FAVORED, FATED & FLAWED: s.s. MOMUS, ANTILLES & CREOLE

 

Today, with such high-powered craft as the Momus, storm and stress of weather have practically no effect on their progress, and sea voyaging becomes a delight. These great new ships of the Southern Pacific are wonders in their way, and travelers in general should get better acquainted with them.  Indeed traveling on ships like these rob the sea of all its terrors; they remain on an even keel through the most boisterous ocean weather.  Not only are these new steamers large and of deep draught-- features so essential to modern sea voyaging-- but they have power, plenty of it and in reserve, which enables them to adhere closely to their schedules, no matter what the circumstance. 

The Nautical Gazette, 23 December 1909.

Dubbed "100 Golden Hours At Sea," for 75 years one of the longest and most popular of the myriad steamship services that once linked American coastal cities on both coasts, that between New York and New Orleans-- from North River to Mississippi River-- was for a quarter of a century served by the biggest trio of American coastal liners ever built: Momus, Antilles and Creole.   Introduced in 1907-08 at the end of the great Harriman Era of the Southern Pacific, they represented the pinnacle of a unique rail-sea link to the American Southwest and West and state of the art of Yankee shipbuilding and marine engineering of the period.  

Momus, the favored, put in a quarter of a century of service; Antilles, the fated, was the first American transport sunk in the First World War; and Creole, the flawed, was the first American twin-screw turbine-powered liner and, as such, a failure that, once re-engined, redeemed herself with more than two decades ensuing service. Collectively, the three sailed through more hurricanes and tropical storms than any vessels of their age and served their owners faithfully some 60 years, "100 Golden Hours At Sea" at a time. 

Join us on a trip "Out West" by coastal steamer and trans-continental railroad, aboard

s.s. MOMUS, ANTILLES & CREOLE

Momus, after conversion to oil-burning in 1921 and a new funnel, making speed. Credit: eBay auction photo.

S.S. Momus by Fred Pansing.  Credit: Sunset magazine, 1910.

In the matter of sea connections, New Orleans is peculiarly well served. In this connection, the Southern Pacific Company played a prominent part by popularizing the sea trip between New York and New Orleans as part of a trans-continental journey. This sea service developed into an extensive freight and passenger business, the boats operating under the name of the Morgan Line.

Great care has been exercised in the design of the vessels placed upon this run, as the passenger traffic had to be stimulated through the provision of every comfort and luxury. The boats were fitted to meet the conditions prevailing in the semi-tropic waters through which they were to run ad a building program that called for bigger and better boats with each addition to the fleet was strictly adhered to.

Pacific Marine Review, April 1917.

Harriman immediately made good a pledge to spend money in the amount necessary to realize Southern Pacific's potential.

The Southern Pacific, 1901-1985.

As recounted in more detail in the monograph on Dixie on this site, Charles Morgan (1795-1878) is credited with creating the rail and sea infrastructure of the American Southwest and in doing so, established the first sustained coastal steamship service in the country and, under the Morgan Line, regular passenger and freight operations linking New York and New Orleans beginning in 1876.

When Southern Pacific Railroad bought out Morgan Line in 1885, it soon realized the greatest potential of what Charles Morgan had already pioneered: the intermodal rail-sea transportation system that networked the South and linked it with New York by sea.  Now connected directly with Southern Pacific's newly opened trans-continental railroad (which first ran from San Francisco to New Orleans in February 1883), Morgan line helped span an entire nation. 

Southern Pacific was favored by two leaders at its onset possessing such dynamic, driven qualities as to stamp their enduring mark on it:  Charles P. Huntington  (1821-1900) and E.H. Harriman.

Under Harriman, S.P. Atlantic Coast Lines operation (which still traded as "The Morgan Line") was  first strengthened by expansion through acquisition, in particular that of Cromwell Line in 1902 which ran a first class passenger service from New York to New Orleans with the 4,900-ton Comus and Proteus which were the first modern liners on the route, and the famous flyer Louisiana (2,900-grt) which held the speed record on the route for years.  Huntington commissioned a new fleet of El-class freighters in 1901-02, both for the New Orleans run and the new service from Galveston to New York, directly competing with the long established Mallory Line.  In 1903, a new route was established from New Orleans to Havana, Cuba.  That year, too, Southern Pacific moved its New Orleans terminal operation across the Mississippi River from Algiers to New Orleans proper for which new wharves were built by 1905. 

Momus, Antilles and Creole owed their inspiration and creation to three of the many great Americans of finance, industry, shipbuilding and engineering of the early 20th century: President Edward Henry Harriman (1848-1909) who was president of the company (in addition to the Union Pacific Railroad) from 1901 to his untimely death at age 61 in 1909 and one of the great giants of American industry and finance; Admiral Francis Bowles (1858-1927) naval constructor and head of the Fore River Shipyard naval architect and C.W. Jungen (1859-1934), manager of Southern Pacific Steamship Co., from 1905 to 1928. 

