the 30-day transit time from London to Sydney.  The Chronicle added that the proposal "will undoubtedly be promptly acted upon. The reason is that much traffic, both freight and passenger, is being diverted from San Francisco to other ports, especially to Vancouver, B.C., by the inability of the present vessels of the line to accept all of the business offered… the prospects are that when the two or three large steamers are finished a fortnightly service will be established between San Francisco and Sydney with stops at Honolulu and Auckland."  

On his first visit to Washington, D.C. in two years, John D. Spreckels arrived there on 1 March 1899 from Philadelphia (to visit a certain well-respected shipyard there) and also had a meeting with President McKinley the following day. "Mr. Spreckels says here to inquire about the chances of the Hanna-Payne shipping bill, and has ascertained that it is almost certain to pass at the next session, as it seems to be a very popular measure with the Senators and Representatives. In the event of its passage Mr. Spreckels' company (the Oceanic) will build three more fine vessels to ply between San Francisco, Honolulu and Australian ports." (The Call, 2 March 1899).

The projected construction of three large modern steamers for the Oceanic Steamship Co. of San Francisco would seem to be contingent upon the passage of the Hanna-Payne bill, according to Mr. John D. Spreckels of San Francisco who is now in the east on matters relative to the award of the contract. In an interview, published a few days since, he is quoted as saying:

'Contracts for the vessels have not yet been awarded, and will not be till I learn the exact status and prospects of the Hanna-Payne shipping bill, which is now before the House. I consider that this is an excellent measure, well calculated in every respect to encourage the growth of such a merchant marine as we should have. The Hanna-Payne bill will, of course, benefit the ship owners for the first few years, but it will eventually be of benefit to the farmers and growers. It will give an immediate stimulus to ship building. The result of that will be that, in a few years, we will have enough ships to start a lively competition among the owners, in which case the owners will be able to do without the subsidy and give the farmers the benefit of it. Some one wanted an amendment attached to the bill giving the farmers a bounty, but thai is wholly unnecessary, and it would, in my opinion, have a decided tendency to defeat the bill. The farmers will get the benefit of it eventually. The growth of the shipping, as fostered by the measure, will resemble the growth of the steel rail industry.

"The three ships which we propose to have built will be of 6,000 tons burden each, and of 8,000 horse power. They are calculated to have a speed of 17 knots, and a bunker capacity of 2,000 tons, with a freight capacity of 2,500 tons. They will have accommodations for 175 first class passengers, 100 second class and 100 steerage. They will be twin-screw steamers, 400 feet long by 50 feet beam. These are the dimensions and capacities of the ships as proposed, but they are liable to be changed. In fact, whether these dimensions will be adhered to depends very much on whether the Hanna-Payne bill goes through as it stands. We have three ships now running between San Francisco and Australia, which have the required speed, under the law of 1892, but they have not the required tonnage."

Marine Review, 9 March 1899

If the Hanna-Payne Bill eventually went nowhere, negotiations with the U.S. Post Office were sufficiently promising to spur Oceanic to proceed with its plans for three new 6,000-ton, 17-knot steamers in March 1899.  Even without the spur of additional government subsidy, the boom in American overseas trade and commerce, especially to Cuba, suddenly flooded shipyards with new orders.  Yards that had long suffered from idle slipways were now hard pressed to meet the demand and Oceanic's timing could not have been worse especially given the requirements of new and faster ships any new mail contract would demand within a tight deadline. 

Oceanic had intended to place the order for three new ships with Union Iron Works of San Francisco and there ensued a series of meetings and negotiations between John D. Spreckels and Union's Irving M. Scott but "owing to the number of contracts in hand it was found impossible to build the vessels in the specified time. Mr. Spreckels wants to see the vessels in commission in March or April 1900 at the latest" asserted the San Francisco Call on 5 March 1899. 

Announcement of the order for the three new ships was predictably lavished reported in the Spreckels' owned San Francisco Call newspaper. Credit: San Francisco Call, 5 March 1899. 

San Francisco's fleet of ocean-going merchant steamers will have three of the largest and best appointed vessels of their class ever seen in the Pacific added to its number before 1900 is very old.

San Francisco Call, 5 March 1899

The Oceanic Company is making a great advance in the pathway of progress, but other floating palaces will be instituted, till every part of the mighty ocean is crossed and recrossed by the furrowing keels of the mighty commercial fleet of the future.

The Hawaiian Star, 10 March 1899

So it was that Oceanic turned to the yard that built Alameda and Mariposa-- Wm. Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia. The Gilded Age established the undoubted supremacy of Pennsylvania as the nation's workshop, the font of American industry and the source of very stuff, from coal and coke, to steel and oil that made it possible-- from Pittsburgh in the West, home of Carnegie, Frick and Westinghouse to Philadelphia in the East, headquarters of Baldwin Locomotives, J.G. Brill streetcars, Pennsylvania Railroad, "The Standard Railroad of the World," and Cramp & Sons, the nation's pre-eminent shipyard yet one of many flourishing yards that made the Delaware River the Clydebank of North America. 

"A Bird's-Eye View Cramp's Ship-Yards, Delaware River, Philadelphia" c. 1898

On 5 March 1899 John D. Spreckels announced that an order had been placed with Cramps for three 6,000 grt ships which would be 1,000 tons bigger than Pacific Mail's China (5,069 grt 440 ft. x 48 ft.) and measure 450 ft. in length with a 50-ft. beam. To accommodate 175 First, 150 Second and 100 Steerage, each would be powered by twin-screw triple-expansion engines developing 8,000 horsepower and giving a contract speed of 17 knots. They could carry 2,500 tons of cargo and, significantly, have refrigerated space for the carriage of Australian and New Zealand frozen mutton and beef and a  2,500-ton coal capacity reflecting their  6,000-mile route.  Further, "They will be built to comply with the navy regulations and when in service can be turned into auxiliary cruisers inside of thirty-six hours."  The contract price of the ships was not stated at the time but on 3 June  Oceanic issued bonds totalling $2.5 mn. to "pay for three new steamers." and its 1900 report to shareholders revealed the cost of the new ships totalled $1,690,302.

The Call reminded its readers of Cramp's achievement with Oceanic's existing pair: "The Alameda and Mariposa were built by the Cramps, and two better vessels were never turned out of a shipyard. They have now been in commission nearly sixteen years, and never had a serious mishap. Year in and year out they have been making the 6000 mile to Sydney and 6000 miles back to San Francisco with the regularity of clockwork, and far more punctuality than the trains… If the Cramps were able to turn out two such vessels in 1883, what will they be able to do now with perfected plant and added experience?  The three new vessels will undoubtedly be a credit to San Francisco, and will spread the fame of California among the Southern Seas."  

Credit: The San Francisco Examiner, 10 March 1899.

Spreckels' decision to give the contract to an East Coast yard was resented in many quarters in San Francisco and the object of a highly critical report in the San Francisco Examiner of 10 March 1899 which ridiculed the official Oceanic statement in The Call that the three new ships would "spread the fame of California among the Southern Seas" when the vessels would be built 3,000 miles distant, depriving some  local 1,200 men of potential work and questioning that Cramp could deliver the ships any faster than Union Iron Works. John Spiers, President of the Fulton Engineering and Shipbuilding Works was quoted: "It is a pity that Mr. Spreckels did not have the steamers built in California, but I suppose it was a question of saving money. It could hardly have been a question of time. The Union Iron Works could get the material out from the East in about two weeks, and that is no delay at in such a contract… There is one thing certain, though-- if the Cramps can build them in a year, the Scotts can. The Union Iron Works can do anything and in the same time, that can be done in the Philadelphia shipyards. Anyone who knows anything about shipbuilding knows that this statement is true." 

For his part, Henry T. Scott of Union Iron Works denied that the issue of delivery time had never come in his discussions with Spreckels and that work for the yard was sufficiently scarce that he had been obliged to lay off 1,200 workmen. When Mr. Spreckels returned to San Francisco on 15 March, in company with H.W. Cramp, Secretary and Treasurer of Cramp Shipbuilding, he told a reporter of the Examiner: "I am not in the mood to be interviewed tonight, I am fatigued with my long overland trip." while when asked if he was surprised to have gotten the contract over Union Iron Works, Mr. Cramp replied, "Well, we're not sorry, but then I am not talking for publication, and particularly not for the Examiner. I refuse to be interviewed."  Of course, as events proved Cramp delivered all three ships many months late.

The reality was that Cramp was overwhelmed with new contracts and while expanding its plant and workforce to meet the demand, the construction of the new trio was fraught with delays and deficiencies.  The Oceanic trio added to an already exceptionally full order book which included, famously, the construction of a battleship (Retvizan) and a cruiser (Variag) for the Imperial Russian Navy.  Then there was yard no. 303 which was an intriguing progenitor of a "stock" Cramp moderate size, fast liner which had been ordered on 7 February 1899 for Plant Line's Gulf Coast-Havana run. Upon the the death of Henry Plant that June and the ensuing sale of his ships to Henry R. Flagler, the hull was bought on the stocks by a regular Cramp customer, Ward Line, and completed as Morro Castle.  The design formed not only the basis for three succeeding Cramp-built Ward liners (Merida, Mexico and Saratoga), but the new Oceanic trio.  

Those three new steamers will be models of their kind. They are modeled on lines similar to the new Plant steamer, and will form a valuable addition to the American trading fleet in the Pacific Ocean.  Secretary C.T. Taylor, Cramps' Ship & Engine Building Co.  

Philadelphia Inquirer, 7 March 1899

Indeed, the Spreckels ships were dimensionally identical and almost visually, too, right down to the typeface of the letters that spelled their names on the hulls and were also twin-screw, triple-expansion engined.  It was the all the more remarkable considering Morro Castle was to ply a route of some 950-miles whereas her Oceanic cousins' traversed some 7,500 miles each way.  Sadly, they all shared more than their fair share of mechanical deficiencies although these were more concerned with their machinery and auxiliaries than their naval architecture and construction. In a hurry, the Spreckels settled on an unproven "off the shelf" design to some extent and while one that would eventually endure for three decades, certainly initially reflected little credit on the builders. 

It certainly started with the unbounded confidence, bluster and swagger that defined the era. The Age (Sydney) of 13 April 1899 reported that "the  contractors undertake to turn out these ships within the year" which was, by any standards of that day (or indeed this) remarkably fast and what prompted Spreckels to place the order.  On 9 May it was reported in the Philadelphia press that "material for the ships was now arriving at the yard...then working on the new Ward liner Morro Castle and the Russian cruiser Variag among other vessels." The Times (Philadelphia) said on 14 May "This contract was regarded by the Cramps as a signal victory, inasmuch as it implies the construction on the Atlantic when they are to go into service from a Pacific port 14,000 miles away."  

Advertisement for Cramps c. 1900 reflecting boom times for the yard, but delayed completion of the Oceanic trio which had substantive deficiencies in design and build quality that reflect poorly on the famous Philadelphia yard. 

"No time is being lost in the building of the three ocean greyhounds for the Oceanic Steamship Company. The keels of all of them have been laid in Cramp's shipyard at Philadelphia, and March next should see one of them in San Francisco." (The Call, 24 June 1899).  Hot on the heels of Havana, Mexico and Morro Castle recently launched by Cramps,  the keel of no. 304 was laid down at Kensington on 19 June 1899, no. 305 on 22 June and no. 306 on 4 November, the latter having to wait for the launch of the Russian cruiser Variag, to clear the slipway. 

The Call in the same issue announced that the Oceanic trio would be named Ventura, Sonoma and Sierra, but either it got the names mixed around or Oceanic later decided to name the first Sierra and the last Ventura.  Even if Sierra was a California/Nevada mountain range, Sonoma and Ventura conformed to the company's California county inspired nomenclature.  They were names that the ships would, through more three decades of service, enshrine in the annals of both their company and country's merchant service as well becoming household names along their 7,200-mile route from America to the Antipodes. 

Construction progress was painfully slow from the onset.  Much of the initial delay was caused by a critical shortage of steel. An era of unbridled progress and astonishing industrial growth was built on steel and there was simply not enough of it at the turn of the century. On 15 August 1899 the Reading Eagle reported that Cramps had laid off 1,500 riveters, platers and iron workers for want of steel, noting that "the Plant Line ship is now in frame but waiting for steel beams and stringers" and "work is almost at a standstill" on the two Oceanic ships. 

The Gilded Age also saw the rise of organized labor and unions as a counter point to often dire conditions, long hours and low wages that produced the almost limitless profits enjoyed by the magnates, barons of industry and trusts.  Construction of the new ships was further slowed by a strike at Cramps which began in early October 1899, but The Call kept up its cheering reports, including a 30 October one on the visit to Philadelphia by George W. Bell, the American Ambassador to Australia, who, after seeing the ships building at Cramps, said Mr. Cramp had "told him that they were the equal of any ships of their class now afloat and vastly superior to anything now on the waters of the Pacific Ocean. They are large, roomy, comfortable, and combine every modern device for safety, with engines capable of driving them at a speed fully two knots faster than any steamer now running out of San Francisco. The first of these magnificent ships will be completed about the first of next May and the other will follow at intervals of months."

Oceanic's 1900 sailing list announcing the new ships and the new mail service to the Antipodes to commence on 1 November. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Sailing list for 1900 showing the proposed maiden voyage of Sierra from San Francisco on 5 September 1900. It would be considerably later than that. Union S.S. Co.'s Moana still figures in the joint service through October. Credit: Huntington Museum.

1900

By the action of the Postmaster General in awarding the contract for carrying the Australian and British closed mails between the United States and Australia to the Oceanic Steamship Company another evidence is given of the superiority of the San Francisco route to and from Australasia and the United States and Europe. The mails of course are forwarded by the shortest, quickest and safest route available, and it was by demonstrating its superiority in these respects over competing line that the Oceanic Steamship Company obtained the contract.

The award is certain to give satisfaction to the public, for the Oceanic is one of the oldest and most reliable steamship lines upon the Pacific, and its carrying service can be relied upon for speed, certainty and efficiency. The regularity of the mails will therefore be assured as far as anything can be which is liable to the accidents of the world, and the advantages of to the commercial community will be notably great.

The Call, 11 April 1900

U.S. Postmaster General Charles Emory Smith advertised for bids for a service from San Francisco to Antipodes "performed by vessels of the second class, 17 trips per annum, time of voyage to be twenty-one days. Under the second-class specification vessels must not be less than 5,000 tons registers, capable of 16 knots speed and constructed to meet the requirements specified for auxiliary naval cruisers. The rate of compensation for such vessels not to exceed $2 per mils for each outward voyage." On 8 March 1900 Oceanic submitted its formal bid to the Post Office for route  75, accompanied by a $40,000 bond. It was the sole bidder.

Pressure to complete the new ships intensified on 31 March 1900 when J.D. Spreckels & Bros. were advised by the U.S. Postmaster General of their award of a new mail contract for 10 years to take effect 1 November to be tri-monthly to Honolulu and Pago  Pago and Auckland and pay $2 per mile. Sailings would be every three weeks instead of four and the transit time from San Francisco to Sydney reduced from 25 to 21 days. This would net the company approximately $250,000 per annum. In 1903, the exact amount came to $245,420 plus $7,000 for Samoa-San Francisco northbound mails. The new service would come into effect on 10 November. At the same time, the colonial government of French Tahiti granted Oceanic a mail contract for a regular service from San Francisco to Papeete which would pay $30,000 per annum for a single ship making 11 voyages.  The company continued its negotiating with the Australian and New Zealand government for mail contracts with each.  Efforts to secure anything more than a poundage rate from the Australians were ultimately frustrated but in 1903, the New Zealand Government entered into a mail contract with Oceanic paying £25,000 per annum. 

Oceanic pointed out that the United States had itself a good bargain with its mail contract which enabled for about $250,000 per annum:

• The supplanting of a foreign vessel by one under the American flag. 
• The building of three American steamships aggregating 18,459 tons register, of the auxiliary-naval type.
• Reduction of time in the delivery of mails between terminals from twenty-four and three-fourths days to twenty-one days.
• An increased number of voyages from 13 to 17 per annum. 
• Greatly increased facilities for transportation of merchandise. 
• An increase in total number of crew from 182 to 471, all whites, and shipped in the United States.
• An increase in wages paid of $144,120 per annum. 
• Employment of 18 American boys as cadets, as required by the law of 1891. 
• The availability to the United States Navy of three steamships of the auxiliary cruiser type, each capable of mounting at least four 6-inch guns and a large complement of smaller caliber, that have a steaming radius without refueling of 8,250 statute miles at 15 knots average speed, or shorter distances at 17 knots, that are always maintained at the highest rating known to maritime commerce.

It was further asserted that "The schedule time required under the contract calls for an average speed throughout the entire voyage of approximately 15 knots per hour. The distance in nautical miles is 7,210, and most of the voyage lies within the tropics. No other steamship line in the world performs such a fast service under similar conditions as to climate and distance."

Miss Cassie L. Hayward, Godmother of Sierra, and daughter of Oceanic Captain Henry Hayward. Credit: The Call. 

Months late, no. 304 was finally christened as Sierra at Kensington on 29 May 1900 by Miss Cassie L. Hayward, daughter of Capt. Henry M. Hayward. 

… as she smashed the riboon-redecked bottle over the bows of the ship she exclaimed: 'I christen thee Sierra, ocean's price, and bid thee God-speed in thy career of ploughing oceans far and near… from the upper deck of the big merchantman flashed numerous signal flags and the national colors…. Shortly after 2 o'clock the vessel was released from the ways, and as she started gracefully down the incline to receive her baptism Miss Cassie Hayward broke over her bow a bottle of sparkling wine, as she repeated the christening formula. Loud cheers from the mass of spectators, together with the toots of a hundred steam whistles, afloat and ashore, greeted the Sierra as she swept into the river and pointed her nose up stream. Several tugs at once made fast to her and she was soon safely moored alongside a pier. Immediately after the launch, a luncheon was served to the guests.

Philadelphia Record, 30 May 1899

Credit: The Call, 11 June 1900.

The day was an ideal one for such an occasion. The morning was cool and slightly overcast with clouds, but almost at the moment when the final wedge was loosened from under the Sierra's keel the sun shone brilliantly over the animated scene. The river was without a ripple and the new creation of the marine architects glided with the grace of a swan down the smoking ways and for the first time dipped her beak into the glistening waters.

The Sierra took the water exactly at 2.20 p.m. amid vociferous cheering and the din of whistles on factories and passing river craft. Within ten minutes she had been picked up far out in the stream and towed back to her moorings at pier 86, where the work of completion will be vigorously pushed that she may be in service by next fall.

The Times (Philadelphia), 30 May 1900

Among those present for the launching were Charles H. Cramp, president, and Henry M. Cramp, treasurer, Capt. Henry M. Hayward and daughters Misses Cassie L. and Edna Hayward, Naval Constructor Hanscom, Asst. Naval Constructor Robinson and Capt. Brownson and Lt. Cmdr. Badger of U.S.S. Alabama.  It was forecast at the time that Sierra would be delivered by 1 September 1900. 

Miss Alice Von S. Samuels, Godmother of Sonoma, Credit: The Call.

Sonoma was launched at Cramps at 10:33 a.m. on 7 August 1900 by Miss Alice Von S. Samuels, the daughter of Wm. S. Samuels, inspector of Lloyd's agency in Philadelphia. 

There was no large gathering of public officials at Cramp's shipyard  yesterday, but the launch of the huge Oceanic Line steamer Sonoma was as great a success from a spectacular point of view as any of the launched that have made the great Kensington yard famous the world over. The Sonoma slide down the ways and took her first dip into waters of the Delaware about 10.30 o'clock, and there was not a hitch of any kind in the carefully arrange programme. All the workmen employed at the place and quite a number of visitors were on hand when the customary bottle of win was smashed on the vessel's down by Miss Alice Von S. Samuels, the handsome daughter of Captain William S. Samuels, inspector for Lloyd's agency. There was a hearty cheer as the big hull glided into the water and all the steam whistles in the vicinity shrieked out a noisy salute.

As the freshly painted hull glided from the ways, there was the usual accompaniment of shrill voiced whistles from the Cramp plant and passing river craft. The soul-searching of the cruiser Variag and the new Ward liner Morro Castle added to the general chorus. As Miss Samuels shattered the bottle of wine across the port bow of the Sonoma, the sharp impact of the bottle against the hull caused a portion of the contents to spray the faces and clothing of those nearest her.

Philadelphia Record, 8 August 1900

Attending the launch were Capt. Hayward and his two daughters, Henry W. Cramp, Edwin S. Cramp and Courtland D. Cramp. 

The Philadelphia Record on 19 August 1900 reported that "activity in shipbuilding continues unabated at Cramp's shipyard, and the rush is hastening the completion of facilities which practically double the output of the plant."… "feverish activity in every corner of the workshops." Feverish but not timely, and the Sydney Morning Herald of 5 September informed its readers that: "Owing to the strike in Philadelphia, there has been a lot of delay in her getting her finishings, and she will be at least two months later than expected. It is thought she will be there by the middle of November. The time for the arrival of the other two new steamers is also doubtful." It was originally planned to have all three on the run by 12 December with Sierra first on 5 September, Sonoma sailing from San Francisco on 31 October and Ventura on 12 December. Now, it would be necessary, at very least, to have Mariposa make an additional round voyage to the Antipodes, returning to San Francisco on 16 November when it was hoped Sierra would be able to relieve her. To this effect, Oceanic announced on 26 September that Sierra would sail on her maiden voyage on 21 November, under Capt. C. Houdlette, formerly of Mariposa. 

Credit: Oakland Tribune, 27 September 1900

On 26 September 1900, the third of the ships was sent down the ways at Cramps by Miss Elsie Cronsmiller, niece of John D. Spreckels.

Through the building of great ocean going steamers and furnishing the capital to operated them Philadelphia is now taking a hand in the development of trade between the western shores of this country and the isles of Pacific, made the more profitable by the policy of President McKinley.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, 7 September 1900

The last Union S.S. Co. sailing on the joint service was by Moana which docked at Sydney on 28 October 1900. The Oceanic twins, too, made their supposed final voyages on the service, Mariposa from Sydney on 24 October (arriving at San Francisco on 10 November) and Alameda departing Sydney on 4 December and coming into San Francisco on Christmas Eve. 

Sierra in dry dock at Cramp's on 10 September 1900 where her hull was cleaned and painted before her trials. Credit: Mariners Museum

Meanwhile, Sierra was finally nearing completion and after painting, was floated out of the dry dock at Cramps on 12 September 1900.  On 3 October the Philadelphia Record reported: "It is expected that the new steel steamship Sierra, built by the Cramps Shipbuilding Company for the Oceanic Steamship Company, for service between San Francisco and Australia, will make a trial trip to-day. The owners of the vessel are in a hurry for the craft, and the contract for her delivery expired some time ago."

Another view of Sierra in dry dock. Credit: Mariners Museum. 

One of an ongoing series of panoramic photographs of the Cramp shipyards during its amazingly productive 1900 with Sonoma (left), Sierra (middle) and the Russian cruiser Variag (right) fitting out. 

Returning from the trials of the Russian cruiser Variag, Edward S. Cramp met with John D. Spreckels on 6 October 1900 before both embarked on Sierra that afternoon for her trials which lasted until the 9th. On her return, the Philadelphia Record reported that the trials had been ""successfully run at sea in the stormiest weather. The builders guaranteed a speed of 16 knots knots which was necessary because of mail contracts. And with was exceeded by a knot; the new vessel returning with 17 knots an hour to her credit."  The Philadelphia Inquirer added: "the vessel steamed up the Delaware with the number 17 painted on her stack."

By autumn 1900 Oceanic began advertising the new ships and services, both the improved one to the Antipodes and the new route to Tahiti. 

Little time was wasted in preparing Sierra for her epic delivery trip to the West Coast, recalling this was 14 years before the Panama Canal was built and San Francisco was a 14,000-mile voyage away, around South America and through the Straits of Magellan. Even more audaciously, it was planned that she sail there nonstop (which had never been attempted), without refuelling, and make  the journey in 33 to 36 days.  With Capt. H.C. Houdlette in command, Sierra set out at 1:00 p.m. on 11 October 1900 on the longest single voyage she would make in her 32 years.  Filling out her officer staff on that first trip were Chief Officer J.H. Trask, Purser N.C. Walton, Chief Steward W.N. Hannigan, Chief Engineer W.H. Netman and Surgeon Dr. Souls.  

Finally finished, an immaculate and very smart looking Sierra in the Delaware River. 

Leaving Philadelphia on 11 October 1900, Sierra passed Cape Henlopen the next day, detained for over 13 hours off Cape Virgin, again at Sandy Point (St. Croix) and another 14 hours in the Straits of Magellan and with her voyage already extended beyond the anticipated 35 days, she had to call at Coronel for one day and 15 hours to take on extra coal.  From Cape Pilar to Coronel, she met with a gale with headwinds and high seas, but from there all the way to San Francisco enjoyed fine weather. 

The Call  enthusiastically covered Sierra's "Splendid Dash" from her builders to San Francisco. Credit: The Call 25 November 1900.

The Oceanic Steamship Company's new steamship Sierra arrived from Philadelphia yesterday morning. She made the run in record-breaking time and came into port looking the ocean greyhound that she is."

Captain H.C. Houdlette, who brought the new flyer out, says she is the best sea boat he ever set foot on, while Chief Engineer Nieman says is as easy to handle as a yacht.  Added "From the time we left Philadelphia we have never been under full steam, but nevertheless she ran along at a 12 and 13 knot gait as though was nothing was the matter. When it comes to making mail time, I think she can easily do the run to Honolulu in five days when asked. I have been at sea a few years myself, and I never saw a pretty set of engine in a ship all my life than those that drive the Sierra. They work like a clock and when called upon will make the Sierra show her heels to anything on the coast."

There were crowds down to see the new steamship yesterday. Her cabins and staterooms were inspects and everything in the shape of furnishing was pronounced good. In the second cabin the accommodations are equal to anything in the 'first class' on the coast steamers. Everywhere there are electric fans, and there are plenty of bathrooms aboard. Hot and cold water is distributed from one end of the ship to the other, and the electric light system is perfect.

In every details there is a tendency to the luxurious, and in no instance does the decoration prove inharmonious.

San Francisco Call, 25 November 1900

Sierra came triumphantly into San Francisco on 25 November 1900 and despite the longer than expected journey time, still managed to break Alameda's record of 45 days set on her  own 1883 delivery voyage.  Sierra's total time for the 14,000-mile trip was 39 days and 16 hours including 2 days 22 hours 10 minutes detention on her stops en route.  "During the entire trip the Sierra behaved splendidly, proving herself a fine sea craft"  and officers "speak in praise of the seaworthiness of the Sierra" were among the kudos to the ship by her officers and crew reported by an enthusiastic press.  Almost as soon as the somewhat sea-stained vessel docked at the Pacific Street Wharf at 7:30 a.m., she was thronged by visitors, not the least of whom was Claus Spreckels and that afternoon a party of business men were shown aboard by John D. Spreckels. 

Even the rival San Francisco Chronicle gave Sierra's arrival lavish coverage. Credit: San Francisco Examiner, 25 November 1900. 

As did the San Francisco Examiner using another one of Detroit Publishing Co.'s formal portraits of Sierra in the Delaware River. Credit: San Francisco Examiner, 25 November 1900. 

The departure of the Oceanic Steamship Company's steamship Mariposa on Tuesday evening for Auckland, N.Z. and Sydney, Australia, marked the beginning of a new era of quick and more convenient mail and passenger service to those far off lands, as well as an increase in the business of San Francisco.

San Francisco Call, 25 November 1900

The excitement over Sierra's arrival was somewhat mitigated by the fact that she had rather missed the party already.  It fell, instead, to the venerable Mariposa to take her 22 November 1900 sailing to the Antipodes, inaugurating the new mail service. She had aboard the London mails which had been dispatched from the capital at 9:15 p.m. on the 10th and scheduled to reach Auckland 10 December and Sydney the 13th. In comparison, P&O's Victoria left London 1 November, calling at Port Said 13th  where she collected the last London mails from transhipped from Brindisi on the 11th. She would arrive Sydney on 15 December, two days later than Mariposa and Auckland on the 20th, a week later than the Oceanic liner.  Once in service, the new ships would cut another two days off the passage. 

Although reported as a doubtless triumph in the effusive press coverage, it did not take much reading between the lines to discern that Sierra had a very difficult delivery trip, beyond the rigors of taking a brand new ship from the builders yard on a 14,000-mile right around the South American continent. There were teething problems aplenty in the engine room and her detentions en route were on account of these as well as deficiencies in the performance of her twin screws.  The Spreckels, too, seemed unhappy with much of her furnishings which were landed and replaced before she set off on her maiden voyage and had decided that  her hull should be repainted white as well. A replacement set of screws was cast and sent from the east by train with the idea of shipping them aboard for the run to Sydney where they would be installed in dry dock there.

San Francisco Chronicle of 26 November 1900 reported "although no visitors were supposed to be admitted to the new steamer Sierra yesterday, and all expressed admiration over her fine appearance. The day was rainy and the ship was in no condition to be examined from a critical standpoint, but those who were so fortunate as to be passed by the guard at the gangplank were well repaid for the trouble going to the steamer. The work of cleaning the Sierra and painting her a snow white will begin today. By December 12th, when she is to sail for Sydney on her first trip, the steamer will be in first-class condition. Nearly all her cabins have been engaged for the trip." While the Call the same day informed its readers: "yesterday a gang of men was at work painting and scrubbing and removing the signs of her long voyage around the Horn. In a few days she will begin to look like the ocean beauty she is, and then the general public will have a change to see her in all her war paint. The Sierra is a handsome vessel and from truck to keelson even an expert cannot see anything to find fault with." Meanwhile, Sierra was shifted from the Pacific Street Wharf to the Spreckel's sugar refinery pier for the work. 

More candor slipped in when on 30 November 1900 the San Francisco Examiner reported that Sierra is "in the stream taking in coal and being put in readiness for sailing to Australia on December 12th. The machinery of the steamer is being overhauled, for it is not yet in smooth running order. On the voyage out from Philadelphia several stops were made on account of it." while the Chronicle on 5 December, remarked that "All the furnishings of the steamer have been put back in place, a lot of brightening up has been done and the visitors will see the Sierra at her best. The hull is being painted white." It was only later that more details as to the delivered condition of the vessel was revealed:

After her [Sierra] arrival repairers were busy on her almost up to the time she sailed, and then she was not in a condition satisfactory to her owners. More than once on her voyage out she had to be hove to to repair breaks. The worst trouble was with her feed and lifting pumps. The latter could not stand the pressure required of them, and they were continually pulling away from their fastenings. Upon arrival here the Cramps were telegraphs to to send out proper pumps. The feed pump reached here in time to be put in place, but the Sierra sailed for the colonies with original lifting pump, and as a result she made a very long passage to Honolulu.

San Francisco Chronicle, 9 February 1901

The Elegance of The Gilded Age captured in this superb illustration depicting the inspection of the new Sierra by invited guests.  Credit: The Call, 6 December 1900.

On the morning of 5 December 1900 Sierra was back at the Pacific Street Wharf where she was opened to inspection by invited guests from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

The Oceanic Steamship Company's new palatial steamer Sierra was thrown open  for inspection yesterday. For three hours the invited guests came and went, and on every lip was praise for the new mail boat.

J.D. Spreckels received all the visitors and among the prominent guests who inspected the Sierra with a critical eye was Claus Spreckels. He went over the big liner from stem to stern and suggested here and there an alteration that will improve the comfort of the traveling public. 

San Francisco Call, 6 December 1900

As all the furnishings had been been replaced since the Sierra arrived from Philadelphia a few days ago, the vessel's interior was very attractive, and was highly praised for its up-to-date features.

San Francisco Chronicle, 6 December 1900 

Credit: Honolulu Advertiser.

On 10 December 1900 Sierra left her berth and "took a spin on the bay for the purpose of adjusting the compasses." (Chronicle) and then returned to finish loading a heavy cargo and preparing to receive a full passenger list, it being reported by the Call "there is not a vacant stateroom in the ship. The second cabin is taxed to its limited and the steerage is well filled. The handsome liner has been painted white and looks better than ever in her new colors."

Predictably but wonderfully enthusiastic, Spreckels' The Call lavishly recorded every moment of Sierra's entry into service. Credit: The Call, 14 December 1900. 

Sierra's maiden voyage finally was to commence at 9:00 p.m. on 12 December 1900 when the she was described by the Chronicle as being "laden with freight and shining in a coat of white, presents a more attractive appearance than she arrived her after her long trip from Philadelphia."   In the event, the trans-continental train with mails from England was involved in a wreck in the Rockies and she did not get away until 3:00 p.m. the next day, Her passenger list of 200 First, 80 Second and 40 steerage was the largest cabin list yet to sail from San Francisco and her outbound cargo included  salmon, shoes and boots, lumber, bicycles and canned goods.  It proved a tricky departure owing to a strong flood tide and Sierra was carried back against the pier, scraping her fresh coat of white paint until the tug Relief Pilot Newt Jordan got her in hand and off on her way by 3:30 p.m. "Once out in the stream, all the near-by steamers gave the vessel a rousing farewell, there was a great shouting of the hundreds of passengers lining the rail and the Sierra's maiden voyage was auspiciously begun." (Chronicle, 14 December 1900).

The Oceanic Steamship Company's fine new mail boat Sierra got away for Honolulu, Pago Pago, Auckland and Sydney yesterday. As she pulled out into the stream every tug in the bay saluted her and the crowds on Pacific-street wharf cheered and waved their handkerchiefs to their departing friends. Never had a vessel such an auspicious start on her maiden voyage, and never has a big mail boat left boat left port in better trim for a long run. She was loaded 'just right,' and Captain Howard deserved all the praise he received for the excellent trim in which he sent the big liner to sea.

San Francisco Call. 14 December 1900

Front page news in the Honolulu Evening Bulletin, 21 December 1900

In an era before wireless communication at sea, ships' arrivals were anticipated by schedule and often resulted in wasted hours vainly searching the horizon for their appearance off shore.  Such was the case with Sierra whose already delayed first voyage was further retarded by one of the worst winter gales in recent memory so that she did not arrive at Honolulu on 18 December 1900 as expected but rather on the 20th.  She was finally sighted off Koko Head at 7:00 p.m. and docked after a miserable 7-day 4-hour passage, recording daily runs of 194, 290, 288, 290, 256, 312, 362 and, on the last day, 89 nautical miles.

Meeting what Capt. Houdlette said was the worst weather he had seen in 11 years, Sierra hit gales en route westnorthwest beginning 14 December 1900, had to slow down and shipped a heavy sea forward which unshipped a derrick boom and smashing woodwork in front of the bridge. The atrocious conditions continued and on the 16th she shipped another sea, damaging deck fittings. Worse, the new screws on the fore deck began to shift and also caused her to dip her bows in the seas and had to be, at great peril to the deck crew, unlashed and were washed overboard. Only on the 17th did the weather abate, but she did still did not work up to full speed and there were clearly still issues with her machinery:  "The Sierra has not 'found herself' yet, as Rudyard Kipling would remark. She is brand-new and stiff and awkward, and her different parts have not as yet shaken themselves together. She doesn't run as easy as she will by and by when she had a chance to find herself, and  her parts have had an opportunity to get acquainted with one another."

Credit: Hawaiian Gazette, 21 December 1900. 

As she lay towering and graceful alongside the Oceanic wharf yesterday, the great new steamship of the Oceanic Company, the Sierra was the admiration and delight of all who saw her. Honolulu, never having seen the Sierra before, made it a point to inspect the new boat while she was in port. Her officers permitted people to go aboard and look around, to wander from one end of the large vessel to the other, to wonder at her size, her beam, her depth, her power, her beauty and her elegant accommodations… In the afternoon, between four and five o'clock, Berger's band played aboard the Sierra. It was the Sierra's welcome to this port. There were many through passengers on the vessels deck when the music of the band made the afternoon gay and entertaining, and they thought as much of the band as the members of the band thought of the splendid Sierra. 

Honolulu Advertiser, 22 December 1900

Sierra sailed south at noon on 21 December 1900.

Early Oceanic advertising card for the new ships. Credit: Huntington Museum.

1901

The service initiated by the arrival of the Sierra cannot fail to be of great importance to New Zealand. There is a possibility of some little delay in having the service fully established, but it can only be a matter of a few months till the Sonoma and the Ventura, sister ships to the Sierra, follow on the route, thus placing the facilities for travel across the Pacific far ahead of anything to which the people of New Zealand have been accustomed.

New Zealand Herald, 18 January 1901

Sierra kept Aucklanders anxious, too, and she she did not arrive as expected on 2 January 1901, the Auckland Star surmised "that a breakdown, possibly of a trivial nature, occurred in the engine-room." She finally appeared on the morning of the 4th, now four days off schedule time.  It transpired that the port low pressure piston had broken on Christmas Eve, while nearing Pago Pago, necessitating stopping to disconnect it from the crankshaft and proceeding at a lower speed for the rest of the passage.  She called at Pago Pago on the 28th. She did San Francisco to Auckland in 21 days 13 hours with stoppages of 19 hours 13 hours so her total steaming time was 20 days 17 hours 20 minutes. Her best day's run was 369 miles between Honolulu and Pago Pago. 

Capt. Houdlette and his officers (including Chief Officer J.H. Trask far left) pose for the camera during Sierra's maiden call at Auckland. Auckland Weekly News 11 January 1901, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19010111-4-2

Referring to the weather encountered between San Francisco and Hawaii, the Auckland Star reported: "Throughout the gale the steamer behaved excellently, proving herself a splendid sea boat. The passengers all speak in glowing terms of her steadiness and seaworthiness. Some little damage was caused to the deck fittings by green seas, which were taken aboard." The New Zealand Herald added: "throughout yesterday the steamer was thronged with visitors, who took a keen interest in the various appointments, and who were allowed the full run of the ship, the officers and crew being most courteous to all. The Sierra leaves for Sydney this morning, where the repairs to the broken piston will be effected."  A celebratory luncheon was hosted aboard that afternoon attended by Union S.S. Co.'s Chairman and local officials.

U.S.M.S. Sierra on her maiden voyage, resplendent in white. Credit: Honolulu Advertiser. 

As an embodiment of strength, speed, comfort and safety, the new mail steamer Sierra, of the Oceanic Steamship Company's line, which arrived yesterday from San Francisco, ranks among the highest class of American merchantmen.

The Daily Telegraph, 10 January 1901

Sierra left Auckland for Sydney at 9:30 a.m. on 5 January 1901 where she docked at the Union S.S. Co. pier on the 9th. That afternoon the Prime Minister of New Zealand, the Rt. Hon. R. Seddon, was a special guest of the officers and attended a welcoming reception aboard. 

Wonderful photographic coverage of Sierra's maiden departure from Sydney in The Sydney Mail, 2 February 1901. 

It was decided not repair the damaged piston during the turnaround at Sydney and Sierra sailed at 4:20 p.m.  on 17 January 1901 on the return journey of her maiden voyage.  This, too, was delayed by strong headwinds across the Tasman and her already diminished speed and she finally came into Auckland the evening of the 21st.  By the time she sailed north at 11:00 a.m. the next day, Sierra was three days behind schedule. Sierra called at Pago Pago on 26 January 1901 after which one of her circulating pumps failed and she did not arrive at Honolulu until 3:00 p.m. on the 2nd and sailed for San Francisco later that day. 

On account of an injury to one of the cylinders and minors mishaps the Sierra's first trip has not been particularly creditable, although the seaworthiness of the vessel  has been highly praised.

San Francisco Chronicle, 10 February 1901

Two days late, Sierra ended a star-crossed maiden voyage when she docked at San Francisco on 9 February 1901, landing 85 cabin and 30 steerage passengers. On the outward trip, after leaving Honolulu, the low-pressure cylinder burst, and this greatly hindered the speed of the steamer. Leaving Sydney on January 30th, the Tasman offered up head winds and rough seas and she called at Auckland on 20-21st and  Pago-Pago on the 26th. Fine weather, was experienced to Honolulu (3 February) and she made the crossing to San Francisco in 5 days 14 hours. 

In the meantime,  Sonoma, had been completed, ran trials and distinguished herself on her delivery and maiden voyage. Her trials had begun on 7 November 1900, departing Cramps at 2:30 p.m. for the course outside the Delaware Capes with Capt. Redford Sargeant in command and Edward S. Cramp aboard.  Sonoma, under Capt. C.F. Harriman,  left Philadelphia for San Francisco at 7:00 a.m. on the 17th, passing Pernambuco at noon on the 30th, entering the Straits of Magellan at 2:30 p.m. on 8 December and passing out of them at 10:30 a.m. on the 10th.  She was favored with light to moderate winds throughout the voyage except for one strong northerly gale clearing the straits which slowed her down for 18 hours. Sonoma reached San Francisco at 9:00 p.m. on the 26th; her non-stop passage of 38 days 9 hours clipped 19 hours off Sierra's time. She did the 13,265-mile voyage at an average 14.84 knots with a best days run of 368 miles at 16.67 knots.

During all the trip from Philadelphia the Sonoma showed a capability for speed that surprised even her officers, and while in the straits, when she was running for an anchorage in advance of the tide, a speed of over eighteen knots an hour was recorded and her engines made 115 revolutions, or three more than on her trial trip. Mr. Anderson, formerly on the steamer St. Paul, came out on the Sonoma as the builder's representative. Frequently the steamer made 390 miles in twenty-four hour hours. The only fault noted was in the vessel's pumps.

San Francisco Chronicle, 28 December 1900

The reference to the defects on Sonoma's pumps reflected the same problems encountered by Sierra and detailed later by the San Francisco Examiner on 9 February 1901:

The Sonoma, the second of the fleet, encountered the same difficulties on her maiden voyage from Philadelphia. Her engine room, like that of the Sierra, was a workshop during the entire trip, and the engineer's department was worked to death. Day and night the men were kept going, and they succeeded in getting some service out of the pumps. The Sonoma arrived here in a little better condition than did the Sierra, but she too had to be turned over to the repair shops. The Risdon Iron Works had possession of her until within a day before she left port for the Colonies. Another telegram was sent to the Cramps and the new pumps came out here, not by fast freight, but by express, at an enormous cost to the shipper-- 15 cents at pound, it is said. The result was that the Sonoma went away with new feed and lifting pumps. She made a good run to Honolulu, but the work in the engine-rooms was a nervous strain on the men. Fourteen coal passers left the vessel as soon as she reached the islands.

Sonoma was dispatched on her delivery trip not completed inside with none of her carpets laid or furniture fitted in place and her superstructure not painted so all of this work, in addition, had to be accomplished en route. 

A busy scene at Risdon Iron Works with Alameda (left), Australia (center) and the new Sonoma (right) being repainted white and repaired in preparation for her maiden voyage to the Antipodes. Credit: Marine News.

Sonoma which had been in the upper bay since arriving, was shifted to the Pacific Street pier on 9 January 1901 to be made ready for her maiden voyage to Sydney on the 23rd including being repainted white. On the 12th, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that "a large number of mechanics are at work on the several decks of the new steamer Sonoma putting the vessel in shape to leave for Australia on the 23rd. All the furnishings originally place in the steamer have been temporarily removed and when the workmen have completed minor alterations will be replaced." 

An especially pleasing study of Sonoma, pristine in white, outbound on her maiden voyage. Note the U.S. Mail Flag occupies pride of her place at her mainmast gaff. 

Delayed by the late arrival of the English Mails, Sonoma sailed at 3:00 p.m. on 24 January 1901 "under even more auspicious circumstances than attended the departure of her sister ship Sierra a few weeks ago..."The steamer was inspected at her dock by thousand of persons prior to the moments of sailing and received high praise, the furnishing and generally fine appearance inside and out making the vessel an object of unusual interest.  Many photographs of the steamer were taken after she backed into stream." (San Francisco Chronicle, 25 January 1901).  She was commanded by Capt. K. Van Oterendorp, late of Alameda, with Chief Officer C.A. Holbert, Second Officer F.A. Jones, Third Officer G.A. Hill, Chief Officer C.A. Holbert  and Chief Purser G.A. Hodson. 

Credit: San Francisco Call, 14 February 1901.

The weather initially was no kinder to Sonoma than it had been to her sister, with a heavy gale endured for a day and a half after leaving San Francisco, with "a good deal of water shipped, but no damage was done."  Honolulu was reached mid morning on 30 January 1901 and she called  at Pago Pago on 6 February.  By reaching Auckland on the 12th, in a steaming time of 16 days 3 hours 54 minutes, she had beaten Alameda's record of 16 days 22 hours 1 minutes set on her last voyage, averaging 15.75 knots. Sailing from Auckland at dawn on the 13th, Sonoma put in a splendid run on her first passage across the Tasman, sweeping past Sydney Heads on the 16th.

Considerable interested was manifested at Sydney in the arrival on Saturday [16 February 1901] of the A. and A. R.M.S. Sonoma an the Union S.S. Company's Mararoa, a cable from Auckland having mentioned that the two liner were racing across the Tasman Sea.

The Union liner left the wharf at Auckland at midnight on the 12th inst.  And the Royal Mail steamer left the moorings at Auckland at 5 o'clock the following morning, the named vessel thus getting a start of five hours for the race across.

The first steamer to put in an appearance at the Heads on Saturday morning was the Mararoa, which entered at 7 o'clock. The Sonoma shortly afterwards was sighted from the South Head signal station, and entered Sydney Harbour at 8.45 a.m. Deducting the start the Mararoa had of five hours, the new mail steamer Sonoma thus gains a victory by 3 hours 15 min. The steaming of the Mararoa was 3 days 7 hours, and the Sonoma's actual steaming time was 3 days 3 hours and 45 mins.

The passage of the Sonoma is the record for the run across from Auckland to Sydney, beating that of the R.M.S. Moana, of the Union Line, which made the trip in 3 days 4 hours. On the first day out from Auckland the liner 425 knots, and on the second day she ran 413 knots, the average speed being 17½ knots per hour. From 'Frisco to Auckland her average was 16 knots per hour.

The Sonoma showed her splendid steaming capabilities through the run from the Golden Gate by breaking all previous records. Her actual steaming time from San Francisco to Sydney was 19 days 7 hours 39 min. The A. and A. liner also holds the 'blue ribbon' for the fastest run from Philadelphia to San Francisco. Her actual steaming time over that distance was 37 days 4 hours. Captain Von Oterendorp is in command and Mr. Little is chief engineer, and both are proud of the performance of the liner.

Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 18 February 1901

Excellent photo of Sonoma sailing from Sydney on the return leg of her maiden voyage. Credit: Sydney Mail, 9 March 1901. 

Berthed at West Circular Quay, Sonoma "was greatly admired" (Daily Telegraph).  On 20 February 1901 she entered Mort's Dry Dock for cleaning and painting of her hull.  Starting the return portion of her maiden voyage, Sonoma sailed on the 26th for Auckland at 2:00 p.m.and, after "a fair trip across," docked there the morning of 2 March and sailed later that afternoon. 

'Frisco-bound, Sonoma sails from Auckland. Credit:  Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19010308-6-1 8 March 1901 Auckland Weekly News.

After calling at Pago Pago on 5 March 1901, Sonoma bucked exceptionally strong trade winds and a rough sea and made Honolulu on the 12th. Concluding what had been as successful a maiden voyage as any vessel would wish for, Sonoma came into the Golden Gate on the 18th, doing the passage from Honolulu in 5 days days 11 hours 22 minutes. She landed 144 First, 54 Second and 49 steerage passengers at San Francisco. 

Busy days at Cramp's: construction of the Imperial Russian Navy cruiser Retvizan (foreground) with Ventura fitting out in the background. Credit: U.S. Library of Congress. 

Ventura ready for her trials (note her hull is entirely painted black with no wide white top strake) with the four-funnelled Retvizan on the left.  Credit: The Times (Philadelphia), 10 December 1900.

Meanwhile, the third sister, Ventura, with the attendant diminished fanfare afforded the third of any trio, was finally completed and ran her trials before the end of 1900.  Although it was originally announced she would run her tests on 6 December, these were postponed at the last minute to the 19th. Then fog caused another 48-hour delay and she finally underwent her trials on the 22nd under Capt. Radford Sargent with Edwin S. Cramp aboard representing the builders. "In her trial performance the Ventura fulfilled every stipulation of the contract, including a speed of seventeen knots an hour. Four runs were made between the lightships outside of the Delaware Capes, after which a straightaway run of eight hours was made to seaward." (Philadelphia Inquirer).  She return to Cramps at 8:30 a.m. on the 24th.

Leaving Philadelphia for San Francisco on 29 December 1900 (and scheduled to arrive on 6 February 1901), Ventura (Capt. W. Hayward) capped off a remarkable output for the year for Delaware River shipyards, no fewer than 77 vessels having been turned out and of the 180 American ships over 1,000 gross tons at the time, 160  were Delaware River-built. 

The Ventura will have the advantage of the experience gained by the mistake made in sending the others off before they were ready and should be in first class condition when she leaves.

Honolulu Republican, 11 January 1901

Captain Hayward, who superintended the building of all three vessels, is in command of the Ventura, and as the defects in the Sierra and Sonoma have been rectified in Ventura the supposition is that she will beat the 'record' made by the Sonoma.

San Francisco Examiner,  6 February 1901

Alas, as if in defiance of the press predictions, Ventura's delivery voyage was more than star-crossed and the defects and inconveniences experienced in her sisters assumed tragic proportions before it was over.  On second day out she was hit by a heavy storm which carried away a portion of her starboard rail, stove in a lifeboat and smashed several ladders. Then, one day after leaving Valparaiso, on 23 January 1901, the main steam pipe of the port boilers exploded, instantly killing five men and scalding another five. The details of the accidents awaited the vessel's arrival at San Francisco on 7 February:

Credit: San Francisco Chronicle, 8 February 1901.

The maiden voyage of the steamer Ventura, which arrived her from Philadelphia this morning, was a very sad one. With more than one-half the distance covered, and with everything in favor of the pleasant and record breaking trip, in an instant all were plunged into deepest gloom. The main steam pipe of the port engine burst and five men were instantly killed and five others badly scalded.

The accident occurred at 6:15 o'clock on the night of January 23rd, the day after the vessel sailed from Valparaiso. The Ventura was then in latitude 30.42 degrees west. The evening was pleasant and those who were not on duty were enjoying the privilege of the deck. Suddenly a terrific explosion was heard and vessel shook violently. Everybody was certain that one of the boilers had burst and expected to see the ship settle.

Chief Engineer Haynes made for engine-room, his first assistant at his heels, and down the ladders went swarming oilers, firemen and coal-passers, who had relieved from duty only a short time before. The engine, boiler and firerooms were filled with vapor and the hissing of escaping steam almost drowned the agonizing cries of injured men. When the steam lifted, a fearful sight met the gaze of those who had rushed into the engine-room.  Lying on the floor in positions indicating acute pain were ten bodies. Five were dead, but the rescuers did not know it at the time. Up the narrow ladders to the main deck the unfortunate men were carried, the Ventura meanwhile having been stopped. The bodies were laid out, the dead being quickly covered, the injured receiving the quickest possible attention.

Next day at noon the bodies of the dead were consigned to the sea, Captain Hayward reading the burial service over them.  The dead were: Jr. Engineer George W. Robb (26) Fireman William Faren (39), Fireman J. Desmond (26), Coal passer Paul Beier (26), Stowaway Felix Glass (19). 

San Francisco Examiner, 8 February 1901

With the four port boilers now disabled, Ventura resumed passage on her remaining four starboard boilers and engine to reach San Francisco almost on schedule on 7 February 1901, recording 38 days, 23 hours and 50 minutes for the voyage or just 14 hours more than Sonoma. She anchored in Mission Bay and a team from Risdon Iron Works effected repairs and she then shifted to the Sugar Refinery Pier to be readied for her maiden voyage.  Unlike her sisters, Ventura was not repainted white and her hull remained black without the white top strake.  On the 11th she was docked at the Pacific Street Wharf with the expectation of sailing at 9:00 p.m. on the 13th.

Meanwhile, the investigation into the accident by Captains Bolles and Bulger of the U.S. Inspectors of Steam Vessels began on 11 February 1901. The witnesses included  S.N. Haines, Chief Engineer, T.W. Lawrence, 1st Asst Eng, J.V. Ainsworth, 2nd Asst. Eng.  and Mr. McGinn, representing the builders. It was stated there was 165 lbs of pressure in pipe at the time of the explosion and the vessel making 15.5 knots. "There was absolutely no unskillfulness in the handling the engine," the inspectors stated at the onset. Chief Engineer Haines testified that there had been a number breaks of pipes in the engine room "and all of them were due to structural defects." He stated that the steam pipe had its copper burned in the process of its manufacture and was not re-enforced and that a suction pipe and an exhaust pipe had also failed.  The investigation was closed on 13th. On the 22nd the Board made their finding and laid the cause of the explosion to "imperfect workmanship," citing: "The edge of the outer lap on the exploded pipe appeared to have been unduly hammered into the copper beside it, producing a scoring or indentation, as has sometimes been done in calking the laps of boilers in former times by sharp calking tools."