Edward H. Harriman (1848-1909). Credit: wikipedia

Harriman had already demonstrated his expansionist qualities with Union Pacific and indeed his coming to also head Southern Pacific was with the real intention, not achieved until 1996, of facilitating the merger the two great roads.  In the dawn of a new American era of technical and engineering achievement and innovation, he was quick to embrace them and champion new means and methods on a wide enough scale to prove or fail them. So it was that there were Harriman locomotives, Harriman coaches and his very name came to symbolize innovation and rationalization along modern and efficient lines throughout the whole enterprise, ashore and afloat.  Harriman's management of Southern Pacific realized the full potential of its unique intermodal rail-sea freight and passenger transportation system pioneered by Henry Morgan and furthered by C.P. Huntington who acquired the Morgan empire in 1885. 

Credit: Sunset magazine, August 1903.

With the acquisition of the Cromwell Line in 1902, the passenger traffic on the New York-New Orleans route flourished, spurred by an intense advertising campaign for "The Sunset Route" out West by S.P. steamer to New Orleans and the premier Sunset Limited trans-continental train.  Proteus and Comus, fine and capable ships of 4,828 grt, 392 ft. by 48 ft., had a passenger accommodation of just 50 First Class and 190 steerage, and demand for the service caused sailings to be sold out months in advance. Then, too, demand for the new route to Havana, Cuba, further taxed the existing tonnage.  By the end of 1903, Harriman turned his expansionist zeal to what was becoming an increasingly important part of his Southern Pacific empire.  It was time for Harriman Sister Ships, initially envisaged as a pair then a trio, that would elevate S.P's Atlantic Steamship service to the pantheon of American coastal route and in doing so, put the Harriman stamp on the operation. 

F.T. Bowles (1858-1927).

Credit: American Society of Naval Engineers, via wikipedia.

Figuring large in Harriman's decision to build all three ships but especially in regards to the propulsion system of one in particular, Rear Admiral Francis Tiffany Bowles (1858-1927) was rightly called the Father of the Modern American Steel Navy as Chief Constructor of the U.S. Navy from 1901-1903 during which time he became intimate with American shipyards and practices of the era, in particular that of the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy which was at the forefront of naval design and construction including the first submarines and many contracts for foreign navies, not the least of which was the Imperial Japanese Navy.

Charles Gordon Curtis (1860-1953). Credit: wikipedia

In an age of constant invention and innovation abetted by the fearless application of capital to develop and prove new modes and techniques in practical use, it was perhaps inevitable that the paths of Harriman and Boyles should cross and have at their nexus, the steam turbine developed by Charles Gordon Curtis (1860-1953) in 1896.  This combined the qualities of the Laval and Parsons turbines into a multi-stage impulse turbine that was smaller and more straight forward in design than the proven Parsons turbine and did not require a separate reserve turbine in maritime applications.  Curtis had little fortune in marketing his invention until he sold the patents to Edwin W. Rice of the General Electric Co. 1901 and it quickly became widely used in electric power generating plants.  Its maritime use, however, lagged until F.T. Boyles gained the construction rights of the marine version and immediately began to lobby the U.S. Navy to install it in two Chester-class cruisers Fore River was building as well as battleships.  

The development work of the year on the Curtis marine turbine has been on the whole very encouraging to the directors, and it is their belief that the exclusive option held by the company on marine rights of this turbine for this country will prove of great value in the future. The principal turbine contracts so far obtained by the company are for the construction of the U.S. scout cruiser of 3,750 tons. the Southern Pacific S. S. Creole of 10,000 tons, and for the construction of turbine equipment for two large vessels. The Creole will be completed in the near future, and if the trial of this vessel fulfills the expectations of the management there will undoubtedly be a demand for further vessels fitted with Curtis turbines , which should be of great benefit to the company.

Annual Report of Fore River Shipbuilding Co., The Marine Review, 28 February 1907.

Navy boards took longer to convince and Boyles found an more immediate and eager customer for the Curtis turbine in E.H. Harriman, never one to dismiss new technology but canny enough to ensure specific contractual obligations so as to be saddled with failure. So it was that Southern Pacific's plans for a pair of new ships, already well in hand in 1905, was extended to include a third, to be built at Fore River and be propelled by the Curtis turbine. As such, it would be the first American twin-screw turbine-powered merchant ship.  At a stroke, Harriman's new ships assumed the public relations primacy as America's wonder ships, representative of the marvelous new century and expression of native engineering and naval architecture genius.  

J.W. Jungen (1859-1934). Credit: The Nautical Gazette, 1920.

As a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy, C.W. Jungen was a survivor of the explosion which destroyed U.S.S. Maine in Havana harbor in 1898 and went on to serve with distinction in the ensuing Spanish-American War, cutting the submarine cables at Santiago as commander of the tug Wompatuck.  Although remaining in the U.S. Navy Reserves until 1912, Jungen left the active service in 1904, at the rank of Commander, and was appointed manager of Southern Pacific Atlantic Coast Steamship Lines late that year. 

The accidental sinking of the Morgan Line's famous Louisiana (1879), long the holder of the record on the New York-New Orleans run, at her berth in New Orleans in April 1905, and her subsequent total loss, spurred plans already well in hand for a new fleet of much larger, both in passenger accommodation and cargo capacity, ships for the route as well as to potentially serve on the new route from New Orleans to Havana. On a visit to New Orleans on 24 May, Jungen was quoted by the Houston Post as "practically ready for letting contracts for two new steamers, which will be done in a few days."  

On 12 July 1905, President E.H. Harriman of Southern Pacific signed a contract for one 6,000-ton turbine-powered liner with the Fore River Shipbuilding Co. of Quincy, Massachusetts. As reported by the Quincy Daily Ledger, "This craft will operate on the Morgan Line between New York and New Orleans, and will be, when completed, by far the largest turbine propeller ship built in America. President Bowles has been an earnest advocate of the turbine propulsion and last year made proposal to build for the government the most powerful class of warships with turbine machinery. His contract with Mr. Harriman marks the first important venture into the field of turbine navigation for commercial purposes in the United States. The new ship will be equipped with turbines of the Curtis type, and will have a speed of 16 knots an hour."

The Philadelphia Inquirer of 9 August 1905 reported that "The Cramps have secured contracts for four steamships of 10,000 tons each, two for the Southern Pacific Company and two for the New York and Cuban Mail Steamship Company…" It added that "the steamers for the Southern Pacific Company will be sister ships, 410 feet in length, 53 feet beam, 25 feet draft and have a speed of 16 knots. Counting the promenade deck, there will be six decks. Power will be supplied by single screw, triple-expansion engines of the reciprocating type, steam being supplied by tubular Scotch boilers. Electric heaters will be placed in the state rooms and they will be the first vessels so equipped for the coast service."  The keel of Creole was laid down in August.

Southern Pacific announced a naming contest for the three new ships on 26 August 1905, with a top prize awarded of $100 for all three ships,or $25 for one winning name selected. "I do not think we want foreign names such as grace our freight vessel. The El Sid, the El Pazo and all the other Els are well enough for freighters, but we want our new passenger ships to have American names," said the Southern Pacific representative in making the announcement, The contest would close on 30 September.  It was announced at the same time that two of the new ships would go on the New York run and the third on the Havana route, effectively doubling sailings on both services. After receiving 1,353 letters of suggestions (6,000 in all), Southern Pacific announced on 23 October 1905 that the new ships would be named Momus, Creole and Antilles. 

Credit: Country Life in America, December 1906.

1906

Credit: The Times Democrat, 11 September 1906.

The launching was one of the most successful that has ever taken place at this plant, and was witnessed by a large number of prominent persons.

The Brooklyn Citizen, 1 August 1906.

Momus, with a launch weight of 3,500 tons,  was launched at 10:08 a.m. on 31 July 1906, christened by Mrs. C.W. Jungen, wife of the manager of Southern Pacific Steamships.  The christening party consisted of C. W. Jungen and wife, E. T. Stotesbury and George McFadden, directors of Cramps; L. H. Nutting, general passenger agent of the Southern Pacific Company;W. F. Fairburn, superintending engineer, and wife; W. C. Parker, auditor of the steamship lines of the Southern Pacific Company, and wife; and Captain Frank Kemble. At the post launching luncheon that followed, "Mrs. Jungen was given a pleasant surprise by being given a handsome diamond studded bracelet, suitably inscribed, by the shipbuilding firm as a reminder of the occasion. (Philadelphia Inquirer).

Sliding from the ways shortly after 10 o'clock yesterday morning, the steamship Momus, which is to be used by the Southern Pacific Company, was launched at the yards of the Cramp Shipbuilding Company upon the Delaware River. 

With straight aim, Mrs. Katherine Woods Jungen, wife of the general manager of the owner of the boat, smashed the bottle of christening wine upon the prow of the vessel, just as it was gliding into the river. 

The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1 August 1906.

Credit: The Philadelphia Inquirer, 1 August 1906.

The launching of the Momus was a most successful one. Hardly a ripple was caused on the water as the immense vessel glided from the ways. Mrs. Jungen, wife of C. W. Jungen, general manager of the Southern Pacific Company, smashing the gold-netted bottle of champagne on the prow, christened the vessel Momus, in honor of the king who holds sway in the city of New Orleans during the annual festivities of the Mardi Gras.

When the Momus was free from the ways, tugs drew it to the wharf, where the engines will be installed, and the interior fittings completed. It will be ready for service about the first of November.

Sunset Magazine

Credit: The Times-Democrat, 11 September 1906.

An action of considerable importance to the New Orleans-Havana steamship trade was taken at the recent meeting of the Southeastern Passenger Agents' Bureau, which was held in Chicago. This was the decision upon the rates between this port and Havana for the season beginning Oct. 1, and the admission of a new steamship to the service of the Morgan's Louisiana and Texas Railways of the Southern Pacific System.

News of this action was brought to this city yesterday by Frank E. Batturs, general passenger agent of the Southern Pacific, who attended the meeting as a guest of the bureau. Mr. Batturs says that the steamship to be placed in the service will be the elegant new ship Momus, which is being finished at the Cramp ship yards in Philadelphia, having been launched in the Delaware river with appropriate ceremonies July 31st."