With her black hull deep in the water under the weight of an usually heavy cargo of freight the new steamer Ventura is ready to sail on her maiden voyage to Australia. The English mails are scheduled to arrive here at 6:15 o'clock tonight and at 9 o'clock the Ventura will sail with many passengers. John D. Spreckels, president of the Oceanic Company, accompanied by his daughter, Miss Grace Spreckels, will be among the passengers for Sydney. 

San Francisco Chronicle, 14 February 1901. 

There was an enormous crowd present to see the vessel away and three hearty cheers were given for the liner as she moved from the wharf. Many of the cabins on the steamship were beautifully decorated with flowers, but those of Miss Grace Spreckels and Mrs. W.D.K. Gibson were regular bowers of violets and hothouse plants an flowers.

San Francisco Call, 15 February 1901.

Once again, a delay in the arrival of the English mails postponed the sailing to 9:00 p.m. on 14 February 1901 when Ventura cleared San Francisco  with 260 passengers, one of the largest yet carried by an Oceanic liner, and, of course, notable for including J.D. Spreckels and his daughter, Grace. 

The new Oceanic steamers are beginning to show the good work that was expected of them now. The Ventura, the last of the three, arrived last night from San Francisco… She is the much the finest of the three vessels in appearance. Her hull is black and she shows to much better advantage than the other two white ones.

The Hawaiian Star, 21 February 1901.

Ventura came into Honolulu the evening of 20 February 1901 amidst a southwest gale and she recorded 5 days 19 hours 45 mins for the passage enjoyed in otherwise fine weather.  She landed 199 of her passengers there and 787 tons of cargo and proceeded south with 45 through passengers and 1,528 tons. Departing at 5:00 p.m. that day, Ventura called at Pago Pago on the 27th and had a fine passage south in fair weather to Auckland where she docked on the afternoon of 5 March. The voyage from San Francisco was accomplished in 19 days 1 hour  with the best day's run of 403 nautical mile recorded on the 4th or an average of 17 knots.  The following morning she was off for Sydney where she arrived on the 9th, the trans-Tasman run taking 3 days 6 hours 55 mins and the total voyage from San Francisco done in 20 days 1 hour 59 mins.   On the 12th Ventura was drydocked at Cockatoo Island for cleaning and painting of her underwater hull. A coal strike in Sydney meant she could only take on enough bunkers to get to her to Honolulu. 

Ventura began her northbound maiden voyage. on 19 March 1901. Upon arrival at Auckland on the 23rd, she was quarantined for 24 hours owing to an outbreak of bubonic plague in Sydney believed to have been transmitted by an incoming troop transport from South Africa. She anchored in the stream to work her cargo and embark passengers by tender, sailing that same evening, a day late. 

A quarantined Ventura anchored off Auckland on her maiden northbound call. Credit: Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, NZG-19010323-543-2

Sailing from Auckland on 24 March 1901, Ventura clocked a days run of 403 miles, making Honolulu on 3 April, 15 days 7 hours 48 mins. from Sydney and an impressive steaming time of 14 days 1 hour 11 minutes. Coaling at Honolulu detained her there 31 hours 30 mins and her passenger list was swelled by a large group of returning Shriners. The  run up to San Francisco was made in 5 days 15 hours 48 mins with no effort to push her to conserve coal and she landed 204 First, 28 Second and 43 steerage passengers there on 11 April. All in all, John D. Spreckels, who was aboard for the whole trip, must have been gratified with an eventful but successful maiden voyage of a finally completed trio. 

Oceanic A&A Line brochure, c. 1901. Credit: Huntington Museum

Already these ships have made a favorable impression in this trade, passengers speaking highly of their sea-going qualities, the comfort experienced during their voyages, and the efforts of the staff in each case, from the commander down, to make the trip interesting and enjoyable. Special attention has been paid to the provision of upper deck state-rooms, so much appreciated on these pleasant Pacific voyages. 

Oceanic A&A Line brochure, c. 1903

1901

Triumph. Fully two years after being ordered, Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura were all at long last completed and in service by April 1901.  After years of decline, it was the harbinger of a minor renaissance of American passenger ships.  In addition to the Oceanic ships, there was their close cousin Morro Castle, second faster American liner, and abuilding, Pacific Mail's 11,270-grt, 18-knot Korea and Siberia.  

On their own the Oceanic trio were impressive enough, unequalled in the Antipodes routes for speed and further establishing the competitiveness of the American & Australian trans-continental route on the trans Imperial route to the Antipodes as well as furthering commercial ties between the United States and Australia and New Zealand.  Here, was real American enterprise and achievement on the Ocean Highway and a fulfillment of John D. Spreckels' personal and patriotic ambitions to see it realized. Not only was Oceanic dominant on the trans-Pacific route to Australia and New Zealand but also on the Mainland-Hawaii run on which the new Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura were the finest and fastest, but in combination with the regular Honolulu service by Mariposa and call, en route to and from Tahiti, by Alameda, giving three sailings a month to the new U.S. Territory.  

A reminder that before Matson, there was Oceanic as the principal passenger line trading between the Mainland United States and Hawaii.  In addition to the "local boat" dedicated service by Mariposa, both the Antipodes and Tahiti mail services called at Honolulu to provide a regular service of three sailings a month. Credit: The Independent (Honolulu) 9 February 1901. 

Tribulations. Few lines managed to completely renew its fleet with a trio of brand new vessels so it was a singular achievement in of itself, but one fraught with delays, defects, disappointment and indeed death.  It also took a toll on the financial fortunes of Oceanic Steamship Co. and its stockholders, hitherto enjoying a regular monthly dividend of 50 cents a share for many a year, were stuck with a $10 a share assessment imposed by the company on 21 February 1901 to help defray the losses incurred with the late deliveries of the ships. The effect on share prices was predictable and dire, dropping from $103 a share at the beginning of the month to $59.50 the day after the assessment was announced.

The three new steamers were none of them very fortunate on their way here, nor since they entered upon their regular runs to the Antipodes. The repair bill of the Sierra alone is said to be six figures. Both she and the Sonoma had defective feed and air pumps and Ventura burst a steam pipe. On her way to the colonies the Sierra broke one of her low-pressure cylinders.

San Francisco Examiner 21 February 1901

The construction and outfitting of the Oceanic trio reflected poorly on the reputation of Cramp Shipbuilders  As it was, Cramp must have lost money on the contract owing to the considerable amount of guarantee repairs done at its expense.

By the failure of the Cramps of Philadelphia to complete, according to agreement, the three new steamships, Sierra, Ventura and Sonoma, the Oceanic Steamship Company was forced to incur heavy expense in the employment of other vessels to maintain its obligations to carry the mails pursuant to contract schedule. The company was also deprived of the earnings of the three new ships for a period exceeding three months. It is claimed by Cramp & Sons that the delay in completing the ships was caused by labor strikes, the pressure of work undertaken for the Russian Government and also by a prolonged term of unfavorable weather, the heat being so oppressive that the men employed at the yard could not work.

San Francisco Call, 21 February 1901

What it was all about: The English Mails aboard U.S.M.S. Ventura at Auckland. Credit: New Zealand Graphic 23 March 1901 Auckland Libraries, NZG-19010323-543-3

Before embarking on a resume of Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura's operational careers, as fulsome as any American vessels in history, it is worth considering their unique and daunting route which, too, was without equal.  This was the longest high speed express mail route in the world, extending some 7,200 miles in each directions with no "short cuts" (such as Brindisi on the P&O) and indeed Oceanic's entire route, the "A&A," was in itself the greatest of all shortcuts. In theory, it promised London mails on Auckland doorsteps in a month, in practice it was as fast and reliable as its weakest link along its complicated interconnecting services of railway and steamer. So that in winter, the North Atlantic liner from Liverpool might be delayed by storms or ice or fog or the trans-continental train by mudslides, blizzards and washouts along some 3,000 miles of track.  

In the whole scheme of "The A&A," it was "The English Mails" that assumed primacy for this American steamship company. Indeed, Oceanic's sailing lists carried the notation "through steamers await the arrival of English mail" to the San Francisco departure day and time. It is also worth remembering the mails and passengers from the East arrived at Oakland by the fast Southern Pacific "overland" expresses and then had to cross the Bay by ferry to San Francisco. It was not uncommon for a late arriving Oceanic mailship to be met in San Francisco Bay by one of the company's own tugs to be sped across the Bay to a held South Pacific train to make the connection in time.  No one took "The English Mails" more seriously than the American seamen, railroad workers and postal staff who made the whole system work to have the mail from Sydney and Auckland aboard R.M.S. Campania or Teutonic and off  on time for the final leg to  London. 

All this put an enormous responsibility on Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura and on their crews which were tasked with the longest link in the interconnecting chain.  The ships had to be steamed at 15.5 knots (only a knot and a half less than their trial average) over 7,200 miles to keep to schedule, work cargo en route at primitive ports like Pago Pago and make up for weather delays on a route whose conditions often were at odds with the brochure inducements of South Seas idylls. Moreover, it was all done burning coal on a route where the quality of the fuel was poor, the cost was high (10 percent more than on the East Coast) and performance often came down to the skill of the stokers. Oceanic's boast of having "all white crews" cost a lot more and reduced the pool of firemen out of San Francisco where most stokers, as on Pacific Mail, were Chinese. With clean hulls, skilled firemen and a clear horizon, Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura were record breakers on the Pacific and Tasman. Under less favorable conditions, they toiled each of those 7,200 miles to still deliver the mails on time. 

So then, to work. Every three weeks an Oceanic mailship would clear the Golden Gate for the expanses of the South Pacific to undertake its vital share in one of the greatest transportation systems of the age, carrying the blue and white U.S. Mail flag and the Stars & Stripes beneath the Southern Cross. 

For Sierra, her second trip was one of redemption for her star-crossed maiden voyage and no chances were taken to ensure she was thoroughly overhauled, repaired and ship shape before setting off on 6 March 1901. "In a few weeks the Sierra will be in first-class share and then the company's fleet will be one of the finest in these waters," wrote the  Call  on 14 February and Sierra shifted to the now familiar Sugar Refinery Dock to be swarmed by workers from the Risdon yards.  The Hawaiian Star of 22 February reported:  "Since the disaster on the Ventura, whereby five men lost their lives, the officials of the Oceanic Steamship Company have taken every precaution to prevent any further accidents of a like nature. The machinery of all three of the new steamers recently constructed by the Cramps of Philadelphia has been overhauled and the lessons pointed out by the sad experience with the Ventura have borne fruit in changes and repairs that seemed necessary." Among the repairs effected was that all the steam pipes were removed and fitted with steel re-enforcing bands. 

In what was becoming already all too familiar, Sierra's 6 March 1901 sailing had to be put back to the 7th at 2:00 p.m. owing to a delay in dispatching the English mails from New York and as it proved, she did not get away until 6:00 p.m. Among her passengers for Honolulu (which included a capacity list of Shriners) was her pilot who could not disembark as the winds were so high.  Sierra cleared San Francisco harbor at 7:40 p.m. and, also Honolulu-bound, the Occidental & Oriental's Coptic (at 1:50 p.m.) so a race ensued with heavy wagering aboard both as to the victor.  The northbound Sonoma, which left Honolulu at 9:00 p.m. on 12 March, passed Sierra about four hours out, "under a full head of steam, racing for Honolulu." (Call 21 March). Showing Coptic a clean pair of heels, and "after a splendid run of 5 days and 10 hours," Sierra arrived at Honolulu the afternoon of the 13th, a full 7 hours and 30 mins. ahead of Coptic.

Sailing from Honolulu at 2:00 a.m. on 14 March 1901, Sierra came into Auckland at 9:30 p.m. on the 25th  as a record breaker: from San Francisco in 17 days 3 hours and a steaming time of 16 days. Departing for Sydney the following afternoon, a smart Tasman transit of 3 days 3 hours 37 mins had her arrive there on 1 April. Northbound from Sydney on 9 April, Sierra called at Auckland on the 13th and arrived Honolulu 10 days later,   passing the Sonoma two days out of Pago Pago. She came into San Francisco on the 30th, 5 days 18 hours 5 mins after leaving Honolulu. To avoid a penalty for late mail delivery, John D. Spreckels personally held the departure of the eastward Southern Pacific Limited from Oakland so that 235 bags of English mail could be taken across the bay from the liner. The train departed 37 minutes late and the mail would eventually be transhipped at New York to the Liverpool-bound Lucania. 

With the now customary wait for the English mails (in this case, a full two days), and a further delay trying to correct an issue with her port engine, Sonoma finally was off on 29 March 1901 for the Antipodes.  Any hope that these ships would settle down to reliable regularity was dashed when, three days out of San Francisco, the piston rod of her port high pressure cylinder head broke and badly damaged the cylinder head shortly after 7:00 a.m. on 1 April. "Most of the passengers were arising and heard the noise created by the crashing steel and escaping steam. There were six men in the engine room at the time but none of them were injured in any way. " (Honolulu Advertiser). 

Sonoma was able to resume passage on one engine and screw and reached Honolulu on the morning of 5 April 1901 after a six-day passage at a credible 14 knots. Immediately on arrival, workers from the Honolulu Iron Works effected repairs to the port engine to disconnect the high pressure piston and permit running the engine on two cylinders.  She sailed the next morning, working up to 15.25 knots and all went well until 11:00 a.m. on the 10th when the low pressure piston of the port engine cracked and the rest of the voyage was made on the starboard engine at 14 knots.  She reached Auckland on the 18th after a passage of 17 days 10 hours 30 mins from San Francisco which was a remarkable performance-- 5,000 miles under one engine,-- and still landing her mails on contract time.   Her Chief Engineer A.D. Little was lauded by her passengers and Sonoma arrived at Sydney at Circular Quay on 24 April 1901.

Sonoma alongside at Auckland. Credit: New Zealand Graphic 30 April 1901, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19040430-27-2

On 2 May 1901 Sonoma shifted to Mort's dry dock for repairs to her engines.   There, it was found her port engine was far more seriously damaged than first thought so the repairs were limited to restoring it to two working cylinders to get her back to San Francisco were she would be fully repaired, missing a voyage which would be undertaken by Mariposa. On the 7th Sonoma returned to Circular Quay and two days later, with a heavy passenger list, including crack Australian cyclists Walne and Jack Green and the boxer Tim Herarty, she began her delayed return voyage. Crossing the Tasman in 3 days 18 hours 30 mins, Sonoma came into Auckland on the 13th.

Sonoma sailed from Auckland 13 May 1901 and after "a pleasant but slow trip," docked at Honolulu on the 24th.  If the ships' machinery was not causing enough problems, the Honolulu Republican reported: "From one of the ship's company it was learned that the new vessels are not receiving the treatment that they should in Sydney especially as regards the loading and unloading. They are moved about from one dock to another and any little thing that may be done to delay them and make trouble is done. It is said the Colonials do not like Americans nor American ways and that they take every occasion to show. Especially is this so of the treatment accorded the new steamers and there seems to be an effort on foot to have the English mails carried in English steamers." Sonoma sailed for the Mainland on the 25th and arrived at San Francisco on the 31st.

Ventura at Sydney. Credit: State Library of Western Australia.

"She was crowded with passengers and had an immense  cargo of freight" so the Call described Ventura sailing for the Antipodes on 18 April 1901 and, yes, a day late waiting for the English mails. She reached Honolulu on the 24th, doing the trip in 5 days, 17 hours 22 mins.    The passage down to Auckland (arriving on 6 May) was accomplished in 17 days 10 hours 52 minutes.  Her homeward voyage, beginning from Sydney on 21 May, was notable for carrying a shipment of specie worth 100,000.  Fine weather continued and she made Honolulu on 4 June, 15 days 12 hours from Sydney.  San Francisco was reached on the 11th in 5 days 17 hours 13 minutes and she landed 229 passengers there. 

Plans to fully repair Sonoma were foiled, again, this time by a West Coast machinists strike.  Indeed, the party of 10 marine engineers who were to report on 3 June 1901 to begin repairs, walked off the job. Instead, it was decided that Chief Engineer and his engine room crew would make temporary repairs to ensure the port engine could be used, as before, with two cylinders and enable the vessel to sail south on the 20th. In reporting her sailing, on schedule, the Call said "Since her arrival on May 31 her machinery has been put in good working order, and the steamship will arrive in Sydney on time."  Sonoma arrived at Honolulu on 25 June. Even on 1¾ horsepower, Sonoma made a credible run south, reaching Auckland on 9 July, 18 days 8 hours 24 minutes after leaving San Francisco and  landing London mails posted 8 June. Sonoma's northbound voyage from Sydney began on 23 July, called at Auckland on the 27th and was delayed 10 hours at Pago Pago awaiting daylight to enter the harbor. Honolulu was reached late on 6 August, but fog delayed her docking at San Francisco until the 14th where she landed £300,000 in gold sovereigns packed in 60 boxes. 

"...with many passengers, the usual large amount of English mails for the colonies and all the freight that the steamer could conveniently carry,"  (Chronicle), Sierra sailed from San Francisco for Sydney on 9 May 1901.  She had exchanged her white hull for black and "her appearance is greatly improved," wrote the Honolulu Republican upon Sierra's arrival there on the 15th after a  5-day 16-hour run.  She had fine weather all the way down until approaching New Zealand when squally conditions and heavy swell were encountered, coming into Auckland on the 27th after 17 days 2 hours from San Francisco.  Sierra came into Sydney on 1 June and was drydocked there for hull cleaning before sailing northwards  on 11 June. She was fully booked leaving Honolulu on the 26th, including  168 passengers whose voyage in Zealandia on the 22nd had only gotten 84 miles from Oahu when her starboard boilers failed and she returned to port.   Sierra had an especially rough passage north, however, with continual gales, and docked at San Francisco on 2 July, landing 318 passengers. 

The  machinist's strike in San Francisco continued to play havoc with sailings and when Zealandia was stuck in Honolulu owing to her unpaired boilers, Sierra made a quick round trip there before her 1 August sailing for the Antipodes.  When she sailed on 6 July 1901 for Honolulu, her cargo holds were more filled than her cabins. Upon sailing for the Mainland on the 16th, Captain Berger's famous band played "a parting serenade" to what was the largest vessel yet on the Hawaiian run even for only one trip. Sierra got to San Francisco on the 22nd after a passage of 5 days 19 hours including five hours off the bar waiting for fog to lift, with 105 First and 59 Second Class passengers and 15,000 bags of sugar.

Ventura was laid up in San Francisco 11 June-11 July 1901, at Risdon Iron Works for engine repairs which proved extraordinarily difficult amidst the machinists' strike.  A new low-pressure cylinder was ordered from Cramp but could only be fitted when the heads of Risdon's departments, headed by Henry C. Tabrett, Marine Superintendent,   volunteered to do the work themselves. "These men, all licensed marine engineers, were assisted by apprentice boys and Engineers Morgan and Flynn of the steamer Alameda and the work of fitting up the Ventura's engines was finally accomplished. A new low-pressure cylinder was cast and put into position, the light pistons were removed were removed and replaced with heavier ones, and a great amount of other work was done.  The steamer was yesterday said to be in better shape than when she left the builders' hands." (San Francisco Chronicle, 12 July 1901).  She shifted to Pacific Street Pier on 7 July to load for her departure for the Antipodes.

Sailing on 11 July 1901, Ventura certainly did not exert herself, not arriving at Honolulu until the 17th after a 6-day 3-hour 6-min passage. She made better progress  to Auckland where she docked on the 30th, 17 days 19 hours 47 mins after leaving San Francisco.  Docking at at Sydney on 3 August, she recorded 22 days 18 hours 14 mins for the voyage.  As was customary,  the vessel was put into Mort's dry dock on the 6th for cleaning and painting of her underwater hull, the warm waters of the South Pacific being a boon for marine growth on hulls.  Ventura sailed northbound on the 13th, calling at Auckland on the 17th.  Proving she was now a reliable and capable steamer and with a clean hull, Ventura proved the victor of a "race" with the China from Honolulu to San Francisco, both arriving there on 1 September with Ventura logging 5 days 14 hours 51 mins for the run vs. China's 5 days 16 hours 18 mins. Ventura did the voyage from Sydney in 20 days 21 hours 51 mins.  Both would also sail from San Francisco on 12 September.

Sonoma, like Ventura, was fitted with new cylinders and stronger piston cranks and her machinery was finally put in order.  But there was  no end of the strikes that summer, and when Sonoma cleared her pier on 22 August 1901, on schedule, she lay in the Bay awaiting the arrival of the English mails and, more importantly, a scratch crew of firemen when her regular coal passers went on strike.  The new men's  inexperience made the trip to Honolulu a long one, and she did not arrive until the 28th. There, many of her exhausted firemen quit the ship and she sailed with beach combings who did not have the skill or stamina to keep her in good steam. All the more remarkable, that when she came into Auckland on 10 September she logged 18 days 13 hours 39 mins  and recorded a best day's run of 371 miles. She docked at Sydney on the 15th.  

Once again, one of the Oceanic trio sailed for America with a veritable fortune in gold sovereigns and Sonoma had 100 boxes full worth £500,000 in her strong room when she sailed from Sydney on 24 September 1901, "the decks of the liner presented quite an animated scene, nearly every passengers seeming to have a bevy of friends...Shortly after 1 o'clock the Sonoma drew out into the stream, and, amidst cheers and fluttering of handkerchiefs, the voyage to San Francisco had commenced." (Daily Telegraph (Sydney) 25 September 1901). 

With a bone in her teeth, Sonoma comes into Auckland  from Sydney in a hurry on 28 September 1901. Credit: Auckland Weekly News,  Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19011017-4-6 17. 

After a defect in her forced draught blowers was repaired, Sonoma made the best of a rough Tasman and reached Auckland on 28 September 1901.  She docked at Honolulu on 9 October and was joined there by Sierra arriving from San Francisco.  After a 22-day voyage from Sydney, Sonoma arrived at San Francisco on the 16th.

Back from her roundtrip to Honolulu, Sierra returned to a San Francisco waterfront seething with labor unrest. On 30 July 1901 Sierra's union firemen walked out at noon and much of her cargo loading was done at night by replacement labor when union longshoremen, too, went on strike. John D. Spreckels was determined that the ship depart on schedule and fully loaded.  "The first real victory of the ship owners since the inception of the strike on the water front was scored by the Oceanic Steamship Company yesterday when the Sierra, loaded to the gunwales with freight, with every cabin and berth occupied, pulled away from the Pacific Street dock only twenty minutes after the time set for departure. The slight delay was caused by the postal authorities to get the British mail on board the vessel in time."  (Call, 2 August 1901).

So it was that John D. Spreckels got his Sierra off for the Antipodes on time, after his agents combed the waterfront for men and boys to load her cargo. Her firemen walked off the ship before sailing and were replaced by men from the Risdon Iron Works. When Sierra arrived at Honolulu on the 7th, the Honolulu Advertiser wrote: that "the new liners of the Oceanic Company are becoming fast favorites with Honolulans, and many of the Honolulans who arrived yesterday were loud in their praises of the Sierra, even going so far as to express their sentiments in a resolution presented to Captain Houdlette. The ship's departure on the 8th was delayed an hour when six more stokers had to be signed on.  Sierra reached Auckland on the 20th and despite delays en route unloading heavy cargoes and inexperienced firemen, still put in a cracking good run from San Francisco of 16 days 7 hours 22 minutes (steaming time) and did the 1,560 miles between Pago Pago and Auckland in the record time of 4 days 3 hours.  She came into Sydney on the 24th.  As at Auckland, plague precautions prevented her from berthing alongside and she anchored in Neutral Bay and her passengers were landed by tender at Circular Quay. 

Cover of Passenger List for Sierra from Sydney on 2 September 1901. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Sierra left Sydney on 3 September 1901 with a good compliment of passengers including Pollard's Lilliputian Opera Company bound for an engagement in Honolulu. Calling at Auckland on the 7th and at Honolulu 17th, she finally came into San Francisco on the 24th, two days late again due to inexperienced firemen.  She logged  a 21-day passage from Sydney, 14 days from Auckland and six days from Honolulu. Sierra's passenger list comprised 135 First, 80 Second and 48 Steerage and she had $2.5 mn. in English Gold Sovereigns in her strongroom. 

A well laden Ventura passed out of San Francisco on 12 September 1901, and made Honolulu in 5 days 17 hours 33 mins. So heavy was her cargo (including 1,887 tons for Sydney), that some of it had to take the place of bunkers and after discharging her Hawaiian cargo, she had to take on 600 tons of coal which delayed her 26 hours.  She was allowed to berth alongside at Auckland on 1 October and just as well, having 600 tons of cargo to land there.  The passage time from San Francisco was 18 days 9 hours 27 mins,  a credible performance given her inexperienced firemen.  The arrival was occasioned by shock and sadness when those aboard learned of the death of President McKinley who had been shot by anarchist two days after she sailed from San Francisco.  Ventura left with a record 73 passengers embarked for the trans-Tasman run to Sydney.

Ventura sailing from Sydney: note her flags at half-mast, possibly out of respect for the late President McKinley who was shot two days after she sailed from San Francisco and who died eight days later. Credit: State Library of Victoria. 

Ventura sailed from Sydney on 15 October 1901 as well described in the Australian Star:

The eastern side of Circular Quay presented rather a busy appearance yesterday morning, the occasion being the departure of the R.M.S. Ventura from the Oceanic S.S. Co.'s (A. and A. line) wharf, for San Francisco, via Auckland, Pago Pago, and Honolulu.  Punctually at the time specified for the departure the plank was drawn up, and the steamer began to move off into the stream. The Ventura, as on other occasions, holds her own as regards her passenger list, having been dispatched yesterday with a good complement. In addition to the booking to America the mail steamer took away with her a number of through passengers to Europe. The cargo shipped to America includes skins, tin, copper, cocoanut oil, arid general merchandise. The liner also has. in her treasury chamber a large quantity of sovereigns, of the total value of £150,000, all of which are consigned to America. 

During her brief four-hour call at Honolulu on 29 October 1901, the Honolulu Republican interviewed some Ventura's officers  who "speak in the highest terms regarding the crew which was shipped at this port on her last voyage up the Coast. The men have remained with the ship, and returning on their second trip. In the fireroom their work has always been above reproach, and the ship has been enabled to go along on its journeys without the trials and tribulations which other vessels in the Oceanic company have of late been subjected." A most successful voyage of 20 days 19 hours from Sydney was concluded at San Francisco on 4 November.

Oceanic dispatched two steamers from San Francisco on 24 October 1901: Australia for Tahiti at 10:30 a.m. and, after a five-hour wait for the arrival of the English mails, Sonoma at 2:30 p.m. for the Antipodes. Docking at Honolulu on the 30th, "By far the largest crowd of spectators that ever greeted the arrival of the new Spreckels' trans-Pacific liners" (Honolulu Republican) was on hand  to welcome Sonoma and her passengers.  She took on 600 tons of coal there before departing at dawn the next day. Making a smart run south, she ran into a heavy head gale after departing Pago Pago on 6 November and conditions became so bad she was obliged to slow down and did not reach Auckland until the 12th, 17 days 15 hours 28 mins after leaving San Francisco.  Sydney was reached on the 16th  and despite encountering two gales in the Tasman, one from the south-west, and other north-west, "Sonoma made a capital passage." (Daily Telegraph).

The Oceanic steamship Sonoma upon her arrival at Honolulu yesterday morning showed she had smashed all previous records between the Colonies and Honolulu, and bids fair to eclipse the best time ever made between Australian ports and San Francisco.

Honolulu Republican, 11 December 1901

This, we may say, is a record performance between Auckland and San Francisco, and of the fast three ships of the Oceanic Company, the Sonoma now carries the palm for the fastest time between these two ports… The Sonoma now makes the third consecutive steamer in succession to give effect to the time-table, so that the sister ships have proved beyond doubt their capability to maintain a running which the enemies of the line within recent date insinuated was beyond their steaming powers.

Auckland Star, 18 December 1901

Off to set a record, Sonoma sails from Auckland. Credit: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19011219-2-2 

Sonoma left Sydney for home on 26 November 1901 and after calling at Auckland on the 30th, she fairly swept into Honolulu on 10 December after a record smashing passage of just 13 days 18 hours 57 mins (steaming time) 14 days 11 hours 32 mins (passage time) from Sydney, covering 5,100 miles in 331 hours.  She clocked 384 nautical miles in one day and averaged about 15.5 knots.  This broke the record set by Mariposa back in spring 1882 and bested her own record by 6 hours 17 mins.  Not content with these laurels, Sonoma found herself in another race with Occidental & Oriental's Coptic between Honolulu and San Francisco, both arriving on 16 December. Despite heavy weather, Sonoma clocked 5 days 13 hours 26 mins vs. Coptic's 6 days 1 hour 30 mins (she left Honolulu 14 hours before Sonoma).  From Sydney to San Francisco, Sonoma logged 19 days 8 hours 33 mins.  On one day, despite steaming in a gale, the Oceanic flyer made 405 nautical and "Chief Engineer thinks there is no boat like her on the Pacific." (Call).

Credit: San Francisco Call, 17 December 1901.

When Sierra sailed from San Francisco on 3 October 1901, the strike was just ended   and she managed to sign on experienced firemen.  Honolulu hosted the northbound Sonoma and the southbound Sierra on the 9th, the latter bringing much anticipated news of the America's Cup race as well of the settlement of the San Francisco strike. Sierra took on an enormous quantity of coal there so did not sail south until the morning of the 10th. Her skilled firemen had her in full steam south and Sierra came into Auckland on the 22nd after a passage of 17 days 20 hours 51 mins, but her steaming time was just 16 days 12 hours 38 mins. She landed mails posted in London on 21 September and New York on the 27th.  The Tasman was up to its old tricks with a fearsome north-north-west gale and she did not get into Sydney until the 26th, again having to anchor in Neutral Bay and tender her mails and passengers to Circular Quay.  Her time from San Francisco was 19 days 5 hours 38 mins. 

Sailing northbound on 5 November 1901, Sierra  managed to hit another gale across the Tasman with heavy seas breaking aboard all the way across, but with no damage done. The seas coming down the coast were so bad she was slowed for four hours, not coming into Auckland until the  9th. The run north was, at least, enjoyed in fine weather and at Pago Pago, Sierra shared the port with the battleship U.S.S. Wisconsin and the transport Solace. Sierra docked at Honolulu on  the 19th, doing the run from Sydney in 14 days 22 hours including stops.  Another race ensued between an Oceanic  liner and one belonging to the Occidental and Oriental when Sierra and Doric sailed within an hour of each of other for San Francisco. The Doric had an hour headstart, but the Yankee mailship made quick work of her, and when the two reached San Francisco on the 25th, Sierra was already alongside before Doric passed the Golden Gate. As soon as Sierra docked, her 500 bags of English mails were put ashore to catch the 6:00 p.m. overland train to reach New York and R.M.S. Campania bound for Liverpool.  The time from Sydney to San Francisco was 21 days 5 days 13 hours.

These ships seemed to have spent as much time as Risdon Iron Works as they had abuilding at Cramps. Their erratic steaming was not just down to inexperienced firemen, but unreliable forced draft blowers which had given nothing but trouble. Steaming under forced draft was then all the rage but many early efforts at it were frustrated for the same reasons that bedeviled the Oceanic sisters.  So it was decided to go back to the basics of coal firing and extend their funnels a good 16 ft. to considerably increase their natural draft for their furnaces.   

On 26 November 1901 Sierra went to the Risdon Iron Works for the work. The new stacks were made during the vessel's last trip and were fitted in a matter of days. "It has been found that the Sierra's original stacks not only failed to produce the requisite draft for the furnaces, but allow soot and smoke to soil the upper deck." (San Francisco Chronicle, 27 November 1901).

Sierra Stacked: showing off her greatly heightened funnels sailing from San Francisco. Credit: U.S. National Park Service. 

With her new imposing funnels, Sierra cleared the Golden Gate on 6 December 1901, a good 25 hours late owing to the tardy English mails but and she showed just what good old-fashioned coal-burning under natural draft can do.  Indeed, Sierra surprised all at Auckland when she appeared on Christmas Eve, not being expected until Christmas Day or later. Not only did she make up the 25-hour delay but cut another five off for good measure, and broke the record for the San Francisco-Auckland run with a 16-day, 22-hour, 37-min passage or 16-hour, 3-hours, 13-min steaming time.  From Honolulu it was 10 days 7 hours and from Pago Pago 3 days 23 hours.  "All the way through the engines worked smoothly and well, and fine weather prevailed throughout the voyage. Now that the steamers are getting into working order, the time between the ports will be accomplished on contract time, with every prospect of doing better." (New Zealand Herald, 26 December 1901). The northbound Sierra clocked 3 days 12 hours 25 mins across the Tasman, leaving Sydney on 7 January 1902 and reaching Auckland on the 11th.  

Ventura cleared San Francisco on 14 November 1901 and logged 6 days 3 hours 15 mins to Honolulu where she landed 2,000 tons of cargo and "a troupe of twenty-five colored minstrels belonging to the aggregation of fun makers under the charge of the Hilarious Hogan, 'the only unbleached American.'" (Honolulu Republican).   Auckland was reached on 3 December, 17 days 16 hours 35 mins from San Francisco,  sailing the same evening for Sydney where she docked on the 7th. Ten days later, she was off for home, arriving at Auckland on the 22nd after an excellent trans-Tasman crossing of 3 days 11 hours 53 mins.    On New Years Day 1902 Ventura docked at Honolulu, making the run up from Pago Pago in 6 days 12 hours despite head winds en route and sailed for the Mainland that evening.  When she came into San Francisco on the 6th after a crossing of just 5 days 13 hours, the Southern Pacific transcontinental from Oakland was held for 30 minutes to await her English mails. 

Sonoma at Sydney with her original height funnels. Credit: Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand.

Taking Oceanic's last sailing in 1901, Sonoma left San Francisco on 26 December and despite a gale between there and Honolulu and strong winds and rough sea onwards to Pago Pago, managed to accomplish the voyage to Auckland (arriving 13 January)  in 17 days 3 hours 40 mins (steaming time of 16 days 7 hours 5 mins) or within 3 hours 52 mins steaming time of Sierra's recent record. 

Early Oceanic advertising card.  Credit: eBay auction photo.

Oceanic 1902 sailing list. Credit: The Official Railway Guide.

1902

Details have been furnished by the General Post Office of the excellent runs made by the steamers Sonoma and Sierra. The Sonoma left Auckland on the 30th November, 1901, at 3.45 p.m., and arrived at San Francisco on the 16th December at 6.30 a.m. Allowing for adjustment of time, her actual steaming time was 16 days 26 minutes, exclusive of stoppages, or an average of 15.35 knots an hour. Including stoppages the run occupied 16 days 10 hours 30 minutes, or an average of 14.99 knots. This is the fastest trip outwards yet accomplished by the new steamers. On her return run the Sonoma left San Francisco on the 26th December at 12.35 p.m., and arrived at Auckland on January 13, 1902, at 1.50 p.m. Her actual steaming time, exclusive of stoppages, was 16 days 13 hours 26 minutes, or an average of 14.88 knots. Inclusive of stoppages, she took 17 days 5 hours 26 minutes, or an average of 14.30 knots.

Auckland Star, 21 January 1902

Delays in the arrival of the English mails continued to bedevil Oceanic's sailings and quite out of the company's hand. Indeed, it was not contractually obliged to wait for late mails, but Spreckels knew it was an essential selling point of the service in Australia and New Zealand especially when they were negotiating with both countries for mail contracts.  Even with the long route and fast steaming, many delays were difficult to make up.  When Ventura finally sailed from San Francisco on 17 January 1902, she was 15 hours late but was able to make up almost 9 hours en route, coming into Auckland  on 4 February, 17 days 7 hours 31 minutes out of San Francisco and landing London mail posted on 4 January.  She had 1,100 tons of cargo for the Antipodes, 359 tons landed at Auckland. 

Mitigating the efficiency of the overland route via North America was winter weather, both on the North Atlantic and across the continent.  Both conspired to have Sierra not depart San Francisco until 9 February 1902 awaiting the English mails delayed by North Atlantic storms (going over in the already slow Saxonia which was three days late arriving New York) and by blizzards in the United States.  She was a full three days and two hours late at the onset.  Then she hit rough seas en route to Honolulu which deteriorated to a full gale, shipping heavy seas over her bows even at half speed, breaking loose cargo booms and even breaking the light box on one of the bridge engine telegraphs.  Another sea carried away the tarpaulin cover to no. 1 hold and shipping water into it.  Capt. Houdlette said it was the worst storm he'd seen in over 200 voyages on the route.  The heavy seas continued right down to Honolulu when the battered Sierra finally arrived on the 16th, 6 days 15 hours and 37 mins after leaving San Francisco.  Certainly deserving of it, fine weather was enjoyed for balance of the voyage and Sierra came into Auckland on the 28th.

Before setting off again for the Antipodes, Sonoma had her funnels extended by 16 ft. like Sierra. Well and truly stacked, Sonoma still barely made it outside the Golden Gate on 28 February 1902 when a gale swept though the approaches  and it was too rough to cross the bar and she anchored for eight hours until it cleared.  She did not dock at Honolulu until 6 March with more rough weather en route, reaching Auckland on the 18th and Sydney on the 23rd. "Since she was last here her funnels have been lengthened, a change which adds attractiveness to the ship's appearance, at the same time giving the furnaces increased draught, and doing away with the nuisance of grit and smoke dust so common on board vessels of high speed and forced draught." (Sydney Morning Herald), 24 March 1902.

And, as announced 14 March 1902, it was Ventura's turn to exchange her stubby stacks for towering funnels.  "The experiment was tried on the Sonoma and Sierra and proved a success, so now the change will be made on the Ventura. With an extra sixteen feet added to her smokestack the mail boat will be able to make just as good time under a natural draft as she had under a forced draft." (San Francisco Examiner, 14 March 1902).

Ventura sporting her new higher funnels. credit: eBay auction photo.

Again delayed awaiting the mails, Ventura was 12 hours behind schedule by the time she cleared San Francisco on 21 March 1902 with a heavy 2,514-ton cargo for the Antipodes.  Fair weather all the way to Pago Pago gave way to heavy gales, high seas and fog south to Auckland where, 17 days 17 hours later, she docked on 8 April and four days later at Sydney. 

Plague continued to be an issue into 1902 in Australia and when Sierra came into Auckland on 15 March 1902 from Sydney, she had to anchor off and her passengers and mails (after fumigation) landed by tenders and ferries.  When she sailed for San Francisco the next day she had the most number of passengers ever carried by an Oceanic vessel, many of whom were bound for London and the Coronation of King Edward VII. The trans-Tasman crossing was extremely rough, however, with a southwest gale blowing and mountainous seas, but she still managed it in 3 days 17 hours.  She embarked no fewer than 182 at Auckland where she called on the 17th. 

Cover for Oceanic Sailing List, 1 April 1902.

There was no end to atrocious weather in 1902, dispelling the image of placid South Seas sailing.  For the northbound Sonoma it meant sailing through the worst of an easterly gale shortly after leaving Auckland on 5 April all the way to Pago Pago. Hurricane force winds stirred up a raging sea which broke waves over her and deluged the vessel with water, damaging deck fittings. For 20 hours, it was so bad, she was hove-to and two days late arriving at Samoa.  The rest of the passage to San Francisco was, at least, enjoyed in fine weather. 

Ventura at Auckland, 26 April 1902. Credit: Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 589-94.

The northbound Ventura, which docked at Auckland on 26 April 1902 from Sydney was a record breaker, not for speed, but passengers:  "The fast-growing popularity of the steamers of tins line is again strongly evidenced by the large number of passengers who are travelling by the Ventura on this voyage. When the steamer left Sydney she had 111 passengers in all classes, and this number being largely added to at Auckland, the steamer left on Saturday afternoon with 250 passengers in all classes on board, the majority of whom are en route to Europe. This is the largest number of passengers that have ever left by any one steamer of this line." (New Zealand Herald, 28 April 1902). The actual passenger numbers for her northbound sailing being 273 First and Second and 85 steerage. 

Twelve hours late awaiting the mails, Sonoma finally left San Francisco on 1 May 1902 and enjoyed fair weather as far south as Pago Pago.  Laden with an extraordinarily heavy cargo (2,400 tons), she did not make a fast passage, but despite head winds, rough seas and heavy rain squalls en route to Auckland, she came in on the 21st only 1 hour 30 mins late.  There she landed the largest cargo yet brought in by an Oceanic vessel, mostly flour and wheat. When she arrived a fatal accident was revealed when, en route from Pago Pago to Auckland, one of her oilers, attempting to remove a piece of rope which had been entangled on one of the propeller shafts was himself caught in it and crushed. He was buried at Auckland attended by much of the ship's company.   Sonoma sailed the following day for Sydney.

The last ship to sail from the Antipodes in time for the Coronation in London, Sierra was well patronized on her 13 May 1902 sailing from Sydney. The trans-Tasman crossing was extremely rough, however, with a southwest gale blowing and mountainous seas, but she still managed it in 3 days 17 hours.  She embarked no fewer than 182 at Auckland where she called on the 17th. "As soon as the passengers, mails and baggage were transferred to the mail steamer, the order was given to get underway, and shortly after three p.m. the large steamer started on her voyage across the Pacific, with fine weather and a fair wind, followed with the good wished of those behind for a quick and safe voyage. (New Zealand Herald, 19 May 1902).

In a change to the pattern of sailings, Oceanic announced on 26 May 1902 that beginning with Ventura from Sydney on 23 June that one of the trio would depart Sydney every third Monday and from Auckland the following Friday and reach San Francisco in 21 days so as to enable the mails to be delivered in London 31-32 days after dispatch from Sydney.

Despite fair weather throughout, Ventura's 22 May-10 June 1902 southbound run to Auckland was not especially fast, taking 18 days 6 hours and 39 mins. Like her sisters, much of her cargo for New Zealand consisted of American flour, in her case a record 2,000-ton consignment. That summer bubonic plague was widely reported in Honolulu and upon arrival Ventura's officers reported that all precautions were being taken with berthing ships there: "... large timbers being placed between the wharf and the steamer so as to keep her off about eight feet, whilst only wire ropes were used for mooring the steamer, with a number of guards on each, so as to present rats getting on board. On arrival at Auckland all the luggage of passengers from Honolulu underwent thorough fumigation before it was allowed to come on shore." (New Zealand Herald, 11 June 1902). Ventura's northbound voyage from Sydney to Auckland, however, was delayed by bad weather across the Tasman but she made up the delay, sweeping down the New Zealand coast averaging 16.5 knots to arrive at Auckland on the 27th.

Off on what would be another record breaking voyage, Sonoma cast off from Sydney on 3 June 1902 and favored by fine weather across the Tasman, reached Auckland on the 7th and sailing there the same day, she raced north to arrive at San Francisco on the 22nd, landing her mails 29 hours in advance of contract time and averaging some 17 knots for the voyage. "The performance of the Sonoma conclusively shows that now the steamers of the line are getting their machinery into good running order they are fully equal to the task of accomplishing the long steaming voyage in the time of 16 days, which stipulated in the contract." (New Zealand Herald, 26 June 1902).

A&A brochure c. 1902. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

Excelling herself, Sierra, which was 10 hours late leaving San Francisco on 12 June 1902, made up 11 hours on the run down to Auckland where she docked on 31 June, an impressive  16 days 20 hours 47 mins from San Francisco despite being hove-to for three hour in high seas south of Pago Pago. By the time she reached Sydney on 4 July, she had broken the record from San Francisco, clocking 19 days 6 hours 25 minutes for the voyage and averaging close to 17 knots on the trans-Tasman run done in 3 days 4 hours 18 mins. Northbound, Sierra arrived Auckland on the 18th after a rough Tasman crossing of 3 days 14 hours 28 mins, averaging 16 knots and doing 17.5 knots at times. She had no passengers for Auckland owing to the plague restrictions on ships arriving from Sydney and again was obliged to anchor in the stream. 

Finding their pace, the trio continued to put in good passages, Sonoma recording 17 days 5 hours 34 mins from San Francisco on 3 July, arriving Auckland on the 21st. Her holds were filled with 1,365 tons of cargo, 450 of which were landed at Auckland including another heavy consignment of American flour.  She also had aboard 11 head of Holstein cattle and six Angora goats for a farm at New Plymouth, "the animals arrived in splendid order, evidencing the great care which had been taken of them during their long journey across the Pacific." (New Zealand Herald, 22 July 1902).  She came into Sydney on the 26th.

Ventura, too, had a fast run south that 24 July-12 August 1902, despite being delayed nine hours late by the mails, made Auckland from San Francisco in 17 days 8 hours 41 mins and landing her mails there several hours ahead of contract time. On her voyage back to the U.S., from Sydney on the 25th, she had £100,000 in specie in her strong room. 

It was easier to raise funnels than finances and The Age (Sydney) of 13 August 1902 offered a sobering report on the diminished state of Oceanic Steamship Co.'s share prices which dropped in the last year to $25 a share and the  "the company is stated by the San Francisco papers to be greatly in debt, and money must be raised to pay interest on its bonds." By the end of May, the company listed $1,011,968 in debt, almost of all of it owing to the construction, delayed delivery and ensuring repairs on the new ships. "The machinery on these vessels has required continuous tinkering ever since they were launched, and every time they return to San Francisco an army of mechanics swarm aboard to patch things up."  The record passages and doubling the company's passenger carryings in 1902 notwithstanding, the new trio remained as fragile and flawed as they could be fast and famed and would become an ever increasing drag on Oceanic's profits.

Medic (foreground) and Sierra (background) at Sydney's Circular Quays. Credit: Australian National Maritime Museum.

Leaving San Francisco on 14 August 1902, Sierra made an exceptionally smart passage, despite a 13-hour 5-minute stop at Honolulu bunkering, coming into into Auckland on 1 September, 17 days 4 hours 22 minutes from the Golden Gate or a steaming time of 16 days 9 hours and 50 mins. On her return crossing, from Sydney on 15 September, she was aptly described as being "A Treasure Ship" having £750,000 in specie in her strong room. She came into Auckland on the 19th within four hours of breaking Moana's (Union S.S. Co.) trans-Tasman record, with a passage of 3 days 8 hours.  

The Sierra left Sydney six hours later than the usual hour of departure, hut on the run across she made up the lost time, arriving at Auckland at the usual hour yesterday morning. This line steamer has once again upheld her reputation for fast steaming, the passage across having been accomplished in the smart time of 3 days 8 hours, an average rate of speed of 16 knots per hour having been maintained throughout, although at times the steamer's rate of speed was considerably more than that. For the 12 hours from noon until midnight on Thursday, 211 knots were logged, and coming down the coast a speed of 18 knots per hour was maintained. 

New Zealand Herald, 20 September 1902

At the request of the Pacific Cable Board, John D. Spreckels arranged to have the Oceanic ships make periodic calls on Fanning Island en route from Auckland to Pago Pago, starting with Sierra from Auckland on 19 September 1902. Fanning Island was an important relay station for the then under construction trans-Pacific cable by Cable & Wireless.

When Sonoma came into Auckland on 22 September 1902 her time of 17 hours 10 hours from San Francisco was greeted with disappointment: "The Sonoma has landed her mails well in advance of contract time, but this voyage has not been accomplished in such quick time as her last. This is owing to the steamer having fallen in with the extremely boisterous weather which has prevailed in Auckland for the past few days. From midnight on Friday last until the harbour was made, the steamer had to contend against strong head winds and seas, and even when coming up under the shelter of the land, the wind blew with such extreme violence that her progress down the coast was much protracted." (New Zealand Herald, 23 September 1902).

One of the operational consequences of Oceanic's heavy cargo carryings was highlighted by the New Zealand Herald 15 October 1902: "Owing to the large amount of cargo offering at San Francisco for New Zealand and Australia, and with the usual desire or the management of the Oceanic Steamship Company to meet the wishes of shippers and consignees as much as possible, the coal usually taken on board at the Californian port, was considerably shortened in order to take as much cargo as possible. This necessarily occasioned the coaling operations at Honolulu taking more time than it usually does, and instead of a stay of 10 hours at that port, the Ventura's visit was prolonged to 25 hours, 1,000 tons of coal being taken on board during that time."  With the build-up of the U.S. Navy facilities at Pago Pago, American Samoa, too, came heavy cargo shipments there resulting in longer port calls, made worse by the fact the harbor could only be approached in daylight.  All of this put more pressure on schedules and timekeeping. 

One of the Oceanic liners at Pago Pago with a U.S. Navy launch alongside. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

Ventura arrived Auckland from Sydney on 31 October 1902 after a 3 days 14 hours 49 mins crossing, "although coming this way the steamers are not pressed at a high rate of speed, there being no advantage to be obtain by do so. Very fine weather prevailed all the way across, and the passengers spent a very enjoyable time." (New Zealand Herald, 1 November 1902).  Among her cargo from Sydney was £301,000 in specie and from Auckland, the first shipment ever of frozen meat to Honolulu, 306 carcasses of frozen mutton.  The Oceanic trio's reefer space was increasingly used for New Zealand exports of frozen meat and butter to both Australia and points north. 

In a brilliant performance, Sierra came into Auckland at noon on 3 November 1902 exactly 17 days 10 minutes after leaving San Francisco on 16 October… a new and decisive record.  Her actual steaming time was but 15 days 23 hours 28 minutes reflecting 17 hours 36 minutes coaling at Honolulu and seven hours unloading cargo at Pago Pago.  Between Pago Pago and Auckland, the Oceanic flyer reeled off 403 nautical miles in one day. Her cargo for the Antipodes was 2,351 tons including 600 tons for New Zealand.  When she sailed for Sydney her reefer space was filled with 2,400 carcases of New Zealand mutton.   Sierra really had the bit in her teeth and on her return voyage, she steamed from Sydney (sailing on the 17th) to Auckland in 3 days 10 hours, recording a best day's run of 386 nautical miles and had to be slowed down lest she reach Auckland before dawn. 

Despite "exceptionally rough weather was experienced through the voyage, strong winds and heavy seas prevailing almost without intermission," (Auckland Star, 25 November 1902), Sonoma still managed  San Francisco to Auckland in 17 days 9 hours 56 mins, arriving there on 24 November. This was the last voyage for Capt.  K. Van Oterendorp after 54 years at sea who told reporters he was entitled to a few years rest and "did not want to die in harness."  He joined Oceanic in 1885 and commanded Zealandia and Alameda. During the ship's turnaround at Sydney he was feted at dinner by the Governor General at Government House. Departing Sydney on 8 December, Capt. Van Oterendorp brought Sonoma into Auckland for the last time on the 12th.

A lovely "after dinner programme" of entertainment offered aboard Ventura 28 November 1902.

Among those aboard Ventura passing through Auckland aboard Ventura on 16 December 1902 was the American sprinter cyclist champion Major Taylor and his wife and a trainer. 

There was no end to the winter delivery delays of the English mails. With both the North Atlantic mailship and the trans-continental train late, Sierra was already 28 hours off schedule by the time she left San Francisco on 19 December 1902 and lost another 14 hours at Honolulu with coaling and quarantine detention and eight more unloading a capacity cargo at Pago Pago and unfavorable weather en route. Despite it all, she reached Auckland on 6 January, doing the run in a steaming time of 16 days 5 days 23 minutes and still landing the mails under contract time. After what was called "a tempestuous weather passage" (Auckland Star), the north bound Sierra which left Sydney (19th), made Auckland on the 23rd. it being reported that "the vessel being almost buried in the sea at times."

Sonoma at Sydney, first of the Oceanic trio to make a record trip in 1903, doing so before it was a month old. Credit: Australian National Maritime Museum.

Oceanic A&A brochure, 1903. Credit: Huntington Museum.

1903

With a new captain, (Capt. C.F. Harriman, formerly of Alameda, replacing the retired Capt. Van Oterendorp), Sonoma started the New Year for Oceanic by breaking Sierra's record set just that past November.  Delayed almost 32 hours by the late mails and then thick fog off the Golden Gate, Sonoma finally sailed on 9 January 1903 and despite a head swell en route made a fast run to Honolulu where arrived at 8:20 a.m. on the 15th and off again in 12 hours. She was opened right up to Pago Pago, doing 387 knots in one day where she was delayed waiting for daylight to enter harbor.  Reeling off an average of 382 knots a day, Sonoma came into Auckland on the 27th 16 days 16 hours 15 mins after leaving San Francisco, beating Sierra's record by almost four hours. "...  the Sonoma, on her present voyage, has lowered the record by nearly four hours, thus earning for herself the proud distinction of 'the greyhound of the Pacific,' and Captain Herriman, Chief-engineer Little, and his staff, are to be cordially congratulated upon having made such a splendid voyage." (New Zealand Herald, 28 January 1903).  Sonoma's steaming time for the trip of 15 days 19 hours 20 mins was bested on her next southbound voyage (13 March-1 April) done in 15 days 18 hours 5 mins.