Mr. Batturs says that the railroads in the Southeastern Passenger Bureau will do all in their power to stimulate the Cuban winter travel, so that it is expected that the installation of the handsome steamer to the Havana service will be just about adequate to fulfill the demands of the tourist public.

The Momus will undoubtedly be the finest boat ever placed in the Havana service.

The Times-Democrat, 11 September 1906

The performance of the Creole will be watched with more than ordinary interest by engineers, as it will be demonstration of Admiral Bowles' pet scheme of propulsion. So enthusiastic was Admiral Bowles about this type of engine that he submitted plans to build a first-class battleship with Curtis turbine engines when last contracts were advertised by the navy department. The latter, however, discouraged the idea, as the members of the naval board considered the turbine too early in the experimental stage to entrust the success of a battleship to this new type of engine.

The Boston Globe, 14 September 1906.

Creole on the ways. Credit: Schiffbau.

Creole ready for launching. Credit: Schiffbau.

What was to be the second sister and second to enter service, Creole's construction attracted the most attention, both public and professional, owing to her groundbreaking turbine propulsion. Indeed, few American ships of the time garnered more publicity at the time for both her builders or owners.  Just before her launching, her Curtis turbines were first tested at Quincy on 13 September 1906,  the Boston Globe reporting "The first test was a most satisfactory one, the engines making from 60 to 70 revolutions a minutes, which is considered an exceptionally good performance for the first time in use.

Christened by Miss Mary Harriman, daughter of Edward H. Harriman, president of the Southern Pacific Railroad, Creole was sent down the ways at Quincy at 11:26 a.m. on 18 September 1906, "in the presence of a distinguished company of New York and Boston shipping men and a number of naval officers, including Rear Admiral Joseph B. Coghlan, USN, who came from New York." Among those present for the launching were President Harriman, Admiral Bowles, Carl W. Jungen, W.A. Fairburn, Capt. T.P.C. Halsey (who was to command the vessel) and Lts. Saito and Yoshida and Eng. Hashimoto of the Imperial Japanese Navy. 

Credit: Sunset.

A launching stand which had been built around the bow of the ship was gay with bunting and flags and the ship herself carried all the flags she will have when in service. The christening fluid was champagne and the bottle was gaily decorated with tricolored ribbon. One end of the ribbon was fastened to the bow of the ship and the moment Miss Harriman broke the bottle a nimble boy pulled up the ribbon, at the end of which was the meshwork containing the broken bottle. The pieces of the bottle and the ribbon were later presented to Miss Harriman in a handsome box made for the occasion. The Creole was the biggest vessel, except the battleships, to be launched at the Fore River yards, and as the big hull left the ways she was greeted with tugboat whistles and cheers from thousands of workmen and spectators.

Once in the water, a number of tugs gathered around the Creole and brought her around to the fitting-out dock, while the guests adjourned to the mold loft, where luncheon was served.

The Boston Globe, 19 September 1906.

Credit: Sunset.

The twin-screw turbine steamer Creole which in design and construction is probably one of the completest and best vessels ever built for passenger and freight service, was successfully launched at the yards of the Fore River Shipbuilding Company at Quincy Point this morning. In the presence of a large crowd of spectators. The yards were closed to all but ticket-holders, but a fine view was possible from the surrounding shores, which were black with people. They cheered lustily as she slid gracefully Into the water.

The special guests, which included President E.H. Harriman of the Southern Pacific Company, for whom the steamer was built, and a number of the officials of the company, came from Boston on a special train, which was taken over the Fore River Company's private road to the works, from Braintree, and landed at the foot of the launching stand.

Hardly had they arrived when preparations were begun and at 11.23 a.m. she began to move down the ways. As she started. Miss Mary Harriman of New York, a daughter of President Harriman, smashed a bottle of champagne over her bow, and in a clear voice said, I christen thee Creole. As the vessel struck the water, many whistles shrieked out a welcome. Immediately after the launch a luncheon was served in the mould loft by the Fore River Company after which the special train conveyed the party back to Boston.

Boston Evening Transcript, 19 September 1906.

Credit: eBay auction photos. 

Credit: Sunset 

Hardly had the party arrived on the platform when preparations were commenced to launch the steamer. This was made manifest by the pounding, as the wedges that lifted the vessel from her keel were driven home.

Then came a shrill whistle and the pounding stopped. To those on the launching stand it seem as though work had stopped. But it had not, for beneath the vessel were scores of men knocking out the shores and keel blocks.

In the meantime Miss Harriman had been presented with a massive bouquet by President Bowles and taken firm hold of the bottom of Mumm's Extra Dry that hung suspect by a rope of red, white and blue ribbon.

Then came another shrill whistle. This was for the men to saw away the soul pieces, the only thing that held the vessel was sliding down the ways. This was the work of but a minute and the big steamship that will run between New York and New Orleans was sliding down the ways.

As she began to move, Miss Harriman hit the steel bow a sharp blow with the bottle and as the sparkling wine ran down the bow said, 'I christen thee, Creole."

It was just 11.26 when the Creole began to move, and a few second later she was riding gracefully in her native element. Tugs made fast to her and she was taken to the fitting out dock.

As the vessel began to move the party on the launching stand clapped their hands, the whistles in the yards and sailing craft in the harbor screeched out their welcome, and the hundreds of workmen in the yards threw up their hats and cheered.

The Quincy Daily Ledger, 19 September 1906.

Creole (left) and the battleship Vermont fitting out at Fore River September 1906. Credit: The New York, Brockton and Boston Canal, 1908.

The Times-Picayune of 25 September 1906 reported that  Southern Pacific "will shortly add three new ships to its already fine fleet. Two of these ships will ply in the passenger and freight trade between here and New York, and the third ship will run between this point and Havana. All of these ships will represent great improvement over the fine ships now in service.  They will not only be larger in every respect as well as more up-to-date and luxuriously appointed, but will be able to accommodate a very much larger number of passenger, both in the cabin and the steerage. The passenger business with New York has increased so much in recent years that the ships already in service, although large, cannot provide for the traffic. With the addition of two such ships as the Creole and the Momus, now building and already launched, it will not only be possible to carry more passengers, but to accord more frequent sailings." It was added that Momus would enter service around 1 December.

It was reported on 1 October 1906 that Southern Pacific, in cooperation with the Atlantic De Forest Wireless Co.,  would install wireless on Momus, Antilles and Creole. 

Momus fitting out at Cramp's. Credit: American Marine Engineer, January 1907.

Curiously, given the recent announcement of a substantial upgrading of the New Orleans-Havana run, it was reported on 5 October 1906 that effective immediately, Chalmette would be taken off the route and put on the New York service, canceling her sailing the next day. This was owing  to "the tremendous falling off in passenger and freight business out of this port because of the troubles in Cuba, which has amounted to nearly one-third of the former business of late." (Times-Democrat, 5 October 1906). It was speculated that the service would not be resumed until Momus went on the route as still planned. 

In mid October 1906, Southern Pacific announced that in time for the new ships, the Sunset Limited would be through run from San Francisco to New Orleans starting 16 December with a two day 19-hour run from Los Angeles and two trains a day, one departing San Francisco at 8:00 p.m. and another at 5:00 p.m. 

Southern Pacific made it official on 29 October 1906 with the announcement that Momus would, after a roundtrip to New Orleans commencing on or about 28 November, would be placed on the Havana run with the hope she might be able to sail on 22 December to take a large party of school teachers to the Cuban capital over the Christmas holiday. She would replace the chartered Prince Arthur which was returned to her owners early that summer. 

On 2 November 1906 it was announced Momus would be handed over to Southern Pacific at New York, and as per the terms of her building contract, undertake a roundtrip to New Orleans as a trial trip. Two days later, the Houston Chronicle reported that with the addition of Momus, Southern Pacific would start an expanded twice a week service between New York and New Orleans with Comus and Proteus in some combination with one of the new steamers. 

Coming up from Philadelphia, Momus docked at New York on 24 November 1906, and would remain there for two weeks, "until her equipment of furniture and draperies has been completed," and would sail on her maiden voyage to New Orleans on 12 December.  She was opened for public inspection on the 11th. 

Momus was delivered to Southern Pacific at New York on 28 November 1906, and according to the Shreveport Journal, "for its trial trip to New Orleans and return. This trip will determine her seaworthiness and whether she will be placed in the service of the company. It is said there is no doubt she will be accepted and that she will be meet all requirements."

"Spick and span, just from the hands of her makers, and fitted with every modern appliance known to make ocean travel pleasant, the steamship Momus, one of the new trio of steamships being built by the Southern Pacific Steamship Company for coastwise travel, will sail out of New Orleans on her maiden voyage to Havana. Thereafter, she and the Excelsior will maintain the Cuban service, the Momus taking the place of the Prince Arthur, which was returned to its owners early this summer." (Houston Chronicle  Herald, 26 November 1906). 

Credit: The Philadelphia Inquirer, 4 December 1906.

Dragging a considerable portion of the ways with her, the big ten thousand ton coastwise steamer Antilles, of the Southern Pacific Company Line, was launched yesterday at Cramp's shipyard at 3.30 o'clock yesterday afternoon.

Philadelphia Inquirer, 4 December 1906.

Christened by Mrs. W.A. Fairburn, wife of Southern Pacific's superintending engineer, Antilles was a mite frisky at launching and took much of the ways with her and "gracefully striking the water while river craft and shipyard whistles deafened the air… floated far upstream, and three little tugs shot out after her to tow her back to the dock side." (Philadelphia Inquirer). As it was, the hull started to move as soon as the blocks were loosened: While Mrs. Fairburn was being instructed as to how to break the champagne bottle at the right moment on the boat's prow rebounding hammer blows at the keel blocks told that the Antilles was being loosened, and in a moment would slide down the ways. Hundreds of mechanics and machinists stood on the dock below expectantly waiting and watching for the ship to start. Suddenly the bow seemed to tremble, Mrs. Fairburn raised the wine aloft and crashed the bottle against the moving ship, saying the words: "I christen thee Antilles.." Present for the launch were C.W. Jungens, S.P. general manager, and his wife.