There were no records won by Ventura on her 30 January 1903 sailing to Sydney, except for being one of the worst voyages in Oceanic history for weather.  A succession of gales, squalls and hurricane force winds accompanied her almost all the way south.  She called at Honolulu on 5 February and resuming her voyage, the conditions became dire with a strong gale blowing by the 12th which took on hurricane force winds and a cross breaking sea. By the time she reached Pago Pago it was impossible to see the harbor in the driving rain and after 36 hours, Capt. Hayward abandoned the call and headed to Auckland in continued gale conditions, the barometer dropping to 29.12.  Ventura finally docked on the 18th after a truly miserable voyage of 18 days 23 hours 18 mins, although the actual steaming time was only 16 days 16 hours 3 mins. 

When Ventura returned to San Francisco on 24 March 1903, The Call had much to report and depict of her tempestuous southbound trip. Credit: The Call, 25 March 1903.

Sierra had a splendid 1903 and the first of her record voyages that year commenced, late of course, from San Francisco on 20 February  and despite 16 hours 18 mins detention at Honolulu coaling,  and another 12 hours 25 minutes at Pago Pago, Auckland was made on 10 March in just 15 days 14 hours 33 mins steaming time.  Her time from Pago Pago to Auckland was a record 3 days 21 hours 27 mins and the whole passage including detention was done in 16 days 19 hours 13 mins at an average of 15 6/10th knots.  In all she had beaten all records on the route by 7 hours 30 mins. She anchored in Watson's Bay, Sydney on the 14th as she was carrying a large shipment of grain from San Francisco which was still considered a plague infected port and her passengers, mail and cargo taken off by lighters. The total time of the voyage from San Francisco to Sydney was 20 days 14 hours 46 mins.  On the way back, Sierra clocked 3 days 13 hours for the trans-Tasman crossing from Sydney 24 March. She was very heavily patronized on this, landing 40 passengers at Auckland and sailing with almost 250 for the north.  Her cargo including the second consignment of frozen New Zealand mutton for Honolulu.

Coverage of Sonoma's stormy northbound February crossing including this illustration of her arriving in San Francisco with the U.S. transport Sheridan and City of Puebla. The white strake on Sonoma is a bit of artistic license! Credit: The Call, 4 March 1903.

The year featured tempests and fast trips, the former certainly being the theme of Sonoma's northbound voyage in February.  En route from Auckland to Pago Pago, she hit a storm of almost hurricane force: "terrific seas boiled all around and a frequent intervals fierce squalls swept down on the big steamship, which, although compelled to heave ton, weathered the wildest spells only as a stout ship can and with comparatively little discomfort to those on board." (The Call, 4 March 1903).  After 10 hours hove-to on 13 February, Sonoma resumed passage and two days before reaching Pago Pago, she passed the southbound Ventura at full speed to make up for a late departure from San Francisco.  Sonoma came into San Francisco on 3 March  with City of Puebla and the U.S. transport Sheridan. Her passage time from Sydney was 21 days 5 hours and 5 days 17 hours from Honolulu. 

The Call's effusive coverage of Sierra's northbound crossing in April 1903 including an illustration of her race from Honolulu with Hong Kong Maru.  Credit: The Call, 14 April 1903. 

To cap off a wonderful round voyage was a veritable race between Sierra and the Hong Kong Maru from Honolulu to San Francisco. Both left on 7 April 1903, the Japanese liner at 10:00 a.m. and the Oceanic flyer at 5:00 p.m. that evening.  Sierra overtook her on Friday midday and despite rough seas, beat her into San Francisco by four hours, arriving on the 13th.  Sierra clocked 5 day 12 hours from Honolulu and the overall steaming time from Sydney was 19 days 14 hours, a new record or 21 days 12 hours passage time. She landed 140 First, 70 Second and 50 steerage passengers.

The R.M.S. Sierra, of the Oceanic Steamship Company, which arrived from San Francisco and the Islands this morning, has put up a truly remarkable performance in breaking all previous records, and now earned for herself the proud distinction of the 'Greyhound of the Pacific," for this journey.

Auckland Star, 11 May 1903

Starting off on what was her second record breaking voyage in 1903, Sierra cleared San Francisco, only four hours late, on 23 April, called at Honolulu on the 29th and churned a white wake southwards to come into Pago Pago on 5 May just 5 days 21 hours later. She came into Auckland, quite to everyone surprise, a full 36 hours early than expected The time for the crossing from San Francisco: 16 days 13 hours 21 mins with a steaming time of 15 days 21 hours 17 mins. "… the weather throughout the voyage was exceptionally fine, all on board had a most enjoyable trip." (New Zealand Herald, 12 May 1903).  Sierra was put into Woolwich Dry Dock at Sydney on 16 May 1903 where the screw that had been damaged on her last Sydney call was replaced as well as the shaft. 

Undated photograph of Sierra in Woolwich dry dock, Sydney. Credit: eBay auction photo.

It was so stormy upon leaving San Francisco on 16 May 1903, that Sonoma's pilot could not disembark and had to sail with the ship, in heavy seas, all the way to Honolulu.  More rough weather met the ship south from Pago Pago but she still managed 17 days 7 hours 12 mins for the trip to Auckland, arriving on 3 June.

Biding her time while her sisters were setting records, Ventura had the last word… despite sailing 12 hours late from San Francisco, she was some 48 hours early when she astonishingly appeared in Auckland on 21 June 1901.  Her passage time: 16 days 27 mins and her steaming time was 15 days 4 hours 35 mins.  She had beaten all previous records by… 12 hours. Averaging 16 knots for the whole voyage, she clocked a top day's run of 410 knots the day after leaving Pago Pago.  From Honolulu to Auckland, she logged 9 days 19 hours 2 mins steaming time. She landed mails posted in London on 23 May and in New York on 30 May. It was an extraordinary achieved, "a record on which Captain Hayward, Chief Haines, and all on board are to be cordially congratulated." (New Zealand Herald, 22 June 1903).

THE VENTURA'S RECORD VOYAGE.

The record voyage of the mail steamer Ventura, from San Francisco to Auckland, was a theme of general conversation in the city yesterday, and Captain 11. M. Hayward and Chief  Engineer Haines were heartily congratulated by their many friends in Auckland. on the performance of this fine steamer. The best day's run made by the Ventura during the voyage was 407 knots, and the lowest 388 knots, the latter being against strong head winds and seas, which were met with shortly after leaving Pago Pago. The second best day's run was 405 knots, and the third 400 knots. The average daily run throughout the voyage was 395.8 knots, and the average rate of speed 16.6 knots per hour. 

New Zealand Herald, 23 June 1903

Sierra at Circular Quay, Sydney in 1903. You could take a tram to the Manly ferry or the 'Frisco mail boat. Credit: City of Sydney Archives, Graeme Andrews Working Harbour Photograph Collection.

Sierra left San Francisco four hours late on 25 June 1903 and made a remarkable unremarkable non record breaking voyage of 16 days 12 hours 29 minutes to Auckland where she docked on 12 July. Of more interest was her trans-Tasman crossing onwards to Sydney when Sierra and the Union S.S. Co. Mararoa left port within 30 mins of each other. For the Auckland Star, it had all makings of a classic trans-Tasman ocean race: Captain Houdlette, the commander of the Sierra, at once arrived at the conclusion that the Mararoa intended to race the Sierra to Sydney, and he determined that he would not allow a coastal steamer to beat one of the San Francisco mail boats. The order was given to the engine room to proceed at full speed, and for once the vital question of economy of coal consumption was forgotten onboard. The furnaces were constantly fed, and a full pressure of steam quickly developed and maintained. The Sierra sped on her voyage across at an average speed of nearly 17 knots, and, as already stated, entered Port Jackson at 11 o clock on Thursday night. The Mararoa, which is regarded as one of the fastest steamers engaged in the Australian trade, did not 'enter Sydney Heads until 11 o'clock yesterday morning  The R.M.S. Sierra therefore won the race by 12 hours."  Sierra's time for the crossing was 3 days 6 hours. 

SIERRA'S REMARKABLE STEAMING.

When South Head station the other night reported a large steamer east, like the Sierra, people thought some mistake had occurred (says the Sydney "Daily Commercial News") There was, however, no error on the part of the South Head officer (there seldom is), for the mailboat dashing into port at 10.25 p.m., and rounded to oil Watson's Bay. Her warmest admirers were taken by surprise, for the most sanguine scarcely looked for her before early next day. Across the 1,281 nautical miles of ocean she came at a speed of 16.0 knots per hour equal to a land speed of a fraction over 19 miles an hour. This is probably the quickest passage ever made by a steamer between Auckland and Sydney, or indeed by any vessel running between any two ports in the southern hemisphere, separated by as wide a stretch of 'ocean. The Oceanic Company may therefore claim the right of hoisting tho "rooster" above the truck, and the star-spangled banner probably waves abroad the "cock o' the walk" amongst the fleets of merchantmen that walk the waters of the South Pacific. It is a feather in the cap of Messrs. Spreckels of San Francisco, in the possession of which they may justly take pride.

The Telegraph (Brisbane), 21 July 1903.

Sierra left San Francisco on 27 August 1903 and 16 days 12 hours 46 mins. later arrived at Auckland on 14 September: "The Sierra has made another very fast voyage, fully maintaining the reputation which she has made for herself as one of the fastest steamers crossing the Pacific, and has once again landed her mails at Auckland 36 hours ahead of contract time." (New Zealand Herald, 15 September 1903).  

Another of the wonderful illustrations done for The Call, this one depicting Sonoma departing. Credit: The Call, 18 September 1903.

Sailing from San Francisco on 18 September 1903, Sonoma took away nearly 300 passengers and a heavy southbound cargo of 6,000 cases of apples, 10,000 cases of salmon and 50,000 ft. of lumber for the Antipodes. She put in an impressive 16-day, 9-hour, 35-min. passage to Auckland, arriving  there on 4 October in a steaming time of 15 days, 14 hours, 11 mins, but still did not lower Ventura's standing record.

A routine arrival of Ventura at San Francisco was still afforded its own illustration in the Call. Credit: The Call, 29 September 1903. 

Ventura came into San Francisco on 28 September 1903 after an uneventful voyage from Sydney (21 days 20 hours) that was delayed by weather and a four-hour stay at Fanning Island where the lightering facilities were so inadequate that Capt. Hayward had his ships boats help land the goods in the surf.  The ship shifted to Hunters Point on the 30th for a drydocking before her next voyage south.

Yet to enjoy a tranquil Tasman crossing that year, Sierra came into Auckland on 2 October 1903, "and notwithstanding that the weather conditions were very contrary, a high and confused sea and thick weather prevailing all the way across, the steamer made the good time of 3 days 14 hours 30 minutes in accomplishing the passage." (New Zealand Herald, 3 October 1903).

"Across the Pacific by the A. and A. Line. Those Boundless Pacific Seascapes." Credit: Sydney Mail, 3 October 1903.

"Across the Pacific by the A. and A. Line. The Long Shady Decks of the Sonoma." Credit: Sydney Mail, 3 October 1903.

"Across the Pacific by the A. and A. Line. On Board." Credit: Sydney Mail, 3 October 1903.

That year, it was fast steaming south and almost invariably a very tough Tasman crossing on the way home.  Sonoma arrived New Zealand, late, on 23 October 1903.  Leaving Sydney 19th, she had but one day of fine  weather before encountering a full gale with tremendous seas. So tremendous that several broke over the bows and right over the bridge.

Time after time, Captain Herriman, who was on the bridge almost continuously, reduced the speed, and then again, the weather appearing to give an opportunity, 'full speed' would be again rung up; but only for a few moments, for the huge, liner would put her bows almost under water, and the speed would have to be reduced. These weather conditions prevailed almost without intermission until rounding the North Cape at half-past seven a.m. yesterday, when both wind and sea decreased, and the Sonoma made port as 1 above. The engines were under reduced speed for 42 hours during the continuance of the bad weather. One of the crew had a most miraculous escape during the gale. One huge green sea. broke on board forward caught the man, who was on the upper deck, and lifted him right on to the bridge deck, the water washing him right along and jamming him between; the iron railing which saved him from being 'washed overboard. He escaped with only a few bruises.

New Zealand Herald, 24 October 1903 

Ventura cleared San Francisco on 10 December 1903 with more than 250 passengers and with fine weather throughout, docked at Auckland on the 28th after a passage of 16 days 18 hours 42 mins.  

"The Last Home Mail of the Old Year: The 'Frisco Mail Steamer Ventura arriving in Auckland Harbour 28 December 1903." H. Winkelmann photograph. Credit: Auckland Weekly News Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19040107-10-3

Literally the last Oceanic sailing for 1903, Sierra left San Francisco just before midnight on 31 December, eight hours late owing to another delayed mail delivery.  It was fine weather voyage all the way and she arrived at Auckland on 18 January 1904 after a good passage of 16 days 11 hours 24 mins. In charge of a pilot, Sierra collided with and sank the Auckland Harbour Board's launch Kauka off Rangitoto reef on 19 January 1904 shortly after sailing from Auckland for Sydney. The accident occurred as Kauka was coming alongside to take off the pilot. She turned over and sank in very few minutes but her three-man crew were rescued by a lifeboat immediately launched by Sierra. 

Oceanic "A.&A. Line" brochure cover, 1904. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Cover of Oceanic's 1904 sailing list. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Gilded Age Heyday: Oceanic's combined sailing list for 1904 for Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura on the Antipodes run and Alameda on the Honolulu service. Not shown is Mariposa's mail route from San Francisco to Tahiti. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

1904

Winter weather across the North Atlantic and North America played havoc with the sailings from San Francisco. Ventura was held there until midnight on 12 February 1904 when the trans-Atlantic liner was late reaching New York owing to storms and then the train was blocked by the heaviest snowslide across the line in years, blocking it over one mile. The mails and passengers had to be transferred to another train on the other side of the slide to continue the journey west. Ventura reached Auckland on 3 March 1904.

Violent shaking of the Oceanic steamer Sierra at 10.20 o'clock last Sunday night, says the San Francisco Weekly Chronicle of 25th February, 200 miles out at sea, threw passengers and some of the officers into a panic, for the shock was wholly unexpected, and occurred while the steamer was sailing along in a smooth sea, and, as far as known, a long way from any submerged object. The shock came with startling suddenness. It was believed that some vessel or derelict had been struck, but when nothing could be made out from the deck, the opinion was expressed that the big liner had collided with a drifting log or some other heavy obstruction. There was not only a pronounced tremor throughout -the length and breadth of the vessel, but a pitching that could not have been caused by the comparatively light sea. The shaking and vibration continued for several minutes, when it was noticed by the engineers that the starboard propeller .was partially disabled, having evidently dropped two of the blades. This necessitated a slowing clown of the steamer, and made her arrival in port several hours later than would' otherwise have been the case. Thick weather also delayed her arrival, and the liner was not sighted until she was passing through the Heads. The time from Sydney was 21 days and 14 hours; from Auckland, 17 days 13 hours and 47 minutes; and from Honolulu, 5 days and 14 hours. The steamer is to be placed in dry dock during her stay in port, and a close examination of the hull will be made.

The Age, 31 March 1904

Sierra in Hunter's Point Dry Dock, Risdon Iron Works, February 1904 undergoing repairs, this time for her shaft and screws after her starboard screw dropped two blades en route from Honolulu. Credit: James A. Brandt photograph, California Historical Society, courtesy Risdon Iron Works blog, Wordress.com. 

When Sierra came into San Francisco on 22 February 1904, she did so with an inoperable starboard propeller after she struck a submerged object on the 21st en route from Honolulu.  It was thought that two blades were broken off the propeller. She was drydocked and sailed on 3 March.

Ventura, which left from Auckland for San Francisco on 18 March 1904 had rather rough time of it as described by the Auckland Star of 12 April 1904:

The Ventura commenced her last voyage to 'Frisco rather inauspiciously. As the steamer left Auckland the outlook was unpromising, and once out of the harbour the passengers found that they were in for a spell of stormy weather. For 24 hours the sea was very rough, and seas were constantly breaking over the upper deck, whilst the main deck was completely flooded. As the Ventura was travelling in the teeth of tne storm she had to slow down for 24 hours. On the Saturday night after leaving, the passengers got a fright when a sea bigger than the others shook the vessel violently from stem to stern. The bow had dived into the trough of the sea. and a vast body of water enveloped in the forecastle and crashed on to the bridge with tremendous force. The iron stanchion; were bent like hits of wire, and the second officer, who was on the bridge at The time, had a narrow escape from being seriously injured. Shortly after the storm quietened down, and for the remainder of the trip the weather was fine.

Auckland Star, 12 April 1904

The ludicrous lack of accommodation for big shipping in Auckland His Majesty's mails in S.S. Sonoma at the out of date Railway Wharf last week. New Zealand Graphic 7 May 1904 Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19040507-36-2

Ventura was credited with a new record when she entered Sydney Heads on 8 July 1904, after a passage from San Francisco (departing 16 June)  of 20 days 12 hours and a steaming time of 18 hours 23 hours. She made Auckland in 15 days 16 hours and did the trans-Tasman run in 3 days 7 hours. "The Ventura was favored by fine weather, and the trip proved in every way enjoyable. Whilst at Auckland the Glorious Fourth was celebrated, the ship being beautifully decorated for the occasion. A feature of the decorations was a drawing of the Statue of Liberty, which was placed at the head of the companion-way and dressed with the United States national colors and the Union Jack." (Daily Telegraph, 9 July 1904).

Surely the most enduring legacy of the Oceanic Trio was... pioneering the now traditional paper streamer farewells from Australia!  And it all started with Ventura's sailing from Sydney on 18 July 1904. Credit: Australian Star, 19 July 1904.  

In one of her best performances of the year, Sierra arrived in Sydney from San Francisco on 30 July 1904, clocking just 20 days 4 hours 55 mins for the passage with a steaming time of 19 days 9 hours 47 mins.  She reeled off the trans-Tasman passage in 3 days 7 hours 28 mins.  All enough to get her in on schedule time despite leaving San Francisco a day late waiting again on the mail. 

There continued the occasional "race," even if mostly the contrivance of shipping reporters, to prove their flyer bona fides.  So when Sierra and Occidental & Oriental's Coptic sailed from Honolulu on 23 August 1904, the British liner at 10:00 a.m. and the Oceanic ship at 10:20 a.m. the race was on: "When the two boats left this port there was a good deal of speculation as to which would win and a good many thought that the Coptic's reputation for speed, gained in many trials in years past would be upheld in her contest with the new and untried American boat. There were others who said that there would be no race because the steamship companies would not the boats to use coal for such a purpose. " (Honolulu Advertiser, 30 August 1904).  The result: Sierra passed the Farralones while Coptic crossed the line four hours later. 

One of the "South Seas Maidens" series of Oceanic postcards. Credit: eBay auction photo.

Sierra broke another record when bound from Auckland to Honolulu she made the passage in 10 days 2 hours and 31 mins. She came into San Francisco on 31 October 1904 with 175 passengers, $500,000 in specie and 1,064 tons of cargo. 

Sierra had a very rough trip to Honolulu, sailing from San Francisco on 10 November 1904, and by the next day, hit a gale driven by a southerly wind with a terrific high sea running during the day. "The wind gradually veered to the westward, blowing very hard in squalls, the ship laboring heavily and tremendous seas over the bow. At 12 o'clock noon she shipped a terrific sea forward, which washed the cargo booms out of their lashings and also started the hatch battens on the no. 1 hatch. It washed one of the plugs out of the ventilator pipe on the port side forward, broke the flagpole off at the stem of the ship and did other minor damage." (The Call, 26 November 1904). The bad weather continued through the 15th. Strong trade winds and high seas accompanied her south to Pago Pago (23rd) and then a succession of gales en route to Auckland (28th) and little improvement across the Tasman to arrive at Sydney on 2 December. Despite the conditions, she did the passage from San Francisco in 21 days 1 hour 31 mins and a steaming time of just 19 days 8 hours 24 mins. 

Cover of Oceanic brochure, 1905. Credit: Huntington Museum.

1905

In what would be many stormy passages between Hawaii and the Mainland in 1905, Ventura hit such a violent raging gale two days away from San Francisco that she was hove to for 12 hours.  She finally came into San Francisco late on 14 February, not berthing until the following morning. Among her 65 First Class, 39 Second and 82 steerage passengers was the retiring Governor of American Samoa, Commander E. B. Underwood: "[whose] departure from the Samoan port was attended by a demonstration by the natives. As the steamer passed out of the harbor, the band from the training ship Adams and another, composed of natives, played the national airs." (San Francisco Examiner, 15 February 1905). 

Wonderful view of Ventura alongside at Auckland. Credit: Auckland Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1448-10307.

The South Pacific of 1905 was often not the placid idyll of the travel posters.  Ventura got away from San Francisco only two hours late on 23 February and made good progress until three days out of Honolulu, just south of the equator, when she hit a violent southerly gale which raged for some nine days which had seas breaking right over her. Finally, reaching Pago Pago on 8 March, she spent 12 hours pitching and tossing outside the harbor waiting for conditions to moderate enough to come in. She was able to do so the following day, but had poor weather almost all the way to New Zealand where Ventura finally docked, two days late, on the 15th after an 18-day 22-hour and 27-min passage. There, she landed one of her more unusual cargoes: a consignment of deer, elk, geese and ducks purchased by the New Zealand Government which had invested $25,000 in stocking the country with different types of game.  Included were 20 elk, 29 Virginia and blacktail deer and about 40 ducks and geese. 

The inadequacy of Auckland's wharf facilities was shown when Sonoma arrived there at 7:00 p.m. on 21 February 1905 from San Francisco (sailing from there on the 3rd) but had to wait until 11:00 p.m. to berth as Tyster Line's Star of Ireland occupied her usual spot at Queen Street Wharf.  Back in those days, it was unthinkable to keep a mailship waiting and Capt. Herriman was indignant, telling a reporter from the New Zealand Herald " When I get home, my owners will want an explanation as to the reason of my stay of 12 hours in Auckland." As it was, Sonoma did not sail for Sydney until the following morning until 11:00 a.m.

After a near record delay (nearly three days) awaiting the English mails from the East Coast,  Sierra sailed from San Francisco before dawn on 18 March 1905 only to hit such severe seas that she had to heave-to and was another nine hours late by the time she resumed passage.  Working a heavy cargo kept her at Honolulu for a day and a half (23-24th) and strong trade winds and choppy seas accompanied her all the way to Pago Pago, reached on the 30th.  There, the weather worsened, greatly impacting her unloading cargo and she was there a full 18 hours.  With a lot of time to make up, Sierra sped southwards, making 401 knots the first day and 407 on the second until the weather again deteriorated. In spite of all the delays, Sierra reached Auckland on 6 April, recording a most credible 17 days 25 mins for the passage and an exceptional steaming time of 15 days 12 hours 18 mins, some three hours better than any of her previous voyages.  There was, at the time, a dispute between Orient Line and the Post Office which diverted most mails to the North American route, so the mails she waited so long for were substantial: 933 bags for Australia alone. 

Credit: San Francisco Call, 28 March 1905.

Sonoma arrived at San Francisco on 27 March 1905 after a voyage enjoyed in fine weather with the notable exception  of the first two days out of Auckland. "That forty-eight hours of storm, however, was something to remember. The wind blew with terrific force and high seas played shuttlecock and battledore with the liner. She weather the gale in splendid style, and when it was all over the passengers were glad it had happened, for they had been through a storm and they will be qualified for the remainder of their lives to call an ordinary storm a mere capful of wind." (San Francisco Call, 28 March 1905). Sonoma did the passage from Sydney in fine time: 20 days 16 hours and from Honolulu in 5 days 17 hours. 

With what her officers called "one of the jolliest crowds that ever traveled on the liner," Ventura arrived at San Francisco on 17 April 1905, "scarcely a day passed but there were games or some of sort of entertainment. James L. Furzer and Father O'Sullivan were the most active ones in getting up the games, and they received the co-operation of Purser Buckgam, Chief Steward Paster and Dr. Clark of the Ventura." (San Francisco Examiner).  The lively group comprised 152 in First, 69 Second and 109 in steerage and she brought in 2,260 tons of cargo.

Sonoma put in an impressive southbound passage from San Francisco in April 1905, arriving at Auckland on the 24th, just 16 days 14 hours 56 mins out and in a steaming time of only 15 days 13 hours 16 mins.  She recorded a best day's run of 418 nautical miles between Pago Pago and Auckland. 

Sonoma at Sydney. Credit: Mariners Museum.

Sometimes the sisters could not make-up the frequent delays in departing San Francisco as this wonderfully detailed account, typical of New Zealand papers of the era, records of Sonoma's 11 June 1905 sailing:

The R.M.S. Sonoma arrived from San Francisco, via Honolulu, Pago Pago, this afternoon, four days late. The Sonoma was detained nearly three days at San Francisco, owing to the mails be delayed in transit across the American continent. She was dispatched at 11.35 a.m. on the 11th inst., and arrived at Honolulu at 5.50 a.m. on the 17th inst., after a good run, fine weather being met with. The voyage was resumed at 8.20 p.m. the same day, and after a fine weather passage the Sonoma reached Pago Pago at six a.m. on the 24th, The steamer cleared finally for Auckland at one p.m. on the same day, and after a few hours at sea the wind freshened, and strong easterly winds and squally weather were experienced until seven p.m.on Wednesday, when a heavy gale with terrific wind squalls and seas was en countered, and accompanied the vessel until the gulf was made this morning. The head seas and gale greatly impeded the vessel, From seven p,m. on Wednesday  till noon the next day the vessel averaged only about, 13 per hour, and for the 24 hours ending at noon yesterday the log registered only about  270 miles, a loss of about 100 miles on the day's steaming, Thence to arrival this afternoon she covered about 200 which is also a very poor day's steaming. In all the storm delayed the steamer nearly a whole day. The actual steaming time from 'Frisco was 17 days 4 hours 40 minutes. The Sonoma continues her voyage, for Sydney this evening.

Auckland Star, 30 June 1905

Sierra came into San Francisco on 10 July 1905 after a 21-day 16-hour 10-min. passage from Sydney with a case of smallpox aboard (one of her cadets) and the ship was quarantined.  The mails were landed but the passengers were taken to the quarantine station on Angel Island for vaccination and finally landed, by the tug Reliance, at the Pacific Street Wharf that evening.  Sierra was finally allowed to berth on the 12th and the cadet was expected to make a full recovery.

Considerable rivalry exists between the steamship Manuka of the Canadian-Australiasian line and the steamship Sonoma of the Oceanic company. Both vessels pass through Honolulu on their colonial runs. They left Sydney with a minute of each other on the present upward trip July 11 and the Manuka arrived [at Honolulu] nearly twenty-four hours ahead of the other boat. The Manuka's officers were elated over the victory. The officers of the other vessel claim that the Manuka has about 700 miles less to travel than the Sonoma in reaching Honolulu, her 'victory' was not so great, as the Sonoma had made the faster time after all. The Sonoma's officers claim to have beaten the Manuka by six hours on a recent run between Sydney and Auckland.

San Francisco Examiner, 3 August 1905.

 

Another great drawing in The Call to accompany a story of Ventura's record cargo carrying from San Francisco. Credit: The Call, 2 September 1905. 

Ventura continued as the cargo carrying champion that year, taking out the largest consignment yet for the Antipodes of any of the trio to date when she left San Francisco on 1 September 1905 with 3,100 tons in all. She was 24 hours late owing to a mis-connection en route with part of the English mails.

Proving this was before the era of "health & safety," Sierra's docking at Auckland from San Francisco on 9 October 1905 was delayed when she came in with such a large consignment of gunpowder (!) aboard for Sydney  that she could not permitted to berth and  only after the powder was transferred to the schooner Medora, could she dock, and it was reloaded after she cleared her berth to continue her voyage.  Of course, there was no issue with sailing from San Francisco all the way to the Antipodes with a consignment of gunpowder on a passenger ship! 

Ventura at Auckland on 21 September 1905 during a record setting day for the port with 42,000 gross tons of shipping in the harbour that day. Credit:  New Zealand Herald, 30 September 1905 Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19050930-33-1

Attributed to head winds and "the foul condition of her hull," Capt. Hayward brought Ventura into San Francisco a day late after a protracted 6-day 8-hour passage from Honolulu on 24 October 1905. As usual, a tug met her in the Bay and took off her English mails, taking them direct to the Oakland mole and the awaiting trans-continental train for the East. 

Records came in all varieties and adding to her laurels, Ventura was credited with taking the largest consignment of potatoes from San Francisco for the Antipodes to date when she sailed on 2 November 1905 with 6,000 sacks of spuds for New Zealand as well as 3,000 boxes of apples. Not to mention 275 passengers.

Sierra, which left San Francisco 16 hours late waiting on the mails, on 21 November 1905 was met with three days of gales and heavy seas en route to Honolulu. But it was fair weather all the rest of the way and she put in a splendid run to Auckland of 17 days, 7 hours and 15 mins and a steaming time of 16 days, 7 hours 11 mins, arriving there on 13 December.  On this, she carried an exceptionally large cargo of 1,579 tons for Auckland and 1,360 for Sydney. 

London to Sydney via New York, Chicago and San Francisco: how it was supposed to work from a 1905-06 Oceanic schedule. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

The brand new Cunarder Carmania was blamed for Sonoma's late departure for the Antipodes on 15 December 1905, "The British-Australian mails were on board the Carmania when she made her maiden trip across the Atlantic. Like all new vessels, the Carmania did not 'find herself' right away, and when heavy weather was encountered all hope for record breaking, or even average speed, vanished. She made a long trip and landed the Australian mail in New York too late for connections to be made with the Sonoma by Thursday [14th]  at 2 p.m., the Oceanic's scheduled hour for departure. So the Sonoma's sailing was postponed and the Sonoma's engines will be called upon to make up for the Carmania's tardiness." (San Francisco Call, 16 December 1905). Fresh from the dry dock at Hunter's Point,  it was hoped she could, as so often before, make up the delay.  Alas not. No sooner had she cleared her pier then a heavy fog enveloped the port and Sonoma had to anchor for the night.  Then almost as soon she left the Golden Gate, she hit a gale that sent one wave clear over her bridge and blew for 36 hours.  She did not reach Honolulu until the 22nd, another nine hours late and another 10 hour delay at Pago Pago ensued unloading a heavy cargo. It was 18 days, 6 hours and 19 mins. after departure that Sonoma reached Auckland on 4 January 1906, a good 48 hours late.

Despite "frequent mishaps to her engines on the run up from Honolulu" (San Francisco Examiner), Ventura managed to get into San Francisco in time to pass quarantine and land her 52 First, 32 Second and 74 steerage passengers in time for Christmas, coming in the afternoon of 25 December 1905.

Oceanic Steamship Co. route map c. 1906 showing its routes to the Antipodes and to Tahiti and connecting service by steamer and trans-continental railroad round-the-world. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

1906

Ventura had a very good first passage of 1906, clocking a 17-day 7-hour 16-min passage from San Francisco to Auckland, arriving on 23 January and just 4 days 10 hours 44 mins from Pago Pago. 

Sierra's first southbound voyage of 1906, from San Francisco on 25 January, arriving at Auckland on 12 February, was accompanied by very rough conditions and strong head winds, but nevertheless done in an impressive time of 17 days 1 hour 38 mins.

Setting off on her most celebrated of all sailings, Sonoma sailed from San Francisco's Pier 7 at 2:00 p.m. 15 February 1906 with the all conquering New Zealand rugby football team returning home after their triumphant first oversea tour (Britain, France and the United States). 

As the liner pulled away from the wharf the New Zealand football team lined the rail of the hurricane deck and gave their Maroriland yell as a good-by evidence of fellowship for the new found friends who were gathered on the wharf and who had made pleasant the visitors' short stay in this city. 

On the Sonoma's main deck forward, each armed with a tin horn, were the nine young women whose charms had inspired the good people of the State of Oregon to select them for the trip to Honolulu provided by a Portland newspaper for the most popular girls in the rain-soaked commonwealth. There was no military band to play 'Good-by, Little Girls, Good-by,' but on the wharf there seemed to be plenty of friends to wave the webfoot maidens a glad farewell, and what there lacked in music ashore was made up by the Sonoma's bugler, who, from the depths of his chest, blew 'Auld Lang Syne" with martial variations. Then everybody cheered the New Zealand footballers. The Sonoma blew a long whistle and the liner's voyage had begun. The crowd rush to the end of the wharf and watched and waved as the big steamship straightened out on her course. Then everyone said 'let's go home,' and they went.

San Francisco Call, 16 February 1906

Credit: Hawaiian Star, 21 February 1906

According to the Honolulu Advertiser, "The Sonoma bucked heavy seas all the way down. The vessel rolled badly and the majority of the passengers were ill most of the trip. " She arrived at Honolulu on the 21st but had to wait outside the channel until Ventura, inbound from the Antipodes, and a day late, sailed to clear the berth.  The New Zealand team were taken to the Moana Hotel, "at the hotel the band played 'God Save the King,' the members of the party standing at attention during the rendition of the national British anthem. They then proceed to prepare for luncheon. The party will be taken to Manoa Valley this afternoon." (Hawaiian Star, 21 February 1906). 

The All Blacks' triumphant homecoming at Auckland aboard Sonoma.

Afforded probably the greatest welcome in her three decades, Sonoma came into Auckland at 2:30 p.m. on 6 March 1906 with the triumphant homecoming of the "All Blacks," indeed it occasioned the first  official press (New Zealand Herald) use of the term "All Blacks" for the team.  As soon as Sonoma appeared in the harbor, she was surrounded by a flotilla of boats, launches, yachts and other craft, including the port health officer's launch with New Zealand Prime Minister the Right Hon. R.J. Seddon, and Mrs. Seddon aboard who led three cheers for the team approaching the liner.  The team disembarked to a ferry to take them ashore to a true hero's welcome by an enormous crowed lining the quays and the lower end of Queen Street. 

The first of the All Blacks disembarking Sonoma: it would take true athletes to manage that gangway! Credit 15 March 1906 Auckland Weekly News Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19060315-7-2 

It was soon back to more humdrum voyaging for Sonoma and she continued luckless with the weather. After an absolutely shocking crossing of the Tasman, she finally reached Auckland on 24 March 1906, 48 hours late, the voyage over described by the Auckland Star:

The Sonoma cleared Sydney Heads at 1.50 p-m. last Monday [March 19], and experienced fine pleasant weather at the commencement of the voyage, but at noon on the following day the first of the bad weather was met with. The wind increased quickly into an exceptionally heavy gale from the south and east, accompanied by high and confused seas, which enveloped the vessel in spray, and not infrequently washed right over the top deck. The water found its way to some of the cabins situated in exposed positions, but those occupied by passengers were not visited by the seas. One huge sea broke right over the captain's bridge and fell in spray on to the upper deck. Some of the water found its way through the windows of the smoke room, and this compartment for the time being was flooded out.

The gale showed no signs of moderating on Wednesday, but had rather increased, and the speed of the boat had to be further reduced. On Thursday there was still no improvement, but on the following day, when the vessel was in sight of the New Zealand coast, there was a marked improvement, and the engines were again put at normal speed. The passage down the coast occupied longer than usual owing to the fact that the weather was very thick, and the wind had again increased, raising a heavy sea. The Sonoma proved herself an excellent seaboat.

Capt. C. F. Herriman, the master of the Sonoma, when seen by a "Star" representative, said it was the worst passage he had made between Sydney and Auckland since he had been in command of the ship. "We were perfectly safe; no damage and lost nothing," he said. Continuing he said that the Sonoma was slowed down for 34 hours. The wind first came up from the south, then changed into the S.E. and E., and afterwards veered to the N.E. and N., blowing a hard gale all the time.

Menu artwork, c. 1906.  Credit: Huntington Museum. 

To the spread of our trade in peace and in the defense of our flag in war, a great and prosperous merchant is indispensable. We should have ships of our own and seamen of our own to convey our goods to neutral markets, and in case of need, to reinforce our battle line.

President Theodore Roosevelt

Exemplars of America's Gilded Age, the Oceanic Trio's route also symbolized the "bully" spirit of its youngest President whose foreign policy looked westwards to the expanses of the Pacific and whose domestic policy embraced government encouragement of private business to further American expansion. Nowhere else was this more needed than in the revival of the  U.S. Merchant Marine. In 1904, Congress created a Merchant Marine Commission composed of five Senators and five Congressmen to formulate legislation to spur American merchant shipping beyond the 1891 Ocean Mail Act. A report issued in January 1905 recommended subventions for all U.S. flag ships in foreign trade. Supported by most Republicans and opposed by Democrats, a succession of bills towards this end failed to win Senate approval.   

During hearings by the 4-13 April 1906 by the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, Oceanic pleaded its case for passage of the subsidy bill which would add $217,000 per annum on top of its existing mail contract payment for a total of $500,000 a year.  The company also was paid $7,000 a year for the domestic mail route to Pago Pago (expiring that June) and New Zealand's guarantee payment of not less than £15,000 or more than £20,000 for the English and home mails and Australia's poundage payment on the English mails. 

In its testimony, it was revealed that Oceanic had sustained an average annual loss of $373,349 since 1902 maintaining route no. 75 despite the mail subsidy which it held was wholly inadequate as not factoring in the much higher costs for Pacific operations versus those on the Atlantic with coal costing 10% more and of poorer quality entailing having to carry more of it at the expense of cargo.  Wages were the biggest factor, Oceanic claiming its "all white" crews (as opposed to British lines employing Lascars on deck and in the engine room or the Chinese crews of trans-Pacific liners) gave it the highest wage costs of any line, comparing its annual wage bill of $235,440 on the Antipodes run compared to $176,690 for Canadian Australasian and $123,404 for P&O (on the trans-Suez route).  Even Oceanic's per head meal costs for crew was the highest especially for the white stokers who, per custom, really did earn steak three times a day for their grueling task.  

The Spreckels had deep pockets and deeper patriotism, but clearly the losses sustained since the introduction of the new ships, made worse by their mechanical issues, could not be borne forever.  The losses and payment of interest on the already undersubscribed bond issue for the new ships severely depressed the share prices.  It was stated that Toyo Kisen Kaisha had already made an offer to purchase the three new ships and without an increase in the subsidy, Oceanic would not be a position to continue the service and would be compelled to sell the vessels.

By April 1906, the fortunes of Oceanic Steamship Co. seemed hanging by a legislative thread. And were about to be literally shaken in  quite unimaginable fashion. 

Sierra. Credit: Mariners Museum.

Sierra sailed from San Francisco on 29 March 1906, leaving behind a homeport and city that she would never see again as remembered.  Finally, favored by fair weather,   except for 15 hours south of Pago Pago, she made Auckland on 15 April in just 16 days 23 hours and 20 mins. On the 12th, Sonoma docked at San Francisco from the Antipodes with 262 passengers.   Ventura was coursing towards San Francisco, having departed Sydney on the 9th and calling at Auckland on Good Friday (the 13th). 

At 5:12 a.m. on 18 April 1906 an earthquake of an estimated 7.9 magnitude struck San Francisco and surrounding areas followed by four days of unchecked fires, destroying 80 per cent of the city, killing more than 3,000 and enduring as one of the greatest urban calamities of the modern age. Not until Hiroshima and Nagasaki were major cities so completely vaporized as was San Francisco.  It is worth remembering, too, that at the time San Francisco was the one great dominant city in all of California, its greatest port, financial center and cultural heart when Los Angeles was still a town surrounded by wildflowers. The apocalypse would have repercussions throughout the American economy and shut closed the door on the Gilded Age.  It would, too, have a crippling effect on the fortunes of the Oceanic Steamship Co. 

Headquarters, Icon and Home: the Spreckels lost it all 18-20 April 1906... left, the Oceanic S.S. Co. headquarters ablaze on the first day; center: The Spreckels Tower (Call Building), then the tallest building in San Francisco, burning and right: Claus Spreckels' mansion, burnt out. 

San Francisco late on 18 April 1906, photographed from Oakland. The tower of the Ferry Building standing out against the smoke and to the right, directly above the "C" in "copyrighted" is Sonoma laying at Pier 7. Credit: Oakland Museum of California. 

For the Spreckels and Oceanic Line, the earthquake was personal and devastating. In a stroke, Oceanic's headquarters, at the corner of Market and Fremont Streets, the landmark Spreckels Tower (also known as the Call Building being also the headquarters of the Spreckel's owned newspaper of the same name) and Claus Spreckels elegant mansion on Van Ness Avenue were completely gutted by fire. All of the company's records, too, were reduced to ashes in the inferno.  Few shipping lines suffered such a loss, so suddenly and completely yet Oceanic was but one of thousands of San Francisco businesses large and small, lives and livelihoods dealt a body blow that day and in the months to follow. 

San Francisco waterfront 19 April 1906: still smouldering ruins of the city on the left and the largely intact piers north of the Ferry Building from whose tower this photo was taken and...to the right,  Sonoma lying at Pier 7.  Due to sail the next day, she instead acted as a refugee ship including for the now homeless Spreckels and emptied her larders for survivors before being shifted to an anchorage off Hunter's Point.  Aft of her appears to be the Spreckel's tug Defiance. Credit: U.S. Signal Corps photo, U.S. National Archives. 

And Sonoma was at the heart of it all, at at Pier 7 foot of Pacific Street, in the final stages of loading for her intended sailing to the Antipodes on the 19th.  When the liner returned to Sydney in June, the Sydney Morning Herald published the account of Sonoma's Chief Purser, G.A. Hodson, of that day and the days immediately following: 

Mr. G. A. Hodson, the popular purser of the Sonoma, tells an interesting story concerning the experiences of the vessel immediately following the disaster. He was staying at the Occidental Hotel, and had in his possession a large sum of money belonging to the Oceanic Company. When the earthquake occurred he had to hold on to the bed very tightly to prevent himself being thrown out. The duration of the shock was only 48 seconds, but it seemed fully an hour, and in those few moments all the principal incidents in his life, and many unimportant ones, too, passed clearly in review through his mind! When he realised that the shock was over his first thought was to find his way down to his ship with the money. He partly dressed, and hurried downstairs. He had gone only a few yards along the street when he came upon a corpse, and on his way to the wharf automobiles and vehicles of all kinds passed him with dead and injured people in them, 

Going down Market-street, Mr. Hodson saw that the office of his shipping company was on fire, and endeavoured unsuccessfully to rescue the books and other documents. On reaching the vessel he found that the company's wharf was practically uninjured, although the adjoining one had collapsed, causing the death of 15 men. The Oceanic wharf subsequently caught fire, but the flames were extinguished. A couple of days afterwards the fire again threatened to demolish the structure, but the excellent work of the fire squads on the tugboats, as well as of those on shore, effectually removed the danger. The Sonoma was taken out into the stream, and during the trying days that followed provided accommodation for about 200 people, including the members of the Spreckels family, whose palatial homes were reduced to ashes. The provisioning of the vessel had not been completed, and some of the provisions on board had to be distributed among the foodless. A party of armed bluejackets politely but firmly demanded that this be done, and the request was most readily complied with. The delay in the sailing of the Sonoma naturally caused inconvenience to many people, but the company did everything possible under the circumstances. It arranged for several passengers to sail from Vancouver, and when at last the Sonoma had been manned and provisioned many sufferers from the fire were given passages to New Zealand and Australia at considerably reduced rates.

Sydney Morning Herald, 30 June 1906

Sonoma, lacking the provisions, coal and paperwork to sail, remained anchored off Hunter's Point while John D. Spreckels and his staff tried to take stock and regroup.  A makeshift office was set up on Pier 7 and another across the Bay in Oakland that had telegraph facilities.  On 23 April 1906 Spreckels announced that Sonoma's sailing would be indefinitely postponed and made arrangements to have her English mails and intending passengers diverted to Vancouver by train to be put aboard Union S.S. Co.'s Moana, sailing for the Antipodes on the 27th. Sierra's scheduled sailing from Sydney on the 30th to San Francisco, however, would take place.

By the time Sierra docked at Sydney on 20 April 1906 from Auckland,  news of the disaster was broken to those aboard by the pilot who came aboard the evening of the 20th as she came into the Heads, "creating alarm and consternation." 

Meanwhile, Ventura was still coursing towards San Francisco, having departed Sydney on 9 April 1906 and called at Auckland on Good Friday (the 13th) by which time she had 75 First, 50 Second and 43 steerage passengers aboard. Ventura was in the middle of the Pacific when the earthquake struck and the first news of the disaster was first conveyed aboard by the pilot upon boarding Ventura upon arrival at Honolulu on 24 April 1906. For many, especially members of her crew, it meant they had no homes to go back to as they poured over special editions of the local papers were brought aboard detailing the devastation.  When Ventura sailed that same evening, she was fully booked by many anxious Hawaiians who had family or friends in the city. 

Credit: San Francisco Call, 2 May 1906.

Doubtless presenting her passengers, officers and crew a sobering sight, San Francisco quietly received Ventura home at 1:27 p.m. on 30 April 1906, a home port radically altered during the course of the 22-day, 5-hour, 12-min. voyage from Sydney.  The liner anchored in the stream off Lombard St. to land her passengers and mails, the tug Defiance meeting her as she came in to convey them ashore. "The majority of the passengers were simply frantic to get on shore to learn the whereabouts of their relatives and friends in the city, no news of whose doings had reached them during the vessel's brief stay in Honolulu. " (San Francisco Call, 2 May 1906).  It was added that "Captain H.M. Hayward reports a pleasant trip all the way across, so far as the weather was concerned, but the trip up from Honolulu was a sad and quiet one, so far any festivities on board the ship were concerned. Every one on board was thinking and talking of the great calamity here."  Ventura was eventually moved to an anchorage off Risdon Iron Works and laid up awaiting the resumption of sailings from San Francisco. 

On 5 May Oceanic announced  resumption of the Australian service on the 31st with the sailing of Sonoma, the Call that day explaining one of the reasons for its suspension: "The fire, which destroyed both the passenger and freight offices of the Oceanic Steamship Company, reduced to charcoal the bills of lading and other papers necessary in the distribution at the various ports of call of the Sonoma's cargo record, without which it would be useless for the vessel to sail, had to be duplicated. As the records were numerous and the data vague and difficult to access from which the new ones were made the task was a long one. No time has been lost, however, and on May 31 the Sonoma will leave here just as if there never had been an earthquake and the affairs of the company will be running as smoothly as it is possible for any business to be conducted under the present disturbed conditions." Ventura would follow on 21 June and Sierra on 12 July to restored the three-weekly mail service. 

On schedule, Sierra sailed from Sydney on 30 April 1906, her departure being especially notable for the £310,000 ($1.5 mn) in specie she carried.  She reached Auckland after a good Tasman crossing on 3 May. "The mail steamer Sierra, which left for San Francisco yesterday, had more than the ordinary number of passengers in the steerage, there being 75 in all, 47 being from Auckland and 28 from Sydney. They were mostly of the labouring class, who have apparently been induced to go to California in prospect of good times there in the rebuilding of the city after the recent earthquake." (New Zealand Herald, 5 May). She called at Honolulu on the 15th. When Sierra docked at San Francisco on 21 May, the mails were put aboard Defiance for transfer to the Oakland mole, but the passengers were not landed until the next day as one who boarded at Honolulu was found to have smallpox and was confined to his cabin.  The other passengers were vaccinated and this saved her from being quarantined. She made the run up from Sydney in 21 days 14 hours. 

The Sonoma, during her stay here, has been thoroughly overhauled and will leave on her trip as clean as a whistle and with every appointment in perfect condition.

San Francisco Call, 18 May 1906

To prepare for her sailing south on 31 May 1906, Sonoma shifted to the Pacific Street Wharf on the 24th, the Chronicle noting that  "improvements and minor alterations are being made and the Sonoma will be in good trim by sailing time." What was not in "good trim" was the state of her underwater hull having sat in the still waters of San Francisco harbor for two months and and now thickly coated with grass and barnacles. Worse, the earthquake had damaged the dry dock at Hunter's Point and there were simply no local graving docks available.  She would have a new captain after Capt. Herriman left the company's employ and on 26th it was announced that Capt. J.H. Trask had been appointed master. 

Dinner menu for sailing day, 31 May 1906, of Sonoma, first Oceanic liner to resume service from San Francisco after the earthquake. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

As festive a scene as could be conjured up in a still devastated city, Sonoma cast off from Pacific St. Wharf on 31 May 1906, seen off by 3,000 well wishers and a brass band. Among her 250 passengers were 50 New Zealanders who were refugees from the fire and returning home on special compassionate reduced fares offered by the Spreckels. It was beginning of a long and tedious voyage. Her foul hull so slowed her speed, that upon departure from Honolulu the evening of the 8th, she was 48 hours late and she did not reach Auckland until the 23rd, 96 hours off schedule. Even so, it was noted that "the voyage was a very pleasant one, fine weather prevailing all the way." (New Zealand Herald).  She sailed for Sydney on the 25th and this put her another two days off schedule when gales in the Tasman cut her speed even further. Sonoma finally arrived at Sydney on 29 June 1906, five and a half days after leaving Auckland.  In all, Capt. Trask's first voyage in command proved the longest in her career in a mailship, consuming 29 days 5 hours 30 mins from San Francisco. 

On 30 June 1906, Sonoma was moved  to Mort's Dry Dock for her much needed hull  cleaning and painting. There was a great demand for Second Class and steerage accommodation by workmen attracted by high rates of pay for bricklayers and other trades in San Francisco.  Sonoma  sailed on the 7th with a heavy cargo of 1,400 tons including 500 tons of cement and "a quantity of building material," all for the reconstruction in San Francisco. After a rough Tasman crossing,  Sonoma arrived at Auckland on the 11th.  With a clean hull, but a "green crew in the engine room," she did not reach Honolulu until the 23rd, the day she was scheduled to have arrived in San Francisco. Instead, she docked there on the 30th, fully eight days behind schedule. "In explanation of the slow trip, it was said that Sonoma had left Sydney six days behind time, and that her boilers had given trouble all the way home. The liner was also in need of drydocking, She will probably go into the dock before again sailing for Australia." (San Francisco Chronicle, 31 July 1906). 

Another of the Call's attractive sketches in its shipping column depicting Ventura in anticipation of her return to service. Credit: The Call, 9 June 1906. 

Hope that Oceanic's luck would improve faded with Ventura's first southbound voyage since the earthquake. On 13 June 1906 the San Francisco Examiner reported that  Ventura was being "overhauled" in anticipation of her sailing on the 21st. That day she was moved from her anchorage off the Sugar Refinery to the Pacific Street Wharf.  Ventura returned to service upon her departure at 9:45 p.m. on the 21st with 100 passengers, five hours late awaiting the mails. She was 30 hours late reaching Honolulu on the 28th after  "she ran into a whole northerly gale after leaving San Francisco, which together with heavy head sea, lasted for thirty hours. She had to be slowed down during the storm and this together with the additional one of her being dirty, caused the delay." (Hawaiian Star, 28 June 1906).  Her time for the passage was 6 days 14 hours 1 min. By the time she docked at Auckland on 12th, 19 days 21 hours 20 mins had passed since departing San Francisco. Much of the delay was caused by bad weather south of Pago Pago.

Homeward bound,  Ventura's trans-Tasman crossing encountered strong currents and she was six hours late coming into Auckland on 27 July 1906, taking 3 days 22 hours for the trip. When the liner docked at San Francisco on 14 August, the Call reported that "Captain Haywards, who was rather seriously ill on the outward voyage, is well again and docked the Ventura in splendid style. Before her lines were fast the sacks of mail were sliding down chuted into the waiting trucks, and before passengers realized they had arrived, the loaded trucks were stirring up the dust on East street as they rolled to the ferry." Her mails caught the evening Overland express and at New York would be put aboard Campania. It was added that her 191 passengers "were a number of young mechanics anxious to benefit by the opportunities offered by conditions in this city."

In addition to being a happily quite routine voyage accomplished in fair time, Sierra's 12 July 1906 sailing from San Francisco was distinguished by conveying New Zealand's new Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Ward, Lady Ward and daughter occupying "especially fitted apartments and the company is according him every courtesy." Prime Minister Ward would be returning to New Zealand for the first time in that role, having assumed it while in Europe upon the sudden death of R.J. Seddon in June. Upon arrival at Auckland on the 30th,, an official welcoming delegation for Prime Minister Ward met her in the stream. After a Tasman crossing featuring "violent gales, accompanied by very heavy seas," Sierra came into Sydney late on 3 August and berthed the following morning. 

Sailed northbound on 13 August 1906, "the Sierra has a record number of passengers for this time of the year, and it would seem that tourists and others are being attracted to this route homewards, with the object of visiting the ruins of San Francisco and to witness the progress made in the rebuilding of the city." (Daily Telegraph). She enjoyed fine weather all the way and docked at San Francisco on September. 

If Sierra had enjoyed a routine voyage,  Sonoma's next trip highlighted the increasing difficulties of trying to operate a multi-ship, contracted scheduled service from San Francisco still in ruins and fraught with labor, transport, provision, warehousing and ship repair  shortages.

Sonoma left San Francisco on 5 August 1906, already four days late owing to the mails and lack of warehouse space in the still devastated city for her outbound cargo which had to be trucked from some distance. She also had a hard time scratching together a crew since the labor market in the city, then throbbing with rebuilding, was so tight that few were attracted by seafaring wages.   Sonoma arrived at Honolulu on the 11th after a fair 5-day 7-hour passage but did not make up any time.  Strong trade winds slowed her  so Pago Pago was not reached until the 19th and then a gale further retarded her southbound progress to Auckland where she finally docked on the 26th.  In all, she had taken 20 days 15 hours 59 minutes for the passage and a steaming time of 19 days 1 hour 59 minutes, "the steamer's passage was delayed owing to bad weather, the machinery was not working satisfactorily." (New Zealand Herald, 27 August 1906). 