Credit: By Rail or Water, 1906.

With Antilles launched, all attention reverted back her sister and now finally outfitted with all her interior finery and gleaming in a final coat of fresh paint, Momus was a welcome sight in a sleet storm for those braving the elements to enjoy an afternoon aboard the day before she sailed on her maiden voyage. "Although the day turned out to be a beastly one, " (Times-Democrat), there was a good turn-out  (150) of those invited to luncheon and an inspection of Momus between 12:00 p.m.-2:00 p.m. 11 December 1906 alongside Pier 25, North River, hosted by Capt. J.W. Jungen, manager; L.H. Nuttling, general passenger agent; and L.J. Spence, general freight agent.

When Momus cleared Pier 25 on 12 December 1906, two hours off her scheduled time, she had 136 passengers aboard (83 First, 22 Second and 31 steerage). Among those aboard for Momus' maiden voyage south were F.E. Batturs, general passenger agent for the Louisiana lines of Southern Pacific and C.W. Jungen, manager of the Atlantic steamship of the Southern Pacific. Also aboard was Capt. T.C.P. Halsey, formerly commanding Proteus and nominated to command Creole on completion. 

The initial trip of  the ship from New York to New Orleans was made a notable trip by the management of the company Manager C.W. Jungen of the Southern Pacific Atlantic Steamship lines came down with the ship to watch her during her first voyage” said Mr. Ratcliffe yesterday. “He was accompanied by Captain H.C. Poundstone of the United States Navy who came at Captain Jungen’s invitation to observe the ship during her first voyage and report to him his opinion regarding the vessel. J.W. Powell representing the William Cramp Son's Ship and Engine Building company builders of the ship was also a passenger on the Momus being accompanied by Mrs. Powell and their little son. General Passenger Agent F.E. Batturs, of New Orleans, accompanied by Mrs. Batturs went to New York especially to make the trip down with the Momus.

Detroit Free Press, 23 December 1906.

A wireless sent by F.E. Batturs sent on 14 December 1906 stated: "Momus all that is desired. She is undoubtedly the finest passenger ship that ever entered the port of New Orleans."

Captain Frank Kemble headed a officer and senior staff that included J.F. Scott, Chief Purser; P. Whamond, Chief Steward, Mrs. E. Connor, Chief Stewardess and Mrs. L. Wilkinson, Assistant Stewardess. 

A royal welcome was extended to the new steamship Momus, of the Southern Pacific service, shortly before midnight last night on its arrival in the New Orleans harbor from New York, after finishing its maiden trip in the coastwise service. This consisted in the blowing of the whistle of every craft in the harbor from the great battleship down to the smallest tug, and the simultaneous sounding of the whistles and sirens along the river front. The magnificent new steamship had been delayed in the Gulf since early morning, on account of a heavy  fog just outside of the Passes of the Mississippi and could not arrive here in the morning as had been the intention of the company. Late yesterday afternoon a tug was sent down the river to meet it, and with this aid the vessel got to the New Orleans harbor in safety.

Passengers remained aboard the vessel until this morning, with a few exceptions, but those who were seen expressed themselves as delighted with the ship and its accommodation for passengers. The trip was almost uneventful, the vessel making fine time. In many places it exceeded its guaranteed speed of eighteen knots an hour and demonstrated its ability to withstand every test required by the owners, this being the trial trip as well as the maiden trip of the vessel.

The Times-Democrat, 18 December 1906.

An otherwise fast and pleasant first trip south was retarded by heavy fog encountered at the mouth of the Mississippi on the 16th, "the fog banks being so heavy that it was not deemed prudent to venture into the narrow channel." She came into the river at 7:00 a.m. on the following day and expected to dock at 6:00 p.m.  The fog persisted, however, and although she worked up to 17.5 knots on the passage up the river once clear, Momus did not get alongside her wharf at the foot of St. Louis St.  until 12:15 midnight and those who wished,  remained aboard until the following morning. 

Capt. Kemble said the trip down "had been a great success and that not passenger was made seasick, so smooth was the sea. The weather was fine and ship had no delays until it reached the passes, where it was held nine hours on account of the fog." (Times-Democrat).  Capt. Poundstone told reporters: "The ship was run easily to give her chance to limber up her engines and machinery. The Momus showed her speed coming up the river and proved that she was a very fine ship. On the return trip to New York we will probably run a little faster than schedule time.  The Momus is an unusually fine seaboat. There was practically no one seasick during the trip, despite the fact we had several stiff blows." On the trip down, she carried 2,500 tons, half her capacity but would take a full load of cargo to New York.  

The magnificent new Southern Pacific steamship Momus, which will hereafter engage in the New Orleans-Havana trade, reached the Southern Pacific wharf at the foot of St. Louis Street last night at 12:15 o'clock, having finished her initial trip from New York to New Orleans. The ship, which is said by marine authorities to be the finest passenger ship that ever entered the port of New Orleans, will load about 4,000 tons of cargo for New York, and then return to New Orleans before entering the New Orleans-Havana trade.

The Daily Picayune, 18 December 1906.

A formal lunch and inspection for 75 invited ticket agents of the Southern Pacific, Union Pacific and Illinois Central was held aboard starting at noon on 18 December 1906, hosted by C.W. Jungen, manager of Atlantic Steamship Lines, and F.A. Batturs, general passenger manager, in the First Class dining saloon. "C.W. Jungen acted as toastmaster and handled his duties in a masterly manner, making the occasion one which will long remain pleasant in the memories of those who were honored with invitations." (The Times-Democrat, 19 December 1906). During the tour afterwards, "it was the consensus of opinion that the Momus was the equal of any ocean liner in accommodations and capacity."

During Momus' maiden call, it was announced that she would hold down the Havana run singlehanded starting on 5 January 1907 with the decision to convert Excelsior back into a cargo ship only and put her on the New York to Galveston run. Momus sailed for New York 21 December 1906 at noon.

The Southern Pacific Company is preparing for the handling of a double weekly service from New Orleans to New York, to begin as soon as the quarantine for Cuban ports is placed upon the Havana steamers. This statement was made yesterday by F. E. Batturs, general passenger agent for the New Orleans-Havana line, by authority of C.W. Jungen, manager of the Atlantic steamship lines of the company, who is here from New York. Mr. Batturs stated that there would be sailings every Wednesday and Saturday from New York and New Orleans in the coastwise service between those points. and that in addition there would be three freight vessels.

The passenger steamers will, in all probability, be the Momus, Comus and Creole, the Momus being taken off the Havana service about the first of April, at the close of the Havana tourist season. The Creole, which is now in process of construction, will be placed in commission also about that time and the Antilles, which will be finished within few months after the completion of the Creole, will come to this port, probably for the opening of the Havana tourist business for the season of 1908. 

The coastwise business between New Orleans and New York has increased largely during the past two years and it will be necessary to have semi-weekly sailings in order to accommodate the business. It is planned to bring patronage for the double weekly service a large from Texas points next year, and special rates will be made for the sea trip to New York from New Orleans. Arrangements will also be made with Mexican lines whereby passengers can escape the smoky, hot trip through the East by rail in the summer months. 

The Times-Democrat, 20 December 1906. 

Credit: The Inter Ocean, 27 December 1906.

In anticipation of Momus' maiden sailing to Havana from New Orleans and regularly thereafter, the Illinois Central Railroad inaugurated the Special Cuba Flyer, which would henceforth leave Chicago every Friday to connect at New Orleans the follow day with Momus' direct service to Havana, sailing at 1:00 p.m.. The first departure was on 14 January 1907.

Momus, flying the Cramp's houseflag from her mainmast, on departure from the shipyard for trials. Credit: U.S. Navy History Center. 

They are deep-sea vessels of unusual strength, and their excellent arranged passenger accommodation, roomy cargo holds, high speed and beautiful models make them the peer of all coasting vessels.

The Times Herald, 14 November 1906.

A veritable Yankee Trio, Momus, Antilles and Creole were part of that remarkable but comparatively rare threesome of American liners-- Sierra, Ventura and Sonoma; California, Virginia and Pennsylvania; and Mariposa, Monterey and Lurline-- that ranked as among the longest lived and most successful of all passenger ships under the Stars & Stripes.  The Southern Pacific threesome remain notable in being the largest trio ever built for the American coastal service and not exceeded individually until Bienville of 1925 and Dixie of 1928.  While Creole attracted the most attention with her pioneering yet unsuccessful turbines and equally novel and entirely satisfactory watertube boilers, all three introduced trans-Atlantic liner qualities of strength and seakeeping to the coastal service.  They remain among the most handsome and impressive of all liners trading on the Atlantic seaboard.

The splendid-looking Momus, as photographed on 20 September 1907 by Nathaniel L. Stebbins. Credit: historicnewengland

W.A. Fairburn, the man who designed the new ships for the Southern Pacific Steamship Company, is in New Orleans. He says that the Momus is without doubt one of the most economical fuel boats afloat to-day, and not only is she speedy, but she handles well, and he predicts she will smash a few record before many years.

'All the other boats recently built by the Southern Pacific Company will be just as serviceable,' he continued, 'and I tell you the people of New Orleans have every reason to feel proud of the excellent service given them between here and New York.'

Mr. Fairburn has been connected with the Southern Pacific for several years, and many of the modern improvements recently installed on the ships of the company has been due to his personal ideas.  

The New Orleans Item, 10 January 1907.

William A. Fairburn (1876-1947). Credit: Library of Congress.