Sonoma's ensuing trans-Tasman crossing was one of the worst in memory: "The wind was with the vessel, but blew with hurricane force, raising mountainous seas, and accompanied with furious rain squalls.  As she bowled along the Sonoma rolled and pitched heavily, and matters were made worse by reason of heavy list to starboard. The Sonoma neared lands before daylight, but the captain deemed it imprudent to make in the night under such conditions, and hove his vessel to for about five hours. During the whole of this time the ship knocked about heavily, and all on board were glad when the entered the Heads soon after daybreak." (Daily Telegraph, 1 September 1906). Worse, in a general mallee in the engine room,  the Third Asst. Engineer was changed upon arrival in Sydney with shooting a water tender aboard the ship on the last night at sea who he said was "causing a mutiny" among the crew, which the Australian Star described as being "the roughest which come to this port. They are made up of all sorts-- Spaniards, Italians, Germans and every kind of nation. There does not seem to be any kind of discipline whatever. " In the end, the charges were dropped, but it was another bad stain on the increasingly beleaguered Oceanic Line. 

Sonoma loads cargo at Auckland. Credit: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19060929-13-1 29 September 1906 New Zealand Graphic

Sonoma left Sydney on 7 September 1906, with another treasure of  80 boxes containing 400,000 gold sovereigns, and docked at San Francisco on 1 October, landing 135 First, 63 Second and 100 steerage passengers  including 50 Australian brick masons and carpenters eager to get high paying jobs in the city's reconstruction, "they are clean, well-nourished men of intelligence, such as any country would welcome." (Call, 2 October 1906). She had come in a full eight days late: "The Sonoma completed a most tedious trip this afternoon. The liner was due here several days ago, and her inability to make the scheduled time disgusted the passengers. The steamer was seven days in making the run from Honolulu to this port. The poor condition of the vessel's boilers is the cause of the slow trip, and when the steamer tied up at her wharf this evening the members of the engineer's department left the vessel." (San Francisco Examiner, 2 October 1906).

"Pacific-street wharf was crowded with the friends of those going away, and when the liner left the wharf it was to the accompaniment of a chorus of good-bys that could be heard half way across the bay," so the Call described the departure of Ventura for the Antipodes on 23 August 1906 on her 32nd voyage.  Her sailing was delayed several hours to repair another defect in her machinery had to be first repaired. Among those aboard was Capt. John Metcalf, famed salvage expert, bound for Honolulu to try and free the Pacific Mail steamer Manchuria off a coral reef at the harbour entrance.   Twelve hours behind schedule, Ventura docked at Honolulu on the 29th and reached Auckland on 13 September after a 19-day 11-hour 6-minute voyage.  In explaining that she was 48 hours late, the New Zealand Herald said: "is officially accounted for by the fact that a number of the firemen on board are inexperience. Owing to the great demand for labour existing in San Francisco at the present time, the best of the firemen who ship in the mail steamers find it more to their interests to take up shore positions, and consequently 'scratch crews' have to be engaged in the meantime."  Proving the point, Ventura made a protracted passage across the Tasman of 4 days 2 hours 30 mins to finally reach Sydney on the 18th after a dismal 24-day 10-hour 59-min. passage from San Francisco. 

A "hard luck" ships post San Francisco Earthquake, Ventura is shown above at Sydney. Credit: State Library of Queensland.

Ventura sailed from Sydney on 24 September 1906 with £685,000 in gold sovereigns in her strongroom. She finally got to Honolulu on 11 October, two days late and "concerning the safety of which some little uneasiness had begun to be felt," (Hawaiian Gazette, 12 October 1906) which added "Her delays en route was ascribed to the fact that the crew of coal passers was both incompetent and indolent… some time was also lost at Auckland, where the engines required some repairing and the same thing occurred at Pago Pago and at this port, the sailing hour being delayed from 1 o'clock until 2 o'clock to allow of her work in the engine rooms."  Ventura arrived at San Francisco on the 19th but could not dock until the following afternoon as the high seas whipped up by a strong northeastery wind frustrated early attempts.  

When she sailed from San Francisco on 13 September 1906, it was said "the Sierra went to sea in better shape than for many voyages, according to her officers. The liner has always made a good showing, but on the trip just begun in particularly fitted for the run for Sydney and return." True enough, she made a fine run to Honolulu, arriving there on the 19th after a 5-day 17-hour run. Sierra continued to be Oceanic's one "lucky ship," logging an impressive 17 days, 1 hour and 12 mins.  to reach Auckland on 1 October from San Francisco with a steaming time of only 16 hours 6 hours 27 mins.  She arrived at Sydney the evening of the 5th and a trans-Tasman in 3 days 9 hours 8 mins, logging a total of 21 days 4 hours 35 for the southbound voyage.

Sierra at Sydney. Credit: ANMM Collection Gift from the Estate of John Watt

There was no end to the gold shipments it seemed and Sierra sailed from Sydney 15 October 1906 with 60 boxes of gold sovereigns worth £300,000.   She came into Honolulu on the 30th, doing the run north in 15 days 13 hours. "Throughout the voyage was a pleasant one, with no unusual incidents," the Honolulu Advertiser reported.  She passed Sonoma a day out of Pago Pago.   On 1 November  half-way between Honolulu and San Francisco she had a scare when a small fire broke out in no. 3 hold aft which was extinguished within 15 minutes before it was noticed by any passengers.  Sierra arrived at San Francisco on 6 November 1906. 

It was the fastest turn around for an Oceanic ship when Sonoma, which arrived at San Francisco on 2 October, eight days late, was unloaded, fueled and took on 2,500 tons of outbound cargo and on her way, on schedule, for the Antipodes the evening of the 4th. Alas, it proved too quick and it was now quite evident that the ships were sorely missing what had been their routine engine work done by Risdon Iron Works during their San Francisco turnarounds. With that installation, like every other aspect of the city, wholly consumed with the urgent recovery and rebuilding post-earthquake, quick patch and mend was clearly not enough. 

Having a decided list to port and looking sadly in need of new paint, the Oceanic liner Sonoma reached port yesterday morning, something over forty-hours late from San Francisco. The slow time made is ascribed to the state of the boilers and engines, the repairing of which is being done en route, two boilermakers being on board for the purpose. It is expected that everything will be in shape again and ready for hard steaming within the next two weeks, and in meantime the vessel will have to be operated under reduced power. It is probable, under these circumstances, that she may drop two or three more days between this port and the Colonies.

So the Honolulu Advertiser reported the rather shocking state of the once proud record breaker Sonoma limping into Honolulu the morning of 13 October 1906.  She stayed in port until midnight to allow the boilers to be blown down and cleaned and load 600 tons of coal.  While in port, 20 of her stokehold and steward dept. crew signed off the ship. It promised to be another long voyage and after calling at Pago Pago on the 22nd, she finally reached Auckland on the 29th-- 22 days, 11 hours, 5 mins. after leaving San Francisco. Still, the New Zealand Herald reported that "very fine weather prevailed throughout the voyage, and the passengers had a most enjoyable time." Sonoma docked at Sydney on the afternoon of 3 November. And it would be some time before she was dispatched northwards, Oceanic management finally deciding to give all three ships complete machinery and boiler overhauls during extended three-week turnarounds at Sydney, getting the expert work then unable to secure in San Francisco:

Since the disastrous effects of the earthquake and fires in San Francisco in April last, the owners of the mall steamers performing the service between Sydney and San Francisco have had great difficulty in getting efficient crews for their steamers, and, in consequence of the continued disorganised state of the labour market, they have not been able to effect as usual at San Francisco the customary repairs in the engine-rooms of their steamers, at the end of each voyage. As this state of things may continue in San Francisco for some little time longer, the company has advised the managing agents in Australia Messrs. Burns, Philp, and Co., Limited, that it had been decided to overcome this difficulty at once, and to effect the repairs in Sydney.

The R.M.S. Sonoma, now incoming from San Francisco, will be the first of the line to come under this now arrangement, and her departure from Sydney has been postponed till Monday, November 26, to permit of the necessary work being done. Instructions have been given lo Mort's Dock and Engineering Company, Limited, and each steamer will in turn be thoroughly examined and put into first-class condition. The Sonoma will be succeeded by the Ventura to sail from Sydney on December 17, and she will be followed by the Sierra on January 7. The service will be thereafter continued in rotation every three weeks.

Sydney Morning Herald, 2 November 1906

Sonoma was shifted on 6 November 1906 from East Circular Quay to Mort's dock to begin her refit. On the 23rd the liner left the yard for an engineer's trial trip at the conclusion of which she docked at the Circular Quay to load for her much delayed northbound voyage.  The next day Ventura arrived from Auckland and for the first time two of the Oceanic sisters were in Sydney together.  She anchored in Neutral Bay to await the departure of Sonoma from the Circular Quay on the 26th.

Sonoma sails from Auckland for San Francisco. Credit: New Zealand Graphic 1 December 1906, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19061201-13-4

Despite all the work, Sonoma arrived at Auckland on 30 November 1906 after what the Auckland Star characterized as "a somewhat protracted passage, the vessel failing to average a good rate of speed."  When she sailed she was almost fully booked, her steerage chockablock with men attracted by the high wages being paid unskilled labor in San Francisco during the rebuilding. "At Sydney the Sonoma had a thorough  overhaul,  especially in her engine department, the work being done by Mort's Engineering Company, and under the supervision of Chief Engineer Owens, of the Sonoma. The work was carried out in a very thorough manner, and the Sonoma, after the second day out on her passage , from Sydney, improved in speed and came along the balance of the journey at about 15 knots per hour. Captain Trask is very pleased with the present condition of the steamer, and advised our representative  last night that contract speed was confidently expected by him on the present run,  as well as on future ones." (New Zealand Herald, 3 November 1906).  With head winds, Sonoma was 36 hours late when she arrived, in heavy rain, at  Honolulu  on the 13th.  By the time Sonoma came into San Francisco on the 21st, she had taken 25 days from Sydney and a slow 7 days 13 hours from Honolulu, all blamed on "the bad priming of the boilers." (San Francisco Examiner, 22 December 1906).

Ventura sailed from San Francisco on 27 October 1906 with James Mills, the managing Director of Union S.S. Co., among the more than 100 First Class aboard, but surely could not have made a favorable impression. Already  a good nine hours late owing to more delays loading her cargo, it took her 6 days 11 hours 10 mins to reach Honolulu on 3 November and when Ventura came into Auckland on the 18th,  it was  20 days 23 hours 33 minutes  from San Francisco.  By the time she docked at Sydney on the 24th, Ventura had taken an astonishing 26 days 16 hours 52 mins  and her steaming time was still 24 days 3 hours 47 mins. 

After her refit, Ventura sailed from Sydney on 17 December. 1906, but many hours late after a burst steam pipe had to be repaired. .Docking at Auckland on the 22nd, local papers reported that during her stay in Sydney  her original propellers had been refitted  and, "By this change it is stated that the Ventura will be able steam much faster." Evidently not, for when Ventura finally arrived at Honolulu on 4 January 1907, "The officers declare that the trip had been a very pleasant one so far as the weather was concerned, but refused to give any information as to why the liner should have arrived here from the Colonies nearly three days behind time." (Honolulu Advertiser, 5 January 1907). The Evening Bulletin added "The officers of the Ventura were all in a bad humor and refused to talk about the trip and when asked for information displayed a a studied lack of knowledge. One volunteered the oldtime information that "the crew of firemen was incompetent and was unable to get up steam." Considerable confusion ensued when Ventura was shifted from the Oceanic dock to the Hackfeld wharf to make room for the southbound Sonoma, many passengers embarking on the wrong vessel. Five days late, Ventura docked at San Francisco on the 13th, 26 days 14 hours and 23 mins out of Sydney and 7 days 18 hours 39 mins from Honolulu.  The days of the Oceanic flyers seemed but a distant memory.

After an eight-hour delay waiting on the mails, Sierra finally cleared San Francisco the evening of 15 November 1906 and was half a day late coming into Honolulu, too late to berth on the 21st and doing so the first so the next morning.   She made Auckland on 7 December, 19 days 13 hours 9 mins from San Francisco but a steaming time of 17 days 12 hours 45 mins. She docked at Sydney on the 12th. Like her sisters, she went to Mort's on  the 14th for her engine overhaul and departed for San Francisco on 7 January 1907. She had a very rough Tasman crossing and fog coming down the coast of New Zealand causing her to reduced speed to arrive Auckland on the 11th after a 3-day 16-hour run. 

Oceanic 1907 sailing list. Credit: Official Railway Guide.

1907

Twenty-eight hours late due to delays delivering the English mails, Sonoma left San Francisco on 28 December 1906 and after a voyage of 20 days 29 hours 50 mins, docked at Auckland on 19 January 1907. After arrival at Sydney on the 24th, Sonoma was drydocked at Woolwich and floated out on 27th, shifting to East Circular Quay to load for her northbound sailing. At sailing time, 1:00 p.m. the 30th  49 of Sonoma's crew (her entire fireroom crew) refused to obey the lawful commands of the First Mate and Chief Engineer.  They did so to protest the engagement of four non union Hawaiian firemen during the outward call at Honolulu. As going on strike on sailing day and delaying the British mails was a violation of British shipping laws, they were arrested and removed by the police and taken into custody. 

There was a busy scene at the Water Police Station last evening, when the men from the Sonoma were being searched before being locked up for the night. The men presented a motley appearance. A large proportion of them were aliens: Mexicans, Hawaiians, and half-bred Spaniards and the rest were men of various nationalities. Good humour was displayed by the police in dealing with the men, and the majority went cheerfully into the cells, some whistling, some singing, and others with a jaunty swing suggestive of a step-dance.

Daily Telegraph, 31 January 1907

Her sailing postponed, Sonoma was shifted to anchorage in Neutral Bay while a replacement union crew was scrounged up.  The 49 strikers were convicted on 1 February 1907 and each sentenced to 30 days imprisonment at hard labor. Sonoma sailed on the 2nd. 

Sonoma will probably be taken off run on  her next arrival here to undergo a thorough overhauling of her engines, which have been giving great trouble during the last year."  Each ship was recently given an overhauling in Sydney costs $46,000 per vessel "but the defects in the engines were evidently not remedied as the vessel failed to make the required speed. It is rumored that the object in taking the steamers off the run was to await the fate of the ship subsidy bill now pending in Congress, but the officials of the line deny it.

San Francisco Examiner, 15 February 1907

Sonoma arrived San Francisco on 28 February 1907 from Honolulu after a slow run of 7 days

After another quick San Francisco turnaround, Ventura was again off to the Antipodes at daybreak on 19 January 1907 on 18 January 1907. It was the last time "quick" could be applied to any aspect of the voyage, alas.  Indeed, it was 7 days 49 mins before she reached Honolulu, three days late already, on the 26th, the Honolulu Advertiser allowing  that "Ventura did not run according to her usual schedule time, owing to the fact that her engines were not in good condition."    

A dismal episode during Ventura's call at Honolulu in January 1907 showing the quality and character of firemen Oceanic was able to hire in post-earthquake San Francisco. Credit: Honolulu Advertiser. 27 January 1907.

The Honolulu Evening Bulletin of 24 January 1907 reported that Ventura's Chief Engineer T.W. Lawrence had quit service, followed Nieman of Sierra and Little of Sonoma in leaving company. "… it appears that the company expects new men to make better time with the engines. The liners, have, however, made no better speed, and invariably late in arrival." 

Ventura took 22 days 23 hours 6 mins to reach Auckland (on 12 February 1907) and worse was to follow when she set a new record for the trans-Tasman crossing… for the longest in recent memory for a mailship, taking 6 days 4 hours 28 min. In all, the voyage from San Francisco took 30 days 9 hours and 4 mins. "The captain of the Ventura says he never saw such bad weather as he experienced off the New Zealand coast on his recent trip. Head winds continued all the way. He admitted the engines gave trouble. First the auxiliaries and then the steam pipes showed defects, other troubled afterwards developed. In the circumstances he took things easily." (Auckland Star, 21 February 1907).

Oceanic indefinitely postponed Ventura's northbound voyage, sending her again to Mort's shipyard another round of "extensive" engine repairs and overhaul.  Docking at Sydney on 19 February 1907, she was moved to Mort's three days later, "the company is determined that the Ventura shall be in first-class condition in all departments before she sails on return journey."

Oceanic's mail contract with the New Zealand Government had expired on 10 November 1906 and was not renewed. Indeed, given recent events, the postal authorities directed that no more mail be dispatched via the Oceanic service until some semblance of reliability was restored. 

The Acting Postmaster General, the Hon. Dr. Findlay, had some interesting remarks to make when questioned regarding the irregularity of the San Francisco mail service and the laying up the Ventura in Sydney for repairs.

'We recognise," said Dr. Findlay to a Post interviewer, ' that Messrs. Sprockets and Co. have had to encounter serious difficulties' owing to the earthquake, but every indulgence has been shown them, and prompt action must now be taken to end the present unsatisfactory state of things. It is just as important to have regularity and punctuality of running as to have expedition of transit. A great many contracts are made on the basis ot the mail timetable, and the uncertainty and the irregularity of the San Francisco mail service for months past has caused such loss of business that commercial men are now giving it up and relying on the Suez route only. 

The last San Francisco contract expired on November 10, 1906, and no fresh contract has been entered into, so that no penalties are now being incurred by the company. Matters have gone from bad to worse, and now the Ventura is to be laid up for repairs and overhaul, and one mail at least is to be dropped altogether. The company has received repeated notices and warnings, and while it may not have been able to overcome its obstacles it  certainly has not improved the regularity of its running.. The company admits that it cannot, with its present fleet and running, maintain time-table dates. The Ventura's withdrawal from the service will be a lengthy one, and the position can only be met by the company substituting a chartered vessel. I understand that the Riverina is available. 

In this condition of things the company has been notified that unless a  substitute vessel is provided no English mails will be sent by San Francisco steamers until the service has been put on a proper footing, and it can be shown that the steamers themselves are capable of keeping timetable dates. If the company does not promptly move in the direction required the Government will have to consider the advisability of abandoning the service altogether. It will be remembered that we have now. via. Suez, a fortnightly running, with complete regularity. The service is costing us less than the San Francisco service costs us, while the San Francisco line is a three-weekly service. The only drawback to the Suez service that it takes a week longer than the contract time of the San Francisco line. However, as I have said, I believe that punctuality and regularity are as important as expeditious transit.'

New Zealand Herald, 25 February 1907

Far worse news was forthcoming some 9,500 miles distant when in Washington, D.C. the long suffering Ship Subsidy Bill died three legislative deaths. On 17 January 1907 the original bill, which was passed by the Senate, was defeated by one vote in House.  A revised bill which exempted lines operating from the West Coast to the Orient and the Antipodes from any additional subsidies, passed in the House on 1 March by 155 to 141, but died in filibuster by Democrats in the Senate led by Sen. Carmack of Tennessee. On 4 March the 49th Congress adjourned and with it, any hope of  merchant marine legislation. For Oceanic Steamship Co. it was last straw in what had been a truly miserable 12 months for the line.

By the first week in March 1907, Oceanic Steamship Co. was near collapse, the San Francisco Examiner (9 March 1907) reporting that the Spreckels had lost $6,721,500 to date on the enterprise, the $3.7 mn. in stock was practically worthless and it was doubted it could pay the interest on the $2,405,000 bonds issued to finance the new ships. It was estimated the required repairs to Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura would cost between $500,000 and $600,000 and when investors balked at Spreckels entreaties to co-finance the work, "this was refused. The Spreckels people then threw up the sponge."

Every effort has been exhausted in the attempt to place the company's affairs on a profitable footing. In view of the loss, it has become necessary to withdraw the steamers from the Australian service.

President John D. Spreckels, 12 March 1907

On 12 March 1907 the shareholders of Oceanic Steamship Co. were notified at a meeting of the Board of Directors that Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura would be withdrawn upon their arrivals back in San Francisco.  Alameda and Mariposa would continued on the service to Honolulu and Tahiti, "they being the only boats  operated profitably." During the meeting, stockholders were told that the company suffered a net loss of $106,970.94 in 1906, contrasting with the steady payment of dividends until 1902.  It was feared that the company would default on the payment of interest on its bonds which would result in foreclosure and would have to make delinquent payments by July.  From the onset of the service to date, Oceanic had earned $1,715,877 in mail payment from the Post Office. 

In addition to denial of additional subsidy, the Call cited: "Besides this, the disaster of April 18 resulted in a thorough demoralization of the service and inability of the company thereafter to maintain time schedules through not being able to obtain competent crews and the difficulty of having ordinary repairs effected within a reasonable time.  The subsequent irregularity of service moved the New Zealand Government to withdraw its mail contract, occasioning a loss to the company of $100,000. Increased tariffs against American goods have resulted in a large decrease in export shipments, especially on paper goods and salmon, and this has materially lessened the company's revenue."  It was estimated that the cancellation of the service would mean a loss of between $500,000-600,000 annually to San Francisco businesses. In addition, between 800 and 1,000 men would lose their jobs on shore and afloat.

On 15 March 1907 Oceanic fixed the final sailings of the trio from Sydney:  Ventura on 18 March, Sierra on 28 March and Sonoma on 8 April after which they well be laid up for indefinite period.  

In Sydney, the refitted Ventura underwent trials on which she maintained 16 knots. On 18 March 1907 her departure at 1:00 p.m. had to be put back to the next day when bad weather delayed coaling and when she finally left, it was first Oceanic sailing from Sydney in some seven weeks. After crossing the Tasman in 4 days 3 hours  in the face of strong headwinds, she arrived at Auckland on 23rd. 

Mr. Sproul, manager at New Zealand for the Oceanic S.S. Co., was a passenger by the steamer Ventura from Sydney. He states that there are no new developments in connection with the Oceanic service, but be anticipates something definite may arrive by the Sonoma, now almost about due from San Francisco. Mr. T. S. Jones, the company's general manager in Sydney, speaking with regard to the service, said that he regarded the statements as to the withdrawal of the steamers as premature. "I have had no intimation of any withdrawal from San Francisco," said Mr. Jones, ''and; I think that if it were so 1 should have heard, of it before this." Mr. Jones went on to say that what had happened was probably that a notification had been given to the United States Government of a suspension to allow the steamers to be overhauled and renovated in San Francisco. This notification would, Mr. Jones added, be necessary under the terms of the contract with the American Government.

Auckland Star, 25 March 1907

Although she left her Auckland pier on 24 March 1907, Ventura anchored in the stream when her  steering gear was disabled and after repairs, proceeded at 3:00 a.m. on the following day. Calling at Pago Pago on the 29th, she arrived at Honolulu on 7 April, four days late. "Judging from the poor performance record from Australia the Ventura although she leaves a day ahead of the Alameda, will be probably be beaten to the Coast by the Alameda which sails at 10 o'clock Wednesday morning. [10 April] (Hawaiian Star, 8 April 1907). Ventura finally docked at San Francisco on 17 April 1907, "… and with feelings of relief the passengers walked ashore. The liner docked during a strong ebb tide, and once while attempting to get into the berth the vessel was carried against the steamer Montara's stern, but no great amount of damage was done." (San Francisco Examiner, 18 April 1907)… "had it not been for the continual breaking down of the engines the trip would have been most enjoyable. Excellent weather was experienced throughout the voyage, and the passenger took advantage of it to enjoy deck sports." She took 7 days 8 hours for the crossing from Honolulu.  Ventura thus was the first of the Oceanic trio to complete her final voyage. Among her 241 passengers were 13 or more of the firemen who struck aboard Sonoma and jailed there for 20 days and returning to the coast.

Ten hours late, Sierra left San Francisco at 1:10 a.m. on 8 February 1907 on a voyage that finally blotted her copy book as the one reliable Oceanic sister. She came into Honolulu on the 14th and shortly after continuing her voyage south, two new circulating pumps which had been fitted in San Francisco gave out and with her boilers priming, she had to reduce speed and did not reach Pago Pago until the 22nd. There, the pumps were repaired and she was off two days later. She reeled off the passage to Auckland in just 4 days 11 hours, docking there on 2 March.  The passengers aboard commended Chief Engineer J. McIntosh for "bringing the boat along under unfortunate circumstances."

That day, the Postmaster General of New Zealand ordered that no more post be dispatched via the Oceanic boats and that only the Suez route be used henceforth.

Sierra arrived at Sydney on 6 March 1907, taking 25 days 19 hours 55 mins with a steaming time of 21 days 8 hours and 38 mins from San Francisco. The trans-Tasman run was done in 3 days 16 hours 20 mins.  Her homeward voyage was delayed to the 18th and on the 9th this was set back to the 28th so that, in effect Ventura would take her originally schedule 19th March departure. 

Getting underway at 2:38 p.m. on 28 March 1907, Sierra, at least, put in a fine passage on her final voyage to San Francisco, further establishing her reputation of being the "best of the lot" and arrived at Auckland on 1 April.

The Oceanic S.S. Company's mail boat Sierra made a. fast run across from Sydney, arriving at Auckland at 4.55 a.m. to-day, after a passage of 3 days 13 hours. The Sierra left Sydney at 2.38 p.m. on March 28, and made a splendid run across the Tasman Sea. She developed a speed up to 17 knots, and the average speed was 16 knots. Captain H. C. Houdlette states that the steamer was slowed down on the coast last night, as it was not desired to reach the anchorage much before daylight, but if it had been necessary the Sierra could have been in Auckland four hours earlier, or about midnight. The skipper is perfectly satisfied with the performance of his boat, and says, also, that she was never in better running order than at present. The Sierra is timed to leave for San Francisco, via the islands, at 4 o'clock this afternoon, and should enter the Golden Gate on April 18. She landed only two passengers, but there are over a hundred for 'Frisco, and this number is being considerably added to at this port.

Auckland Star, 1 April 1907.

Much to the surprise of everybody the Oceanic steamship Sierra, Captain Houdlette, arrived this morning from the Colonies en route to San Francisco, making the passage from Sydney in 15 days, remarkably good time considering recent slow passages… While at Sydney the Sierra was thoroughly overhauled. She is clean bottomed and there is nothing wrong with her in any department. She enjoyed a pleasant passage up and had no trouble in the fireroom or elsewhere.

Hawaiian Star, 12 April 1907

Sierra's last voyage up from the Antipodes reminded of the brief glories of early years. Having left Sydney 10 days behind Ventura, Sierra arrived at San Francisco 19 April, only one day after her fleetmate. "The overhauling given the steamer while at Sydney undoubtedly aided her to make excellent time on the voyage," said the San Francisco Examiner.  Logging 5 days 17 hours for the run up from Honolulu, it was finally something for her officers, crew, passengers and management to cheer about. "Chief Engineer J.F. Macintosh said that but for strong headwinds encountered in the latter part of the last stretch the liner would have been in port at 8 o'clock yesterday morning. The Sierra's engines, he said, worked like a watch, and if necessary the liner could start today and make just as good time on the return trip." She landed 192 passengers and cargo including 668 ingots of tin, 6,603 bags of sugar and 4,668 bags of copra. It was this performance which gave Sierra a glimmer of hope amid the vastly diminished plans and capabilities of the beleaguered Oceanic organization.

It was left to Sonoma (Capt. Trask)  to close Oceanic's San Francisco-Antipodes service.  For a change, the English mails arrived in time, but another bout of machinery problems put back her departure from San Francisco from 2:00 p.m. on 6 March to 5:30 p.m. She arrived at Honolulu on the 14th and came into Auckland on the 28th after a passage of 20 days 5 hours 54 mins. After a 4-day 20-hour crossing of the Tasman, Sonoma entered Sydney Heads at 11:05 am and was alongside at Circular Quay by 1:45 p.m. to land her 109 passengers.

Sonoma makes the final arrival at Auckland on 17 April 1907. Credit: Auckland Weekly News 25 April 1907 Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19070425-5-6

Sonoma was to have begun her voyage home on 8 April 1907, but even this was thwarted by a coal shortage in Sydney and her departure was put forward to the 11th. In fact, Sonoma did sail until 1:30 p.m on the 12th and did so from her anchorage in Neutral Bay, her passengers and mails coming out by tender. Sonoma arrived at Auckland on 17 April but was detained there until the following evening owing to repairs to the steering gear which had malfunctioned on the Tasman crossing,  carried out by Messrs. George Fraser & Sons. Ltd. Sonoma docked at Honolulu on 1 May. She left that evening at 6:00 p.m. leaving behind five stokers who jumped ship and only replaced at the last minute. Sonoma docked at San Francisco on 8th with 50 First, 115 Second and 56 steerage and 1,175 tons of cargo. She took 6 days 19 hours from Honolulu. 

The liner had good weather throughout the voyage, except when in the Tasmanian Sea a gale struck the vessel, but fortunately no damage. The engines on the steamer gave trouble all the way home and numerous stops had to be made at seat for repairs. At Auckland there was a detention of two days for the purpose of overhauling the machinery. The steering gear of the Sonoma became disabled several times, and the passengers stated the vessel was often traveling in a circle.

San Francisco Examiner, 9 May 1907

One of the Oceanic Sisters passes through The Golden Gate. 

Leaving the wharf shortly before 10 o'clock in the morning, the way led down the harbor front in the direction of Hunter's Point. It was not long before visitors were called forward to gaze with wondering eyes upon three desolate objects that lay riding the bay off the Union Iron Works. These were the Sonoma, the Ventura and the Sierra of the Oceanic line, for two long years laid up in disuse, their hulls covered with barnacles, the paint fast disappearing from their sides, their entire aspect forlorn to a degree-- pointing to the inevitable end, the junk pile.

San Francisco Examiner, 24 August 1909. 

It was a strange interlude indeed, a five-year enforced idleness for two sister ships during which the third found a new role beginning in 1911 that was not only among her most successful, paving the way for the return of her fleetmates and establishing Sierra as the first true express liner on the Mainland-Honolulu route.  Sonoma and Ventura, in the meantime, served as the barnacled, rusting and forlorn symbols of the U.S. Merchant Marine deep in another of its periodic nadirs instead of heralding a new renaissance as they had barely seven years previously. 

Sonoma managed to find employment in the summer of 1907. When another San Francisco strike, this time machinists and ironworkers, marooned its steamer The Queen in the middle of being reboilered at Union Iron Works, the Pacific Coast Steamship Co. chartered Sonoma on 22 May for a three-month stint on its  San Francisco-Seattle-Vancouver-Port Townsend run starting 1 June.  On the 25th it was announced that Sonoma would run between San Francisco, Puget Sound and British Columbia.  Although most of Sonoma's crew would be retained, Capt. Trask was relieved of command for one of Pacific Coast's own captains experienced with her route.  Capt. N.E. Cousins of the laid up The Queen was appointed master on the 29th.  She would initially be partnered with City of Puebla on a seven-day schedule between San Francisco, Seattle, Victoria and Vancouver pending the delivery of the new President from the East Coast.  

With her black funnels presumably adorned with red Maltese Cross emblem of Pacific Coast, Sonoma left San Francisco on 4 June 1907 and arrived at Seattle on the 7th with 290 passengers. Sonoma made her maiden arrival at Victoria on 7 June and made the run up from San Francisco in under 58 hours despite having a scratch fireroom crew owing to the ongoing strike.   Her first southbound voyage began on the 11th.  

Credit: Victoria Daily Times, 27 May 1907

Sonoma set a passenger record when she left San Francisco with "a thousand passengers" on 17 June 1907 for Seattle and onwards to Vancouver.  Presumably she carried deck passengers on this run or had additional capacity added in her 'tween decks.  Additionally, Sonoma was the only vessel on the route with reefer space which was put to good use carrying fruit and perishable cargo. She made her maiden call at Vancouver on the 21st, landing 400 tons of cargo.  Her outbound cargo of 800 tons included lead bullion, paper, flour and onwards freight from the Orient transhipped from Monteagle. 

She got a new running mate when Pacific Coast's magnificent new steamer President sailed from Seattle on her maiden voyage on 25 June 1907, taking Sonoma's schedule southbound sailing. She headed south two days later. 

Her short charter occasioned her only accident in her long career when Sonoma collided with the three-masted schooner Advent, carrying a cargo of lumber at 2:15 a.m. on 6 July 1907 off Point Arena. She hit the schooner just forward of the cathead, cutting the stem completely away. A boat was lowered by Sonoma to take off Capt. Olsen and the seven-man crew. Sonoma took Advent in tow until the steam schooner Gualla was met which then towed Advent to San Francisco."The collision was due to no fault of the Sonoma's officers as the helm was thrown over to starboard and everything done to avert it." (Vancouver Daily World, 10 July 1906).  Sonoma lost a section of her port rail and some awning stanchions. She arrived at Victoria on the 8th.

Sonoma's final voyage for Pacific Coast left Victoria for San Francisco on 28 August 1907. On 6 September she was towed to Mission Bay to laid up near Ventura.

Right on the heals of her impressive final voyage performance, came a second chance for Sierra. On 19 April 1907 Oceanic sent a wire to its Honolulu agents advising that she would make a trial voyage from San Francisco on 30 April to Honolulu, sailing from there on 11 May with the object of testing the demand for her to join Alameda on the run and provide a fortnightly service on the route. There was also mooted the possibility of Ventura replacing Alameda and the pair maintaining the service in the future.  All this was occasioned by the extraordinary ill fortune attending another American trans-Pacific line, Pacific Mail, whose Manchuria and Mongolia were out of service for a considerable time after groundings and as they contributed considerable berths on the Mainland-Honolulu segment of their route to Far East, there seemed an opportunity for the equally beleagured Oceanic.

There is a chance now offered the people of Honolulu and Hawaii to have a first-class fortnightly service of the Oceanic line between here and San Francisco. As announced elsewhere, the Oceanic company will put the Sierra on for an experimental trip, alternating with the Alameda. The Sierra is the best of the Oceanic boats, and has been given thorough repair. She lately made the trip between here and San Francisco in five and a half days and has good passenger accommodations and an acceptable table. From every point of view Honolulu ought to work hard to keep the Sierra running, the thing needful being to make her experimental trip profitable. 

Honolulu Advertiser, 20 April 1907

Sierra left San Francisco on at 1:23 p.m. 30 April 1907, even the Call allowing that she "did not carry many passengers, but that was expected, as the decision to put the steamship on this run was made after the majority of travelers Honolulu bound had made reservations elsewhere. Many bookings have been received for future trips and hereafter the Sierra is  assured of a big share of the Honolulu travel."  In fact, she had aboard 12 cabin and two steerage passengers and 718 tons of cargo when she came into Honolulu the morning of 5 May.  The time for her passage was 5 days 16 hours. 

With 1,328 tons of cargo and 142 passengers, including Governor of Hawaii, George R. Carter, Sierra came into San Francisco on 17 May after a fine passage: "As a traveler the Sierra is in its old form and made the run from the island port in 5 days and 17 hours. The Sierra left Honolulu an hour ahead of the Nippon Maru and reached this port four hours sooner." (Call, 19 May 1907).  On the second day out, "a slight mishap" to her machinery caused Sierra to stop for about two hours, but after repairs, she worked up to 17 knots. Her official time for the passage being 5 days 17 hours 52 mins compared to Nippon Maru's 5 days 21 hours 3 mins.

Ending speculation, especially prevailing in the Antipodes, that the cessation of sailings was temporary, on 23 May 1907 the  Manager of Oceanic office in Sydney received a telegram instructing him to close up affairs in Australia and close office by 30 June. 

Off on her second voyage to Honolulu, Sierra sailed from San Francisco on 23 May 1907 with 39 passengers and 1,070 tons of cargo.  After a passage of 5 days 21 hours 49 mins she reached Honolulu on the 29th. Her northbound crossing, beginning 3 June took away 115 cabin and 21 steerage passengers and 1,500 tons of sugar.  She got to San Francisco (9th) in 5 days 21 hours. 

On her third and final voyage to the islands, Sierra left San Francisco on 15 June 1907: "a large crowd was at the Pacific street dock to wish the vessel godspeed, and, as the beautiful craft pulled out into the stream, cheer after cheer went up from those on the wharf, and these salutations were returned by those who were sailing away to the islands." (Call, 16 June 1907). What the Evening Bulletin called "a big crowd of eight-seven passengers and a cargo of 1,518 tons.." was landed at Honolulu  on the 21st. 

With her largest passenger list (187) yet on the Hawaii run, Sierra cleared Honolulu at 10:00 a.m. on 27 June 1907 with 1,900 tons of cargo as well. But the Honolulu Advertiser reported that "the officers do not know at present whether they will be discharged on reaching San Francisco or not." She docked at San Francisco on 3 July after a 6-day 1-hour run.  

On 11 July 1907 it was announced that Sierra would resume sailings to Honolulu on 24 August and 14 September to relieve Alameda for overhaul. After being laid up, Sierra sailed on the 25th with almost 200 passengers, 170 in cabin. This time there were no fast passages, indeed she was late arriving at Honolulu on 2 September, her hull being quite foul after being so long idle, and worse with a case of plague aboard necessitating her being quarantined at anchor. After some hours, her cabin passengers were allowed to land by the island steamer J.A. Cummins.  She sailed north on 4 September, seven hours late owing to quarantine and after taking on 2,000 tons of coal in Honolulu so she would not have to coal in San Francisco in case she is quarantined there on arrival. Sierra docked at San Francisco on 11th with 124 passengers and 2,201 tons including 12,230 cases of canned pineapple, largest shipment to date. 

On what would be her final voyage for quite some time, Sierra left San Francisco at noon on 16 September 1907 for Honolulu with 110 cabin passengers and 1,800 tons of cargo where she arrived on the 23rd after a 6-day 11-hour passage. 

The present trip is the last which will be made to this city for some time by the Sierra as the Alameda will come back on her regular run on the next trip. When asked what would be done with the Sierra, Captain Houdlette shook his head with a smile and said that he would like to know that very thing himself. He stated that the Sonoma and the Ventura were both laid up in the bay in San Francisco and that he supposed the Sierra would join them, but had had no orders so could not say.

Honolulu Advertiser, 24 September 1907

With 94 passengers (19 First, 29 Second and rest in steerage, including 46 deported Spanish and Portuguese immigrants who had trachoma) and 2,416 tons of cargo, Sierra left Honolulu on her last voyage on 24 September 1907. "There was a large crowd on the wharf to see the Sierra get away, and the Hawaiian band played for over an hour prior to departure, winding up, as usual with 'Aloha Oe,' which possesses the faculty of starting tears where folks have been doing their best to hold them back." (Honolulu Advertiser, 28 September 1907).  After a crossing of 6 days 19 hours, Sierra arrived at San Francisco on 4 October.

The Sierra is to be laid up at anchor in Mission Bay, joining her sister ships, Ventura and Sonoma, which have been there for some months. Officials of the Oceanic Company said to-day that all three steamers would remain idle for an indefinite period. There is no present prospect of the vessels being used on any line out of this port or on this coast.

San Francisco Examiner, 5 October 1907

It further appeared that at the time the Mongolia and Manchuria were withdrawn from service on account of repairs the Oceanic Steamship Company, at the urgent request of the people of Honolulu, placed a new 6,000-ton steamer, the Sierra, in local service between San Francisco and Honolulu. She had a capacity of 158 first-cabin passengers and 78 second-cabin passengers. On her first voyage from San Francisco she had 12 first and no second cabin passengers. On her second voyage she had 11 first and 12 second cabin passengers. On her third she had 52 first and 3 second cabin passengers. On her first homeward voyage from Honolulu to San Francisco she had 87 first cabin passengers and 37 second. On her second voyage 69 first-cabin and 52 second-cabin passengers. On her third voyage 129 first and 60 second. This experiment netted a loss to the Oceanic Steamship Company of $30,000, and was then given up, as it was, of course, useless to continue at a loss, especially in view of the return to the service of the Manchuria and Mongolia.

Passenger Transportation Between Ports of Hawaii and Other Ports of the United States, U.S. Senate Report, 15 May 1908. 

So Sierra joined Sonoma and Ventura riding at anchor in San Francisco's Mission Bay, symbolic not only of the 1907 Panic but of the ever diminishing state of the American Merchant Marine.  American capital and lots of it was being invested in passenger shipping but J.P. Morgan's International Mercantile Marine (IMM) was precisely that, far more international than it was American in terms of flag, crew and construction and the U.S. flag receded from the ocean highways.  For Spreckels, it was a time to lick wounds and husband what little resources Oceanic Steamship Co. had left. Alameda remained on the San Francisco-Tahiti service and Mariposa on the direct San Francisco-Honolulu run.  

As befits any laid up and out of work ship, the once proud Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura were the subject of speculation, mooted sales and sundry rumors.  When the Japanese retreated from the scene after restrictions on Japanese immigration and the 1907 Panic, the pickings were indeed thin.  On 27 October 1907 the San Francisco Examiner reported a rumor that the three might be purchased by the Santa Fe Railroad to haul railroad ties from Hilo to the Mainland and possibly also carry passengers.  The same paper reported on 16 November that the Spreckels were considering converting all three to oil-burning and that "measurements and other preliminaries necessary to the change are being made. These steamers will be the largest passengers vessels to be equipped with oil-burning apparatus."

Languishing: Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura laid up at anchor in Mission Bay, San Francisco. Credit: San Francisco Examiner, 14 March 1909.

1908

"Little time will be wasted by the Oceanic Steamship Company in arranging for a resumption of business on the San Francisco and Sydney route, following the passage of the ship-subsidy bill in Washington," confidently reported the San Francisco Examiner on 22 March 1908.  It noted that the ships had "been maintained in first class condition ever since they were laid up last year, and a force of seven men has been kept on each of the steamers. These are men long in the employ of the Spreckels company and are head of departments in the various steamers."  Ventura had lain at Mission Bay since 16 April 1907, Sonoma since 31 August and Sierra since 4 October.  This was all discounted, along with a rumor that the ships might be used on the Alaska run that summer, by F.S. Samuels of Oceanic who stated "there is no future work mapped out for the three steamers, all of which are at anchor in the stream off the Union Iron Works.  They have been kept in good trim in the hope that Congress would pass the ship subsidy bill…"  (San Francisco Examiner, 26 April 1908). 

By June 1908, the future of Ocean Steamship Co. itself seemed doubtful with expectations it would default on interest payments on its $2.4 mn. in bonds and face foreclosure.  That month, too, ended any hope of passage of the ship subsidy bill.  It was estimated that the Spreckels had lost $6,750,000 on the enterprise to date.

Credit: San Francisco Chronicle, 8 September 1908.

.

Then on 8 September 1908 the Chronicle reported that the three ships were to be sold to E.H. Harriman's Pacific Mail Steamship to open up a new San Francisco-Ancon (Panama Canal Zone) service to supply the epic construction of the Panama Canal.  It was reported that John D. Spreckels had met with Harriman at the Fairmont Hotel, "the price he drove was a sharp one, but Spreckels left the conference with an expression of features that indicated he was well pleased at his bargain." All this was denied by Harriman and other officials of the Southern Pacific the following day while R.P. Schwerin, General Manager of Pacific Mail, said "That's all rot."

With the failure of the ship subsidy legislation, there was every expectation Pacific Mail would following Oceanic into ruin and on 24 October 1908 the Examiner published a dismal list of the laid up American ships just in San Francisco Bay in what was known as Rotten Row: City of Peking (Pacific Mail, laid up 12 Jan 07), Algoa (Pacific Mail,  22 Jan 1907), Astec (Pacific Mail, Apr 08), Costa Rica (Pacific Mail, early 08), City of Panama (Pacific Mail, early 08), San Mateo (Pacific Improvement, early 08) and Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura.

In another twist, the San Francisco Examiner of 15 December 1908 reported that "Washington authorities" had recently inspected Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura "with a view of purchasing them." This was preceded by the purchase of the Boston Steamship Co.'s Shawmut and Tremont for the Panama coal trade between New York and Colon with the expectation that the Oceanic trio would be used for the long talked of plan of a line between San Francisco and Panama. 

1909

The Panama proposal was finally dropped in June 1909 when John D. Spreckels wrote to Edward A. Drake, Vice President of the Panama Railroad Co., declining any use of the sisters on the Panama Line although rumors persisited they might be purchased by Pacific Mail and used on the Panama route. 

The U.S. Congressional delegation sets sails on its cruise of Mission Bay to see the laid up merchantmen there including the Oceanic Trio. Credit: San Francisco Examiner, 24 August 1909.

The laid up Oceanic ships and others in Mission Bay served as a symbolic prop on 23 August 1909 for a Congressional party visiting San Francisco, most of whom were supportive of some measure of ship subsidy bill.  They embarked  on a cruise, hosted by the Harbor Commissioners and joined by shipping executives including Oceanic Steamship's Fred Samuels.

By autumn 1909, Oceanic Steamship began consideration of restoring Sierra to service on the Honolulu route, joining Alameda.  Balanced against the cost of converting her to oil fuel (considered a necessity on economic and efficiency grounds) and refurbishing her was that "it is conceded on all side that the Spreckels steamers would get their lion's share of the island passenger trade. The liners have always been exceptionally popular with the island travelers." (San Francisco Examiner, 23 November 1909). Another consideration was that if Congress passed the ship subsidy act and the Antipodes service revived, Sierra once converted to oil could not be operated on that owing to lack of oil bunkering in the Antipodes at the time. 

This was a time of great development of the Hawaiian passenger trade and would mean Oceanic competing with its old friend on the route, Matson Navigation,which introduced its first purpose-built  passenger-cargo liner on the Honolulu run, the 6,572 grt Lurline, with excellent accommodation for 64 passengers, in June 1908.  She was followed in September 1909 by the 6,725 grt, 151-passenger Wilhelmina.  If Oceanic was to compete on the route going forward, it needed something better than the veteran Alameda, now almost 30 years old. 

In a worrying moment, a full gale swept up through the Golden Gate the night of 4-5 December 1909 causing Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura to start dragging their anchors at their moorings in Mission Bay. Before they could be brought under control by tugs, they had drifted more than a mile up the Bay. 

Sierra was on the move again, but this time in the right direction when on 12 December 1909 the Call announced that she had been shifted to Union Iron Works for "a thorough overhauling" including conversion to oil burning and would join Alameda on the Honolulu run early in 1910. 

1910

Oceanic announced on 22 February 1910 that Sierra would make her first voyage to Honolulu on 26 March and already had about 50 passengers booked for the maiden trip. On 6 March the popular Capt. H.C. Houdlette was appointed to command the ship as he had on the Antipodes run and the other chief officers assigned to her were First Officer Joseph Trask, Chief Engineer Samuel Church and Chief Purser Thomas Smith.

The first advertisements for Sierra's new service to Hawaii appeared in newspapers on 20-21 February 1910. 

In addition to converting Sierra to oil-burning, her bilge keels were extended and widened to lessen her tendency to roll when not heavily laden with cargo. Her funnels were also reduced in height by about one-quarter and she probably looked her best after this work.  On 21 March 1910, "The Sierra, shining like a new man-o'-war…" (San Francisco Examiner) shifted from the Union Iron Works to the Filbert St. wharf.  

A rare photo showing Sierra as she resumed service on the Hawaii run, converted to oil-burning and with her funnels slightly reduced in height. 

The Oceanic steamship company's liner Sierra, in command of Captain H.C. Houdlette, was given a trial trip yesterday which demonstrated to the steamship and insurance men and other invited guests that if there are any crowns to be given out for queens of the Pacific the Sierra is entitled to one of them. The compasses were adjusted, the liner was chased a few times over the measured course and then taken outside the heads to give the new bilge keels a chance to show steadily they could hold a light ship in the trough of a sea.

The new bilge keels are nearing a foot wider than the old ones and effect in steadying the ship is said by those who knew the vessel before to be almost magical. 

The Call, 24 March 1910

With 175 guests aboard, Sierra made a trial trip on 23 March 1910, leaving the Filbert St. wharf at 8:30 a.m. and not returning until late in the afternoon. "The steamer was directed around the bay an then Captain Houdlette took her outside, making a circle of the lightship, where she developed no rolling tendencies, although there was a pretty good sea running.  At  noon the guest were served with an elaborate menu, prepared by Chief Steward J. Careleton. In her present state the Sierra is an elegant steamer and it is expected she will attract a great deal of business on the San Francisco-Honolulu run."  

The Call did not disappoint with its elaborate and effusive cover of Sierra's return to service. Credit: The Call, 27 March 1910. 

"Looking as fine as though she had just been completed" (Chronicle), Sierra sailed at 11:00 a,m. on 26 March 1910 for Honolulu,  "rebuilt in many parts and fitted up for her present service at a cost of $150,000, no expense being spared to put her in first-class shape." On her new service, she carried mail and as if to reminder of her salad days on the Antipodes run, Sierra was obliged to wait an hour for them to reach the pier.  She carried 100 passengers. "… the liner has never looked more attractive than yesterday, as it straightened out off Filbert street wharf for the run to the Golden Gate. Incidentally Captain Houdlette, the liner's veteran skipper, never looked handsomer, and Houdlette is supposed to be the Adonis of the Pacific ocean. There is no other skipper sailing out of this port that looked the part quite as much as does Captain Houdlette, and the recommissioning of his old ship has added spring to his step and a snap to his eyes."(Call, 27 March 1910).

On 30 March 1910 Oceanic sold the stalwart Alameda to Alaska Steamship Co. and Sierra would maintain the direct Honolulu route on her own with a sailing every three weeks.

After "riding out gales with a keel that was an average of evenness expected only of big Atlantic liners, the Oceanic steamship Sierra made a fine trip from San Francisco to Honolulu…" (Hawaiian Gazette, 5 April 1910),  Sierra docked at Honolulu on 2 April 1910.  It was added that "the Sierra proved a much better seaboat than she was on the former San Francisco-Honolulu-Australian run, this being due largely to the increased size of her bilges when were enlarged from nine to twenty inches."  En route, she hit a gale running from the east and then changed direction from the west.  "The engines worked splendidly on the trip, but the oil feeders gave some trouble, causing the vessel to be delayed about twelve hours."  Sierra worked up to 16 knots on the last day at sea. Among those aboard was oil expert Edward W. Tucker, Jr. whose firm had converted the liner to oil burning.

Sierra began her northbound crossing on 6 April 1910. "The Oceanic liner Sierra received a rousing send-off when she left port at noon yesterday on her return trip to San Francisco. The deck rails were lined with lei-bedecked passengers, and in addition to the flowers there were scores of paper streamers running from decks to wharf."  (Honolulu Advertiser). Her departure was set back from 10:00 a.m. to noon to get aboard her heavy cargo of almost 3,000 tons and she left with 68 cabin and 76 steerage passengers. 

The economics of conversion to oil burning were profound. While briefly employed in the Hawaii run in 1907 as a coal burner, Sierra's operating expenses for a roundtrip totalled $32,000 vs. $19,000 burning oil on her maiden trip.  

In the first of many "races," Matson's Wilhelmina and Sierra left Honolulu within minutes of one another on 27 April 1910, "it was a banner day on the waterfront for the Wilhelmina took away about 120 passengers in her cabins and forty-one in the steerage. The Sierra carried about ninety in her cabins and several in the steerage." The postal authorities had already decided on the winner, consigning the U.S. Mails to Sierra.  Wilhelmina was the first to clear Diamond Head and gained a 7-8 mile lead but five hours later, Sierra had passed her and was soon 100 miles ahead. "Don't be in such a hurry; wait for us and be sociable" Wilhelmina's Capt. Peter Johanson sent to Sierra's Capt. Houdlette who replied "You'll have to burn more oil to travel with us. This is Sierra, the fast mail ship."  The Oceanic flyer docked at San Francisco 6 hours 45 mins ahead of her Matson rival on 3 May. 

The 13 May 1910 Evening Bulletin (Honolulu) reported that Sonoma might be reactivated to replace Mariposa on the San Francisco-Tahiti run which was now busier with the connection service onwards to Wellington, New Zealand offered by Union S.S. Co.'s Mokoai. 

The San Francisco Examiner of 14 June 1910 reported that Sierra "since being converted into an oil-burner, has shown better speed than ever and has been operated almost as economically as the smaller liner Alameda." 

By landing 173  First, 70 Second and 70 steerage passengers at San Francisco on 27 July 1910. Sierra claimed the record for the most cabin passengers yet brought from Hawaii in a single vessel, not to mention beating Wilhelmina into port by 6 hours 15 mins.  Sierra logged  5 days 15 hours for the passage despite a rough head sea part of the way.  She immediately went into dry dock at Hunter's Point for hull cleaning and painting before her next voyage on the 30th.

With Sierra back in operation and the economy recovered from the Panic of 1907, increasing speculation arouse concerning the revival of Oceanic's Antipodes service. On 3 July 1910 the San Francisco Examiner reported on the recent visit to the city of Union S.S. Co.'s President Sir James Mills and the "strong probability" that Ventura and Sonoma might again run to New Zealand and Australia possibly as a joint Oceanic-Union service as prior to 1900 and Union providing the third steamer. In addition to being converted to oil-burning, it was mooted that the ships would be lengthened 40 ft to give them more staterooms and cargo space. 

Crowded with passengers and carrying a full cargo a full cargo, the Oceanic steamship company's liner Sierra, Captain H.C. Houdlette, sailed yesterday morning for Honolulu. The Sierra, fast and steady, with comfortable quarters and a table that is famous all over the Pacific, is now recognized as the crack liner on the Honolulu run, and among its passengers are always a large number of 'regulars' as the passengers who make frequent trips are classed. One of the Sierra's passengers, Thomas H. Benton, is a veteran even among the regulars. He has made 25 trips between here and Honolulu on ships of the Oceanic line and says that the Sierra is more comfortable ship he ever traveled on.

 San Francisco Call, 21 August 1910.

With what was termed a "record crowd of cabin passengers," Sierra pulled away from her Filbert St. Wharf on 10 September 1910 and her return crossing, returning to San Francisco on the 27th, was accomplished in the excellent time of 5 days 16 hours 1 min. 

The now established rivalry between Oceanic's Sierra and Matson's Wilhelmina reached fever pitch when the two liners, as usual, departed Honolulu the same day and arrived at San Francisco on 18 October 1910, almost together and within sight of one another all the way north.  Capt. Peter Johnson was clearly out for a showing and Wilhelmina put in a corking good run, gaining on Sierra until Capt. Houdlette and Chief Engineer Sam Church determined to make an extra effort which saw Sierra log 405 nautical miles in the last 22 hours at 17.2 knots an hour. The final times were Wilhelmina 5 days 11 hours 26 mins (her best crossing to date) and Sierra 5 days 10 hours 26 mins. The Oceanic liner docked about half an hour before her Matson rival. Ironically, one of passengers aboard Wilhelmina was Rudolf Spreckels! 

On her next sailing to Honolulu, on 22 October 1910, Sierra left with 127 First and 36 Second Class and the largest general cargo she had yet carried to Hawaii: 3,500 tons in all including 11 automobiles carried on her aft deck, huge steel girders and 50-60 crates of vegetables.

When Sierra berthed at Honolulu on 17 November with 145 passengers, 2,560 tons of cargo, 267 bags of mail and seven automobiles, the Hawaiian Star made mention of her orchestra.  This was, in fact, unique among all San Francisco-based liners at the time and composed of crew members: "The members of the band, regarding which Purser Smith is enthusiastic, are as follows:  Leader, Walter Howard, violin; W. Forster, solo violin; George Pearse, banjo; Joe Pitts, banjo; C. McLaughlin, cornet; W. Bridges, guitar; L.S. Chaves baritone and J. Clause, accordion. The aggregation is a very entertaining body and won the approbation of passengers and ship's company alike."

SIERRA IS 'SANTA CLAUS' BOAT

Great Christmas Mail Off for Coast by Oceanic Liner

Nearly four tons of Christmas mail went away on the Oceanic liner Sierra for the Coast today. It was the annual Christmas mail, and the size of it makes the Sierra a huge Santa Claus.

Seven thousand four hundred and thirty pounds is the exact weight of the Christmas gifts and letter that went out on the Sierra this morning to all parts of the mainland. There were thirty sacks of ordinary first-class mail, eighty-seven sacks of registered mail and 133 sacks of second-class mail, including packages, folders and bundles.

It was a busy morning for clerks at the post office from 7 o'clock until 9, when the mail closed. And even after that, huge quantities of mail poured into the sack at the Sierra, and bundles of all kinds were taken on board to be mailed in San Francisco. The rush at the registry and money-order windows this morning was a strenuous as bargain-day in a Chicago dry-goods house.

The 240 sacks of mail that went out today will be distributed all over the United States and Canada, and some of it will go to Mexico. The last mail for Europe that will reach its destination before Christmas went out several days ago, and consequently the bulk of today's shipment is for the United States.

Every State in the Union is represented in the mail today except three-- New Hampshire, Maryland and Virginia. There were no sacks for these States. However, this does not mean that there will be no Christmas gifts from Hawaii in the New England State or down South, for some of it has already gone.

Last year the Lurline, which sailed on December 17, carried 137 sacks of mail. This year the Sierra, sailing three days earlier, has nearly twice as much. Hawaii is breaking all records in Christmas mail this year.

So it is that the Sierra is steaming across the seas today carrying nearly four tons of pleasure, happiness, kindly remembrances and a volume of good wishes for those on the mainland that can not be measured in size or weight.

Evening Bulletin (Honolulu) 14 December 1910.

Capt. Houdlette held Sierra for half an hour to get the last of the mail aboard and with 46 cabin and 20 steerage passengers aboard, she got away just before 10:00 a.m. on 14 December 1910, "the departure was made quite a festive occasion by the addition of pretty colored paper streamers extending from the ship to wharf. The municipal band rendered a pleasing program of nearly an hour in length. Many well known persons sailed by the vessel." (Evening Bulletin).  Sierra and Mariposa, from Tahiti, both docked at San Francisco on the 21st. 

1911

Oceanic's 1911-12 Hawaiian sailings for Sierra. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

Cover of Oceanic's 1911-12 sailing list for Hawaii (Sierra) and Tahiti (Mariposa). Credit: Huntington Museum.

The New Year started, appropriately enough, with another contrived race when Sierra and Wilhelmina departed Honolulu on 4 January 1911 within 15 minutes of one another. Both captains declared there would be no race, the Matson liner already the winner in passengers and cargo aboard. Alas, rough weather impeded both ships'  progress and they reached San Francisco on the 10th after logging about 5 days 20 hours each. For the Oceanic liner, it was her roughest crossing since entering the Hawaiian run with rough head and beam seas but she "came in with from the islands with the punctuality of a ferry boat." (San Francisco Chronicle). 

What was more impressive than speed was finally achieving regular steaming times in all weathers which had previously eluded Sierra and her sisters.  On 31 January 1911, Sierra came into San Francisco right on time after a 5-hour 16-hour passage accomplished in a northwest gale all the way up and her new bilge keels reduced movement, it was said, to "no more than an occasional roll or pitch" although it was also said that "nearly all the passengers succumbed to mal de mar." (San Francisco Chronicle). 

During Sierra's turnaround in San Francisco 31 January-4 February, "a large force of workmen swarmed over the ship and extensive alterations were made on cabin decks of that vessel." So the Evening Bulletin (Honolulu) reported on 10 February upon the arrival of Sierra with her Second Class rebuilt as First Class, adding 70-80 extra berths. It added that "a transformation has been wrought even in the short time allotted the vessel at the coast port. A number of fine stateroom have been added and furnished in a style in perfect keeping with the rest of the palatial craft. A cozy little lounging room has been fitted up as well as an extra dining saloon."  When she sailed from San Francisco on the 4th, she left with a record 177 in First Class and 20 in steerage.  On arrival back at San Francisco in 5 days 15 hours on the 21st, a strong ebb tide made berthing Sierra at Pier 21 a real challenge, it requiring four Red Stack tugs to get her under control.  

With another passenger record (191 First and 46 steerage) to her credit, Sierra docked at San Francisco on 14 March 1911 after a 5-day 16-hour crossing enjoyed in fine weather. She also landed 3,000 tons of cargo, including 2,000 tons of sugar. A cholera outbreak on the island prohibited import of fruit from the island however, and the crew was denied shore leave at Honolulu.

Oceanic postcard for Sierra during her Honolulu route period. 

Shortly after Sierra arrived in San Francisco on 4 April  1911, five hours ahead of her rival Wilhelmina, a crack was discovered in her propeller shafts. She was immediately drydocked at Union Iron Works where it was replaced and her sailing for 8th put back to the 9th. To make up some time, she put in an excellent passage of 5 days 11 hours. 

On the voyage down from San Francisco, Capt. Houdlette was taken suddenly ill and on arrival at Honolulu on 26 May 1911 underwent an operation.  He returned to Sierra for passage back to the Mainland which was commanded, for the first time, by Chief Officer J.H. Trask who, of course, had been captain of Sonoma, when she sailed for San Francisco on the 31st. Trask brought Sierra into San Francisco after a 5-day 17-hour passage.  Capt. Houdlette went ashore to recover and for the first time, Capt. Trask took Sierra from her homeport on 10 June.  It was bound to happen and on their latest "race" from Honolulu to San Francisco, sailing on the 21st, it was Wilhelmina that finally won, clocking 5 days 16 hours 12 mins vs. Sierra's 5 days 16 hours 26 mins. 

Fully recovered, Capt. Houdlette was back on Sierra's bridge to take her to sea on 1 July 1911: "Amid a riot of color and to the sweet strains of "Aloha" the liner Sierra of the Oceanic Steamship Company departed before noon yesterday for Honolulu. It was the most picturesque departure of an overseas passenger steamer witnessed in some time. As usual the departing ones and their friends on the wharves exchanged the colored serpentine which wreathed the vessel in a maze of many hues, but in addition to this was the new and picturesque feature of the singing of a quartet on the dock of the familiar Hawaiian farewell song. Many were moved to tears by the plaintive notes, but soon all were joyous when Captain H.C. Houdlette sounded three cheering blasts on Sierra's musical siren." (Chronicle, 2 July 1911).

One of the largest single pieces of machinery ever brought to the Islands was included in the cargo brought by the Oceanic liner Sierra yesterday. This is called a caterpillar, a machine driven by a gasoline motor, and constructed for the purpose of hauling heavy loads over rough roads. It is consigned to Kilauea Plantation, Kauai. It was built by the Holt Manufacturing Company of Stockton, California. The piece weighs 15,935 pounds.

Honolulu Advertiser, 29 July 1911.

 

When Sierra docked at Honolulu on 8 September 1911 she landed a record 191 First Class and 30 steerage passengers. 

Restoration of Sierra to service as an oil burner had proved an epiphany for the fortunes of Oceanic Steamship Co. So much did her conversion improve her performance and economy, both in fuel and labor costs, that it, and a general upswing in economic conditions and trade, showed a way forward in restoring Sonoma and Ventura to service and a revival of the San Francisco-Antipodes mail contract. 

With operational costs cut some 40 per cent oil-firing Sierra, the prospect of resuming the Antipodes service on a profitable basis just with a renewal of the mail contract, but with two rebuilt oil burning vessels on a monthly frequency and to Australia only was now feasible. A further spur to action was, at the encouragement and subsidy of the New Zealand Government, Union S.S. Co.'s decision to extend its existing Wellington-Tahiti service onwards to San Francisco. This would, also, in effect replace Oceanic's San Francisco-Tahiti run which was being held down by the 1883-built Mariposa. Complicating matters was Oceanic's renewing its mail contract with the French Colonial Government on 29 August 1910 for three years and when Mariposa was sold, it had to pay a $10,000 penalty to sever the contract which, in essence, was transferred to Union Line.  The Union service began in December 1910 and the prospect of the only direct link between the United States and the Antipodes being under the Red Ensign provided the patriotic spark that Oceanic needed in Washington to renegotiate a new mail contract, having given up on any notion of a direct ship subsidy bill. 

The sad sight of the forlorn Ventura laid up in Mission Bay would, after five years, no longer be a feature of San Francisco harbor or a symbol of a moribund American Merchant Marine. Credit: San Francisco Call, 17 September 1911. 

Clearly, Oceanic's negotiations in Washington, D.C., done remarkably quietly and with little press attention, were proceeding in the right direction and precisely the sort of overseas commerce building character that the Administration of William Howard Taft (1909-1913) favored to further orient American interests towards the Pacific and Central America, in anticipation of the completion of the Panama Canal.

The Ventura and Sonoma are to be made ready at once for trade between the port of San Francisco and the other important commercial centers of the Pacific. The vessels have been idle for five years, but we believe there will soon be great opportunities for ships of this character and we are having them rebuilt at once so that we may be ready when the time comes. A new era of commercial development is about to be ushered in. With the election of James Rolph, Jr., the confidence of capital will be restored and shipping and trade of all kinds will receive a healthy impetus. Commerce that has neglected this port will be attracted here and we can expect a long period of industrial peace and added prosperity.

John D. Spreckels

With no mail agreement yet in hand, Oceanic Steamship Co. boldly announced on 16 September 1911 that it had let a contract worth $750,000 to Union Iron Works to reconstruct and overhaul Sonoma and Ventura, a project that would employ between 350-400 extra workmen over the next six months. "It was stated yesterday by the company officials that their belief in the rapid development of San Francisco's shipping industry has decided them in their action." (Call, 17 September 1911). It was added that "work on the ships will be commenced immediately, and in addition to a general overhauling, oil burning apparatus will be installed with tanks of sufficient capacity to carry the vessels half way around the world. When completed, the Sonoma and Ventura will be, through their oil installation and contemplated improvements, even better vessels than when they were first built 10 years ago."  Sierra had proven the benefits of oil-burning including a 40 per cent reduction in operating cost, higher speeds and more reliable steaming.

It is worth noting that there no initially no commitment towards restarting the Antipodes service with the rebuilt ships, The Nautical Gazette of 11 October 1911 writing that "While these steamers are being placed in readiness for sea their owners state that no route has been mapped out for them, but it is the general opinion that they will run down to the Panama Canal Zone."  This in spite of past Spreckels' opposition to running them on this trade.

On 22 September 1911 it was reported that Sonoma would be taken first to Union Iron Works the following day with Ventura following in about two weeks. Sonoma was first drydocked at Hunter's Point. At the time, the Examiner stated that "it is known that the ships will then be placed on the run between Sydney, and Australia and this country, it is said that is a possibility that San Francisco will not be the terminus on this coast. It is rumored that San Diego, in all probability, receive and dispatch them."

Further details were published on 29 September 1911: "It is planned to remove all boilers and machinery from the two Oceanic steamships. The engines will be thoroughly overhauled and instructions have been given that this work is rushed to completion. The boiler space will be materially reduced, the present plans calling for but one set of boilers which will be fitted with oil burning apparatus in place of the more cumbersome device for the using of coal as fuel. When the Sonoma and Ventura do reach Honolulu after their long absence, they will be found to possess but one funnel each." (Evening Bulletin). They would retain Second Class and have about 150 First Class berths. 

On 7 November 1911 Oceanic announced its intention to resume its San Francisco to the Antipodes service by the following May.  Only this time it would be maintained by the two rebuilt vessels, Sonoma and Ventura, calling at Honolulu and Pago Pago only en route to Sydney.  The call at Auckland would not be resumed leaving that market to Union S.S. Co.'s newly established San Francisco-Tahiti-Antipodes service.  The dropping of Auckland facilitated the fastest direct service to Sydney with four-weekly sailings and a five-day turnaround at Sydney and  nine days at San Francisco. The rebuilt ships would have sufficient oil bunker space to sail out to Sydney and back as far as Honolulu where they would refuel to complete the run to San Francisco.  It was speculated that Sonoma would reopen the service with a 12 May 1912 sailing, arriving at Sydney on 2 June.  Sierra would continue on her direct Honolulu service.

Events assumed a fast pace by that autumn. On 18 November 1911 it was confirmed that Oceanic had sold Mariposa for $200,080 to Alaska Steamship Co. with delivery on 1 December.

On 22 December 1911 in a conference in Washington, D.C. between President Howard Taft, Postmaster General Hitchcock an Secretary Meyer,  Asst. Sec. of the Navy Winthrop, Sen. Perkins and Rep. Kahn of California, and representatives of Oceanic, a renewal of the mail contract was agreed upon. This was announced the following day and Postmaster General Hitchcock stated that he would advertise for bids for the service under the 1891 Ocean Mail Act.

1912

The competition between the Oceanic and Union Steamship Companies for the trade between here and the Antipodes promises to be warm. When the Union Company had nothing but the Aorangi and Maitai, it was believed that the Oceanic would have an easy time of it with the Sonoma and Ventura in commission. When the Tahiti, the new and palatial steamship of the Union Line, arrived from Australia yesterday, the promise of the Union Line to make the fight an interesting one appeared more than justified.

San Francisco Examiner, 5 January 1912

So it was reported the day after Union S.S. Co.'s new Tahiti (the former Port Kingston) arrived at San Francisco on her maiden call. At 7,585 grt, the 17-knot liner was, of course, much larger and just as fast as the Oceanic ships, setting the stage for an intense but friendly rivalry on the San Francisco-Antipodes route thereafter. 

When Sierra docked at Honolulu on 12 January 1912, her officers told the Honolulu Advertiser that "President Taft is backing by his active assistance the projected resumption of the line from San Francisco to Australia," and that F.S. Samuels of J.D. Spreckels & Bros. had just returned from Washington D.C. "where he had completed most of the preliminary arrangements for resuming the service from the Golden Gate to the antipodes." It was added that the President held the service especially important by reason of its calls at Pago Pago then being developed into an important U.S. naval station in the South Pacific.

Sierra's Hawaiian run was sometimes no South Seas sinecure.  In February 1912 she encountered one of the worse storms ever on the San Francisco-Honolulu route with Mongolia, Wilhelmina, Honolulan, Zealandia and the tanker Santa Maria also in the thick of it.  All were forced to heave to at the height of the tempest, the Oceanic liner for 10 hours but she made the best of it, reaching Honolulu only 11 hours late while the others were 24-48 hours delayed. "Throughout the storm the Sierra behaved well. Although the seas ran high, it was not at any time necessary to use racks on the table, and throughout the voyage only two of more than 100 passengers were seasick." (Call, 13 February 1912). 

With Sierra thriving on her "Hawaii Ferry" run and a new beginning in the offing for Sonoma and Ventura, time to pause and examine the ships themselves. 

The vessel has excellent lines. She sits handsomely in the water, has fine weatherly bows, an easy sheer the length of 425 ft. terminating in a clear run from the quarter.  As she came up to the Union's Company's wharf these well-proportioned features in her were seen to advantage, and a hearty cheer came spontaneously from the spectators. 

The visitor will be disappointed who looks for gorgeousness in the furnishings. Everything is good, plain and substantial. Oak, walnut and maple predominate, with white and gold bulkheads.

The Sierra is not a giant, like some of the Peninsular and Oriental liners that run between England and Australia. She is a good, safe, fast American ship of the Atlantic coastwise type, the finest type in the world, because conforming to the American ideas of comfort, safety and speed.

"As a weatherly ship the testimony of those who voyaged by her was that they never travelled in steadier vessel, a report fully borne out by her fine beam and shapely hull. "

The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 January 1901

"Some ships are born great" asserted one brochure copywriter, while many more achieve fame, engender esteem and even devotion through long service and in spite of faults and failings, hard times and harder luck.  Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura were exemplars of the latter. They were probably the most flawed yet ultimately among the most successful trio of passenger ships ever built, enduring for three decades on their designed route with a few idle years, one major rebuilding and a litany of breakdowns and mishaps to enliven otherwise routine and reliable careers in peace and war.  

In appearance, the general lines of the newcomer are somewhat, similar to those of the Mariposa and Alameda, but she has more top-hamper, owing to the fact that all her saloon accommodation is on the upper deck, while above there is a lengthy hurricane deck, which was not carried by the old boats. In the opinion of some of the nautical men, this detracts somewhat from her looks, and makes the funnels appear very much shorter than they " are, but she was  sailing very light, and when she has a full cargo it will show her sheer off to much better advantage, and improve her general appearance considerably. Instead, of being painted black, with white topsides, like her predecessors, she is all white, and this is a colour that does not suit every hull. She has two pole masts, and does not carry any yards.

New Zealand Herald, 5 January 1901

Few ships underwent as many exterior changes especially of their funnels in height and number or were as drastically altered in appearance for their day.  Always possessed of lovely profiled hulls with a sweeping sheer and graceful counter stern, long but low superstructures and a fine jaunty rake to funnel(s) and twin masts, the Oceanic Trio were always handsome ships in any of their configurations.

U.S.M.S. Sierra on trials, Delaware River, 1900.

U.S.M.S. Sonoma at Sydney on her maiden voyage.

U.S.M.S. Sonoma with extended funnels, c. 1903.

S.S. Sierra in 1912 converted to oil-burning with shortened funnels. 

U.S.M.S. Ventura after her 1912 rebuilding at Sydney. Credit: Library of New South Wales.

U.S.M.S. Sonoma in Matson livery, c. 1926. Credit: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 5-2719

Ventura near the end of her long career at Sydney, 10 February 1931 with her funnel now with a blue top, yellow buff ventilators and superstructure facing bulkheads painted yellow-buff. Credit: Frederick Wilkinson photograph, Australian National Maritime Museum. 

The new ship [Sierra], to British eyes at any rate, was a rather strange looking vessel and appeared to be an American coastwise ship grown up into an ocean liner. The rows of large rectangular windows, the 'pilot house', and the light stanchions were all typical coastwise practice, These features, together with the boats carried high on light skid decks above the promenade deck and the rather thin round funnels combined to make the ship look lightly built, rather tinny and hardly suitable for one of the longest ocean services in the world.

J.H. Isherwood, Sea Breezes, August 1967

Perceptive as usual, Mr. Isherwood's comparison of Sierra and her sisters with American coastal vessels was spot-on for they were, in fact, minor variations on the Cramp-built Morro Castle of 1900 which fact, like the Oceanic trio, not been designed for her owners, but rather for the defunct Plant Line services in the Gulf of Mexico to Cuba.  What was an effort to design a "stock" Cramp medium size but high speed liner was certainly successful enough for the yard and for Ward Line which went on to build four more comparable vessels along the same lines.  But less suited and initially less successfully operated on a 7,200-mile-long voyage in some of the most demanding seas and conditions on a stringent mail contract route requiring high speed steaming throughout.  

Astonishingly, the Library of Congress' superb collection of Detroit Publishing Co. photographs only has these wretched "intermediate negatives" of the extensive series of  views of Sierra departing Philadelphia for San Francisco.  Two are included here if only to give a hint of otherwise exemplary views of the ship as delivered. Credit: U.S. Library of Congress. 

Dimensionally, the Oceanic trio and Morro Castle were identical (400 ft. length (b.p.) and 416 ft. (overall) and  50.2 ft. beam and while having the same basic machinery, the Ward liner was actually more powerful (8,000 shp vs 7,200) and faster (18 knots vs. 17) on account of a lighter displacement compared to the Oceanic ships which had a much higher deadweight tonnage (5,230 tons), not the least of which was 2,030 tons of coal for their much longer route.  If anything, their cargo capacity of 2,908 tons including reefer space was inadequate with but two holds as well as side loading doors, the main hatchways worked by mast derricks. 

The hulls were subdivided by six watertight compartments.  The frames were of bulb angle steel, 7 inches by 31 inches by 20 pounds, carried up alternately to the hurricane and main decks from stern to within 60 feet of stem, forward of which all frames are carried to hurricane deck. The frame spacing is 24 inches. The Upper, Main and Orlop decks were completely of steel, while the hurricane and shade decks were wood with steel stringers, tie plates and margin plates. The vessels had a double bottom for nearly her entire length, which not only afforded additional protection in case of grounding, but used for carrying water ballast or a fresh water supply for the boilers.

These were the first twin-screw liners on the trans-Pacific run to Australasia route. Powered by twin triple-expansion engines, each with cylinders of 28, 46 and 75 in. dia. and a stroke of 4-ft., driving twin four-bladed screws, they developed 7,200 h.p. giving a normal speed of 16.5 knots or a maximum of 8,000 h.p. producing 17.5 knots at 100 rpm. Steam was generated by eight single-ended Scotch boilers (13 ft. 5 in. in diameter and 10 ft. 5 in. long) each with three Morison corrugated furnaces in each boiler, the furnaces being 39 inches in diameter. These burnt coal under forced draught and working at 175 p.s.i. and arranged in two furnace rooms. The total grate surface was 442 sq. ft., and the total heating surface, 18,200 sq. ft. For forced draught there were four Sturtevant fans, each 66 inches in diameter, width at periphery, 18 inches, working at 480 rpms.  The propellers were 3-bladed, solid type, of Parsons manganese-bronze, of the modified Griffith type with a diameter of 14 ft. The main shafting was of mild steel, the propeller shafts being 143 inches in diameter, intermediate shafts 134 inches, and thrust shafts, 13 inches. 

As per naval requirement, the boilers were below the load-water line and therefore  well protected, and the upper ends of the cylinders, which are above the water line, were protected by coal bunkers.

Achilles Heel: of their many design faults, their delicate exposed screw shafts inadequately supported by brackets was the perhaps the worst and never rectified. All three ships suffered from numerous fractures of the shafts and dropped screw blades. Here, Sierra is in Hunter's Point dry dock in February 1904 after dropping two blades from a screw. Credit: James A. Brandt photograph, California Historical Society, courtesy of Ridsonironworks blog, Wordpress.com.

Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura were probably the worst liners turned out by the storied Cramp Shipyard, the enduring quality of their sturdy hulls mitigated by a litany of design deficiencies, equipment flaws and mechanical shortcomings:

• Inadequate engine foundations
• Weak piston rods and cranks
• Too short funnels giving inadequate draught to the furnaces
• Underpowered forced draught fans
• Faulty pumps
• Poorly designed and manufactured main steam pipes
• Fragile, poorly designed propeller shafts inadequately supported by external struts
• Poor screw design
• Insufficient bilge keels
• Low freeboard forward making them wet ships

Another superb James A. Brandt photograph of Sierra drydocked at Hunter's Point in February 1904 showing her shapely counter stern and distinctive riveted letters spelling out her name and port of registry, characteristic of Cramp-built ships of her era. Credit: James A. Brandt photograph, California Historical Society, courtesy of Risdonironworks blog, Workpress.com. 

Many of the deficiencies manifested themselves, tragically in the case of Ventura, during their long delivery voyage round Cape Horn, and the three were regular customers of the Risdon Iron Works which fettled their cranky machinery on almost every turnaround. The faulty pumps and dangerously weak steam pipes were replaced before their maiden voyages, their screws shortly thereafter and the weak piston rods and cylinder liners and heads next. 

Oceanic was, with Matson, a pioneer in adopting oil burning for its ships, starting with Mariposa in 1904, on account of cost alone.  But experience in running Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura as coal burners was sufficiently challenging to spur the use of oil.  Not were their original funnels far too short to provide sufficient draught but their forced draught fans were wholly inadequate.  This was corrected in 1901 by doubling the height of their funnels and installing new blowers.  Less easily corrected was a perennial shortage of skilled stokers especially amid the increasing San Francisco labor unrest along the docks, which resulted in often very uneven steaming and voyage times.  Another factor, shared by the Union liners, was that operating in the warm waters of the South Pacific encouraged marine growth on their hulls, requiring frequent drydocking for cleaning and painting before the advent of modern anti-fouling paints, and with foul hulls, they could lose half a knot or more. 

U.S.M.S. SIERRA, SONOMA & VENTURA

General Arrangement Plans, Rigging Plans, Profile & Cabin Plans

(LEFT CLICK on image to view full size scan)

Rigging Plan as built. Credit: Marine Review.

House Tops as built. Credit: Marine Review

Promenade/Hurricane Deck. Credit: Auckland Weekly News 20 April 1900 Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19000420-7-3

Upper Deck. Credit: Auckland Weekly News 20 April 1900 Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19000420-7-2

Main Deck. Credit: Auckland Weekly News 20 April 1900 Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections

Oceanic cabin plan, c. 1906.  Credit: Huntington Museum.

Cutaway Profile as built. Credit: Marine Review.

Cutaway Profile as rebuilt 1912. Credit: Marine Review.

Oceanic cabin plan for Sonoma and Ventura, c. 1912. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Oceanic cabin plan for Sierra, c. 1924. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

U.S.M.S. Sierra Matson issued deck plan, c. 1926. Credit: Huntington Museum.

U.S.M.S. Sonoma and Ventura deck plans, c. 1926. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

The elegance of the Sierra's furnishings, and the modern methods which have been observed in her construction were apparent to everybody who went aboard. It was the opinion of some of the most traveled of the visitors that the new steamer far outclasses any other passenger craft operating in the Pacific, and that in many respects her accommodation were not behind those of the best Atlantic liners. Not only is commodiousness a feature of the new vessel, but in convenience of arrangement throughout the Sierra was a revelation to those who visited the steamer.

San Francisco Chronicle, 25 November 1900

The hurricane deck is a dream. It runs the entire width of the steamer and has a long stretch. The smoking room, finished in oak, is on the after part of the deck and the captain's cabin, pilot house and two bridal chambers are forward. 

San Francisco Examiner, 25 November 1900

Accommodating 238 First Class, 50 Second Class and 84 steerage, the Oceanic trio managed to offer reasonably if understated passenger quarters that managed to suit their long voyages over some three decades with few substantive alternations save for Second Class.

With but three passenger decks, the accommodation arrangement was simple and straight forward with First Class occupying all of Promenade Deck (save for the pilot house and captain's cabin forward), all of Upper Deck (except for the Second Class entrance and open deck aft) and the forward part of Main Deck.  Second Class was aft on Main Deck and Steerage at the fantail. 

First Class public rooms comprised the Social Hall forward in its own deck house which also contained officer's accommodation and the pilot house and aft, the Smoking Room and the Dining Saloon amidships on Upper Deck.  The Social Hall had a piano and fitted with bookcases to serve its variable functions.  

The visitor will be disappointed who looks for gorgeousness in the furnishings. Everything is good, plain and substantial. Oak, walnut and maple predominate, with white and gold bulkheads.

Sydney Morning Herald, 10 January 1901.

This was before the era of shipboard decorators and interior designers, the interiors being designed and rendered by Cramp. The style was in the effortless if not unpleasant manner of the Gilded Age and with an admirable and enduring simplicity suited to the small spaces and long voyage employing quartered wood panelling of oak and mahogany, white and polished wood ribbed ceilings and decorative cast plaster cornices in white with gilt decorations.  

The impressive forward First Class Entrance Hall and Staircase at the Upper Deck landing, leading directly up to the Social Hall. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

On the promenade deck is situated. the social hall for first-class passengers, and this is furnished in keeping with the rest of the accommodation. Dark green, olive green, and gold, are the colours, in which the scheme is carried  out, and the floor is covered with a thick, luxurious green carpet.

New Zealand Herald, 5 January 1901.

The Social Room, panelled in mahogany, was furnished in green plush upholstery in the banquette seating along the bulkhead and armchairs and small settees in the center of the room and a green carpet underfoot.  There was circular dome skylight in the center with stained glass panels and much appreciated on the warm weather route, large squared ports on three sides with ocean views. The main forward staircase opened right into the room aft. 

A corner of the First Class Social Room in the mid 1920s. Credit: Huntington Museum.  

The Social Hall was redecorated in a lighter, more informal and tropical manner under Matson management c. 1926.  Credit: Huntington Museum. 

The smoking room is plain, but neat and cosy. Oak and maple wood is used in the fittings, and the cushions are covered with  leather of a russet shade. to match.

In its own deckhouse all the way aft on Promenade Deck was the First Class Smoking Room with oak panelling and buff leather upholstery.  This, too, had a domed skylight overhead and large square windows. 

A corner of the First Class Smoking Room showing the distinctive plaster relief cornices. Credit: Huntington Museum.

The dining room, which can seat 150 persons, is unusually  large for the size of the vessel. " The general effect of the fittings and decorations is rich and harmonious, red being the prevailing  colour. Polished solid mahogany is the wood used, the. curtains, carpeting, and plush upholstering being a rich dark red to match, and as in other parts of the ship, there are a number of electric fans, which, in warm latitudes, keep the atmosphere at an agreeable temperature. The principal piece of furniture is a massive sideboard  in decorated mahogany, relieved by plate-glass mirrors, and plated fittings.

New Zealand Herald, 5 January 1901.

The most impressive of the public rooms, the First Class Dining Saloon was amidships on Upper Deck and occupied a widened section of the deckhouse to provide a spacious and attractive saloon seating 130 at the traditional long refrectory tables in the center with smaller ones at the sides with swivel chair seating.  A feature were the large square windows all long both sides providing ample natural light, fresh air and seaviews. There was a large and quite lofty arched skylight over the central well and rich mahogany panelling throughout including an impressively ribbed ceiling.  

Gilded Age Elegance: the First Class Dining Saloon.  This view dates to after the 1912 refit when the long central tables were broken up into four smaller ones. Credit: Huntington Museum.

 

A corner of the First Class Dining Saloon. Credit: Huntington Museum.

The spacious promenade deck, which gives ample scope for a 'constitutional,' runs from the foremast to a little abaft the mizzen, and the upper deck, running : flush from stem to stern, also gives a lot of room, and whatever else may befall travellers by this line they will not be cramped for deck space. 

New Zealand Herald, 5 January 1901.

A feature of these ships was the Hurricane or Promenade Deck which featured exceptionally wide, walk-around strolling, deck chair lounging and sports space all under decking or wide canvas awnings. It was unencumbered enough to provide scope for two blocks of de luxe staterooms with private bathrooms that were added during the 1912 rebuilding. 

Sierra's wonderful shaded Hurricane Deck as photographed during her maiden call at Auckland. Credit: Auckland Weekly News 11 January 1901, Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19010111-4-3

A quarter of a century later, the same deck being enjoyed by somewhat more energetic passengers. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

One of the deluxe cabins on Promenade Deck added during the 1912 rebuilding which occupied the space formerly taken by the forward funnel. 

One of the modernized cabins c. 1924. 

Dressed for dinner, mid 1920s.

All the saloon accommodation is situated upon this upper deck, running fore and aft amidships, in double rows, to which access is given by alleyways.  The berths are roomy, and all the fittings are neat, well finished, and compact.  The principal woodwork is painted in white and gold, and the washstands, lockers, etc., are constructed of polished mahogany.

New Zealand Herald, 5 January 1901. 

The 238 First Class passengers were accommodated in two "bridal" staterooms forward on Promenade Deck, 47 cabins (10 inside) on Upper Deck and 32 cabins (16 inside) on Main Deck.  These were fitted with upper and lower berths and a settee berth so could be let as single, double or triples. This was long before running hot and water in shipboard cabins so the standard tank supplied cold fresh water folding basin was provided. "An innovation throughout the passengers quarters is the ceilings, which are finished in burlap and canvas, toned in colors to suit the furnishings," so the occupants were spared the usual sight of exposed plumbing and electrical conduits on the cabin overheads.  Much was made of the provision of  "10 First Class bathrooms with porcelain tubs and marble walls, ceiling and tiling and two independent showers in marble enclosures."  The supposed best cabins, the bridal staterooms were rather awkwardly located just forward of the Social Hall and behind captain's cabin and the nearest facilities were located on the deck below and reached only passing through the Social Hall!

The 1912 refit saw additional de luxe First Class accommodation added to the Promenade Deck. All had full private tub baths. Two staterooms were forward in place of the removed forward funnel while another new deckhouse aft of the remaining funnel had four new staterooms. The former "bridal" staterooms were turned over to the 3rd/4th officers and Chief Officer.

A new departure on this line has been provision for second-class passengers, who are accommodated in very nice quarters on the main deck aft. A companion-way, at the head of which is situated the social hall and smoking room combined, leads the dining room. This is capable of seating 75 persons, and is neatly fitted up in polished oak and maple, and russet leather. Leading off are the berths, which are fitted up upon lines similar to those in the first class, but of course upon a less lavish scale. There is, however, no lack of room, and nothing, has been spared to secure comfort to the passengers.

New Zealand Herald, 5 January 1901

The Second Class for 48 passengers was aft on Main Deck.  The accommodation comprised 19 four-berth cabins .  The public room was literally just the Dining Saloon which was inboard of the cabins at two long tables with bench seating, although it was described as "like the second class stateroom, shows an almost lavish expenditure in the furnishings." It was also remarked that the two bathrooms had porcelain tubs. The only other public space was the enclosed and panelled Second Class entrance aft on Upper Deck with corner banquette seating.

The rebuilding of the ships in 1912/15 substantially improved the Second Class. Two First Class cabins on either side of the enclosed  Second Class entrance aft on Upper Deck were removed to make room for a small Second Class Smoking Room  (port) and Social Hall (starboard) and the Dining Saloon was improved with better tables and chairs.  The accommodation, still on Main Deck aft, now consisted of  15 cabins with upper/lower berths and one settee berth and five four-berth cabins. 

Steerage accommodation was right aft on Main Deck with two open dormitories for a total of 84 berths with tables with bench seating inboard.This was mainly utilized on the Mainland-Hawaii and trans-Tasman segments. During the 1912 rebuilding, steerage was reduced to one open-berth dormitory accommodating 47 men. 

The 150 crew had accommodation on Main Deck. 

Sonoma & Ventura Rebuilding 1912

Sierra Rebuilding 1915

Few ships were as transformed as were the Oceanic Sister when they were rebuilt to resume service to the Antipodes.  Not just in their machinery, accommodation and appearance but in their reliability. 

The 1912 refits for Sonoma and Ventura and that in 1915 for Sierra by Union Iron Works, San Francisco, were extensive and rivalled those by the same yard for Alameda and Mariposa.  It was a great credit to the yard which Spreckels had always wanted to build the ships in the first place that it could so successfully transform what had been flawed and unreliable ships into true stalwarts of the longest mail route in the U.S. Merchant Marine.  

Basically, the work entailed:

• Removing existing engines and boilers.
• Renewing double bottom under boiler and rebuilding engine seatings
• Fitting new bed plates for both engines
• Thoroughly overhauling main machinery, boilers and auxiliaries.
• The boilers were converted to the Dahl system of oil-burning.
• Reinstalling engines and boilers, the boilers rearranged to one fire room forward of the engine room exhausting into one single funnel amidships.
• Construction of new oil bunkers forward of boiler room with a capacity of 17,000 barrels (enough for the roundtrip between Honolulu and Sydney). 
• Forward funnel and ventilators removed.
• Lifeboat skids removed and hurricane deck planked over except for just aft of the bridge and boats at davits on the deck above which formed a covered promenade for the hurricane deck. 
• House added to the after deck and Boat Deck extended aft
• All metal work scaled and repainted,  interiors completely refurbished and all upholstery replaced. 

The operational improvements wrought by the rebuilding were significant, indeed few ships were as materially transformed in terms of reliability and economy. Conversion to oil reduced running costs by 40 per cent, performance made far more consistent, the considerable labor issues entailed with retaining experienced stokers ended and bunkering faster, and reduced to San Francisco and Honolulu, materially cutting their turnaround times in Sydney.  One of the most telling improvements was re-enforcing the engine mountings which greatly improved reliability by lessening vibration.  The removal of the forward funnel provided more accommodation space although their profiles were rendered less distinctive and if anything, even more American coastal liner in character. Back in service, they were now regular and reliable performers with only one significant and unrectified flaw: their propeller shafts and screws.

Ventura c. 1901 at Auckland showing details of her superstructure (note the Hurricane Deck is not completely decked over) except in way of the boats with awnings used elsewhere) and of course her original twin funnels. 

Ventura at San Francisco in 1917 showing her superstructure details (the Hurricane Deck is now decked over except for aft of the pilot house and covered with an awning) and the single funnel from the 1912 rebuilding. 

Ventura sails from Circular Quay in the early 1920s, showing details of her superstructure especially the characteristic large windows of her First Class dining saloon amidships. She is certainly producing a wonderful quantity of oil smoke! Credit: Library of New South Wales.

Sierra Rebuilding 1924

Second only to her 1915 conversion, Sierra was transformed at a cost of $210,000  before returning to service for Oceanic in 1924 after a seven-year absence.  Given that she had been largely stripped of her original First and Second Class accommodation when converted to the emigrant carrier Gdansk in 1921, Oceanic took the opportunity to fit all new cabins and convert her to two classes  (112 First plus sofa berths for children)  and 66 Second) with no steerage. As a consequence she emerged with a different deck plan and superior accommodation to Sonoma and Ventura. 

The Sierra as she appeared after her return to Oceanic service in 1924. 

The new accommodation was planned by Oceanic's Fred A. Samuels and reflected many of the ideas intended for the line's stillborn newbuildings of 1923. All cabins were new, all having forced draft ventilation, steam heat, hot and cold running water, berth reading lamps and metal bedsteads and berths made by Simmons with sprung mattresses and painted white with contrasting wood trim, and fitted wardrobes and dressers.  All First Class cabins were 1-2 berths (23 outside ones with windows on Upper Deck and 16 outside cabins with portholes and six inside one on Main Deck. In addition, there were  had eight de luxe staterooms on Promenade Deck, six with full tub bath, two with private shower.  All cabin doors were new as was all the decking in the accommodation, in Beaver tile in a variety of patterns and colors. 

Pacific Marine Review (August 1924) showcased the all new accommodation installed in Sierra during her refit. In the center is one of the new Second Class cabins.

Second Class, in particular, was improved out of all recognition with a new deckhouse aft on Upper Deck with a smoking room while the main superstructure was extended aft to provide a proper lounge and entrance hall.

A new wooden deck house was erected on Boat Deck aft of the wheelhouse with new officer accommodation.  She retained the Welin quadrant davits from her Gdansk days and this and her completely deck over Promenade Deck along with her wheelhouse distinguished her from her sisters. Technically, a new 50 K/w Westinghouse turbo-generating set was installed as well as all new oil-burning or electric galley stoves and ovens. 

Sonoma and Ventura underwent a month of refurbishing and redecorating in July-August 1924 to introduce some of the improvements found in Sierra.  Two additional de luxe First Class cabin with tub baths were added on Promenade Deck aft of the Smoking room and two amidships, built around the funnel casing and Dining Saloon skylight making for a total of 10 such staterooms on each ship.  The accommodation on Upper Deck was rebuilt along the lines of the comparable space in Sierra with very large (7 ft. x 14 ft.) outside staterooms with hot and cold running water. There were now 55 First Class cabins and 10 de luxe staterooms and 20 Second Class cabins.   Unlike Sierra, Steerage remained but reduced to one 44-berth dormitory. The accommodation worked out to 130 First Class (plus sofa berths for children), 66 Second and 44 Steerage.  

Under Matson ownership, all three ships had fairly extensive redecoration of their public rooms, principally the First Class Social Halls which were "tropicalized" by painting over their dark woodwork in light pastel shades, fitting new light colored wicker furnishings and installing more modern lighting and flooring along the lines of similar work done on Matson's own ships on the Hawaii run. At 26 years of age, that was the last capital investment in the Oceanic Sisters which were by then, admittedly superannuated relics of a past era.

Credit: Huntington Museum.

Few ships of their era were as repaired, rebuilt and refitted as were Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura reflecting both the original shortcomings and their three-decade plus lifespans. Never prepossessing or luxurious, they were nevertheless always popular ships on account of their solid comfort and simple virtues abetted by personable officers and crew and very high standards of service, cuisine and even entertainments and deck sports when such things were not common to ocean travel.  Known fondly as the Spreckels Boats by Americans, the Yankee Mailboats by Australians and the 'Frisco Mailboats by New Zealanders, they made a name for themselves as enduring and endearing as any passenger ships in history. Now "barely" a dozen years old, they embarked on the heyday of their careers and that of The Spreckels' "Sydney Short Line."

With the sailing today of the Oceanic Steamship company's fast liner Sonoma, Captain Trask, direct and rapid communication between the United States and Sydney will be restored… the trip from here to Sydney will be made in 19 days and the steamers will call at Honolulu and Pago Pago, Uncle Sam's naval station in Samoa. For tourist travel this always has been admittedly the most delightful route on the seven seas.

The Call, 2 July 1912

San Francisco accomplished a remarkable rebuilding, rebirth and renaissance in the months and years after the cataclysm of April 1906.  Symbolic of its recovery, the once gutted Spreckels' Call Building, completely rebuilt, welcomed its first tenants back by the end of the year.  And six years after the Great Earthquake and Fire, Oceanic Steamship Co. re-rose Phoenix-like in April 1912, a date otherwise associated with maritime tragedy. The crash of 1907 was long past, American business, trade and commerce flourished and once again, Oceanic steamers would pass out of the Golden Gate, Antipodes-bound.  Remarkably, they had another two full decades of service left in them and were, if anything, at their most reliable, regular and regarded.  

Route Map of Oceanic's "Sydney Short Line"  (still 6,757 miles from San Francisco) from a c. 1912-13 brochure. Credit: Huntington Museum.

1912

Amid the shocking blow to steamship travel dealt by the ongoing Titanic tragedy, good progress, meanwhile, was being made on the rebuilding of Sonoma and Ventura at Union Iron Works. Sonoma entered dry dock at Hunter's Point on 18 April 1912 to have her hull cleaned and painted. "The liner has been practically rebuilt and is now a better and handsomer ship than ever." The next day she shifted to Pier 21  and "will cruise about the bay today on the regular official trial trip to test out the engines and other machinery."  "Captain Trask, formerly chief officer of the Sierra, is the new commander, and will give the signal to leave the dock at about 10 o'clock this morning. Most of the officers of the company are expected to be on board and it will be a gala affair." (San Francisco Examiner, 20 April 1912).  Sonoma's other officers included William H. McNulty, Chief Purser, Joe Carleton, Chief Steward, Samuel Church, Chief Engineer and John J. Konglian, Chief Officer.

Before resuming the Antipodes route, Sonoma would undertake a special voyage for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce to Balboa on 24 April 1912 to visit the "Big Ditch of Uncle Sam," the Panama Canal.

Sonoma on her post-rebuilding trials in San Francisco Bay. 

Cutting grandly through the waters of the bay the Oceanic Steamship Company's liner Sonoma attracted much favorable comment yesterday. After over four years of idleness in the drowsy bosom of Mission bay, the Sonoma is once more in seagoing shape, having been practically reconstructed at an enormous cost.

The Sonoma will have an official trip on the bay today, leaving Filbert-street wharf with a party of invited guests aboard this morning. Yesterday she came down from the Union Iron Works, resplendent in burnished brasses and the black of her hull and the immaculate white of her works glistening in the afternoon sun. The liner dashed across the fairway with a 'bone in her teeth,' and went up over the main course before taking a berth at pier 21. 

San Francisco Chronicle, 20 April 1912

Sonoma, making 17 knots on trials, as photographed from Sierra. Credit: Hawaiian Star, 5 June 1912.

The Oceanic liner Sierra had an opportunity yesterday to show her mettle with her sister ship, the Sonoma, when the later was given her official trial trip and put through her paces to satisfy the owners and  reconstructors. Both liners left Filbert street wharf but a few minutes apart, the Sierra in the lead, bound for the sea on her voyage to Honolulu, and the Sonoma on her trial run. Quickly the later caught up with her sister ship, and by the time the two big steams felt the touch of the Pacific they were abeam. The Sonoma kept pace with the Sierra as far as the lightship, and then, with a farewell bellow on her siren, swung back to port, while the other liner held to her course.  

San Francisco Chronicle, 21 April 1912

On her trials, Sonoma achieved 16.75 knots and numbered among her 150 guests  John D. Spreckels, Adolph Spreckels and W.D. Samuels.

There is a new queen of the Pacific. It is the Oceanic Steamship company's liner Sonoma. On a trial run yesterday as far as the Farallones, the ships that will inaugurate the restoration of fast direct service between the United States and the antipodes, not only attracted general admiration but behaved admirably. The day was clear and bright and the northwest wind had kicked up a sea sufficiently boisterous to test the seagoing qualities of the ship. Though waves that played pitch and toss with smaller vessels the Sonoma romped at a 16½ knot gait with the dignity of a Spanish don and the steadiness of a church. 

"Its high sides practically hidden in serpentine confetti, the Oceanic Steamship company's liner Sonoma, Captain Trask, pulled out yesterday for Panama…" 

San Francisco Call, 26 April 1912

Sonoma's return to service was her special cruise for the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce to see the construction of the Panama Canal. Amid a stirring send-off in fine weather, she cast from Pier 21 on 25 April 1912. 

Sonoma returns to service 25 April 1912 sailing from San Francisco for Panama with the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. Credit: U.S. National Park Service. 

"Flying the flag of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce at the foremast and a banner bearing the slogan, 'World's Exposition 1915 San Francisco," on the after mast, the Oceanic Steamship Company's steamer Sonoma, Captain Trask, arrived this morning at 11:30 o'clock carrying to Panama an excursion of approximately 250 persons, members of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations of north California and their friends." (San Francisco Call, 27 April 1912) Sonoma averaged a speed of 18 knots to the port and embarked another 25 passengers at San Diego before continuing to Balboa. After three days in Panama, she headed for home, calling en route at Jose de Guatemala where President Cabrera personally met the visitors. Calling at San Diego on the 19th, Sonoma returned to San Francisco on the 21st after a brief stop at San Pedro. "The speed of the Sonoma was demonstrated during the trip of the vessel up from Panama. After sailing from San Pedro, Captain Trask maintained a speed of seventeen knots an hour." (San Francisco Examiner, 3 July 1912). 

The new look Sonoma sailing from San Francisco, 25 April 1912. Credit: U.S. National Park Service. 

Meanwhile, Oceanic on 12 May 1912 announced the initial sailing schedule of what would be known as the Sydney Short Line. The first departure from San Francisco would on 2 July with a sailing every 28 days to Sydney by Sonoma and Ventura and every 14 days to Honolulu including Sierra's direct service there. Sydney could now be reached within 19 days from San Francisco.

The first newspaper advertisement for Oceanic's new "Sydney Short Line" offering a 19-day direct passage from San Francisco to Sydney. Credit: San Francisco Chronicle, 8 May 1912. 

Summer 1912 was a buoyant and busy period for both Oceanic and the revived fortunes of American-flag shipping on the Pacific. A dozen years after their introduction, the Oceanic Sisters had another crack at proving successful and few could imagine they had a full two decades more to go.

Credit: Evening Bulletin (Honolulu), 7 June 1912

Sonoma recommenced her commercial career on 1 June 1912 when cast off at 11:00 a.m. from the Filbert St. wharf bound for Honolulu and back in relief of Sierra.  With 64 First Class and 14 steerage passengers, she docked  first thing on the 7th. "From the upholstery in her cabins to the fuel burning system under her boilers, she represented the latest ideas and conveniences in seagoing steamships, and when brought up to the old Sierra wharf after seven yesterday morning by Captain Trask, the former chief officer of the Sierra, she presented as spic and span appearance as a new liner." (Honolulu Advertiser, 8 June 1912). With 107 First Class and 30 steerage, Sonoma sailed back to the Mainland on the 12th, "the Territorial Band was present and a pleasing serenade was given." (Evening Bulletin). She returned to San Francisco on the 18th. "The passengers seemed to be delighted with the Sonoma, which since it was overhauled is practically a new ship." (San Francisco Examiner, 18 June 1912). 

The new route via San Francisco will be the quickest mail route between London and Sydney, requiring only 30 days, as against 36 days by the Vancouver route, or 32 days via the Suez Canal and rail between Brindisi and London.

The first trip of the Sonoma will be the occasion of great rejoicing and celebration in the south seas. At Pago Pago the native Americans are planning a 'flafla' or Samoan jollification to welcome the vessel on its first appearance. 

F.S. Samuels, Ocean Steamship Co., 3 June 1912

Making it official, on 3 June 1912 the Post Office Department in Washington, D.C. announced that Oceanic Steamship Co. had been awarded a ten-year contract for route 72 San Francisco-Sydney via Honolulu and Pago paying $2 per statute mile outbound, amounting to about $16,000 per voyage. This stipulated a running time of 20 days or less to Sydney and a sailing every 28 days. This would require an average speed of 15 knots over the 7,843-mile passage.  Sonoma would inaugurate the new service on 2 July followed by Ventura.

The Oceanic liner Ventura which has been undergoing repairs and complete overhauling at the Union Works during the last few months, left Hunter's Point dry dock yesterday morning and with fire in her furnaces for the first time since leaving the stream, when she remained for years, steamed over the regulation bay course to have her compasses adjusted. The Ventura then went to the Filbert Street Dock where she will remain until the official trial and speed trip and she has been prepared with cargo for a test trip to Honolulu.

San Francisco Examiner, 11 June 1912

To fill-in for Sierra still refitting, Ventura would, like Sonoma, do a roundtrip to Honolulu from San Francisco on 22 June 1912 as a shakedown cruise. Ventura joined Sierra at the Filbert St. wharf where she was undergoing the final stages of her own refurbishing, it being noted that most of the work was being done by her own crew, "the engineering department is overhauling the engines and Chief Smith expects to have his pets in condition to develop an extra knot if need be. Alfred Hackett, chief steward, and his assistants are removing all of the mirrors in the stateroom preparatory to having them all resilvered. New upholstery throughout will be installed and the dining saloon will be redecorated."  (San Francisco Examiner, 11 June 1912).  Sierra would resume service on 16 July.

Bound for her trial run to the Farallones and about the Bay, a smart looking Ventura cast off from her Filbert St. wharf on 15 June 1912.  Not only she did average 16.75 knots and reach a top speed of 17 knots, but a U.S. Navy delegation aboard "found that Ventura was up to standard in speed and safely appliances and announced it would be listed [as an auxiliary cruiser] as provided by the act of congress for ocean mail subsidies." Aboard for the trials were 50 shipping men, guests of F.S. Samuels of Oceanic, including Capt. H.C. Howard, John Bulger and Carlton Crane, engineers of the company and of the Union Iron Works. "The Ventura meets the expectations of its owners and admirers in every respect, it was said after the return from the trial trip." (Call, 16 June 1912). 

The New Look Ventura.  Credit: Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 5-2722

If the presence of a large crowd, including a goodly number of pretty and daintily gowned women at a sailing is a criterion of a vessel's popularity, the Ventura will be awarded the honors. It is a common custom to see a lot of color, including the usual paper streamers, when one of the Oceanic liners sail. Yesterday, however, the scene was bit more brilliant than formerly, so much so, in fact, that is occasioned some comment.

San Francisco Examiner, 23 June 1912. 

Under the command of Capt. Crowell, Ventura sailed at 11:00 a.m. on 22 June 1912 on her "maiden" voyage to Honolulu with 135 First, 35 Second and 35 steerage passengers. It would also mark the last Oceanic sailing from San Francisco on Saturday, succeeding departures would now be on Tuesdays.  Ventura docked at Honolulu on the 28th. Of her passengers, the Hawaiian Star wrote "They were a joyeous bunch and according to Purser William Reid, life on board during the trip was one continuous round of pleasure. The weather fine all the way and the liner rode like a yacht." She sailed for the Mainland on 3 July with 150 First and 22 steerage passengers and docked at San Francisco on the 9th.

On a memorable occasion reviving the longest overseas passenger and mail route of the U.S. Merchant Marine, U.S.M.S. Sonoma, with a full cargo and more than 100 passengers, cleared Pier 21, San Francisco, at 2:00 p.m. on 2 July 1912, Antipodes-bound.  Among those aboard was Oceanic's F.S. Samuels. The Call helpfully noted that Sonoma would arrived in Sydney a day before Union's Tahiti which left San Francisco 26 June or seven days previously just to prove The Sydney Short Line was just that.

As the liner pulled away from the wharf the strings of serpentine confetti which had been thrown by the passengers to their friends on the wharf snapped and curled into a rainbow fringe. The ship's bugler blew 'Auld Lang Syne' and the direct communication with the antipodes had been restored.

The Call, 3 July 1912

'Coo-ee,' the thrilling Australian busy cry rang out on the warm afternoon air, denoting that there were a number of Antipodeans on both the wharf and the steamer. Those on the pierhead did not have long to wave their handkerchiefs, for the Sonoma was steaming seaward with a 'a bone in her teeth.'

San Francisco Chronicle, 3 July 1912.

Sonoma called at Honolulu on 8 July 1912, doing the run down in 5 days 17 hours 18 mins, and the Honolulu Star-Bulletin recounted that "July 4th. Independence Day, was a red-letter event on board the Oceanic liner. The genial staff of saloon officers did not overlook the slightest detail in carrying out a celebration that will be long be remembered by the fortunate traveler. The weather was ideal. A sumptuous spread was served in the evening, likewise a musical and literary program was given, followed by a dance."  She brought in 335 bags of mail for the port and had her all-important first consignment of U.S. and British mail, 932 bags, for Sydney.  Pago Pago was reached in the good time of 6 days 12 hours 55 mins on the 16th where she received an enthusiastic welcome from 3,000 Samoans, so enthusiastic that it delayed her working her cargo and getting off on time. 

S.S. Sonoma, on her first voyage in the new service of the Sydney Short Line, was met at Pango Pango by 4000 Samoans, who came from a radius of 500 miles, wearing full warpaint and feathers, and for three hours entertained the passengers with native songs and dances. Following the dances big native feast was held, winding up with the passing of a bowl of Kava, the native drink, of which all partook. 

Oceanic brochure, 1912

Sonoma at Sydney. Credit: Library of New South Wales. 

Returning to Sydney after a five-year absence, Sonoma arrived the evening of 22 July 1912, but too late to land her passengers so after spending the night anchored in Watson's Bay, she came alongside Oceanic's new Sydney terminus, McIlwraith, McEacharn's wharf, No. 4, Miller's Point, the following morning to land her 50 passengers, 1,000 tons of cargo and 581 bags of mail.  In all, her passage from San Francisco took 19 days, her steaming time of 18 days 14 hours 19 mins being a record for the route. Sonoma's best days run was 395 nautical miles, averaging 15.5 knots for the trip and she landed London newspapers dated 23 June, a remarkable accomplishment for the time. Her mails were on the dock one day later than Tahiti's which left San Francisco back on 26 June. 

The return portion of Sonoma's "maiden" voyage commenced at 4:00 p.m. on 27 July 1912, as described by the Daily Telegraph:  "The steamer had a good list of passengers, and 1000 multi-colored streamer kept voyagers and shore friends connected for a few minutes after the ship commenced to move. Hundreds of people of the wharf cheered the inaugurating steamer as she headed homeward." Sonoma ended her 45-day voyage to the Antipodes with a fine "race" from Honolulu to San Francisco with Pacific Mail's Manchuria, both leaving Honolulu the same day and ending in a draw when both anchored in San Francisco Bay at noon 15 August, although the Oceanic liner departed a good seven hours later.  Sonoma put in a splendid passage from Sydney, logging 18 days 15 hours and doing the roundtrip in 37 days steaming time.  It meant slicing five days off mail delivery to Australia from London.  She  landed 169 passengers.

Oceanic advertisement heralding the triumphant return of Sonoma and her record for the fastest yet delivery of mails from the United States and Great Britain to Australia. Credit: The Call, 14 August 1912.

Looking almost her old self with still shorter funnels after her 1912 refit, Sierra is producing enough smoke to make one suspect they might were more useful not shortened! Credit: eBay auction photo. 

In a banner month for Oceanic, July also saw the return to service of the refitted Sierra. Under Capt. H.C. Houdlette, she sailed from San Francisco on the 16th looking her old self. Indeed, the Call observed: "Among the changes made was the cutting down of the smoke stacks to the original height. The stacks were lengthened when the Sierra burned coal and were not changed back at the time the speedy liner was converted into an oil burner. With liquid fuel the high stacks are no longer necessary and the change greatly improves her appearance." With 76 First and 19 steerage passengers and 3,133-ton cargo including 11 automobiles, Sierra docked at Honolulu on 22 July 1912. It was the largest cargo she had brought into Hawaii.

"The Sierra is now placed on a par with the Sonoma and the Ventura. The old favorites among the officers will go farther and tell the traveler that the Sierra has the two sister ships backed off the drydock and struggling for headway when it comes for steadiness, sumptuousness in fittings, and the management of the cuisine.

There is intense rivalry these days in the Oceanic fleet. Each vessel is pronounced by its family of officers to be the best ever, and sometimes the discriminating travel is hard put to decided the absorbing question to the satisfaction of all concerned. The Sierra has experienced a number of important changes during the brief period of idleness. The vessel is much better than before. Two shorter but more business-like funnels add much to the contour of the liner. Better oil-burning facilities are installed. All cabins were gone over, and are now in first-class condition." 

Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 22 July 1912

The Ventura made a pretty picture yesterday as it pulled out from Filbert street wharf. There was a large crowd on the dock and the liner's rails were lined with passengers waving goodby and shouting last messages. The ship itself with its snow white decks, immaculate paintwork and shining brass, was an invitation to travel. Not the least of the Ventura's attractions is the fact the liner carries an all-important crew, one of the rarest sight on the seven seas.

The Call, 31 July 1912

As the second vessel of the Oceanic liner to sail for a foreign port as a subsidized steamer, the Ventura made an appearance which could be nothing but pleasing to all good American interested in the establishment of a greater American merchant marine.

San Francisco Examiner, 31 July 1912

Before July was out, Oceanic dispatched Ventura on her first voyage to the Antipodes in five years.  Under Capt. J.L. Cowell, she sailed at 2:00 p.m. on the 30th with 35 through passengers and 40 for Honolulu. She arrived there the morning of 5 August but was there until 6:00 p.m. discharging a very cargo and taking on 4,000 barrels of oil from Falls of Clyde.  After calling at Pago Pago on the 12th, Ventura made a capital passage south, recording 406 knots on one day, and reaching Sydney on the afternoon of the 19th, 19 days out of San Francisco. "Like the Sonoma, she uses oil fuel instead of coal, and this may account to some extent for the spick and span appearance on her arrival after a long sea trip." (Sydney Morning Herald, 20 August 1912).   Ventura landed mails posted from London 20 July and New York 26 July. 

Ventura sailing from Sydney. Credit: State Library of New South Wales. 

Numbering among her passengers, the British Ambassador to the United States, the Right Hon. James Bryce, and Oceanic's F.S. Samuels, Ventura sailed for America on 24 August 1912 right on time at 4:00 p.m. When she came into Honolulu on 6 September the Royal Hawaiian Band on the pier played "God Save the King" in honor of Ambassador Bryce.  Ventura returned to San Francisco on the 12th, clocking 19 days for the voyage. Mr. Samuels told the Call, "Both the Sonoma and Ventura behave splendidly and the service is bound to be a success." Among landing was Dr. E. Schultz, the Governor of German Samoa who delighted in the prospect in returning home to Germany in 26 days using the new service versus the 49 days it took during the interruption of the Oceanic service. 

When Sonoma sailed from Sydney on 23 September 1912, among her cargo were three "lively and husky" kanagroos bound for a zoo in America.  A few days after clearing Pago Pago, one of them broke out its box on the boat deck and after exploring much of the open decks, was finally subdued by Capt. Trask, Purser McNulty and Chief Officer Koughan.  "For some minutes, it was hard to tell who was boss of this ship," Capt. Trask told a reporter of the Star-Bulletin on arrival at Honolulu on 4 October.

Setting a new record, Ventura which left San Francisco on 24 September 1912, arrived at Sydney on 14 October, doing the entire passage, including all stops, in just 19 days 2 hours. 

Sailing together, Sonoma and Wilhelmina left San Francisco on 22 October 1912, and ran into a ferocious southwest gale on the 24th, 600 miles south of San Francisco, which caused damage to both vessels and washed deck cargo overboard on the Matson liner. Tragically, a huge wave broke over Sonoma's bows and washed her boatswain, Joseph Watson Ingalls, age 28, overboard.  Capt. Trask stopped the ship and turned around to search for the man, despite the conditions, but he was never found.  It was, in fact, his first voyage aboard the ship. Sonoma arrived Sydney 13 November.

On 5 December 1912, Sonoma made her third arrival at San Francisco and her third exactly on time at 2:00 p.m. 19 days out, too; "Captain Trask of that steamer takes a pride in being on time, and, as the run is a 7000 mile one, to arrive at a particular hour is certainly an exactitude." (Sydney Morning Herald). 

Spreckels' San Francisco Call remained a faithful publicity instrument for Oceanic Line including a beauty pageant winner, Miss Mae Bennett, enjoyed a free trip to Hawaii in Sierra, sailing 31 December 1912. Credit: The Call 1 January 1913. 

Oceanic brochure, c. 1913. Credit: Huntington Museum.

1913

Ringing in the New Year with another record, Sonoma raced to the Antipodes to reach Sydney on 6 January 1913 in just 18 days 18 hours, landing "English newspapers in 28 days from the day they were sold in the streets of London." (Sydney Morning Herald).  

Credit: San Francisco Call, 3 February 1913

Sonoma sailed for home on 11 January 1913, but had a difficult time of it. On the 15th, 870 miles from Pago Pago she struck some submerged object and damaged the starboard propeller shaft.  The shaft fractured 37 ft. from the screw.  The accident occurred at night and the ship hove to for 11 hours while the port screw to made fast to the taffrail by cables to prevent damage to the hull strut. However, after 51 hours underway, a heavy head sea loosened the shaft and it and the screw was lost. Upon arrival at Pago Pago U.S. Navy divers inspected her and she was cleared to sail north. She proceeded on her port screw, and  managed to dock at Honolulu on the 25th, only a day late and reached San Francisco on 2 February or 3 days off schedule time.  "Completing the most remarkable trip ever accomplished by a twin screw steam with only one screw in use, the Oceanic liner Sonoma, Captain Trask, put in yesterday morning from Sydney, 2 days and 16 hours behind schedule. The Sonoma accomplished 6,200 miles with only a port screw and averaged 13½ knots."  Sonoma was drydocked at Hunter's Pount on the 3rd and would depart on her next schedule sailing without delay.  When she left the Union Iron Works on the 7th, she had new starboard and port shafts "would go to sea in better shape than ever." She sailed on the 11th.  It was to be the first of many such mishaps to the ship's shafts and screws for the rest of her career. 

Sierra set a passenger record with she arrived at San Francisco from Honolulu on 14 February 1913 with 125 First and 104 steerage, the later being the most she had carried. When she sailed south on the 25th, she had 250 passengers or fully booked.

Ventura concluded a very fast passage (departing San Francisco on 11 March) at Sydney on 31 March 1913, recording a top day's run of 420 nautical miles. Her northbound voyage, beginning on 5 April, saw her tested by cyclones en route to Pago Pago and she was a few hours arriving there. It did not happen often, but when Ventura returned to San Francisco on 25 April she was a day late, not able to make all two days lost by sailing through a week of gales between Sydney and Pago Pago. In fact, Capt. Cowell said it was the worst weather he encountered on the Pacific, "the passengers showed their appreciation of the way he handled his ship by joining in a testimonial in which they expressed themselves in terms flattering to the commander." (Call, 26 April 1913).

Like the actual vessels, the official Oceanic portrait of the ships was "refitted" to remove the forward funnel. 

After a slower than normal trip owing to a foul hull which had her arriving many hours  late at San Francisco on 17 July 1913, Sonoma was drydocked at Hunter's Point on  the 21st to be cleaned and painted.  Ventura, too, needing the same treatment, docked late at San Francisco on 14 August and then went into drydock. 

Cover of the revised 1914 Oceanic sailing list. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Oceanic's 1914 sailings on the Antipodes and Honolulu routes. Credit: Huntington Museum.

1914

'Four bells, and all's well. Pipe the passengers aft for the tango dansant,' is going to be a fixed order hereafter when the Oceanic steamer Ventura is on the high seas between San Francisco, Honolulu, Tahiti [sic] and Australia.

There have been tango parties aplenty on the burnished decks of the steamers that plow the Pacific, but the Oceanic Steamship Company is the first to establish the syncopated gyrations of the tango as an official part of its daily social routine. 

When the Ventura sails for Honolulu and the South Seas on February 10, with a list of 300 passengers, two professional tango instructors will be aboard, members of the ship's staff, as much as the doctor or the steward. 

In place of the time-worn shuffleboard and dreary concerts the Ventura's passengers will rollick and frolic in daily dansants, one between breakfast and luncheon, one between luncheon and dinner and an evening dash through the tango after dinner.

The daytime tangoes will be danced on the deck under canvas awning to shield the glow of the sun. In the evening the dancers will glide and dip in the salon or on the deck when the moonlight nights come on and the Ventura gets into the tropical zone. 

L.F. Cockroft, general passenger agent of the Oceanic line, conceived the idea of incorporating the tango into the official affairs of the ocean voyages, and he believes the other line will follow the Ventura's lead or suffer a heavy loss in traffic.

San Francisco Examiner, 2 February 1914. 

On of her most memorable and accomplished voyages in her long history, Ventura sailed from the Filbert St. wharf at 2:00 p.m. on 10 February 1914 with 60 cabin passengers for Honolulu and 55 First Class for the Antipodes. Setting a new record, Ventura logged just 18 days 20 hours to Sydney, including stops, when she arrived 36 hours early on 2 March. Her steaming time was just 18 days 2 hours. She set a new mark, too, for the London-Sydney mails, landing mail at Sydney that had been posted at Charing Cross, London, 27 days 2 hours previously. This beat the previous record set by Sonoma by eight hours. "During the last eight trips the Ventura has not varied more than twenty minutes in the time of its arrival in Sydney. This record has never been equaled by any other liner." (San Francisco Examiner, 27 March 1914).

Ventura's departure from Sydney was delayed owing to strikes, and she wasn't off until 9:00 p.m. on 7 March 1914 instead of  4:00 p.m. on  the 5th. The liner's seakeeping qualities, not to mention those of her passengers, were sorely tested on the voyage. On the 12th, two days before reaching Pago Pago, she was pounded by a raging gale with winds of nearly 100 mph and the barometer recorded a low of 29.22.  For 22 hours, Ventura was swept by 25-ft. high seas and her steering gear was damaged.  "As the ship remained hove to the passengers became terrified and many began to pray." (San Francisco Examiner, 27 March 1914). She made Pago Pago on the 14th where repairs were effected and she was off for Honolulu, a day late, but made up the time en route. "The skill and bravery of Captain J.L. Cowell and his officers were praised by the passengers. Chief Officer Allen Sawyer took charge of the situation when the storm was at its height and calmed several passengers who became hysterical." (Examiner).  Ventura docked at San Francisco on 26 March, landing 93 First, 53 Second and 25 steerage passengers. Despite it all, she was still ahead of schedule time, too. 

On 21 February 1914 Oceanic announced an important change in its Antipodes run.  Sonoma would be dispatched on Sydney on 6 June instead of 30 May and maintain a 28-day schedule. The retiming of sailings was designed to ensure the connecting trans-Atlantic liner from New York would an express one on Cunard, White Star, HAPAG and NDL.  The new through schedule would be:

• Sydney to San Francisco  19 days
• San Francisco to New York 4 days
• New York to London 6 days
• Total 29 days

Chalking up quite a milestone, with her departure from San Francisco on 24 February 1914  Sierra commenced her 100th voyage during which she had logged nearly 500,000 miles. Remarkably through it all, save for one voyage, all of them had Oceanic Commodore Houdlette in command, "this record has never been attained by another navigator on the Pacific, and it is believed that like record cannot be shown on the Atlantic." (San Francisco Examiner, 25 February 1914).  The next day, Sonoma arrived from Antipodes with a record 210 passengers including 124 through fares, the largest yet carried on the service since its revival. "If the passenger list of the Sonoma and other Oceanic liners is an indication of the relations now existing between this country and the antipodes, the Australians are quite fond of the Yankees." (San Francisco Examiner, 27 February 1914).

On 22 July 1914 it was announced that a new connecting service had begun between Apia, German Samoa and Pago Pago, American Samoa, to link with the Oceanic ships with the arrival in February of the new mail steamer Staatasekretaer Solf from Kiel via Port Said, Singapore and Rabul.

Sonoma sailed from Sydney 1 August 1914, among her 1,200-ton cargo was 570 bales of Australian wool bound for Boston and she reached San Francisco on the 20th after 19 hours 14 hours. Ventura left San Francisco  on the 4th with 150 passengers and reached Sydney on the 24th.  During the course of both voyages, the Great War had erupted and any doubt that it was almost immediately the first World War was dispelled when even the far reaches of the South Pacific were threatened by the presence of the German cruisers Leipzig and Nurnberg carrying the flag of the Imperial German Navy under the Southern Cross.  They and the ensuing "call up" of many of Union S.S. Co.'s ships disrupted its services to both Vancouver and San Francisco.  The United States, of course, was neutral and not only did the operations of Oceanic Steamship continue as before but "Under the Neutral Flag and Protection of the United States of America" as it advertisements in Australia stated by September, its business boomed as never before, both passenger and cargo. The situation became especially acute when the Suez Canal was closed to commercial traffic and Oceanic and Union's via North America routes became all the more vital in maintaining communication with the Antipodes. 

As early as 6 August 1914, Oceanic advertisements were extolling it services to America and London "Under Neutral Flag,... this assuring safely all the way to American and England...". Credit: Sydney Morning Herald 6 August 1914. 

With 279 passengers aboard, "who enjoyed a fair weather trip across the Pacific, nothing occurring to remind them in any way of the terrible war proceeding in Europe," (Sydney Morning Herald), Sonoma arrived at Sydney on 21 September 1914. It was reported by some aboard that the day after she left Pago Pago, several German warships were seen steaming northwards from Apia, German Samoa. With her accommodation completely booked and full holds, Sonoma sailed northbound on the 26th.

On 22 October 1914 Oceanic announced that Ventura and Sonoma would no longer call northbound at Pago Pago, "the action was taken because the postal authorities have no made arrangements to have the steamer call there." (San Francisco Examiner, 23 October). This referred to the failure of the U.S. Post Office to continue paying the additional $60,000 per annum for the northbound call, the through mail contact only paying $2 per outbound mile. Adding pressure to its negotiations with the Post Office, Oceanic stopped carrying mail to/from the Mainland to Hawaii on Sonoma and Sierra as well. Dropping Pago Pago would cut a day off the Sydney-San Francisco run which could now be accomplished in 18 days. 

More than anything, it was the mail link that mattered and the fast neutral flag Oceanic service assumed new importance in wartime. Such was the deluge of outbound Christmas mail destined for Sonoma, that her sailing from Sydney on 21 November 1914 was delayed 30 minutes to accommodate the last minute mail lorries coming to the pier and she was taking on bags up to 25 minutes before pulling away. She also embarked the second largest passenger compliment to date in Oceanic's history: 93 First, 62 Second and 27 steerage.  Skipping the call at Pago Pago, she set a new record of 12 days 9 hours to reach Honolulu on 3 December. When she arrived at San Francisco on the 9th, "it is contended that the Sonoma, in consequence of this fast run, holds the mercantile and mail record for the tip, and ensured delivery of her mails in the English metropolis nearly a week ahead of Christmas date." (Daily Commercial News, 11 December 1914).

Official Oceanic postcard for Sierra's Honolulu service. 

Sierra, meanwhile, continued to ply "the Hawaii ferry run" with reliable regularity if not a surfeit of passengers. The friendly rivalry between Oceania and Matson became more heated with the introduction of the new 9,402 grt, 501-ft. Matsonia in January 1914 and the weekly sailings Matson offered made it a more attractive proposition for vacation travellers than the three-weekly single-ship Oceanic service. Of course, Matson also concentrated its entire passenger and cargo operation on Hawaii as well and the competitive balance had long since swung in its favor.

On 11 December 1914 the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported that Oceanic was considering "a proposition that would result in the Sierra being added to the service maintained by Ventura and Sonoma. It was pointed out that the passenger business between the Pacific coast and the islands hardly warrants the operation of a separate steamer on this route. It is stated that the Sierra has been leaving San Francisco on past trips with two-third of the cabin passenger accommodation unoccupied.  The Sonoma and Ventura are frequently unable to accommodate applicants for transportation to the South Pacific, indicating that business with that branch of the Oceanic service is the best in years." 

To prove the point, Sierra docked at Honolulu on 14 December 1914 with  just 38 First and 11 steerage passengers aboard.  When she came in, her officers disavowed any knowledge of the rumors and suggested that when the Pacific was cleared of German raiders, the Canadian Australian Line would resume normal service, taking the pressure off the Oceanic boats.  It was also pointed out that Sierra would require at least $150,000 in refitting her for the Antipodes service since she only had oil bunker space for the roundtrip to Honolulu. Further mitigating rumors as to her future on the Hawaii run was the announcement the next day that Sierra was to be chartered to the Knights of Columbus for a three-week cruise to Honolulu and Hilo 22 June-12 July 1915. 

Official Oceanic portrait of Sierra which was used in countless variations in post cards and other publicity material.  Here, the image has been "flipped" and other alterations included retouching to show the single funnel of Sonoma and Ventura.

Sierra's last voyage of 1914 was eventful.  Departing Honolulu on 20 December with 62 passengers, she encountered a ferocious and prolonged storm from the northwest.  The ensuing pitching of the vessel ofen put her screws out the water and had the machinery "racing" so that on the 22nd she shed a blade from her starboard screw.   Capt. Houdlette continued the passage on the port engine and screw to make San Francisco on Christmas Day after a 6-day 2-hour passage.  She was immediately drydocked at Hunter's Point and was able to sail as scheduled on her next voyage on 5 January 1915. In addition to a new propeller, Sierra was fitted with an emergency generator on her boat deck in anticipation of new government regulations requiring them. 

Commanded by Capt. J.B. Tibbets, Ventura docked at Sydney on 14 December 1914. Among her passenger was the  the Olympic Gold Medal winning Hawaiian swimmer Duke Kakanamoku who was competing in the Australian State Championships.  Ventura would be drydocked during her call to replace one of her screws after it dropped a blade. That and discharging a heavy cargo put her departure forward from the 19th to the 22nd. Ventura came into San Francisco on 9 January 1915 with 150 passangers and a remarkable menagerie of Antipodean wildlife for the Australia and New Zealand exhibits at the Panama Exposition. This included kangaroos, wallabys, dingoes, cockatoos, parrots, laughing jacks and bears all whom made the voyage in fine condition. 

Credit: Huntington Museum.

1915

Oceanic's 1915 sailing list. Credit: Huntington Museum.

In an untenable position, Germany surrendered its Pacific possessions of New Guinea and German Somoa and on 16 January 1915. Dr. Haber, late Governor of New Guinea, and 66 other German officials and civil servants who were granted free passage home via Australia and neutral America, embarked aboard Sonoma at Sydney for the first stage of their long journey.

When she sailed from San Francisco on 19 January 1915 Ventura had a new master, Capt. John H. Dawson, formerly Chief Officer of Sierra.

The war had initially shut down Australia's wool export trade owing to a lack of tonnage and most of the export diverted to Britain via Canada.  By spring 1915, Australia resumed exports to the United States and on 28 April, Ventura docked at San Francisco with the first large consignment, no fewer than 2,700 bales destined for mills in the East. 

Amid all the speculation as to her future on the Honolulu run, Sierra precipitated an early decision as to her duties. She  pulled out of San Francisco's Pier 21 on 22 June 1915, "loaded to the waterline with general cargo destined for island consumption" (San Francisco Examiner, 23 June 1915).  On the evening of the 27th, she lost a blade to her starboard propeller and she stopped for an hour and then proceeded on her port engine at reduced speed, not reaching Honolulu until 10:25 a.m. on the 29th where she landed 76 cabin and 9 steerage passengers.  

Sierra left Honolulu on 3 July 1915 with 216 cabin passengers and had a protracted and difficult passage, encountering gales and heavy seas en route and broke her starboard shaft on the 3rd.  She finally limped into San Francisco on the 10th, two days late and taking 7 days 5 hours and 39 mins to make the passage. She was immediately sent to dry dock at Hunter's Point for repairs. Amid a continued swirl of rumors as to her resuming the Honolulu run, on the 15th her next voyage from San Francisco on the 20th was finally cancelled.  On the 20th it was announced that Sierra would be out of service until November, with her next sailing slated to be from San Francisco on the 9th.  All this added credence to the continued speculation that the vessel would undergo the same comprehensive refitting given to Sonoma and Ventura and join them on the Antipodes run. On 9 August it was reported that Oceanic had applied to the U.S. Post Office to obtain a revised subsidy for a three-ship service to Australia. 

Putting in a cracking good run of just 17 days 6 hours, Capt. Trask brought Sonoma into San Francisco from Sydney on 22 July 1915.  Among her 110 passengers was novelist Jack London and his wife who told reporters he had "turned out many thousands of words of 'copy' while steaming home."

Credit: San Francisco Chronicle, 30 July 1915

Eliciting both regret and nostalgia was the news on 10 August 1915 that Capt. H.C. Houdlette, Commodore of Oceanic, aged 75, had retired from the company's service after 35 plus years, 15 of which was on the bridge of Sierra. His first command was the brig John D. Spreckels.

Wartime business remained brisk and a well-laden Ventura docked at San Francisco on 18 August 1915 with 249 passengers, 101 of whom boarded at Honolulu, and one of the largest northbound lists yet carried by an Oceanic liner. Her holds were filled by 2,616 tons of  mostly Australian wool and hides. When she sailed next southbound, on the 31st, she took away one of the largest lists ever for the South Pacific: 261 in all and "the liner had more freight aboard than could be stowed in the holds and a part had to be placed on the after deck. The waterline and bow numbers were hidden entirely from sight as Captain Dawson jockeyed his craft away from the pier and out into the stream." (San Francisco Examiner, 1 September 1915).

John D. Spreckels and his beloved yacht Venetia on arrival at Honolulu in August 1915.  Credit: Honolulu Advertiser, 18 August 1915.

When John D. Spreckels arrived in Honolulu on 15 August 1915 on her private yacht, Venetia, he stated that Oceanic had no plans to replace Sierra on the Hawaii run and confirmed that the company had asked for a subsidy to run her to the Antipodes.  If this was forthcoming, the northbound calls at Pago Pago would be resumed.

On 30 August 1915 it was reported that the U.S. Post Office had agreed to Oceanic increasing frequency on the Antipodes service to three-weekly and adding a third steamer under the proviso that it, like the others, be "subject to the call of the government as a naval auxiliary in time of emergency."  This would also mean that Oceanic would have three-weekly sailings to and from Honolulu instead of the existing 28 days and restore the calls at Pago Pago in both directions. Additionally, Oceanic would resume carrying mail to and from the Mainland to Hawaii.  

Arrangements under the new contract were formally announced on 6 September 1915 with Sierra to resume service with her sailing from San Francisco on 7 November for Honolulu (13), Pago Pago (20) and arriving at Sydney on the 28th. Her first departure from Sydney would be 5 December, calling at Pago Pago (11th), Honolulu (18th) and returning to San Francisco on the 24th. Ventura would resume the northbound call at Pago Pago on 7 October. 

When Sonoma arrived at San Francisco on 15 September 1915, she had $5.12 mn. in English sovereigns sent to the U.S. by Australia to pay for war debts.

When Ventura inaugurated Oceanic's new three-weekly service to the Antipodes upon her departure from San Francisco on 26 October 1915 she numbered U.S. Grant, Jr., son of the former President of the United States. Sonoma followed on 16 November and Sierra on 7 December.

Sonoma had a rather abrupt arrival at San Francisco on 11 November 1915 when, "owing to a misunderstanding of signals, the liner crashed at almost full speed into Pier 23. So great was the impact of the steamer against the pier that it sheared through the stringers and bulkheads, entirely separating the dolphin from the wharf and almost destroying it. The liner then plowed into the pier for distance of twenty feet ripping up the planking and doing several thousands dollars worth of damage." (San Francisco Examiner, 11 November 1915). When finally alongside Pier 21, she landed 158 passengers and a full cargo from Sydney.

On 25 November 1915 Sierra left Union Iron Works after $180,000 in work and shifted to Pier 21 to began loading for her first voyage after rebuilding on 7 December.  On the 30th, she had a trial trip in the Bay for six hours and also to adjust her compasses with her old skipper, Capt. Houdlette a guest aboard.  She made 17 knots on her speed trials with one boiler off line.  Remarkably, it was only the second time the liner had been taken out with someone other than Capt. Houdlette on the bridge.  Her new captain was J.J.K. Koughan, formerly the Chief Officer on Sonoma, S.H. Church, Chief Engineer, the purser was A.G. Conquest, P.F. Johnson, Chief Officer, and Al Hacket, Chief Steward. 

A rare photograph of Sierra at Sydney after her 1915 rebuilding, of special interest as it does not show the raised, enclosed wheelhouse often ascribed to this refit, but more likely added during her wartime conversion into a transport. 

One of the most enthusiastic send-off witnesses at the sailing of an Oceanic liner took place at the sailing of the Sierra for Australia yesterday. It was the liner's first trip in five months, and marked its initial entry into the San Francisco-Australasian run. In consequence a crowd of several hundred crowded Pier 21 to wish Captain J.K. Koughan and his command farewell.

The liner's appearance was markedly altered from former times, for during the period it has been laid up one smokestack has been removed and various other deck changes made. The interior has been thoroughly change and new staterooms added. 

San Francisco Examiner, 8 December 1915

Off for the Antipodes, Sierra left San Francisco on 7 December 1915. She took out  65 through passengers and 76 for Honolulu and 2,786 tons of through cargo. Her mail consignment was the largest yet despatched on one vessel for the South Pacific: 1,074 bags for Honolulu, 659 for Sydney and 66 for Pago Pago.  She arrived at Honolulu on the 13th after being slowed to half speed in two day's of extremely rough weather with west southwest seas, but made up much of the time and docked an hour and a half late. The time for her passage was  5 days 19 hours 43 mins with 388 nautical miles logged in one day. Before continuing south, she took 2,800 barrels of oil were taken aboard.  Sierra returned to Sydney for the first time in some eight years on the 28th where she landed 70 cabin passengers, 671 bags of mail and 2,700 tons of cargo including 8,000 cases of California fruit and 7,000 cases of salmon. 

Sierra was headline news in Honolulu on her first arrival there since being rebuilt for the Antipodes service for bringing in the largest consignment of mail landed in a single ship. Credit: Honolulu Advertiser, 14 December 1915. 

Cover of Oceanic's 1915-16 sailing list. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Oceanic's 1915-16 sailing list for the new three-weekly service and re-introducing Sierra to the route. Note her voyage number reverted to "1" upon rejoining the Antipodes run.  Credit: Huntington Museum. 

1916

Credit: San Francisco Chronicle, 26 January 1916.

Sierra's northbound crossing began from Sydney on 5 January 1916 and was a storm-tossed one, indeed it was described as one of the severe tempests encountered by any Oceanic liner. For three days south of Fiji on the 8-10th she was pummeled by winds of 90-100 mph.  It was as dark as twilight at noon and Capt. Koughan had to heave to for an entire day.  But save for losing her bow jackstaff, there was no major damage. "Officers of the vessel were inclined to attribute the storm to submarine volcanic activity. The sea was afloat with chunks of pumice stone, and the waves cast bits of it on deck, which were preserved as souvenirs by the passengers. The air was full of volcanic smoke." (San Francisco Examiner, 26 January 1916). Sierra came into San Francisco on the 25th, a day late, logging 20 days 12 hours 30 minutes for the passage from Sydney. 

For the summer vacation trade, Oceanic offered a new round excursion fare from San Francisco to Honolulu for a little more than $200 which included roundtrip steamer passage, hotel and side trips to Hilo. Ventura's sailing on Independence Day 4 July 1916 was the first under the scheme and numbered 40 excursionists among her passengers.  That same day, Sierra arrived at Sydney and Sonoma left Honolulu for the Coast, three American liners going about "their lawful occasions" during a world war. 

Cover of Oceanic "Sydney Short Line" brochure c. 1916. Credit: Huntington Museum.

"South Seas Types of Beauty" from the same brochure. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Landing 150 First, 56 Second and 16 steerage passengers in addition to two "immense chimpanzies and a large collection of Australian parrots and cockatoos"  at San Francisco on 10 July 1916, the San Francisco Examiner said  Sonoma's passenger list, including Siamese twins, a theatrical troupe, a child violinist, several singers and a couple of prize fighters, "would have done justice to a side show."  

The trio came into for a round of improvements in summer 1916, beginning with Sierra. Before she set off for the Antipodes again on 15 August, 16 of her First Class cabins were converted into single bed rooms and had her teaks decks renewed. Ventura and Sonoma got similar work done on their next San Francisco layovers.

The Oceanic liner Sierra, Captain J.J. Koughan, left Pier 35 yesterday afternoon in a perfect whirl of furbelows and a flurry of pretty faces. A theatrical company booked for Honolulu was late in arriving owing to some mix up in the train schedule. Walter Ramage stood at the gangplank and begged for time. But the steamer had to go at 2 o'clock.

At 1:58 o'clock six taxicabs whirred onto the dock and out rushed a deluge of femininity. A dozen stewards ran to seize suit cases and the entire membership of the company hurled itself up the gangplank. There were three long men and no less than twenty-five pretty girls. Pilot John Silovich looked over the bridge railing and 'Wow." Captain Koughan blushed and yelled 'Leggo the spring line.' Then Sierra backed out and the ship's band played 'We Never Left a Pretty Girl to Stand Upon the Dock.'

San Francisco Examiner, 18 October 1916

There was a generator fire in Sierra's wireless room shortly after she arrived at Honolulu on 23 October 1916 which detained her there for eight hours for repairs but she put all speed afterwards to reach Sydney on time on 7 November 1916. She landed 12,000 cases of salmon and 22,000 cases of apples and 1,048 bags of mail, mostly from Britain. 

Agricultural exports to Australia continued their wartime boom and on 7 November 1916 Ventura left San Francisco with the largest shipment to date of Pacific Coast apples… 20,000 boxes in all.  Conversely, the export wool trade all but disappeared by the end of the year when the British commandeered almost all of it.

Well timed for passengers residing in the city, Ventura docked at San Francisco on Christmas Day 1916, landing 150 passenger there. 

Ventura. Credit: State Library of  New South Wales.

1917

Ventura alongside Pier 37, San Francisco, on 8 January 1917. Credit: eBay auction photo.

When Sonoma sailed from San Francisco on 31 January 1917, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that "during the time the vessel had been in port here several changes have been made in the accommodation for passengers, especially in the suites, which are much more artistic than before."

For the first time since the resumption of the service, Sierra and Ventura shared the same port together in  February 1917 when the outbound Sierra, alongside at Pago Pago, was joined by the homewards Ventura which anchored in the harbor. "Then there was a flurry. Small boats whisked their way swiftly from the Ventura to the Sierra and there was a meeting such as seldom happens in far parts of the world. Working under the houseflag and under the same conditions, the captains, pursers, chief stewards and all the deck and 'below' staffs of the two steamers had been absolute strangers for six years." (San Francisco Examiner, 28 February 1917).

Without her starboard propeller and bucking headwinds, Sonoma was 10 hours late docking at Honolulu on 13 March 1917. The screw jarred loose and dropped off on the afternoon of the 10th. She arrived at San Francisco on the 21st, only two days late.  On the 24th she shifted to the dry dock at Hunter's Point where a new starboard screw was installed. 

On 9 April Sierra docked at San Francisco, among her passengers was Sir Earnest Shackleton.

Credit: Huntington Museum

It was a year of cargo contrasts for Oceanic and Honolulu. On 15 January 1917 Ventura landed the largest landed since Sierra was taken off the direct Hawaii run: 653 tons, including 80,000 pounds of meat. She still had 1,929 tons to take on to Sydney and 1,100 bags of mail. Then on 23 July she landed the smallest consignment of any "deep sea boat": four and a half tons, almost all butter and cream. 

The entry of the United States in the First World War in April 1917 did not immediately effect Oceanic's operations, indeed its cargoes from and the Antipodes became even more vital to the war effort.  Ever growing censorship made Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura's comings and goings more discreet and furtive as far as newspaper coverage and sailing dates vanished from advertising.  The newly created U.S. Shipping Board assumed overall coordination of American shipping but left the day to day running of the ships to their existing crews and shoreside management.

With the largest passenger list carried by an Oceanic ship since the war, Sierra left San Francisco on 29 August 1917, including 185 First Class passengers. "Pier 35 was crowded with persons seeing friends off and the liner looked like 'old times' as she backed out into the stream.' (San Francisco Examiner, 29 August 1917). A strike in Sydney caused Sierra to be two days late in sailing from there on 28 September.

The San Francisco Examiner of 15 November 1917 reported that "Nearly every available American ship on the Pacific Coast trade that is fast enough to keep out of the way of submarines… may be taken over by the United States Shipping Board as a troopship." This, of course, included the three Oceanic liners, but it was added that "Ventura, loaded and ready to sail to Australia next week, may be permitted to clear under this policy of the board" which stated that a least one vessel would be kept on each of the regular trade routes. Two days later it was reported that Sonoma would stay in service with Ventura and Sierra taken over. 

On 17 December 1917 Sierra arrived at San Francisco and despite continued rumors that she would be commandeered for war service, sailed per schedule, for the Antipodes again on New Years Day 1918.  Ventura arrived from Sydney on 7 January 1918 with 94 First, 61 Second and 18 steerage passengers and the Oceanic sisters carried on into the first full year of war for America.

Ventura in a sea, beloved by maritime artists and dreaded by passengers. Credit: Australian National Maritime Museum.

1918

When Sierra came into Honolulu, late after bucking headwinds, from the Antipodes on 13 February 1918 she had among her passengers were 11 men and one woman survivor from the schooner Makukona, 653 tons, which had been wrecked leaving Apia, Samoa, after hitting a reef. Sierra sailed for San Francisco that same day with 65 First, 24 Second and 10 steerage and docked there on the 19th.

On what would prove her last voyages Down Under in some seven years, Sierra cleared San Francisco on 5 March 1918 with 118 First Class passengers, 57 for Honolulu, and 13 Second Class.  Sierra sailed from Sydney on 4 April, one day late, and called at Honolulu on 17th. Although she had only 27 through First Class passengers aboard, when she left that afternoon there were an additional 86 First, 13 Second and 16 steerage fares collected for the Mainland. She arrived at San Francisco on the 23rd. 

On 3 May 1918 it was reported that Sierra had been commandeered by the U.S. Government and was to sail for "an Atlantic port" in a few days. Capt. J.J Coughlan and some of the other officers were already in the U.S. Navy reserve and would sail the ship to the coast and return by train. There had no prior warning this would occur and Sierra's more than  200 booked passengers on 7 May sailing were transferred to Niagara on the same date from Vancouver. Her cargo was diverted to the Danish motor freighter Sealandia which had been chartered by Oceanic.

Wonderful photograph of U.S.S. Sierra resplendent in her "dazzle" camouflage alongside Brooklyn Navy Yard on 8 July 1918. Credit: U.S. National Archives.

Credit: U.S. National Archives.

Unlike when she was delivered, there was now a Panama Canal now to speed Sierra to the other side of the North American continent and she was turned over to the U.S. Navy at Brooklyn Navy Yard on 27 May 1918. By then, Americans had perfected the art of converting passenger ships into troop transports and by the end of June, the Antipodean mailboat was fitted with berths for 1,700 men, armed with four 6-inch guns and two 1-pounders and two machine guns and repainted in "dazzle" camouflage.  Prominent crow's nests were fitted to both masts and her wheelhouse fitted with light armored steel shields. Under  Lieutenant Commander John J.K. Koughan, U.S.N.R., her compliment was 284 officers and men. Sierra was ready to go to war. On 1 July she was formally commissioned U.S.S. Sierra (pennant no. 1634).

U.S.S. Sierra in a European port during 1918 and still sporting her dazzle paint. Credit: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. 

When Ventura sailed from San Francisco on 28 May 1918, the San Francisco Examiner reported "It is understood that she will be permitted by the government to remain on the Australian run. The fate of the Sonoma, due next, is not yet known."  As it was, they were both "safe" from requisitioning and under the direction of the U.S. Shipping Board continued to ply the Antipodes route which now reverted back to a 28-day frequency. 

Under the auspices of the Shipping Board, turnaround times for American ships were shortened and made more efficient.  On 13 August 1918 the Hawaiian Gazette reported that Ventura had recently made a roundtrip from Honolulu to Pago Pago and Sydney and back to San  Francisco in 62 days, a feat duplicated by Sonoma. 

With the Armistice, newspaper shipping columns resumed in America and Australia and the comings and goings of the Oceanic twins were no longer conducted in obscurity. Ventura received the news of the Armistice one day before arriving at Honolulu and  docked at San Francisco on 19 November 1918. She sailed south on 3 December with an exceptionally heavy mail consignment for Honolulu of 1,100 bags and 135 passengers for the port.  In addition, she had the largest mail yet shipped from San Francisco to Australia, totalling 14,030 bags.  

More of factor for the North America-Antipodes services was not war, but the Spanish Influenza outbreak that raged towards the end of the war and into the post Armistice period. Indeed, it was spread throughout much of the world by the repatriation of soldiers by troopships.  Sonoma was quarantined upon arrival at Sydney on 12 November 1918, occasioned by her calling at Samoa which had been lately ravaged by the influenza.   She was detained for five days, her passengers and crew remaining on aboard, but her large mail consignment (7,377 bags) was landed after fumigation.  She sailed north on the 23rd and , arrived at Honolulu on 6 December 1918 with 67 cabin passengers and 500 tons of cargo.

Ventura alongside Oceanic's new Sydney berth after the war: no. 4 West Circular Quay. Credit: State Library of New South Wales. 

With a clean bill of health and no quarantine, Ventura came into Sydney on Christmas Eve 1918, docking at Oceanic's new berth there, no. 4 West Circular Quay, with an epic and indeed record mail: 12,500 bags in all.  The G.P.O. had extra staff on hand to deal with it as soon as it was landed. 

Sonoma was a late reaching Honolulu from San Francisco on 30 December 1918 with 96 passengers owing to rough weather, "Christmas was observed at sea by the passengers aboard the Sonoma and from all accounts the affair was a festive one. Chief Steward Jon Carleton arranged the party and officiated as Santa Claus to the delight of the large number of children aboard." (Honolulu Advertiser, 31 December 1918). She came in with 226 passengers of whom 111 disembarked there. 

U.S.S. Sierra, c. 1918. 

1919

For U.S.S. Sierra, her brief stint as a wartime transport conveying American soldiers to France was followed by longer duty bringing back the victorious Doughboys and she figured prominently in the triumphant homecomings in New York Harbor throughout much of 1919. During these, she mostly sailed to and from Brest and Bordeaux. On a typical voyage, Sierra arrived at New York from Brest on 19 January 1919 with 1,415 men, including 47 officers and 221 sick or wounded. She was back off to Bordeaux within 23 hours, her fast turnarounds facilitated by her huge bunker capacity which enabled her to easily make a roundtrip without refuelling.

On one of her many happy homecomings, Sierra arrives at New York laden (and listing) with 1,500 returning American servicemen. 

Ventura came into San Francisco on 21 January 1919 with a record load of 1,969 bags of mail along with 2,465 tons of cargo and 381 passengers, which, too, constituted a record.

Sonoma's first voyage (voyage 41) of 1919 was an eventful one. When she arrived at Sydney on 14 January, it was first reported she had been given clearance to dock. Then, when it was reported that passenger aboard had developed pneumonia after the ship left Honolulu, it was decided to quarantine the vessel and her 65 First, 39 Second and four steerage passengers.  Worse, it delayed the landing of no fewer than 8,000 bags of American an British mail until it could be fumigated. Idling their time at anchor, one of her crew caught an 11-foot-long shark, "the landing was accomplished by means of a winch, and when on board the shark was short by Colonel Crowther." (Sydney Morning Herald, 18 January 1919). Sonoma finally docked at Circular Quay on the 18th.

One of the great deficiencies of these ships which could not be corrected without completely rebuilding their aft quarters was their delicate and exposed strut-supported shafts and screws.  These proved extremely vulnerable to flotsam and other obstructions in the ocean and harbor, damaging either the screw or shaft or, as too often, both. In the third incident to befall Sonoma in two years, when something went array with with her starboard screw and shaft, 12 hours after leaving Sydney on 23 January 1919, Capt. J.H. Trask had had enough and determined to find the fault and fix it himself:

'I was becoming tired of having things go wrong with the starboard crank shaft so frequently, and, as I was the best swimmer on the ship, believed it was my duty to go over the side, sharks or no sharks.'

The trouble could not be located from inside the ship. Shortly after 7 A.M., the commander, clad in a bathing suit, left the ship in a small boat. He made two dives and was swept helplessly about by the heavy seas, and then decided to have a line attached. The line became entangled in the struts, and Trask remained under the water for two minutes before he could cut the line with his knife. He came to the surface with a gashed leg and minor injuries.

In the meantime the passengers and crew fished for sharks. Chief Steward Joseph Carelton caught the biggest man-eating monster on record. It weighed 1200 pounds and had eight double rows of teeth, each two inches long. The shark nipped the big hook and the bait less than ten feet from Captain Trask's position. It was hoisted to the deck by the ship's tackle, and it required seven bullets to kill it. 

San Francisco Chronicle, 24 February 1919.

Sonoma in dry dock in Sydney. Credit: State Library of New South Wales.

Capt. Trask decided to return to Sydney and brought Sonoma in on 25 January 1919. On arrival, a diver found that deepsea sounding wire had been picked up and wound round the shaft abaft the starboard screw.  The vessel was immediately drydocked at Cockatoo Dock. There, it was found that the starboard shaft had been damaged and with no replacement available, Sonoma would resume passage north on her port engine and screw, as she certainly had done so more than once, giving her about 12 knots and delaying the voyage by four days.  She was off on the 29th.  It proved a protracted passage and originally scheduled to reach San Francisco on 10 February, this was put back to the 16th owing to the mishap. But it was not until the 23rd that she arrived, 30 days out of Sydney, landing 120 First, 100 Second and 100 steerage passengers.   A new shaft was waiting for her and she immediately went into dry dock at Hunter's Point.  There, it was found that the starboard shaft sleeve had cracked, throwing a strain on the shaft which had to be cut in two pieces to remove.  By working around the clock, Sonoma was able to depart southbound on schedule on 4 March. "Furnished with a brand new starboard shaft and two wrought bronze propellers, the Oceanic Steamship Company's liner Sonoma left yesterday…"  (San Francisco Examiner, 5 March 1919). 

Quite remarkably, Sierra, too, suffered a broken starboard propeller shaft as she was two days out of Brest bound for New York  with 1,400 returning troops.  The flailing shaft holed the hull at the stern and the vessel immediately began to take on water.  To plug the hole, a consignment of defect coffins which the ship was carrying back from France, were broken up and used with canvas as temporary filler.  She arrived safely at New York on 19 February 1919.

On 5 March 1919 the inbound U.S.S. Sierra met the outbound U.S.S. George Washington, conveying President Woodrow Wilson to the Versailles Peace Conference: "The President was cheered by the nearly 1,500 home-coming troops as the George Washington, making for the open sea, met the incoming transport Sierra. They shouted farewells to the chief executive and crowded the rails as their vessel came opposite the George Washington, where the president on the hurricane deck, waved his hat in acknowledgement." (Telegraph-Herald, 5 March 1919).

From a souvenir postcard set of U.S.S. Sierra. Credit: U.S. Navy Heritage Command.

When Ventura reached San Francisco on 29 July 1919 it was reported that she had an outbreak of influenza aboard shortly after departure from Sydney with 16 passenger came down with it. "but Dr. S.M. Terrill had with him his specific obtain from an Anzac surgeon and which worked wonders. He prepared a report for a medical journal on the way up, telling of its success. Dr. Terrill confessed that the demon rum was a base of the medicine." (San Francisco Examiner, 30 July 1919).  

U.S.S. Sierra's officers and crew, 30 June 1919. Credit: U.S. National Archives.

Sierra made arrivals from Brest on 21 May and 23 July 1919, but her days as a transport were drawing to a close as the repatriation of American troops drew down.  Her final eastbound crossing for the Navy concluded at Brest on 7 August. Departing there on the 22nd, Sierra  returned to New York on 1 September to end her 11th and last troopship voyage, landing 886 officers and men. Stripped of her military equipment (her armament having already been removed shortly after the Armistice), Sierra was officially returned by the U.S. Shipping Board to Oceanic on 1 October.  During her war service, she carried close to 100,000 servicemen.

Sierra flies her homeward bound pennant from her mainmast as she sails from Brest on 22 August 1919 on her final voyage as a Navy transport. 

U.S.S. Sierra arriving at New York on 1 September 1919 on her final transport voyage. Credit: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command. 

Yet, Oceanic was clearly in no hurry to have Sierra back and as early as 10 July 1919 the San Francisco Chronicle had reported: "The Oceanic Steamship Company's liner Sierra has been a troopship on the Atlantic for some time and by reason of the light cargoes at present it is said the company is in no particular hurry to get the vessel back." Indeed, trading conditions immediately after the war were dire with a glut in shipping, low freight rates and lack of cargo owing to protective tariffs which stunted world trade.  It was reported when Ventura came into San Francisco with three feet above her load line showing and 1,500 ton cargoes were considered good. 

Still, there was an initial flurry of optimistic reports predicting Sierra's immediate return to Oceanic service. On 4 September 1919 Fred S. Samuels, who was in New York, stated that Sierra would be turned over immediately and "be brought to this coast and reconditioned before being restored to the former service to Sydney, Pago Pago and Honolulu." (San Francisco Chronicle, 4 September 1919). When Sonoma docked at Honolulu on the 15th her officers told local reporters that Sierra had been released back to Oceanic "and should be back on the San Francisco-Honolulu-Sydney run by the first of January or sooner. She is due to reach San Francisco from Balboa in two or three weeks." (Star Bulletin).  This was followed by the announcement by Oceanic in San Francisco that Sierra had been returned to the company and would begin loading cargo at New York for her delivery trip to San Francisco, arriving about 15 October. There had been rumors that government would keep her as a hospital ship. Then on  the 17th it was reported Sierra would resume her run as early as November or December.

Pre-empting plans, on 7 October 1919 a fire broke out aboard Sierra at  her pier at the foot of 20th Street and East River. Smoke was discovered coming from an aft porthole by a watchman, who sent in an alarm to which several engine companies and the fireboats New Yorker and Zopher Mills responded and soon had it under control but until it had done considerable damage to her dynamos and left the vessel without lighting.  The fire and an ongoing shipyard strike in San Francisco made returning Sierra to service by the end of the year most unlikely and her future with Oceanic now seemed uncertain at best. 

Credit: Honolulu Advertiser, 21 October 1919.

On 21 October 1919 the Honolulu Advertiser reported that Oceanic management was seeking a replacement for Sierra from the U.S. Shipping Board rather than restore the ageing vessel to service:

Her engines have been subjected to a terrific strain in this service which will require considerable overhauling or even replacement in order to stand the long voyages between the Coast and Australia. 

Owing to her age and hard service and the necessity of a larger steamer on this particular route to compete with the Union Steamship Company which has splendid modern liners on its Australian-San Francisco route, an arrangement may be effect whereby the United States Shipping Board will over a new liner to the company, the Sierra to be taken by the government at a value to be set. 

The Oceanic company has been handicapped since the war by having only two steamers to keep on the old-time route.  With new conditions in competition the Oceanic Company is said now to be seeking a class of liner which be speedy, commodious and with palatial interior fittings, and one particularly with more stateroom accommodation than the Sierra or her sisters have.

Honolulu Advertiser, 21 October 1919

On 11 November 1919 the Honolulu Advertiser reported that "the fire which occurred on the Oceanic liner Sierra at New York recently was much more disasterous than at first reported and she probably will not be returned to the San Francisco-Honolulu-Sydney run." On  the 13th came the news that Sierra had "been sold to parties who will place the former Honolulu liner in the sugar trade between New York and Cuba." (San Francisco Chronicle).  On the 17th it was reported the ship would most likely be sold, "The Sierra has been subjected to unusually hard usage, and is also quite old, the oldest of the three Oceanic liners." The San Francisco Chronicle on the 12th added: "… the vessel was really all shot to pieces and could not have been replaced in the Pacific service without being practically rebuilt. Samuels is now in Washington trying to arrange another steamer to replace the Sierra." 

The sale of Sierra to Green Star Line was finalized on 27 December 1919. One of the many unsuccessful new American lines established at the urging of the U.S. Shipping Board at the end of the war (if only to find buyers for an armada of barely used wartime built standard ships), Green Star Line was founded in 1919 by Joseph Mercadente who owned Nafra Steamship Co. With an initial fleet of four ships, the company was certainly expansive in its routes, running from Baltimore (its headquarters) to the River Plate, Bordeaux, Shanghai and the Low Countries.  Sierra was apparently intended to run on Nafra's existing service from Genoa to New York as an emigrant ship.  However, the Italian authorities refused to grant the required license for her to carry Italian immigrants "on account of her age."  What Green Star did with Sierra after that is a mystery as she does not figure in any published ship movements until 22 May 1920 when was recorded to have arrived at New York from Baltimore and then went into New York Harbor Dry Dock, Staten Island. 

1920

Capt. Trask had yet again to contend with a broken starboard shaft on Sonoma,  800 miles south of Honolulu on 22 February 1920. The liner had left Sydney on the 11th with 200 passengers. When informed by wireless from the ship that the broken tailshaft was thrashing heavily and risked piercing the stern plates, the 12th Naval District in Honolulu was alerted to have a vessel in readiness in case Sonoma would be in distress. On the 25th it was reported the ship was making 9 knots on her port engine and screw and was "all well."  Sonoma reached Honolulu safely the next day.  

Only prompt action of the engineer on duty in the engine room of the Oceanic liner Sonoma in easing down the engine when the port shaft have way at 3:10 Sunday morning, prevented a more serious accident to the steamer, which arrived in Honolulu harbor last night about 9:30 from Sydney and Pago. The first intimation of the break was a terrible vibration which aroused every passenger and member of the crew then asleep.

No one exactly knew what had happened except the engineers, and they were unable to determine the extent of the damage until daylight when they discovered the starboard shaft had carried away in the stern tube just at the point when it passed through through the strut elbow and joined the arm which attached to the propeller.

The arm slid out until the coupling, which was directly around the shaft, brought up against the shoulder of the strut. The strut is the heavy steel elbow through which the arm passes. 

The propeller held and no blades were lost. Owing to the rigidity of the arm the wheel was not dangling but was push out a considerable distance. The engineer on duty prevented the engine racing.

Chief Engineer M.L. Town eased down the speed from the steamer's position at the time of the accident until he reached ported, as it was feared the propeller might damage the rudder. 

Honolulu Advertiser, 26 February 1920

Credit: Honolulu Advertiser, 27 February 1920. 

Sonoma was brought alongside Pier 6 by tugs and stevedores worked through the night to unload her cargo. When her remaining cargo was shifted forward, she was moved to the floating dry dock where her stern could be lifted high enough to permit work on her propeller.  It was found that the screw had been pushed out some six ft. After the screw was removed and shipped aboard and the shaft secured, she was refloated and sailed the evening of 26 February 1920  Sonoma reached San Francisco on 5 March. 

s.s. Gdańsk 1920-21 (Polish-American Navigation Corp.)

The most important ocean shipping company that has so far been established by the Poles is the Polish-American Steam Navigation Company, has a capital of 3,500,000 dollars. This money subscribed exclusively by Poles living in America, the financing being takes over by the Broadway Finance Corporation, of Buffalo. The company has already acquired several steamers, including the Kosoiuszko, the Wilsa, and the Gdansk (the Polish name for Danzig). It  announces that it will devote itself principally to the passenger traffic, and already has the prospects of carrying 18,000 Polish emigrants who are desirous of returning to their native land from America.

Liverpool Journal of Commerce, 16 March 1920

Polish-American Navigation Corporation was founded in summer 1919 by Polish-American interests to operate a cargo service between New York and Gdańsk (as Danzig was now called in newly independent Poland) with vessels purchased from the U.S. Shipping Board.  With the upheaval following the Civil War in Poland and the emergence of a new independent country, it was thought that Polish immigration would thrive, adding to the already large well established Polish communities in Chicago and other cities. In the other direct, many patriotic Poles returned to help build a new nation. So it decided to add a passenger service, the first direct to the United States.

The Journal of Commerce article mentioning a Gdańsk as early as March 1920 indicates plans for her were considerably in advance of the announced sale of Sierra on 1 November by Green Star Steamship Co. to Polish-American.   Under the terms of the sale, her new owners assumed a $600,000 mortgage held by Willcox, Peck and Hughes as well another covering the cost of her conversion.  

Announcing the purchase of Sierra in the Polish language newspaper in Chicago. Credit: Dziennik Chicagoski, 1 November 1920.

Sierra was the only American liner to ply both the South Pacific and the North Atlantic in her career. She underwent a rather comprehensive conversion into an emigrant ship with berths for approximately 50 First Class and 900 Third Class ("A" cabins) and ("B" dormitories) at the New York Harbor Dry Dock Co., Staten Island.  The work included decking over the Hurricane or Promenade Deck and all new quadrant type davits and galvinized metal lifeboats, double-banked except for the first pair to provide 18 boats in all for her greatly increased compliment. Her funnel was repainted in the attractive colors of her new owners, red with a wide white band with a blue diamond and the Polish eagle and she emerged a neat and attractive if somewhat improbable North Atlantic migrant liner. Sierra was renamed Gdańsk on 10 December 1921 and scheduled to make the New York-Gdańsk passage in 14 days with fares set at  $220 First Class, Third Class A $150, Third Class B $130. 

s.s. Gdańsk of the Polish-American Navigation Corp. Credit: State Library of New South Wales.

Just eight days later Gdańsk sailed from New York on her maiden voyage to her namesake port with 32 Third Class passengers.  On her maiden arrival at New York on 29 January 1921, Gdańsk landed 19 Second and 819 Third Class passengers.  On 4 February she left with 8 in what was now classified First and 188 Third. The ship, which sailed from Gdańsk on 1 March with 355 passengers, was diverted to Boston owing to congestion at New York's Ellis Island, where she arrived on 17th. She did not pass quarantine inspection and her 348 steerage, mostly from Poland and Russia, were quarantined on Rainsford and Deer Island for 12 days while the seven cabin passengers landed by tug and the ship, following fumigration, was allowed to proceed to New York.

Advertisements for Polish-American Navigation's first passenger sailing by Gdańsk on 16 December 1920 to Hamburg (only on that crossing) and Gdańsk. Credit: Dziennik Chicagoski

Gdańsk made two more round voyages so that by June 1921 she had carried almost 1,300 passengers westbound and 1,416 eastbound.  Then the severe restrictions on immigration by the United States, specifically limiting Baltic, Balkan and Mediterranean arrivals, kicked in. With it, Polish-American lost its prime market, although the eastbound traffic held up. So in the six remaining voyages in 1921, she carried 600 passengers westbound and 2,744 eastbound.  Not surprisingly, her 8 December 1921 sailing from New York with 50 passengers was her last voyage and she returned on 17 January 1922 with but six passengers.  Capt. A.H. Peterson told reporters that the quota for Polish immigrants had already been filled and no more spaces would be available until July. Other reports quoted 16 passengers, but all agreed with Capt. Peterson it was the roughest crossing of his experience.

That was the last sailing for Gdańsk and Polish-American whose initial capitalization of $3.5 mn. through the sale of stock did not achieve even 10 per cent of that figure. The operation of Gdańsk alone posted a loss of $51,135.84 after the U.S. immigration restrictions wiped out her primary market. With the finances of the company as dodgy as some of its principals, the company went into receivership (Abram L. Burbank of A.H. Bull & Co. in November 1921 after Willcox, Peck and Hughes holder of the mortgage, foreclosed.   Gdańsk was sold by the U.S. Marshal on 30 January 1922 to the New York Harbor Dry Dock Company for $200,000.  She was tied up at the company's Staten Island yard, forlorn and far from her once familiar South Seas, and waiting to find a buyer.  The prospects for the now 22-year-old vessel seemed grim.

1921

Oceanic's sailing schedule for 1921.  Credit: Huntington Museum. 

The New Year 1921 offered up heavy seas and rough weather for much of Sonoma's first crossing of the year, arriving at San Francisco on 11 January after a slow voyage from Sydney of 20 hours 13 hours 37 mins.  She brought in a good passenger list and $1.5 mn. in gold bullion, 1,800 ingots of tin, 2,800 bales of wool, 2,464 bags of copra and a large consignment of hides.

Bad weather several days out of Sydney and unspecified engine trouble had Ventura a day late reaching Honolulu on 13 April 1921. Capt J.H. Dawson described the weather as being "just rough enough to make a little uncomfortable," but most passengers called it rather more stormy, and on steward was standing on deck and hit by green sea and knocked unconscious for 24 hours. 

Ventura alongside her San Francisco berth serves as a background for this 1921 publicity photo featuring a Jordan Sport Marine automobile design for women drivers with a "low" chassis. Credit: Shorpy Historical Photos.

No strangers to carrying millions in gold bullion in their strong boxes in complete security and safety, the Oceanic Trio's copy book was blotted when, upon Sonoma's arrival at San Francisco on 22 November 1921, it was discovered that $125,000 in gold had been taken from the strong room. "Investigation showed that supposed burglar-proof locks of the tanks had been filed off and five strong boxes containing the bullion removed.  Locks, the exact duplicate of those removed, were then snapped on the tanks." (San Francisco Chronicle, 23 November 1921).  Police questioned the three men on Sonoma who were the only ones authorized to have keys to the locks: the Captain, First Officer and Purser.  The loot, in the form of gold sovereigns, was later discovered secreted throughout the vessel and was all recovered for two coins. Sonoma's Quartermaster, Percy Ducrest, went missing from the ship when the robbery was discovered. 

When Sonoma returned to Sydney on 30 December 1921, the Daily Telegraph showed its readers where some of her specie had been stashed on her last northbound voyage. 

It would not be a year for Sonoma without some shaft or screw mishap. And before 1921 was over, she  developed problems in her port shaft shortly after leaving Pago Pago. She continued south on her starboard engine and screw and, two days late, Sonoma arrived at Sydney just after midnight on 29 December  1921 and anchored in Watson's Bay. She went into dry dock on the 30th and with a new port shaft installed, was undocked on 3 January 1922 and sailed for San Francisco on the 5th. Perhaps tempting fate as well as felons, she had aboard  the largest gold consignment she ever carried: £400,000 sovereigns in 80 boxes. Heavily guarded, this was embarked at 11:30 a.m., the vessel held back 30 minutes to receive it.  In yet more excitement for Capt. Trask, according to Australian papers, when Sonoma called at Pago Pago a group of convicts employed as stevedores tried to break into the strongroom and "the entire crew was needed to stand off the invaders at the point of the revolver."  The story was firmly discounted by her officers when Sonoma came home, however, and said it was more of an old fashioned fist fight when the stevedores knocked off from work before she was loaded and struck the Third Officer with a plank. With shafts and sovereigns intact, Sonoma docked at San Francisco on the 27th.

Ventura at Sydney.

1922

On 5 April 1922 Sonoma was towed from Moore's Dry Dock to her pier after a new propeller shaft was installed.  It never seemed to end. And shortly after she left Pago Pago on 15 May 1922, the northbound Sonoma lost a propeller blade.  She docked, a day late, at San Francisco on the 30th and was towed to Moore's Dry Dock on 5 June to have a new screw installed. Sonoma sailed again for the Antipodes on the 13th. June. 

American merchant marine policy foundered after the First World War, the wartime created U.S. Shipping Board's government funded output of an armada of wartime-built "standard" designs, most of which were not even completed until hostilities had ended, had little peacetime commercial utility amid a glut of tonnage, high tariffs and inflation dragging down global trade. 

Moreover,  the mail contracts left over from the 1891 Ocean Mail Act, were all due to expire and that in particular granted to Oceanic Steamship in 1912, set to end on 30 June 1922.   The Merchant Marine Act of 1920 did authorize the Post Office  to extend existing mail contracts and increase the per mile payment based on increased size or speed of vessels or service frequency.  Negotiations to extend the mail contract came to a head in July 1922 to the point that Oceanic stated that unless an agreement was immediately forthcoming, Ventura's sailing from San Francisco on 22 July might not occur and, as in 1907, the service suspended.  On the 18th a tentative extension was agreed at the existing rate of $196,000 per annum plus $80,000 for cargoes transported to Pago Pago on behalf of the War Department. Oceanic was asking for an increase to $392,000 a year ($4 per outward mile vs. $2), claiming that it was losing $20,000 per trip at the old  and a two-year contract. Both the War Department and the U.S. Shipping Board appealed to the Post Office Department to make the concessions. The mail contract extended on 8 October 1922 to 30 June 1923 at a $3 per mile rate. 

Beneath the Southern Cross: Oceanic's South Pacific route map from a mid 1920s brochure. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

1923

Sir Harry Lauder, the famous Scottish comedian, was once again an Oceanic S.S. Co. passenger, sailing for Australia in Sonoma and his departure on 20 February 1923 was described by the San Francisco Examiner: "Mayor Rolph and other city and county officials were at the pier to see the famous Scotchman off and wish him bon voyage. Hundreds of Lauder's admirers whom he has entertained from the stage on numerous occasions were also at the dock to see him off, and the Sonoma swung out into the stream, music from the bagpipes drowned the din of cheers that was wafted over the ship's sides and which was responded to by the comedian lifting his hat and bowing."

Ventura at San Francisco. Credit: eBay auction photo. 

Ending what was a rough voyage all the way up from Sydney, Ventura docked 24 hours late at San Francisco on 14 March 1923, but according to the San Francisco Examiner: "Notwithstanding the heavy weather encountered by offshore vessels during the last ten days, passengers arriving here yesterday on the Oceanic liner Ventura said they enjoyed every minute of the voyage. While the weather was too rough most of the way up from Australia to indulge in deck sports, an unlimited number of which were provided by Purser R.S.L. Morris, the time was spent enjoying jazz music provided by an orchestra aboard the vessel. When the weather permitted, the passengers indulged in various deck sports."

Sailing from Sydney on 27 June 1923, Ventura was setting off on one of her most stormy voyages. It was already blowing a 70-mile-an-hour gale when she left the harbor and she had to go out on her own, with no pilot, Capt. J.H. Dawson in command.  In the first of many such distress calls, just outside the harbor an S.O.S. was received from the steamer Belbowrie and Capt. Dawson changed course and made instantly for her.  A later wireless was receiving advising that she had gone on the rocks at Doughboy Point and her crew had been taken off by tugs.  The next day another distress call came in from the Union S.S. Co.'s Manuka saying she had lost one man overboard in heavy seas and wind.  This was followed an S.O.S. from the freighter Sumatra of Burns, Phillip & Co. which went ashore and was a total loss.  Ventura weathered the mountainous seas well over the several days, the only damage sustained being a number of door and railings and some of her rigging was carried away.

Overall, business picked up but a ready replacement for Sierra proved elusive. There was a brief flurry of speculation that Oceanic might get from the U.S. Shipping Board  the former N.D.L.  Prinz Ethel Friedrich, which was seized in the First World War and operated as the transport U.S.S. De Kalb,  but  she went instead to United American Lines as Mount Clay. 

Profile of the proposed Oceanic S.S. pair for the Antipodes route c. 1923. They would have been the first American turbo-electric liners. 

The June 1923 issue of Pacific Marine Review reported that Oceanic Steamship Co. was "discussing plans for the construction of two new passenger steamers to operate in the San Francisco-Sydney mail and passenger service. It is reported that the vessels will be equipped with turbo-electric engines capable of developing speed of 18 knots. Accommodations for 220 First and 120 Second Class passengers will be provided."  A one-year extension of the main contract was signed and speculation continued that if the new ships were contracted, they would qualify for the higher $4 a mile rate.

Sonoma was again in dry dock at San Francisco on 20 October 1923 where a new starboard shaft and propeller were installed. In addition Sonoma and Ventura received $25,000 in redecoration during their San Francisco turnaround.  Sonoma's refit was completed on the 28th and she sailed south two days later. 

In early November 1923 Fred S. Samuels travelled to the East Coast to finalize Oceanic's long anticipated replacement of Sierra and restore a three-ship monthly service.  On the 21st this was revealed to be none other than Sierra herself or Cadana as some reports referred to her now and long idled since her last voyage as Gdańsk.  The San Francisco Examiner correctly noted that "Announcement of the purchase of the Sierra removes the possibility of the Oceanic company building two modern and specially constructed vessels to be operated between this port and Sydney, which plans have been under consideration for several months.  The abandonment of the proposal to build the two ships was brought about the failure of the company to secure a long term contract for carrying the mails between here and Australia at an increase over the present price." On 5 December it was reported that W.J. Owens, Oceanic Superintendent, officers and crew were already east to bring Sierra back for an extensive refit at a local yard.

On 22 December 1923 it was reported that the ex-Sierra would not leave New York until the 28th owing to the non arrival of boiler tubes to be installed on the vessel.  With Fred S. Samuels aboard, the former Sierra (which was now referred to by the name Gdansk by the San Francisco papers) departed New York on 9 January 1924 and reached Colon on the 15th and expected to arrive at San Francisco on the 26th. The company would then advertise for bids for her reconditioning. The former Sierra, under Capt. McKenzie, had a fine passage, arriving at San Francisco on the 26th after a 16-day 2-hour 38-min trip from New York, and from Balboa, 10 days 7 hours 41 mins. 

Oceanic brochure cover c. 1924. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

1924

On 2 February 1924 Oceanic announced it would no longer carry cadets on its ships. "Our new mail carrying contract just completed with the government does not make the carrying of cadets compulsory and, therefore, we will eliminate then just as soon as our vessels in port," Fred A. Samuels said.  Hitherto, Oceanic ships had carried as many as six cadets. He also stated that bids for the refitting of Sierra would be sought within the next 10 days. The vessel would be refurbished to accommodate 150 First and 65 Second Class passengers with no steerage carried.  The San Francisco Examiner, interestingly, reported "Thus far it has not been decided whether or not she is to be returned to the Australian service. Samuels said she might be used as a round-the world vessel, that form of travel seeming to have caught the popular fancy, or she might be used for South Sea cruises."

On 11 March 1924 Oceanic  announced that it had awarded Sierra's reconditioning contract to Bethlehem Shipbuilding to cost $209,997 and be completed within 73 work days.  The losing bids were from Moore Shipbuilding Corp. ($224,971 and 90 days) and General Engineering Corp. ($229,500 and 60 days).  The scope of the work was considerable with all existing accommodation ripped out and replaced by all new cabins for First Class (175 berths) and Second Class (66) and no steerage.   Little time was wasted in getting the work underway and the next day Sierra was taken to Hunter's Point dry dock. It was also confirmed that she would indeed join Sonoma and Ventura on the Antipodes service.  On the 17th Oceanic received permission from the United States Commissioner of Navigation to re-instate her name Sierra. 

Ventura at Sydney. Credit: State Library of New South Wales.

It was truly an end of era when on 1 April 1924 when Ventura's Capt. J.H. Dawson stepped down from the post and retired after nine years in command and 38 years service with Oceanic. Born in Peterhead, Scotland in 1858, Dawson first came to San Francisco as the Second Officer of the full-rigged ship Frankenstan in 1885 and then entered the service of Oceanic. He put in more than 1.5 mn. miles on the trans-Pacific routes of the company.  He was succeed at the helm of Ventura by her First Officer, W.R. Meyer. 

Capt. W.R. Meyer, destined to be one of Oceanic's most famous skippers, assumed his first command-- Ventura-- in April 1924. Credit: Daily Telegraph

Commanded for the first time by Capt. R.R. Drummond, after Capt. J.H. Trask was assigned command of Sierra, Sonoma left San Francisco on 6 May 1924. Progress on refitting Sierra continued on schedule and on the 21st Oceanic announced that she would return to service upon her 8 July sailing from San Francisco. She would take the sailing originally slated for Sonoma to allow that ship to be overhauled before departing on 19 July followed by Ventura on 26 August. Thereafter Oceanic would offer a three-weekly sailing to the Antipodes. 

Sonoma arrived at San Francisco on 25 June 1924 and after unloading, shifted to Bethlehem Shipyard for her refit and replace Sierra in the dockyard, that ship scheduled to leave the yard early the next week, "Every inch of the vessel [Sierra] has been remodelled, her accommodations are practically new, and extensive repairing has been made to her engines, boilers and pumps."  Sonoma would undergo improvements to her cabins, engines and boilers before taking Ventura's 29 July sailing to allow her sister to get similar treatment.  To Ventura would fall the distinction of resuming Oceanic's three weekly service upon her 26 August sailing from San Francisco.  Sierra's officers were announced as well: Capt. J.H. Trask, Chief Officer F.K. Harper, Sam Church Chief Engineer, Joe Carlton Chief Steward and Harry Stannard Chief Purser. 

On 30 June 1924 a gleaming Sierra docked at Pier 37 to begin loading for her first trip to the Antipodes in seven years. She did a trial around the Bay to adjustment her compasses first.

Sierra making her return to Honolulu for the first time since April 1917. Credit: Honolulu Star-Bulletin.

When Sierra steamed from her dock yesterday she was a comparatively a new vessel... the Sierra is now the most up to date vessel operating out of this port to Australia. The decorations and color schemes in the public rooms and de luxe rooms reflect credit on Fred S. Samuels, assistant to the President of the Oceanic Steamship Company, who originated the idea. The decorations and color schemes are a distinct departure from anything that has yet been attempted on the Pacific Coast. Second Class accommodations have been refitted throughout and new beds as in the first class cabins have been installed... When the vessel was brought around from the East coast six months ago she was a pitiful sight, and with her sailing yesterday in such magnificent condition the contrast was a revelation.

San Francisco Examiner 9 July 1924.

Sierra sailed on 8 July 1924 with capacity list and a passage of 5 days 18 hours and 34 mins, arrived at Honolulu on 14 July 1924 with 50 passengers to land there and 1,000 bags of mail.  It was her first call at the port since April 1917. A considerable welcome and great interest greeted Sierra upon her return to Sydney after seven years absence on 29 July. On the 31st the ship hosted a dance aboard in aid of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital: "Outlined in golden electric light and blue, white and red illuminations from wharf to gangway, the American mail ship Sierra dominated Circular Quay last evening… its decks were crowded with prettily frocked girls and their happy partners." (Daily Telegraph, 1 August 1924). On 4 August, a reception and luncheon, hosted by Mr. V.A. Sproul of Oceanic and Capt Trask, was given to invited shipping and civic officials.  

Looking quite splendid indeed, Sierra sails from Sydney 6 August 1924. Credit: Frederick Wilkinson photograph, Australian National Maritime Museum.

Sierra sailed for America on 6 August 1924 with 68 through passengers and 19 for Honolulu where she docked on the 19th after "a remarkably smooth and uneventful voyage." (Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 19 August 1924). With 166 aboard for the final leg which was enlivened when she replied on the 24th to a distress call from the Oceanic motor freighter Carisso which had broken down 400 miles south of San Francisco. She was taken in tow by Sierra and proceeded at 8 knots until 3:00 p.m. the next day when the hawser parted.  Capt. Houdlette of Carisso told Capt. Trask to continue his passage as the Red Stack tug Tatoosh en route and will take over tow. A day late, Sierra reached San Francisco on the 26th. Repairs were effected and Carisso was able to reach San Francisco under her own power. Despite the delay owing to the tow, Sierra made the run up from Sydney in 20 days 12 hours 52 mins.

U.S.M.S. Sierra, her Oceanic houseflag and Star & Stripes streaming in the breeze alongside Circular Quay, Sydney. Credit: Graeme Andrews collection, City of Sydney Archives.

Sonoma was drydocked from 3-29 July 1924 at Bethlehem Shipbuilding for extensive alterations and repairs. Enlarging of a number of First Class cabins, four new de luxe cabins, redecoration of public rooms, reupholstering of furniture, etc. 

On 13 August 1924 Oceanic's Fred A. Samuels announced that upon Ventura's sailing from San Francisco on the 26th the new 21-day frequency would be inaugurated.  At the time, the ship was in Hunter's Point dry dock undergoing the final stages of her refit.  She departed San Francisco with 102 passengers and came into Honolulu on 1 September  with 2,050 bags of mail and 250 tons of cargo. Ventura arrived at Sydney on the 16th.

Oceanic brochure, c. 1925. Credit: Huntington Museum

1925

The ship that originated the tradition of streamer "farewelling," shows how its done as Sonoma sails from Sydney on 7 January 1925. Credit: Daily Telegraph, 8 January 1925.

For the first time since 1910, Oceanic had a new (and literally) pier at Honolulu when it was assigned newly built Pier 8 at the foot of Fort Street instead of no. 2 with Sierra the first use the new facility on 26 January 1925. For the first 30 years, Oceanic had always used Pier 10. 

Ventura sails from Sydney, 28 January 1925. Credit: Daily Telegraph, 29 January 1929.

The first part of Sonoma's southbound voyage, beginning from San Francisco on 10 February 1925, was a stormy one. A day out, she hit a gale that raged for three days and she was forced to steam at quarter speed for nearly a day. Part of the bridge and deck awnings were carried away.  She had aboard, for a change, $12 mn. in gold bullion for Australia and numbered among her passengers, Fred A. Samuels of Oceanic bound for a tour of the company's Australian agencies. She arrived three hours late at Honolulu on the 16th. Interviewed by the press on arrival at Sydney on 3 March, Mr. Samuels said "Provided the American Government give us a satisfactory contract, full consideration will be given to the immediate construction of two large steamers to be used solely on the Australian service." The sudden interest in new tonnage was doubtless elicited  by the fact that the magnificent new Union S.S. motorship Aorangi made her maiden arrival at Sydney the same day the quarter of a century old Sonoma docked, with a record gold shipment valued at £2.7 mn.. 

The upswing in business that prompted her rejoining the fleet manifested itself on Sierra's 9 March 1925 arrival at San Francisco from Sydney with close to 200 aboard, the best northbound list since the war.  Sonoma landed a record 100 First Class from Australia alone on the 30th. 

Advertisements for Oceanic's new stop at Suva, Fiji Islands. 

Oceanic route map c. 1925 showing the added call at Suva, Fiji Islands. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Marking the first addition to its route since its resumption in 1912, Oceanic announced  on 22 April 1925 the sisters would commence calling at Suva, Fiji Islands, with Sierra's sailing on  26 May. Ventura would make the first northbound call on her 3 June sailing from Sydney.  The call would be slotted between Pago Pago and Sydney and not add to the time of the overall voyage and reduce its frequency.  The U.S. Post Office granted Oceanic an additional payment to serve Fiji.  This marked the first U.S. flag service to the Fiji islands and the first one from San Francisco, the islands being hitherto served by the Canadian-Australasian ships from Vancouver.  When Sierra sailed on 26 May, she had the largest southbound cargo yet carried by an Oceanic ship since the war. 

Ventura on Oceanic's maiden northbound call at Suva, Fiji, on 8 June 1925. The famous Royal Fiji Band played the Star Spangled Banner as she came alongside. Credit: Daily Telegraph, 17 June 1925.

Escorted out to the lightship by J.D. Spreckel's yacht Venetia, Sonoma sailed from San Francisco on 16 June 1925. Spreckels was on the bridge of the yacht as she ran alongside Sonoma out through the Golden Gate with his daughter Mrs. Lillian Wegefort and his two sons aboard bound for Honolulu while Venetia proceeded to San Diego. 

The first of many changes for Oceanic. Credit: San Francisco Examiner, 21 July 1925.

Now in failing health, John Spreckel's active role in managing the affairs of Oceanic diminished, and uniquely for the time Mrs. Alma de Bretteville Spreckels (widow of Adolph Spreckels who died in 1924), took over the direction of the company as Vice President.  On 21 July 1925 it was announced the first of many employee changes had been effected with Secretary-Treasurer (41 years) Charles A. Gibson, Freight Traffic Manager Harry Graham (30 years) and Cashier Charles F. Gibson (9 years) leaving their posts. There were also rumors the company was contemplating an expansion into the Orient trade.

Passengers on the northbound Sierra had quite a treat on 3 September 1925 when they passed the American battleships U.S.S. California, U.S.S. Pennsylvania and U.S.S. Nevada less than 100 yards off her starboard side.

Marking his 26th year of continuous service with Oceanic, Capt. J.H. Trask was promoted to Commodore upon Sierra's sailing from San Francisco on 29 September 1925.  He was presented with a commodore's flag (dark blue with a single white star in the center)  by Hugh Gallagher, Oceanic Operating Manager, which flew it from the foremast as she pulled away from Pier 37. Commodore Trask had been with Sierra from her trials and first five years in service followed by 12 years commanding Sonoma before returning to Sierra when she rejoined the fleet. 

Sierra was the Christmas Boat for 1925, departing San Francisco on 1 December with an especially heavy mail consignment for the U.S. Navy station at Pago Pago and the Fiji islands. This included a consignment of toys for the children of Samoa and Fiji donated by charities.  She was due at Sydney on the 22nd. 

Oceanic brochure c. 1926. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Cover for the 1925-26 sailing list, the final one for the "Spreckels Line." Credit: Huntington Museum

Showing the new added call at Suva, Fiji Islands.

1926

Samoa was savaged by a typhoon on New Years Day 1926 and when Ventura sailed on 12 January from San Francisco she had aboard 600 tons of supplies especially medical and hospital necessities fpr the island  She also had 100,000 lbs. Of rice, 30,000 cans of biscuits and building supplies to repair damaged or destroyed buildings. Another 300 tons of supplies for the naval base was put aboard from Mare Island.

When Sierra arrived at San Francisco on 19 January 1926 it was reported that she missed by just a few days the typhoon which hit Samoa and damaged Fiji as well.

It had been, well, almost years since Sonoma had an issue with a shaft or screw, but that ended on 27 February 1926 when the liner returned to San Francisco after dropping her starboard screw 600 miles into her southbound voyage which began on the 23rd. Capt. R.R. Drummond brought her ship and her 150 passengers back and while they were put up in San Francisco hotels, Sonoma was drydocked at Hunter's Point where the screw was replaced. Ventura docked at San Francisco on 2 March and for the day Oceanic had two of their ships in port together with Sonoma, repaired, and resuming her passage that evening from Pier 37.  Ventura's passage up from Sydney was marked by the birth of a baby girl to a passenger who was christened Ventura Josephine.  Sonoma put in a fine run down and back so that despite leaving six days off schedule, she was able to return to San Francisco on 15 April, right back on time.  With a shortened turnaround at Sydney, she left there on 27 March.  As an added distinction, she landed 215 cabin passengers, the largest ever carried by an Oceanic vessel, 110 from the Antipodes and 105 from Honolulu.

Sonoma docked at no. 4 berth, West Circular Quay, Sydney. Credit: Frederick Wilkinson photograph, Australian National Maritime Museum. 

Having lost some $3 million on the enterprise since its revival in 1912 and with immediate prospects for any meaningful long term mail contracts or government subsidies not encouraging, the Spreckels organization, now less Adolph Spreckels  (who died in June 1924) and with John D. Spreckels in declining health, the family began seeking buyers for Oceanic Steamship Co.  On 8 March 1926 it was reported that nine parties, not the least of which were Kermit Roosevelt of IMM and Matson were prospective purchasers.  

Ventura docked at San Francisco on 2 March 1926 and for the day Oceanic had two of their ships in port together with Sonoma, repaired, and resuming her passage that evening from Pier 37.  Ventura's passage up from Sydney was marked by the birth of a baby girl to a passenger who was christened Ventura Josephine.  

Setting a new passenger record for herself, Ventura arrived at San Francisco on 4 May 1926 with more than 200 aboard.  It was also her first trip with a new Chief Steward, Albert Godwin, and "the voyage was featured by the staging of dinners replicatory of night in Bohemian cafes." (San Francisco Examiner, 5 May 1926).

True veterans of one of American's oldest steamship lines: the doctor (left), Captain (center) and Chief Steward of Sierra.  Credit: San Francisco Examiner, 26 March 1926. 

With more than a quarter of a century under their keels, the Oceanic Trio were the Grand Old Ladies of the U.S. Merchant Marine and many of their officers, too, had remarkable records for longevity. This was recognized when Sierra, which returned to San Francisco on 23 March 1926, had her Captain, J.H. Trask (31 years service), Dr. J.J. Clark (27 years) and Chief Steward Joseph Carleton (25 years)  honored for their service during the call at Sydney.  Carleton and Clark had served together in Sierra for two decades.

Oceanic Commodore J.H. Trask on the bridge of U.S.M.S. Sierra at Sydney, March 1926. No captain was more associated with one single vessel from her delivery voyage to her glory days and into her dotage. Credit: National Library of Australia. 

Oceanic Steamship Co., its management, ships, officers and many of its crew were steeped in long service, traditions and experience, but in the evolving world of corporate consolidation and in the absence of meaningful government merchant marine policy, it was not enough to ensure its continuation as an independent family run company especially when the Spreckels were themselves ageing. With the death of Adolph, the direction of line was in hand of his inexperienced widow and an increasingly frail John, and the future was uncertain. Oceanic was a passion for John Spreckels, second only to his beloved yacht, and unique among the magnates of The Gilded Age, he was master mariner, seaman and lover of ships and the sea. It was an expensive passion and having to absorb accumulated losses of some $3 mn. since 1912, no longer sustainable.  Forty-four years after its founding, "The Oceanic" had new but familiar, almost family, owners. 

Oceanic Steamship Co., 1881-1926

and under new owners, colors and flag, too. Credit: Huntington Museum.

More than the pulling down of one house flag and the flying of another in its stead is involved in the deal, announced yesterday whereby the Matson Navigation Company takes over as a subsidiary the Oceanic Steamship Company, according to San Francisco steamship men who have been observers for two generations.

Old time steamship men point out, in a more or less sentimental way, that the absorbing of the Oceanic line means the house that the flag of the Spreckels, which has proudly answered to the four winds of the Pacific for more than half a century, has been hauled down and will not again appear on the foremast of any ship plying the commercial lanes of the great ocean. 

While in nowise disparaging to the progressive Matson Navigation Company, which has taken over the historic old Oceanic line and its splendid ships, Sierra, Ventura and Sonoma, which for more than twenty-five years have run like ferry-boats between Sydney and San Francisco, the announcement that the Spreckels interests had sold out was received by the old timers on the floor of the Merchants' Exchange at noon yesterday with a sort of a subdued acquiescence and resignation to the new order of things in modern steamship organization. 

San Francisco Examiner, 15 May 1926

 

Forty-four years after Claus Spreckels helped to finance Capt. William Matson's purchase of his first ship, Matson Navigation rose to be one of the few true sustained success stories of American merchant marine enterprise. From the 195-ton Emma Claudina in 1882, Matson imagined, innovated, invested and imagined a greater and more prosperous future for the Territory of Hawaii and inextricably hitched its fortunes with it. Few steamship lines have been more associated with or responsible for the growth of one destination as Matson was  and is with Hawaii, thriving now 139 years and counting. 

With the passing of Capt. Matson in 1917, his company passed into the capable corporate hands of two completely different men whose skill and business acumen were singular among American shipping enterprises of the era: President Edward Tenney, based in Honolulu and in San Francisco, Vice President William P. Roth. Within two years, Matson carried the whole of Hawaii's sugar crop to the Mainland and by 1920 Matson and its agency Castle & Cooke handled one million tons of cargo a year. Dominance engendered acquisition and in 1924 Matson acquired a majority share in Hawaii's Inter-Island Navigation and begin a remarkable period of expansion.  

Under the buoyant business friendly Harding, Coolidge and Hoover Administrations, America enjoyed unparalled prosperity in the 1920s which gave rise to a new era of popular tourism and travel. The profitable but somewhat prosaic business model of Matson carried in practical "combi" liners like Maui and Matsonia would now, under Tenney and Roth, be expanded to its first luxury liner, Malolo, and Hawaii's first luxury hotel, the Royal Hawaiian  Hotel, both undertaken in 1924 and realized three years later. And in 1926, what seemed like the inevitable occurred when Matson acquired Oceanic and entered the long distance mail route steamship business, linking the United States to the Antipodes and, at the same complimenting its existing Mainland-Hawaii trade. 

After months of speculation, Matson Navigation Co.'s Vice President and General Manager W.P. Roth announced in San Francisco on 14 May 1926 that it had purchased the Oceanic Steamship Co. and would continue its operations as wholly owned subsidiary restyled The Oceanic Steamship Co. The operation would hence be called the Matson South Seas & Australian Service. Two days later Vice President Roth stated that the personnel of Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura "will not  be disturbed" and that the total number of employees made redundant on account of the merger would not exceed 50. On the 22nd, it was announced that Oceanic Steamship Co. would be formally taken over by Matson Navigation Co. on 1 June.   Space on the main floor of the Matson Building was set aside for the new subsidiary and the previous day painters added The Oceanic Steamship Company beneath that of the Matson Navigation Company on the Market Street side of the building. 

The liner Ventura sailed for Australia yesterday for the last time under the house flag of the Oceanic Steamship Company. When the vessel, which has been plying this trade route for about  twenty-five year returns to San Francisco harbor forty-eight years hence, the Spreckels flag will be hauled down and she will pass to the ownership of the Matson Navigation Company…  For a quarter of a century the liners Ventura, Sierra and Sonoma have sailed in and out of the Golden Gate proudly flying the Spreckels' colors. The departure of the Ventura yesterday marked the beginning of the end of a distinctive shipping concern and succumbs to the modern merger methods of steamship lines as well as commercial organizations on shore."

The Ventura sailed yesterday from one of the prettiest settings seen along the waterfront in years. Hundreds of people were on the  pierhead to say farewell to relatives and friends aboard the vessel. While the ship's orchestra played appropriate music, hundreds of vari-colored balloons were released and ties of serpentine streamers from ship to shore were parted as the Ventura backed out into the stream and headed for the open sea.

San Francisco Examiner, 19 May 1926

Ventura arrived at Sydney 8 June 1926 and the Spreckels houseflag was last seen in Sydney on  the 16th  as she sailed for San Francisco.

The initial Matson sailing list for the Antipodes service, note the voyages all being at "1'. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

The northbound Sierra would be the first of the three to be reflagged and repainted as a Matson ship upon her arrival at San Francisco on 25 May 1926.

Sunrise today will cast is beams through the Golden Gate on the last of the Oceanic steamships plying under the Spreckels flag between San Francisco and Australia… Instead of docking at her old berth, pier 37, the Sierra will continue up the bay and warp into pier 32, the Matson Navigation Company landing. To Sierra it will be strange berth. The old steamer of the line will scarcely recognize her new waterway company. The Sierra's cargo will be discharged by new stevedore hands and there will be a general new order of things, which will seem strange to the boat and its personnel. 

San Francisco Examiner, 25 May 1926

After a rough passage up from Honolulu, the Oceanic United States Mail Steamer Sierra (Capt.  J.H. Trask) arrived at San Francisco on 25 May 1926. The times for her final Oceanic voyage were 6 days 2 hours from Honolulu and 20 days 10 hours from Sydney. Greeting her at Pier 32 was Matson Vice President W.P. Roth, Capt. C.W. Saunders, Operating Manager, William H. Sellander, General Passenger Agent, and Matt J. Lindsey, Freight Traffic Manager as well as Oceanic's Operating Manager High Gallagher, Freight Traffic Manager M.F. Cropley and Passenger Agent H.N. Thomas. The Oceanic colors were struck and she was repainted in Matson livery before her next voyage. 

The first of June 1926 saw the official  passing of the Oceanic Steamship Co. to Matson Navigation and the renaming of the subsidiary company as The Oceanic Steamship Co.  More than a score of old Oceanic hands, including W.J. Owens, superintendent of the Oceanic docks and a 35-year veteran of the line, were dismissed.  All office functions were also transferred that day from Oceanic Building to the Matson Building. 

In a sad, almost pathetic coincidence, the man who created Oceanic Steamship Co., John D. Spreckels, did not live to see its ships in other colors. At 2:40 p.m. on 7 June 1926, the great California capitalist, builder and visionary, master mariner and steamship executive passed away at his Coronado home in his beloved San Diego after several months in ill health. He was aged 73.  With his passing, The Spreckels Line and a glorious chapter in American shipping enterprise on the Pacific went with him. But his vision of the Stars & Stripes carried to the furthest reaches of the South Pacific, under the Southern Cross, would be continued and reach its ultimate realization under new owners in the space of just six years.   

Sierra was the first repainted in Matson colors: seal brown hull (which alas invariably registers as black in all but the most perfectly exposed photos), buff funnel with welded M and black top.  Credit: New Zealand Herald Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections 1370-546-02

On the eve of John D. Spreckels' funeral in San Diego, the Matson mailship Sierra (Capt. J.H. Trask) sailed from San Francisco on 8 June 1926.  All of her officers and crew from her Oceanic days remained aboard but she was now adorned in Matson livery of seal brown hull, white superstructure, buff funnel with a welded M (painted buff) and black top, and flying the Matson houseflag.  Upon docking at Honolulu on the 14th her Purser A.G. Conquest told the Honolulu Advertiser "They will think in Sydney that the Oceanic has at last gotten some new ships, what with these bright colors." Sierra arrived at Sydney on the 29th where the Sydney Morning Herald noted: "The well-known steamer has undergone a marked change. Her hull is now painted brown, the funnel is cream-coloured with a black top. A number of shipping men, expressed the opinion that the change of colour detracted from the graceful appearance of the ship." She sailed for San Francisco on 9 July and had £1 mn. in gold, weighing eight tons, in her strong room. 

Concluding her last voyage in Oceanic livery, Sonoma arrived at San Francisco on 15 June 1926, docking at Pier 32 for the first time.  She put in a good passage from Sydney of 19 days 10 hours 50 mins. and 6 days 5 hours 27 mins. From Honolulu. When Sonoma sailed again south on the 29th with more than 200 passengers, she was repainted in Matson colors and had a new Chief Steward, Jack Thompson, formerly of Manoa and the first Matson officer transferred an Oceanic vessel, although on a temporary leave covering basis.

Sonoma sails from San Francisco in Matson livery.

The last vestige of Oceanic Steamship Co. came to an end with the docking of Ventura at San Francisco on 6 July 1926, the last in the old colors and flying the historic red star houseflag of the Spreckels.  The last Oceanic crossing from Sydney occupied 20 days 11 hours and 6 days 5 hours from Honolulu.  As soon as she came alongside Pier 32, the Matson houseflag was raised and a gang of painters were on hand to swath the ship in the colors of her new owners.  She landed 208 passengers and $5 mn. In gold sovereigns in 200 boxes, the first  such consignment from Australia in some years. Ventura's first voyage as a Matson ship got underway on the 20th. 

The first northbound crossing of the new Matson operation concluded at San Francisco on 27 July 1926 with the arrival of Sierra, with 178 passengers, 100 of which were from Honolulu. Taking 20 days 10 hours 38 mins from Sydney, Capt. Trask described the Pacific  as "like a lake." She, too, brought in a fortune in gold sovereigns from Australia, totally $5 mn.  And, more mundanely, 550 bales of rabbit skins, cocoa and copra.  This was logged as "voyage no. 1" for the 26-year-old ship, making her sound quite the newcomer, but, of course, signifying it was her first round voyage under the new owners. 

Sonoma sails from Sydney with an enthusiastic send off for Miss Australia on board. Credit: State Library of New South Wales. 

Passenger traffic remained brisk and there were 219 passengers disembarking from Sonoma as she concluded her first Matson voyage at San Francisco on 16 August 1926 after a fast 19 day 17 hour voyage.  Among those aboard was Miss Australia, Miss Beryl Mills, 19,  whose arrival created quite a stir according to the San Francisco Examiner: "And, if you're down on the waterfront, you'll see the Oceanic liner Sonoma come steaming proudly down the bay, flags fluttering from her rigging by the hundred, and gaily escorted by a San Francisco fireboat, gone into a perfect frenzy of feathery streams from its nozzles. And you'll, see the Marina shore, G.D. Ladoe in a Studebaker plane, swoop low over the Sonoma, and drop bouquets to Miss Australia with greetings from local organizations."  Each of the three sisters, starting with Sonoma, underwent "remodelling, redecoration and refurnishing" during their San Francisco turnarounds. 

Sonoma sails from Sydney. Credit: State Library of New South Wales. 

On 21 September 1926 the respective Commodores of Matson-- Commodore Peter Johnson, flying his flag from Maui and Commodore J.H. Trask with his at the masthead of Sierra-- arrived together at Honululu .

After being remarkably at large since December 1921, Placide Joseph Ducrest, former quartermaster of Sonoma, was arrested for smuggling aliens across the Mexican border on 26 August 1926 and faced an outstanding warrant for arrest in connection with the sensational $125,000 theft of gold sovereigns. 

When Sonoma sailed for the Antipodes on 31 August 1926 with 160 passengers, of which 100 were destined for Honolulu, the San Francisco Examiner  reported that "the social hall of the big vessel has been completely redecorated, remodelled and refurnished by a local concern and thousands of dollars have been spent to make the improvement."

Among Sierra's 150 passengers, 80 of which were from the Antipodes, when she docked at San Francisco on 29 September 1926, was retiring Victor A. Sproul, a veteran of 27 years with Oceanic, most of the time as managing agent in Sydney.  He had been relieved in the position by Charles Brown.

Concluding a three-month tour of the company's Antipodes agencies  and conducting a business survey, Matson's Operating Manager Hugh Gallagher, return to San Francisco aboard Sonoma on 18 October 1926. Speaking to reporters, he was enthusiastic about expanded passenger and cargo traffic on the route, especially American automobiles which were extremely popular "Down Under."

New liveries, new owners and a new schedule, too, and on 24 October 1926 Matson announced that Sonoma would be the last to sail from San Francisco on a Tuesday with her 2 November departure and henceforth it would be Thursdays every 21 days  starting with Ventura on the 25th. This was done so as not to conflict with Matson's sailings to Honolulu and duplicate departures.  San Francisco arrivals would now be on Thursdays rather than Monday. 

When Capt. W.R. Meyer brought Ventura into San Francisco on 8 November 1926, he declared it one of the smoothest crossings he'd ever experienced with perfect weather throughout and accomplished in just 19 days and 5 day days 13 hours from Honolulu.  The 26-year-old liner could still show her paces and had aboard a third gold shipment from Australia valued at $5 mn. For good measure. She landed 105 passengers.  Inaugurating the new schedule, Ventura sailed south on Thanksgiving Day the 25th. 

The sole Oceanic freighter, Carriso, which had been laid up in San Francisco since the purchase by Matson, was sold on 18 November 1926 to Flood Bros. for grain trade between British Columbia and Britain. 

That year's northbound Christmas Boat, Sonoma, with a Christmas tree at her foremast, docked at San Francisco on 20 December 1926 with 160 passenger and a large mail consignment. What had been called a "jolly voyage all the way" by Chief Steward M. Shenick, was marred at the very end when Sonoma managed to lose her port anchor when she stopped off the Marina for quarantine inspection. Her time from Sydney was 19 days 15 hours. 

Matson-Oceanic 1926-27 sailing list. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Matson-Oceanic 1926-27 sailing list. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

1927

The year 1927, a pinnacle of American prosperity-- Calvin Coolidge, Charles Lindbergh, talkies, Show Boat, the first trans-atlantic telephone call and Pan American Airways first flight-- was also the beginning of a halycon era for Matson passenger ships that would endure for four plus decades. That year Matson introduced the first true luxury express liner to the Hawaiian run, the first really modern American passenger ship and first designed by William Francis Gibbs-- the 17,226-grt, 21-knot Malolo-- and opened Honolulu's first resort hotel, the Royal Hawaiian. This was also the first full year for the Matson Antipodes service.  In decided contrast to the gleaming Malolo, Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura looked every one of their 27 years, but business boomed and Matson had only just started on a remarkable revival and renaissance that would in five years transform its passenger services. 

Ten hours late, a somewhat battered Sierra finally arrived at Honolulu on the evening of 24 February 1927.  She encountered heavy weather almost immediately after leaving San Francisco and on the second night, shipped a heavy sea which caved in a section of guard rail on the forward promenade deck.  Henceforth she and her sisters would not carry any cargo to Honolulu to leave space for capacity loads to the Antipodes while the Matson ships would accommodate freight carryings to and from Hawaii. 

The need for modernization if not just a change in luck was indicated on Sonoma's voyage which began from San Francisco on 10 March 1927 and, quite astonishingly, had her starboard shaft once again break on the 12th.  She continued passage on her port engine and screw and finally reached Honolulu midday on the 17th, 30 hours late. Her 54 through passengers were put up, at company expense, at the Moana and Seaside hotels for what proved to be an extended free Hawaiian holiday.  A replacement shaft was immediately put aboard N.Y.K.'s Korea Maru, sailing from San Francisco for the Far East, via Honolulu, and Sonoma was drydocked and eventually the new shaft was installed for her to resumed passage south at 5:00 p.m. on the 23rd. To get her back on schedule, Sonoma had a remarkably quick turnaround at Sydney, arriving there on 7 April and having her sail, on schedule, on the 9th.  This included working day and night and unloading no fewer than 3,150 bags of mail. 

The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) of 9 April had a photo feature on the pilot station at Sydney, featuring the arriving Sonoma seen from the bridge of the famous pilot steamer Captain Cook by Capt. A. McRae and the pilot embarking the liner. 

One of Oceanic's real veterans and characters, Dr. G.W. Clark, who had been with the company  since 1900 and 22 years surgeon aboard Sierra, passed away on 15 June 1927, aged 71, from a stroke.  His last voyage in Sierra was in November and in observance of his last wishes, he was committed to the deep from aboard Sierra in mid Pacific with his old shipmates Capt Trask and Chief Steward Joe Carlton presiding. 

When he brought Sierra into San Francisco on 11 August 1927, Capt. J.H. Trask recorded his 27th year of service in her and her sisters. After 27 years, there were still records to set and when she cleared San Francisco on the 25th for Antipodes, Sierra had the largest number of passengers she had yet carried with "every berth taken."

For 30 hours while approaching Sydney Heads, Sonoma was pummeled by heavy seas  and a strong southerly gale, shipping some heavy seas.  It had already been an unlucky voyage when, two days out of San Francisco, the Chief Officer T.F. McManus, lost the top of finger in a winch accident. She docked on 6 October 1927. 

Commodore J.H. "at home" on the bridge of Sierra. Credit: National Library of Australia, Fairfax collection. 

'I have a keen affection for this ship,' said Captain J.H. Trask yesterday as he stood alongside, the liner Sierra, tied up at Pier 30, and patted its steel side as a man would affectionately would stroke a good horse. The strong attachment between skipper and ship has developed by trip and year by year over more than a quarter of a century. There is a bond of understanding between them born of weathering vicissitude together.

For 27 years, except for a spell when he was master of the Sonoma, Capt. Trask has been commander of the Sierra in the San Francisco-Australian trade. This long stretch of tome has given her skipper ample opportunity to learn all about her habits-- good and bad, but mostly good, the veteran shipmaster said.

"In Australia the Sierra and the other two old Spreckels' liners are referred to as the Yankee mail boats." These boats have been running into Sydney for than a quarter of a century and are still know by this moniker.

San Francisco Examiner, 13 October 1927

Ventura passing the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the early stages of its construction. Credit: National Library of Australia, Fairfax Collection. 

Knowing the ship was scheduled to be a day out of San Francisco on Thanksgiving Day, Capt. W.R. Meyers of Ventura had the Chief Steward load an ample supply of turkeys and cranberries in Sydney and the day was enjoyed by her 135 passengers  as she approached the Golden Gate and docked the next day, 25 November 1927, 19 days 16 hours up from Sydney. 

There's no telling how the liner Sierra will act when she clears the Golden Gate today under the guidance of a new hand on the bridge.

For many years Captain J.H. Trask has been continuously on the bridge of the Sierra on her voyages between San Francisco and Sydney.

Today another skipper will take the Sierra to sea, for Captain Trask is ill. It was announced at the offices of the Matson Line yesterday. 

Capt. M.J. Bulger will take the Sierra as far as Honolulu where he will be relieved for the remainder of the trip Captain Thomas F. McManus. 

San Francisco Examiner, 29 December 1927

Sonoma at Sydney in 1927. Credit: National Library of Australia, Fairfax Collection. 

Matson-Oceanic 1927-28 sailings list. Credit: Huntington Museum.

1928

Returning from Washington,  Matson President W.P. Roth said on 1 March 1928 that if the line received a loan under the terms of the Jones-White Bull now pending in Congress, it would build three new ships to replace Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura. He discounted rumors that Maui and Matsonia might replace the ageing Oceanic ships in the meantime, saying they were wholly unsuited to the Antipodes trade.  Without government assistance, the original trio would continue in service for the forseable future. 

Beginning in 1928, every third Malolo voyage connected at Honolulu with Sierra, Sonoma or Ventura to or from the Antipodes, permitting a 17-day passage San Francisco-Sydney or v.v, the fastest of the era. 

Having been without Capt. Trask for two round voyages, Sierra sailed from San Francisco on 1 March 1928 back under her familiar skipper. 

A day late, Sonoma came into Honolulu on 3 March 1928, her departure from Sydney having been delayed waiting mails and passengers coming from the express train from Melbourne also delayed by washouts along the line owing to recent floods. "Captain R.R. Drummond, master of the Sonoma, yesterday was proud of his ship. Although old, as steamships go, the Sonoma looked like a 'chicken' as she cast anchor off the Marina. On board were close to two hundred voyagers, more than half were from the Antipodes." (San Francisco Examiner, 10 March 1928).

The San Francisco Examiner of 26 April 1928 reported that Matson had decided to replaced the three Oceanic liners and might do without even if the Jones-White Act not be passed. 

Sonoma again showed the seaworthiness of the old Oceanic boats when she sailed right into the cyclone that ravaged the New South Wales Coast on 14 June 1928, "Capt. Drummond said that it was roughest day and night at sea he ever experienced. It went down in the history as the worst cyclonic storm experienced on the Australian coast in 35 years.  

Damage to Sonoma photographed when she arrived at Sydney, the day after being pummeled by the worst cyclonic storm in New South Wales in some 35 years, included damaged to railings and the compass on the flying bridge knocked over. Credit: Chronicle, 23 June 1928.

The Sonoma, recognized as a sturdy sea boat, is said to have behaved splendidly even when her master had to heave her to for several hours.

Whipped into fury by a ninety mile gales, tremendous seas which swept the ship fore and aft, lifted the heavy standard compass and other navigating instruments out of their sockets on the upper bridge and crashing into Second Officer Lebzeltern, knocked him unconscious. Boatswain J. Payne was injured when a wave nearly hurled him overboard.

Vicious waves also smashed the hatch battens, and, at the risk of life and limb, Chief Officer Walter Bell and his crew had to secure them with heavy timber protectors to prevent the holds from flooding and the vessel foundering.

The forward iron rail was lifted clean off the deck and swept overboard and the ship superstructure forward and after was considerably damaged. 

Passengers were terrified in the early hours of the morning when some of the portholes were stove in and most of their cabins were flooded.

Several passengers who made the round trip on the Sonoma paid high tribute to Captain Drummond, his officers and crewmen for their seamanlike conduct during the storm.

San Francisco Examiner, 13 July 1928

The great send-off from Sydney of the two American crewmen of the epic Southern Cross flight from Honolulu to Australia, as Sonoma sails 25 June 1928. Credit: Melbourne Herald, 28 June 1928.

Equal enthusiasm awaited the flyers return to Honolulu where they, and their kangaroos (actually they were wallabies), transhipped to Malolo for the final leg to San Francisco.

When Sonoma came into Honolulu 6 July 1928 she was greeted by a aerial salute by 10 Army Air Corps planes welcoming the returning heroes of the Air Corps long range flight by the Fokker tri-motor transport Southern Cross from the U.S. to Australia: Harry Lyon (navigator) and James Warner (radioman). They transhipped to Malolo for the final run to San Francisco.  They had with them three wallabies, having embarked at Sydney with two, one intended as a present for President Coolidge and another for Capt. Alan Hancock, who had provided financial backing for the flight, but one of them gave birth to a third in mid voyage. 

With a new Captain on the bridge, Capt. W.E. Bell in in relief of Capt. R.R. Drummond who was on leave, Sonoma departed San Francisco on 26 July 1928, with 150 passengers.

Even with "M"'s stuck on their funnels, the shafts, screws and crankshafts of the former Oceanic Trio remained as cranky as ever. Two days after leaving Pago Pago, the northbound Sierra broke a crankshaft on 13 August and made the rest of the voyage on one engine. One day late, she came into Honolulu on the 17th and San Francisco on the 25th by which time she two days off schedule. During the voyage, veteran Chief Steward Joseph Carlton celebrated his 63rd birthday.  "The other day I figured out that during my twenty-eight years on the San Francisco-Sydney run, I have travelled 3,000,000 miles and have come in contact with 200,000 voyagers, many of whom I am pleased to call my friends," he told a reporter for the San Francisco Examiner. 

On 27 September 1928 Matson Vice President A.C. Dieriex announced that orders for two new ships for the Antipodes service would be awarded before the end of the year. The San Francisco said "it is considered likely the ships will be built in San Francisco, possibly by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation."

In recognition of his long service on the route, it was no surprise when on 30 November 1928 Matson announced that Capt. J.H. Trask had been appointed to command the first of three new ships which would enter service in 18 months.  For Sonoma, it was a new captain when she sailed "laden with Christmas presents for 'our Australian cousins' (San Francisco Examiner) for the Antipodes the same day.  After four years on the bridge, Capt. R.R. Drummond retired and was replaced by Capt. W. E. Bell, "one of the younger type." Sonoma was scheduled to reach Sydney on 21 December and was predictably carrying a heavy holiday mail. 

Upon arrival at Sydney, Sonoma docked at Circular Quay West on 21 December 1928 and when she sailed on the 29th, it marked the last use of that wharf. Effective with Ventura's arrival on 10 January 1929, Matson ships would used Circular Quay East.

There is something intimate about the arrival in San Francisco of the liner Sierra from Australia and South Sea ports en route.

This famous old steamer has been trundling back and forth over the same sunshine route so long that the Southern Cross seems to smile on her.

San Francisco Examiner, 28 December 1928

Credit: Huntington Museum

1929

A somewhat battered and waterlogged Sonoma reached San Francisco on 18 January 1929 after hitting rough weather en route from Honolulu. "Passengers declared that the Sonoma had met and rode out the storm famously, although waves had carried off the ship's forward railing and at times the promenade deck was awash. However no one on board was injured and the Sonoma's log shows only incidental voyage repairs necessary." (San Francisco Examiner, 19 January 1929). The voyage had been marked by the sad and sudden death of Cadet Newton Ridell, aged 16, who was found dead in his cabin on the 13th due to a suspected heart attack.  His body was carried home for burial. 

The first of the Matson-Oceanic liners to be inducted into the U.S. Navy Reserve Fleet, U.S.M.S. Ventura's Capt. W.R. Meyer, U.S.N.R., accepted the pennant before the ship sailed for the Antipodes on 25 April 1929. The privilege was extended to vessels whose officers were 80 per cent members of the U.S. Navy Reserve.  In addition to Ventura, the Matson liners Maui, Matsonia and Malolo also flew the pennant, a white eagle against the national crew on a blue burgee. 

U.S.M.S. Ventura sails from Sydney, c. 1929. Credit: National Library of Australia, Fairfax Collection.

'Frisco-bound, Ventura begins another voyage from Sydney. Credit: National Library of Australia, Fairfax Collection.

When he brought Sierra into San Francisco on 2 May 1929, Capt. J.H. Trask completed his 146th voyage between San Francisco and Sydney, totalling some 1 million ocean miles.   

After hitting a heavy gale off Lord Howe Island, Ventura was eight hours late arriving at Sydney on 16 May 1929. "It was easily the worst weather I've experienced for six years," Capt. Meyer told reporters, "We had strong headwinds for three days before reaching Sydney." Damage was confined to broken or bent rails. 

Sonoma had a new master, Capt. T.F. McManus, and completed her first voyage under him, docking at San Francisco on 23 May 1929. Before she sailed south again on 6 June, Sonoma was officially designated as a vessel belonging to the U.S. Naval Reserve and Capt. McManus, U.S.N.R., was presented with the pennant by Commodore George W. Bauer.

When Ventura came into Honolulu on 6 June 1929 her flags were flying at half mast in honor of the memory of Second Officer W.I. Green, aged 36, who died at sea, ill with rheumatic fever, on the 4th. It was only his first trip aboard Ventura, having come over from Matsonia. He was buried at sea. 

Not again! Another screw lost at sea, this time from Ventura en route from Suva to Sydney in September 1929. The dismal prospect is contemplated in Mort's Dry Dock, Sydney. Credit: Daily Telegraph, 25 September 1929.

Shafts and screws continued to be the bane of these ships. The southbound Ventura, which left Suva on 14 September 1929, dropped her starboard screw and damaged her shaft two days later.  The incident occurred when the passengers were at dinner and the vibrations made them think she had struck a coral reef.  She continued her  passage on the port engine and screw at 10.5 knots and Capt. Meyer wired that the ship would be consequently about 24 late in reaching Sydney, arriving on the 21st. Ventura went into Mort's Dry Dock for repairs and sailed north on the 25th.

Sonoma near the South Head Signal Station, Sydney, 4 October 1929. Credit: National Library of Australia

On 27 October 1929 government inspectors deemed that a "latent defect" not negligence was the cause of the loss of Ventura's propeller near Sydney the previous month. The cost of the incident was $40,000.

And yes, before 1929 was over, Sonoma had another shaft or screw mishap. This time she dropped  her starboard (of course) screw on 20 November 1929 en route between Pago Pago and Honolulu. She came into Honolulu on the 23rd, a day and a half late. There it was found that the strut supporting the shaft was also damaged so she would have to proceed to San Francisco on the port engine and screw. She resumed passage on the 25th. Four days late, Sonoma came into San Francisco on 2 December 1929. She took 23 days 17 hours from Sydney and 6 days 19 hours from Honolulu.

Sonoma was repaired in time to sail south again on 11 December 1929 with Christmas to be observed aboard nearing Pago Pago.  Proving to be a hard luck ship, the voyage experienced the worst weather of any Hawaii-bound liner that year. 

"The Sonoma plowed through heavy seas from the day she left San Francisco until the day she was safely berthed at Pier 6. Passengers aboard the ship declared it was roughest voyage they had ever experienced and even the crew admitted it was 'pretty bad.'

Considerable damage was done to the bridge of the Sonoma, which received the full brunt of the huge waves which swept the vessel.

The Sonoma met the worst weather during the first three days out of San Francisco when strong southeast winds were encountered. 'The s'easter was combined with a n'east swell, so that were pinched in between two wall water and had to play submarine,'  Capt. T.F.McManus said.

Honolulu Advertiser, 19 December 1929

Twelve hours, Sonoma docked at Honolulu on 18 December 1929. After landing 125 passengers and 1,414 bags of Christmas mail, she was off again in four hours, "We have no time to fool around, we're carrying His Majesty's Mail," said Capt. McManus. 

Matson South Seas and Australia Service 1930-31 sailing schedule. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

The Era of Matson brought new style and quality to the brochures even if new tonnage was a few years off. Credit: Huntington Museum.

Credit: Huntington Museum.

1930

Forty-seven hours at top speed, as far as was commensurable with rough sea and head winds, put the Ventura at the scene of the disaster. The rescue was completed less than three hours before the final plunge of the Tahiti. The Ventura averaged 16 knots in rushing to the sinking steamer, supposed to be longest dash on record, and rescued all hands with luggage, mail and gold bullion, without anyone's suffering a scratch… The excellent navigation of Capt. William R. Meyer and the efforts of Chief Engineer Claus J. Knudsen were responsible for the arrival in record time.

Honolulu Star Bulletin, 20 August 1930

Three decades of eventful service, trials and triumphs notwithstanding, if the Oceanic Trio are remembered at all it was during two weeks in August 1930.  It was, after all, the most sensational shipwreck and sea rescue since Titanic, had a much happier ending and uniquely involved two old dowagers, aged competitors on the same route for almost two decades.  And it was uniquely well photographed and reported in the breathless, headline fashion of classic inter-war newspapers.  It made an unlikely and uncomfortable hero of a modest captain and wrote new chapters of duty and seafaring in the histories of both the U.S. Merchant Marine and the British Merchant Navy. That it was all brought about by a broken screw shaft completes the perfect blend of coincidence and circumstance. 

Leaving on what would be the most celebrated voyage of her long career and indeed that of her sisters, U.S.M.S. Ventura (Capt. W.R. Meyer) cleared San Francisco on 10 July 1930.  Her competition on the run, Union S.S. Co.'s R.M.S. Tahiti  (Capt. A.T. Toten), sailed from San Francisco on 9 July and docked at Sydney on 4 August.  For Ventura, the routine of the southbound voyage ended when she lost her anchor and 15 fathoms of chain arriving in Sydney's Watson's Bay on the 31st when a pin broke as the chain was let go.  After two launches fruitlessly dragged the seabed, divers were dispatched and after four days search, the anchor and chain were finally located on 7 August, loaded aboard the lighter Zelma and reinstalled on Ventura lying at no. 2 wharf East Circular Quay.  With some 60 passengers aboard, Ventura cleared Sydney for Suva, Pago Pago, Honolulu and San Francisco at 11:48 a.m. on the 9th, two days after Tahiti sailed northbound with 103 passengers destined for Wellington, Raratonga, Papeete and San Francisco.

The Oakland Tribune front page of 16 August 1930 included this helpful map showing the relative position of the stricken Tahiti and her would be rescue ships. 

In the pre-dawn hours of 15 August 1930, 460 miles south of Raratonga, in a mishap all too familiar to her Matson-Oceanic competitors, Tahiti's starboard propeller shaft fractured just inboard of the stern tube, dropping the screw and before the engine could be stopped the flailing inboard portion of the shaft tore a hole in the hull, and worse, damaged the bulkhead between the shaft tunnel and the aft no. 3 hold. Tahiti was doomed.  Even in the vast expanses of the South Pacific, the ship's S.O.S. was acknowledged by no fewer than four vessels: Union's Tofua midway between Suva and Tonga, the Norwegian freighter Penbryn, closest but on account of her speed, could not reach the scene until late on the 16th, the French steamer Antinous, in a similar situation. And U.S.M.S. Ventura which was at Pago Pago when she received the distress call at 5:00 a.m., and immediately sailed towards Tahiti. For the veteran mailship, it was yet another race over time and distance, not this time to get the English Mails in on time, but to come to the rescue of a fellow Antipodean mailship.  

Chief Engineer Claus J. Knudsen coaxed every possible revolution out of Ventura's creaky old triple-expansion engines, shutting down all auxiliaries to save steam and despite strong westerlies and a heavy swell, had her averaging 16 plus knots as she raced the 700 miles toward Tahiti. It was reckoned to be longest such rescue dash in maritime history. In what became a battle of the black gangs of Ventura and Tahiti, the later working in waist high water shored up the bulkhead to the engine room and had every pump working to forestall the inevitable. For Tahiti's passengers, it was a surreal wait for rescue with the boats turned out, everyone in lifejackets yet meals were still served with printed menus and full steward service.  

R.M.S. Tahiti being abandoned 17 August 1930. Just look at that pink boot topping, typically Union S.S., she is... immaculate! Credit: maritimeradio.org

Penbryn reached the scene first on the evening of 16 August 1930 but having neither the accommodation nor provisions for the liner's compliment, Tahiti's Capt. Toten wisely elected not to attempt an evacuation at night and await the arrival of Ventura the following morning, 47 hours after she left Pago Pago. The Matson liner spotted Tahiti's funnel smoke at 9:15 a.m. in a heavy swell and light breeze. With the bulkhead showing signs of completely failing, no time was wasted and Tahiti's people, starting with women and children, were efficiently embarked in her boats through an open shell plate door, all wearing lifejackets and with a safety line. By the time Ventura was close enough to be hailed by 10:30 a.m., five boats were already making for her. Chief Officer F.E. Trask (the son of Capt. J.H. Trask) had meticulously planned for the transfer of Tahiti's passengers, crew, hand baggage, 5,000 in gold specie and even most of her mail.  As if rehearsed for months, Ventura and Tahiti officers and crew carried out the exchange in perfect calmness and discipline, not a passenger got their feet wet although two ladies fainted, more out of seasickness in the swell.  

Tahiti's lifeboats alongside Ventura  with the Norwegian freighter Penbryn lying off. Credit: maritimeradio.org

The staunch Tahiti stayed afloat until her people were all off (by 1:50 p.m.) and with her bulkhead finally giving way, the engine room flooded and she began to settle very quickly by the stern, still upright. Capt. Toten ordered the largest Red Ensign hoisted and with her American courtesy flag in hand, was to last to leave her. When his boat came alongside Ventura, he unfurled the ensign to the cheers of all aboard. With the end in sight, Capt. Meyer elected to stay on the scene until Tahiti foundered. Chief Officer Trask logged her end: Tahiti sank at 4:42 p.m. 17 August latitude 25 deg s., longitude 166 degrees and 33 mins west 682 miles south of Pago Pago in 3,000 fathoms or 18,000 ft.

Ventura's passengers and crew as well as those of Tahiti watch the stricken Union liner sink by the stern. Credit: New Zealand Herald, 14 August 1931.

Tahiti sinking by the stern, flying the big Red Ensign Capt. Tobin had hoisted before he was the last to leave her. Credit: Australian National Maritime Museum. 

The Tahiti was by this time filling rapidly, and about 4:30 p.m. she dipped her counter beneath the water. The end was very dramatic. She lifted her bow aloft so that the ship stood almost perpendicular, with more than one-third above the water. As she dove her bow described an arc of a circle, her smoke stack crumbing against the decks as she went down. 

Honolulu Star Bulletin, 26 August 1930

All passengers stood in silence with their hats removed as the Tahiti took her final plunge. Old members of the crew and officers who had been on the Tahiti for considerable time shed tears and were unashamed of their emotions. 

Honolulu Advertiser, 28 August 1930

Before they were cast adrift, Tahiti's lifeboats, now all that remained of the once pride of Union's 'Frisco Mail run, had their hull plugs removed and buoyancy tanks pierced so they would sink and not pose a menace to navigation. With a dip of her ensign and with an extra 103 passengers and 149 crew aboard, the crowded Ventura made for Pago Pago where it was arranged that her crew and passengers destined for Raratonga and Tahiti would embark on Tofua while those bound for San Franciso, 91 in all, remained aboard. 

Ventura's Capt. W.R. Meyer (left) and Chief Officer F.E. Trask.

Ventura arrived at Pago Pago at 1:00 p.m. on 19 August 1930 and received a rousing welcome from the local populace with a military band playing and whistles and sirens blowing.  "Every signal station in the harbor spelled out 'Well Done' in international code flags as the Ventura appeared. Every available whistle and other noise maker in Pago Pago was brought into play to greet the ship." (Oakland Tribune, 20 August 1930). Seventeen passengers and Capt. Toten and his crew of 149 disembarked there.

More acclaim awaited Ventura docking at Honolulu on 26 August 1930 where Capt. Meyer told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:  "I don't see why I should be considered a hero, the real heroes were those souls on the Tahiti, officers, crew and passengers. All we did was to pick them up. Of course my men worked hard in effecting the rescue, but were not called to display heroism as were those on board the Tahiti... Too much tribute cannot be paid to the master of the Tahiti, Captain Toten, and all of his officers and crew for the splendid way in which they handled a very trying situation. They were extremely grateful for the reception they received aboard the Ventura and as we sailed from Pago Pago gave us a very touching farewell." Chief Engineer Knudsen told the Honolulu Advertiser: "It’s the men who stood watch below, who actually worked-- the black gangs. It's the black gang of the Tahiti who stood nobly by their posts and worked in water up to their hips; and it's the black gang on this ship who stood double watches while we were making forced speed to get to the Tahiti's positiion. These are the men actually sweated and slaved. The men on the Tahiti were responsible for keeping the ship afloat until we got there and our men were responsible for getting us there. They are your heroes, not we officers."

Credit: San Francisco Examiner, 2 September 1930.

Nothing quite prepared the officers, crew and passengers, both those from Tahiti and Ventura's initial compliment, for the welcome that awaited them upon arriving at San Francisco:

Latest of her breed to wrest a hero's name from the threats of the sea, the Matson liner, Ventura, returned proudly to her home port yesterday.

Easily wearing the honors the world has heaped upon her, she poked her valiant prow into the Golden Gate at 2:47 p.m.-- and San Francisco gave her the homage she has earned.

Airplanes roared their admiration from funny skies, dipped low in salute, and bombarded her decks with floral tributes. Small craft of every type--launches, tugs, yachts, speedboats-- swarmed around the weather red hull, and with sirens screeching hysterically, welcomed home their celebrated big sister. 

Jubilant, a fireboat stood by and effervesced, tossing streams of water in frenzied greeting. 

San Francisco Examiner, 2 September 1930 

San Francisco went wild for Capt. Meyer, officers and crew of Ventura who were afforded a parade up Market Street and official reception at City Hall upon the ship's return to her home port. 

Before she sailed again for the Antipodes, Ventura was given a thorough overhaul and it was back to her old routine on 11 September 1930.

To facilitate her arrival at Sydney before the holidays, it was announced on 23 October 1930 that Sierra would leave San Francisco two days ahead of schedule with an anticipated heavy Christmas mail and cargo, arriving at Sydney on 23 December.  Sonoma would also be dispatched from San Francisco on 23 December rather than sailing Christmas Day. 

Matson sailing list for 1931-32 showing the introduction of the calls at Los Angeles and Auckland by Sonoma starting 2 July 1931. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

1931

Frederick Wilkinson took this photograph of Sonoma at No 2 wharf East Circular Quay, Sydney at 12:10 p.m. on Thursday 26 March 1931 aboard a ferry from Circular Quay to Taronga Park. Credit: National Australian Maritime Museum

In anticipation of the new ships, Matson expanded the Antipodes service and on 17 May 1931 announced that effective with Sonoma's sailing from San Francisco on 2 July, Auckland would be reinstated as a regular port of call in both directions.  It will be recalled that Sonoma made the final call at the port back in April 1907 with the closure of the original Oceanic mail service.  It was further announced that the Port of Los Angeles (Wilmington) would be included en route to and from San Francisco, reflecting the company's expanding passenger and cargo carryings from Southern California from its operation of the Los Angeles Steamship Co. 

Fire broke out in Sonoma's forward hold alongside Pier 30 at San Francisco on 19 June 1931. She was unloading a cargo of 5,000 bags of copra when the fire was discovered when the hatch cover was removed and it was not known for how long it had been burning. The fire was tackled by the fireboat David Scannell and pierside fire engines and brought under control by that afternoon. 

Carrying the flag of an American steamship line into the trade with New Zealand was impressively marked yesterday with the sailing of the Matson liner Sonoma. This is the first time since 1907 that an American flag line has served New Zealand, and the Matson Line management is convinced that this scenic country is now ripe for tourist and commercial exploitation. 

San Francisco Examiner, 3 July 1931

Sonoma's Capt. T.E. McManus is presented with the scroll from the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce for delivery to New Zealand's Prime Minister upon the resumption of the Auckland call as well as the maiden sailing from Los Angeles. Credit: Los Angeles Evening Express, 7 July 1931. 

On 2 July 1931 Sonoma (Capt. T.F. McManus) sailed from San Francisco with 150 passengers and after her maiden call at Los Angeles, had 206 aboard when she departed Wilmington's Pier 155  at 5:00 p.m. on the 3rd.  Her first Los Angeles bill of lading for the Antipodes included resin, glass bottle, soup, sausage casings, household goods, grapes, borax, paint, oil and electric equipment  She also carried with her a scroll signed by the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce to be presented to U.S. consul in Auckland for delivery to the New Zealand Prime Minister. After landing 160 passengers at Honolulu, she had 76 aboard when she returned to Auckland for the first time in 24 years at 7:00 a.m. on the 24th. There, she landed 11 passengers, 153 tons of cargo and 418 bags of mail. Remarkably, she still had two officers aboard from that last call:  D.T. Mehigan, Purser, and J. O'Neill, Jr. Refrigerating Engineer. U.S. Consul, Walter F. Boyle visited the ship and presented with the scroll by Capt. T.F. McManus from the  Chamber of Commerce for the Prime Minister. Later that day Capt. McManus hosted a luncheon aboard for Government officials, City Council, Harbour Board and Chamber of Commerce.  After 24 years, American passenger liners were back in New Zealand waters.

Credit: New Zealand Herald 25 July 1931.

With flags waving and band playing, the Matson liner Sonoma arrived at Auckland yesterday after an absence of 24 years, inaugurating the new San Francisco-Auckland-Sydney passenger service. At her peak flew the Stars and Stripes and at the mainmast the flag of the United States Naval Reserve, the Sonoma's commander, Captain T.F. McManus, being a member of the reserve. 

Spick and span in a new coat of chocolate and yellow paint, with a bright blue band round the funnel, the Sonoma attracted a great deal of attention as she drew alongside Queen's Wharf. In spite of her age-- she was built in 1900-- she retains a smart and attractive appearance and her interior appointments are exceedingly comfortable.

New Zealand Herald, 25 July 1931

Upon Sonoma's return to New Zealand after a 24-year absence, Capt. McManus presents the scroll to the U.S. consul in Auckland. Credit: Auckland Weekly News 29 July 1931. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections AWNS-19310729-50-3

Auckland city and port officials pose on the quayside with Capt. McManus. Credit: New Zealand Herald, 25 July 1931. 

As the Sonoma steams into the Waitemata Harbour this morning, thus reinstating the San Francisco-Auckland service, the thoughts of old Aucklanders will instinctively wing back to the dawn of the century, when the Sonoma, the Sierra and the Ventura previously made Auckland a port of call on the San Francisco Sydney run. The same three steamers, each built in 1900 and each of about 6000 tons, are again to be identified with Auckland in the conduct of a regular three-weekly service. But, whereas the vessels were welcomed for their own sake 30 years ago, their return now heralds a yet more ambitious project. They come in a kind of introductory capacity, for shortly the run being re-established will be taken up by three other vessels now in course of construction—the Mariposa, launched this -week; the Monterey, to be ready next year; and the Lurline, to follow in 1933.

New Zealand Herald 24 July 1931

U.S.M.S. Sonoma alongside at Auckland. Credit: Ref: PAColl-6304-45. Alexander Turnbull Library,

On 15 July 1931 the first of the three new ships, Mariposa, was launched at the Quincy, Massachusetts yards of Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp.  It was the dawn of a new and glorious era of American passengers liners in the South Pacific and the twilight for the trio that, for the first three decades of the 20th century, had made it possible. Indeed, the very Sydney Harbor water that was used to christen Mariposa during those Prohibition times had been collected by Commodore Trask and brought back the U.S. by Sierra.  Before the ships themselves gave way, their remarkable cadre of officers and crews, so associated with them, were gradually seconded for reassignment to Mariposa and her fleetmates abuilding. Few new ships inherited so many experienced, even legendary men.

Ventura's new skipper, Capt. A.G. Townsend, brings her back to Auckland after a 24 years absence. Credit: Auckland Star, 14 August 1931.

Ventura docked at San Francisco on 9 July 1931 for the last time commanded by Capt. W.R. Meyer. On the 18th, Matson announced that Capt. W.R. Meyer would be appointed to command either Mariposa, after her maiden voyage, or Monterey.  When Ventura sailed for the Antipodes on the 25th commanded by Andrew G. Townsend, formerly of the Maui, who had 12 years on the Hawaii route. She left with 167 passengers but two-thirds landed at Honolulu and had 61 when reached Auckland on 14 August to renew an acquaintance that had lapsed since 1907. Moreover, it was just two before the first anniversary of her coming to the rescue of Tahiti which made Ventura a household word in New Zealand. 

With Sonoma's arrival home on 27 August 1931, the ships would return to San Francisco from the Antipodes on Wednesdays instead of Thursdays and their turnarounds in their homeport reduced from 14 to eight days. Sonoma's homecoming was made more festive as she arrived amid the gala throng of harbor craft celebrating Harbor Day in the port. 

Commodore J.H. Trask on his final voyage in command of Sierra. Credit: New Zealand Herald, 5 September 1931.

In a true passing of the torch moment, Sierra sailed from San Francisco on 13 August 1931 for the last time with Commodore Trask on her bridge. It was his 158th voyage to the Antipodes and close to 31 years since he had, as her First Officer, brought her from the builder's yard in Philadelphia to her homeport.  The last of the ships to resume calling at Auckland, Sierra docked there on 4 September 1931. Of her 34 passengers, only three landed there. On the way down, she rendezvoused with the northbound Ventura to transfer a stowaway who had come aboard at Auckland and was returned to the port and handed over to the police. In charge of the lifeboat from Ventura was Chief Officer F. Trask, son of Commodore Trask to accomplish a mid South Pacific family reunion.  Sierra's reintroduction to the Tasman was appropriately tempestuous and accomplished in the face of two successive cyclones, each with winds topping 80 mphs.  The first was encountered just after departing Auckland and the second on the 7th, causing one man to fall on deck and injure his arm and speed had to be reduced.  She reached Sydney on the 8th.  Commodore Trask brought Sierra alongside Pier 30, San Francisco, on 7 October and left the ship on the 9th, ending a remarkable 31 year association with Sierra that begin, literally with her beginning, as First Officer on her delivery voyage from Philadelphia to San Francisco. 

U.S.M.S. Sierra. Credit: U.S. Navy Heritage Command. 

"I give you this ship in which I have sailed for more than thirty years, I give the 'Southern Cross,' the constellation which has guided me alright in three score years of navigation. May Good Luck attend you."  With this telegram, Commodore J.H. Trask bequeathed his familiar old command to her new skipper, Capt. R.J. Melanphy who had served for more than two years as her First Officer, the day Sierra sailed for the Antipodes on 15 October 1931. In "shore rig," Commodore Trask was on the pier "when his old command, the Sierra, barged out into the bay and headed through the Golden Gate for the South Pacific. " It would their final meeting for Trask was soon off to Quincy to supervise the completion and trials of his command, Mariposa.

The addition of Auckland entailed, of course, a return to the occasional travails of the trans-Tasman crossing.  Over eight hours late, Sonoma berthed at Sydney on 29 September 1931.  When she left Auckland, the weather was fine but deteriorated quickly with high winds from the southwest and "waves crashed over the bows with such force that the railing on both port and starboard sides was shattered for several feet." (Daily Telegraph, 30 September 1931). 

To accommodate the maiden voyage of the new Mariposa from San Francisco on 2 February 1932 on her South Seas-Oriental Cruise, Matson announced on 18 October  that the 8 January voyage of Ventura would be cancelled and the vessel laid up for one trip. The sailing of Sierra was rescheduled from 18 February to the 25th, that of Sonoma from 10 March to the 19th and Ventura from 31 March to 7 April instead. 

An aerial welcome for Auckland arriving parents aboard Sierra by their pilot daughter and son as the liner comes into port. Credit: New Zealand Herald, 7 November 1931. 

It was back to the occasional contrived "race" between the Matson liners and their Union rivals across the Tasman with the resumption of the Auckland call. On 5 November 1931 the Union liner Maunganui and Sierra left Auckland within 95 minutes of one another, but the Union ship easily beat her American rival, coming in through Sydney Heads 5 hours and 28 minutes earlier and maintaining 16.5 knots across. Neither captain acknowledged any race nor was either vessel in sight of each other during any part of it. 

Even after three decades, a "first"... the Oceanic Sisters were famous in Sydney for never requiring tugs to assist them in docking or undocking... until high winds had Sierra accept a tow line on 17 November 1931. Credit: Daily Telegraph, 18 November 1931. 

When the northbound Sierra sailed from Auckland on 21 November 1931 she had three stowaways aboard who were soon discovered.  A wireless message was sent to the southbound Sonoma which rendezvoused with her fleetmate in mid-ocean and the three were transferred by lifeboat and were landed back in Auckland on the 27th and taken into police custody. "Anyone who think he can get to America by stowing away in one of steamers is very much mistaken" Capt. McManus told reporters. 

Marking the last Christmas voyage for the trio, Ventura sailed from San Francisco on 26 November 1931 for the Antipodes with 100 passengers and George C. Ferenz as her new Chief Engineer. 

Credit: Sydney Morning Herald, 13 January 1932.

Sierra pulled out of her San Francisco on 17 December 1931  with another  new skipper on the bridge, Capt. Chas. L. Brocas.  Commodore Trask, already in Quincy, Massachusetts to supervise the completion of his new command, Mariposa, sent Capt. Brocas a telegram congratulating him and adding "The Sierra is a splendid ship and is good for many more years of service." This would Capt. Brocas' first voyage to the Antipodes after hundreds of trips to Hawaii, having joined Matson in 1918 as a quartermaster.   Sierra had 98 passengers for the port when she arrived at Honolulu on Christmas Day and 35 through passengers and docked at Sydney on 12 January 1932

Matson-Oceanic sailing list for 1932, the last to feature Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

The End: for Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura. The Beginning: for Mariposa and Monterey. Credit: Huntington Museum. 

1932

All Change. Seldom in the history of passenger shipping did a single route undergo a more complete and dramatic transformation than that of Matson's to the Antipodes in the first half of 1932. It was more than the wholescale replacement of the entire fleet, but represented no less than the passing of eras, the oldest and longest serving passenger ships in the U.S. Merchant Marine giving way to the most modern vessels trading under the Southern Cross.  It was tinged with the nostalgia and sense of loss that only ships like Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura with a combined 96 years can engender and the pride that their service and those of their officers and crews could imbue the new Mariposa and Monterey at the onset of their careers. Indeed, their advent heralded a revival of sorts of the proud Oceanic name and traditions with the new ships under by what was now styled Matson-Oceanic Line and under a new distinctive Oceanic houseflag.

On 7 January 1932, Matson set the last voyages of the Oceanic Trio: it was announced Sierra would sail from San Francisco on 25 February, Sonoma  on 17 March and Ventura on 7 April. 

Sonoma sailed from San Francisco on 7 January 1932 under Capt. A. Skellerup, in relief of Capt. McManus who had been reassigned to the Honolulu service. In what was called the worst storm she had weathered in her career, Sonoma was pummeled by heavy seas the second night out of Suva.  When she arrived at Auckland two hours late on the 29th, one of her officers told the Auckland Star that things "were in a bit of a mess" after two particularly heavy seas, a solid green wall of water reaching as high as the navigating bridge, hit Sonoma, smashing the forward rail on the Promenade Deck and breaking windows on the starboardside of the main deckhouse.  Her daily run was reduced to 241 nautical miles as she sailed straight into the southeast gale.  Passengers interviewed said the worst seas were shipped just after 8:00 p.m., flooding the Promenade Deck and passengers were forbidden to venture out on deck again that evening.  The window to the purser's cabin was shattered and flooded the cabin. When she came into Auckland, her funnel was still encrusted with salt and her crew were still busy effecting repairs, painting and cleaning the battered vessel.  "Although the Sonoma has had many experiences, the weather she encountered between Suva and Auckland on this trip is the worst in career, and she is over 30 years old." (Auckland Star, 29 January 1932).  On her northbound call at Suva on 17 February she is expected to meet the new Mariposa on her maiden cruise. 

On 20 January 1932, Ventura arrived San Francisco with 100 passengers and laid up as announced for one voyage. 

Sierra coming into Honolulu Harbor late in her career with a Dollar Line "535" alongside. 

On 27 February 1932 the Los Angeles Times reported that "plans to place the Matson-Oceanic trans-Pacific steamers Sierra and Sonoma in California coastwise service opposite the Laasco express liner Yale are being formulated by Matson-Laasco executives." The three ships would make five sailings weekly from San Francisco and Los Angeles and four from San Diego.  The Yale would continue to make her 18-hour runs, but Sierra and Sonoma would do it in 24 hours. Sierra would enter the service in late April followed by Sonoma in late May. "The three Sierras are regarded as well suited for the California coastwise run, since they are world-famous for steadiness and sea comfort and have finely appointed accommodations for 200 first-cabin passengers."

Credit: Long Beach Sun, 26 February 1932.

Sailing from Pier at noon today, the Matson liner Sierra will carry with it some sentiment. The is the last trip that the grand old 'liner' will make over the romantic South Seas lanes.

Like all good things afloat, the Sierra has, in the opinion of its operators, outlived its usefulness, or, in other words, the trade requires new, larger and better ships.

This is not disparaging to the Sierra, they say, for she has been trundling up and down under the Southern Cross for thirty years with a fine record in service and no mishaps of any consequence. 

Entry into service of the new Matson floating palaces the liners Mariposa, Monterey and Lurline, have written 'finis' to the Sierra, Ventura and Sonoma so far as the regular trade route is concerned.

San Francisco Examiner, 25 February 1932

The first of the sisters to bow out was, appropriately enough, the first to enter service. On her 34th Matson voyage, Sierra (Capt. C.L. Brocas) pulled away from Pier 30, San Francisco on 25 February 1932. She embarked 35 more passengers at Los Angeles the following day. Sierra arrived Honolulu on 4 March at 9:00 a.m. with 30 passengers and 50 bags of mail for the port. She had two stowaways, one was a cat that boarded just before she sailed and the local animal inspector advised the captain to keep her aboard for good luck.  The other was a 25-year old man who had stowed away in Calawaii, found and transferred back to Honolulu in the ship. 

When Sierra came into Auckland on 18 March 1932, she had 60 passengers aboard, 12 landing there, and a heavy consignment of 873 bags of English and American mail. Sailing at 5:00 p.m., she docked at Sydney on the 23rd. She sailed at 5:00 pm for Sydney where she docked on the  23rd.  Sierra was first of the sisters to arrive at the port following the completion of the epic Sydney Harbour Bridge and this was reckoned to have delayed her final sailing to America on the 29th due a last minute deluge of mail conveyed via the new link across the harbor. 

The Tasman gave the old ship a final thrashing and had Sierra five hours making her final Auckland arrival on 2 April 1932. "It was smacking us on the nose all the way across. When the Tasman Sea and old Boreas work together-- well, we just have to put up with it,."  Capt. C.L. Brocas told reporters upon docking. The adverse weather prevailed until vessel rounded North Cape. She 29 passengers and another 18 joined the 50 through travellers.  Sierra arrived at Honolulu for the last time on the 14th with  8 passengers, 21 bags of mail and 71 tons of cargo for the port.  She had 55 passengers aboard when she left on the final leg to San Francisco were she docked at San Francisco on the 20th at 11:05 a.m. at Pier 30. Of all Sierra's long serving officers and crew, none quite matched steward Charles Worthington who was aboard for the maiden voyage from San Francisco in 1900 and served in her throughout her active career with Oceanic. 

Credit: San Pedro News-Pilot, 22 April 1932.

It had been announced on 2 March 1932 that Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura would be laid up, together with Maona and Wilhelmina at Antioch pending disposal. On 30 April 1932 it was reported that Sierra had been officially decommissioned and moved to a lay-up at the Bethlehem Shipyard in Potrero. 

Still a liner and proud of it, the Sonoma started yesterday on the last many voyage to the South Seas. For more than thirty years she has sailed under the Southern Cross and like her companion ships, the Sierra and Ventura, has carried thousands of passengers safely between San Francisco and Australia. The departure yesterday of the Sonoma marks her final trip on this route. How she'll be route when she returns to San Francisco is another story. The Sonoma's sisters have a similar fate awaiting them. Still good ships after thirty years in transpacific service, one or all of them may yet round out careers in the coastwise service, it is reported.

San Francisco Examiner, 18 March 1932

Credit: Honolulu Advertiser.

Credit: San Pedro News-Pilot, 14 May 1932.

On her 34th voyage under the Matson houseflag, Sonoma (Capt. McManus) left San Francisco on 17 March 1932 on her final voyage to the Antipodes. Delayed four hours by loading an exceptionally heavy cargo (the largest yet from the port to the Antipodes), Sonoma sailed from Wilmington at 9:00 p.m. on the 18th. Arriving at Honolulu on the 25th she landed 35 First and 12 Second Class passengers and 763 tons of cargo there. Auckland was reached on 8 April. Homewards for the last time, Sonoma cleared Sydney Heads on the 19th, called at Auckland on the 23rd and on 5 May landed 10 passengers, 22 bags of mail and 23 tons of cargo at Honolulu before sailing at 3:00 p.m. for San Francisco.  She came through the Golden Gate on the 11th.

Credit: San Pedro News-Pilot, 7 April 1932.

Ventura's last voyage was made under a new houseflag for the newly styled Matson-Oceanic line (The Oceanic Steamship Co.) and a new commander, Capt. J.M. Beck. 

The last of the old Spreckels' Yankee mailboats, Ventura, closed out an era when she cast off from San Francisco's Pier 30 on 6 April 1932.  The old ship had a new skipper, Capt. J.M. Beck (who had been Fourth Officer in Sonoma nine years previously), and flew a new houseflag from her mainmast.  It had been decided that henceforth the Antipodes service would be restyled as Matson-Oceanic and the the new Mariposa and Monterey would sport plain buff and blue topped funnels without the "M" and fly a distinctive new houseflag being operated under an overseas mail route.  It was fittingly inaugurated on Ventura's last trip. When she left Wilmington on the 8th, she had 60 passengers aboard and reached Honolulu on the 15th. Her departure was put back to midnight to permit her hull to be cleaned at the Inter-Island Dry Dock. Rough weather south of Suva did not deter her and Ventura arrived on schedule at Auckland on the 29th. Ventura arrived at Sydney on 4 May 1932, docking at no. 2 wharf, East Circular Quay.  Among those disembarking was Mr. C.A. Loney of Sydney who had the unique distinction of having been aboard Ventura's maiden voyage back in 1901. 

At 2:00 p.m. on 10 May 1932, Ventura slipped her moorings at East Circular Quay and sailed from Sydney for the last time, ending an association of some 31 years. The Tasman showed no quarter on her final passage and she came into Auckland, hours late, on the 14th.

'One long roll,' was how one passenger summed up Ventura's final trans-Tasman crossing upon arrival at Auckland on 14 May 1932, four and a half hours late after a very rough voyage. She hit 'dirty' weather almost as soon as she cleared Sydney which deteriorated into a full gale during which "the ship rolled heavily in the high seas, shipping spray and occasional seas fore and aft. On Thursday night the spray was thrown as high as the funnel, and all on board had an uncomfortable time. The wind was still blowing a full gale early yesterday morning, but after daylight the conditions improved, and the trip down the coast was made in fine weather.

Auckland Star, 14 May 1932.

Ventura on her final southbound call at Auckland. Credit: Manawatu Standard, 5 May 1932.

Ventura docked at Honolulu for the last time on 26 May 1932, landing seven passengers there before sailing north with 45 First, 30 Second and 11 Third Class.  "After her arrival in San Francisco the Ventura will probably be put in coastwise service" remarked the Honolulu Advertiser. 

With her former Captain Andrew G. Townsend  on the bridge of the gleaming new Monterey at the adjacent slip giving her a "hail and farewell" salute on his whistle, Ventura came into Pier 30 on 1 June 1932 at 2:35 p.m. She will remain at the pier for the time being with Sierra laid up at Potrero and Sonoma at Alameda docks of the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. 

There was little need for expanded capacity on the Matson-LASSCo. coastal run even after the loss of Harvard and an initial replacement charter of Iroquois lasted but by six months. So contrary to initial rumors and expectations, Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura would not find further employment on this or any other route after three decades of hard service and belonging to another era, their duty was finally done.  They spent the remainder of 1932 and all of 1933 laid up within the confines of San Francisco Bay as the Great Depression reached its nadir and memories of the Oceanic Sisters faded amid the modern marvels of their replacements, Mariposa and Monterey.  

1934

Kamaaina Honolulans will feel a pang of regret at the news that the old Oceanic liners, Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura, have been sold to Japanese interests to break up for scrap. They have been laid up in San Francisco Bay for the last two years or longer, since the Mariposa and Monterey took their places on the California-Australia run.

Honolulu Star Bulletin, 19 July 1934

One of the ironies of the ensuing American war with Japan was the popular sentiment in the United States that it was fighting a modern war machine largely built out of American scrap metal. Even more ironic that as Pacific line, Matson so materially contributed to it during a Depression Era "clear out" of superannuated and superceded tonnage dispatched to Japanese scrapyards. This included LASSCo.'s Calawaii (1933), City of Honolulu (1933) and City of Angeles (1937) and the Oceanic Trio.  

On 18 May 1934 Matson sold Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura for $60,000 each to Yiyikimota of Osaka, Japan for breaking up.  This was first reported in the press on 26 June.  For Ventura, it cut short her only employment since retirement when she served as a floating "hostel" for strikebreaking workers during the great San Francisco maritime strike which began earlier that month. Matson formally announced the sale on 20 July, occasioning genuine regret and nostalgia at their passing, even among the press:

Three liners, which made shipping history at this port and which were the pride and joy of the late John D. Spreckels, who will long be remembered as an outstanding ship operator on the Pacific, will shortly leave here on their final voyages… These liners, the Sonoma, Ventura and Sierra were popular ships, both in this country and Australia, in which trade they plied for many years until they were retired by the modern liners, Mariposa, Monterey and Lurline, recently constructed by the Matson folks. For many years in this port they were called the 'Queens of the Pacific' while in Australia they were referred to as the 'Yankee Mail Boats.'  This writer is sorry to see them go, especially the Sonoma on which served for several years down below with the black gang.

San Francisco Examiner, 28 July 1934

All three would make their final trans-Pacific voyages under their own steam, renamed  Sierra Maru, Sonoma Maru and Ventura Maru under Japanese registry and with Japanese officers and a skeleton crew of 26 men each. 

If you're a person of tender sensibilities, heave a sigh for the Ventura, blue-ribbon holder of many a transpacific voyage, now bound on her last voyage to a Japanese scrap heap. She went out, by the way, as the Ventura Maru, all properly registered with the Customs and a Japanese flag fluttering.

San Francisco Examiner, 31 July 1934

After her crew came out in Asama Maru, Ventura was the first to go.  As Ventura Maru, she bid farewell to the Golden Gate on 30 July 1934. In no hurry and in no shape to make a smart passage, she finally reached Honolulu on 14 August. "Old timers on the waterfront rubbed their eyes unbelievingly yesterday as they saw a familiar ship up off port. She was the old Ventura which is being taken to Japan for scrapping. The vessel called here for bunkers from San Francisco before proceeding to Yokohama… it was the Ventura Maru when she went through here yesterday on her last voyage." (Honolulu Advertiser, 16 August 1934).  She berthed at Pier 26 and after taking on 500 tons started on her long and slow passage across to Osaka. 

Under Capt. Renji Asakura, who with his 26-man crew had come out in Taiyo Maru, Sierra Maru left San Francisco  the evening of  15 August 1934 on what would prove a long and fraught crossing to Honolulu for a crankly old ship in no rush to meet her fate:

The Sierra Maru, to jog your memory, is the erstwhile Sierra, once the proud property of the Matson company, sold a few months since to Japanese interests, and sailed by those interests from here to there.

It was a sailing fraught with a modicum of what might be termed tenseness, for the buyers had cocked a polite but dubious eyebrow at the suggestions offered here that the Sierra's condition, which was hoary, to say the least.

But at any rate she sailed.

Twelve days later she had not raised Hawaii, and her captain became suspicious. He cabled back. 

'By what cause boiler water pours cylinder and strike?' he wanted to know.

Then, distinctively plantive, he continued:

Did utmost efforts. Revolution not over 50; consumption over 40 tons; speed 5 mile.'

In his last sentence he shows every sign of throwing up his hands.

'Everything abnormal. Therefore returning San Francisco.'

All of which translates into the fact that his boilers, old and dirty, were priming and, along with their steam, were flooding the cylinders with water. Water in the cylinders, non-compressable, sets up a terrific hammering, alias his 'strike.' His engines are burning 40 tons of oil a day, and he's only going '5 mile' an hour.

Everything was indeed abnormal, and small wonder he wished to return.

His cable the next day proved his worst suspicions confirmed, and had, besides, an air of terse resignation about it.

'Very difficulty" -- nothing more and nothing less.

But he received attention promptly, and the cabled instructions that clicked out to him relieved both his mind and his engines, and by now he has brought the Sierra Maru to her fate, 'everything abnormal' and 'very difficulty' not withstanding.

San Francisco Examiner, 13 September 1934.

Sierra Maru eventually made it to Honolulu, docking at Pier 27 where she took on bunkers for the trans-Pacific crossing. 

Credit: Daily Commercial News, 31 October 1934.

The gallant old Sonoma was the last to be pulled out of purgatory at Antioch on 19 September 1934 and handed over to her new Japanese captain and crew on the 23rd.  As Sonoma Maru, she left San Francisco on the 27th.  She reached Osaka on 26 October and came into a harbor and port city recently devastated by the Muroto Typhoon that swept over Japan 21-25 September, and killed 1,600 in and around Osaka alone, causing $2 mn. in damage and destroying 1,600 boats. Among them were her erstwhile sister ships, Sierra and Ventura, which had arrived just in time to both be driven ashore by 120 mph winds from their anchorages and wrecked.  Both were broken up where they lay, a fate that awaited Sonoma more conventionally at the breaker's berth in due course. 

Thus passed the most stalwart trio of American liners ever built, whose three plus decades entirely under the Stars & Stripes were at a time when the national ensign had largely receded from the Ocean Highway. Flawed, often fated, familiar favorites and faithful servants, U.S.M.S. Sierra, Sonoma and Ventura cleaved some six and a half million of ocean miles between them from Golden Gate to Diamond Head, Waitemata and Sydney Heads and earned a unique place in American merchant marine history. 

"The Oceanic steamship Ventura glides noiselessly into the land of coconut palms via the picturesque Pago Pago Bay." (San Francisco Chronicle, 14 October 1923).

U.S.M.S.  SIERRA

U.S.M.S.  SONOMA

U.S.M.S.  VENTURA

Built by William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company, Kensington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Yard nos. 304 (Sierra), 305 (Sonoma) & 306 (Ventura). 

Gross tonnage       5,989 (Sierra)

                                 6,253 (Sonoma)

                                  6,253 (Ventura)

                                 6,135 (Sierra post 1915)

                                  6,279 (Sonoma post 1912) 

                                  6,282 (Ventura post 1912)         

Length: (o.a.)        416 ft.

              (b.p.)         400 ft. 

Beam:                     50 ft. 

Machinery: triple-expansion reciprocating, eight single-end coal burning boilers 175 psi. 7,500 i.h.p..

Speed:                    15.5 knots service

                                17 knots trials

Passengers             238 First Class 48 Second Class 84 Steerage (as built)

                               151 officers 1,437 enlisted (U.S.S. Sierra 1918-1919)

                                112 First Class 66 Second Class (Sierra, post 1924)

                           110 First Class 60 Second Class 44 Steerage (Sonoma and Ventura post 1924)

Officers & Crew     150                  

                               284 crew (U.S.S. Sierra 1917-1919)                                                   

                       

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Across the Pacific, Liners from Australia and New Zealand to North America, Peter Plowman, 2010

Cargoes: Matson's First Century in the Pacific, William L. Worden, 1982

Matson's Century of Ships, Fred A. Stindt, 1982

North Star to Southern Cross,  John. Maber, 1967

Ships that Passed, Scott Baty, 1985

Auckland Weekly News

Marine News

Marine Review

New Zealand Graphic

Sea Breezes

The Official Railway Guide

Auckland Star

Australian Star

Daily Telegraph (Sydney)

Evening Bulletin (Honolulu)

Hawaiian Gazette

Hawaiian Star

Honolulu Advertiser

Honolulu Pacific Commercial 

Advertiser

Honolulu Republican

Honolulu Star-Bulletin

Los Angeles Evening Express

Melbourne Herald

New Zealand Herald

Oakland Tribune

Philadelphia Inquirer

Philadelphia Record

Reading Eagle

San Francisco Call

San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco Examiner

Sydney Mail

Sydney Morning Herald

The Independent (Honolulu)

The Telegraph (Brisbane)

The Times (Philadelphia)

The Age (Sydney)

Vancouver Daily World

Victoria Daily Times

https://digitalnz.org/explore

https://www.hathitrust.org/

https://www.newspapers.com/

https://open.library.ubc.ca/

https://news.google.com/newspapers

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers

https://risdonironworks.wordpress.com/

Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington

Auckland Libraries Heritage Collection

Australian National Maritime Museum

California Historical Society

City of Sydney Archives, Graeme Andrews Working Harbour Photograph Collection

Huntington Museum

Mariners Museum

National Library of Australia

Oakland Museum of California

State Library of New South Wales

State Library of Queensland

State Library of Western Australia

U.S. Library of Congress

U.S. National Park Service

U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command

A special note of appreciation for the Huntington Museum's outstanding John Haskell Kemble Collection of Matson and Oceanic material. 

Yankee Mail Boat: Ventura alongside in San Francisco. Credit: eBay auction photo.

Additions/Corrections/Contributions welcomed

contact the author at posted_at_sea@hotmail.com

© Peter C. Kohler