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Momus, Antilles and Creole were the creations of William A. Fairburn (1876-1947), one of a remarkable group of naval architects (among them Ernest Rigg and George F. Sharp) who were born and studied naval architecture in Britain and went on to settle in America and contribute materially to the national genius of naval design, construction and innovation evidenced in the first half of the 20th century. Fairburn emigrated to the United States in May 1891 aboard Servia but returned to Britain in 1896 to attend the University of Glasgow to study naval architecture. Wasting little time in applying his education, he was employed by the Bath Iron Works as chief draughtsman and designed the first all-steel freighter in America when he was not yet 25.  By 1900, Fairburn was an independent consultant and worked with the progenitors of the Babcock & Wilcox company and authored several papers advocating the use of the new watertube boilers the firm had developed. He also authored a wide range of books on sociology in the work place. His lasting creation was the non poisonous match for which he was awarded the American Museum of Safety gold medal in 1914 and went on to become president of the Diamond Match Co. where he started work in 1909.

Fairburn's immense Minnesota (shown above at Seattle) and Dakota were twice the size of any American liner on completion in 1904-05.  Credit: eBay auction photo.

Fairburn's most notable ships prior to the Southern Pacific trio were the epic Dakota and Minnesota of 1904-05, built by the Eastern Shipbuilding Company of Groton, Connecticut,  for James P. Hill's Great Northern Steamship Co.'s  Seattle-Yokohama service. At 622 ft. by 73 ft., and 20,718 grt, they were twice as large as any American-built ship and only Celtic and Cedric exceeded them in size. Ordered in early 1900 and laid down in September of that year, they took forever to build owing to the inexperience of the yard and meddling in the design and engineering features by Hill. As completed, they were underpowered, slow and cumbersome to handle.  In any event, they were the most impressive American liners of the new century.  

Credit: The Mariners Museum.

The general requirement of the service have been most carefully and intelligently studies by General Manager Carl Jungen, superintendent of the company, and the finished product clearly shows the result of the carefully thought-out plans that have been carried out in every detail by the builders.

Arkansas Democrat, 25 November 1906.

All three vessels are of the same dimensions and displacement so that the result obtained in economy of fuel, speed development and economy of maintenance will throw much light upon the vexed question of turbines versus reciprocating engines.

The general features incorporated in the design are: First, large freight carrying capacity, with most complete facilities for the rapid handling of cargo; second, passenger arrangement and accommodation having in the view the greatest comfort for passengers travelling from a comparatively cool to a subtropical climate.

The Lincoln Star, 25 November 1906.

The Momus is a steel full-powered ocean-going passenger and cargo vessel of a type that has never before been equaled for coastwise service. She is a deep-sea vessel of unusual strength capable of navigating any waters of the globe and her comfortable sea-going qualities excellently arranged and airy passenger accommodations,  large roomy cargo holds, high speed and beautiful model make her the undisputed peer of all coasting vessels.

The Times Herald, 14 November 1906.

Antilles. Credit: U.S. National Archives.

Imposing in dimension, record setting in size, breaking new ground in machinery (Creole) and marking a new era in American coastwise passenger cargo ships, Momus, Antilles and Creole were first and foremost ships of character, handsome appearance and graceful proportions, ranking as three of most pleasing of all American liners of their era. Their magnificent funnels, stouter and more modern in profile than their contemporaries and innovative derrick type masts, lifeboats carried above the deck and neat arrangement of ventilators and deck equipment gave them a contemporary, up-to-date appearance.  Indeed, their later, taller and more slender funnels made Momus and Creole look older when their age had caught up with them. They were good seaboats with high freeboard, dry and stable and immensely strong, indeed few three ships weather more severe tropical storms and hurricanes and came through them with flying colors. 

Creole on trials. Credit: MIT Museums. 

Previous Morgan Line ships had been built on a light and graceful pattern, in particular the new generation of "El" class freighters designed by Horace See of Cramp's while the Cromwell Line passenger vessels followed a similar model with minimal superstructures and narrow proportions and considerable sheer. 

Splendid photo of Antilles outbound from New York, New Orleans-bound. Credit: Mariners' Museum.

With Momus, Antilles and Creole, W.A. Fairburn broke new ground for Morgan Line steamers while borrowing some of the imposing elements and enormous capacity of his Minnesota pair to produce coastal passenger and cargo vessels that were truly North Atlantic liner in qualities and capabilities.  As such, they were ideally suited to a route, comprising some 1,800 miles one-way that combined, seasonally the extremes of north and south as well as the rigors of Cape Hatteras in winter and the Florida coast in late summer and early autumn with some of the worst tropical storms and hurricanes that were often the lot of Morgan Line ships.  Additionally, the new ships offered double the passenger and cargo space of the earlier Comus and Proteus.

Creole (artist: Antonio Jacobsen). Credit: Bonhams.

All these considerations and market requirements produced a trio of significant ships with impressive dimensions: 440 feet (length o.a.), 420 feet (b.p.),  53 feet (beam), 37 feet (load draft) and gross tonnages of 6,878 (Momus and Antilles) and 6,754 (Creole) which made them quite the largest of all American coastal vessels at the time and still the biggest trio of such ships ever built. Even the majestic Brazos of rival Mallory Lines which entered service in 1908 was, at 6,399 grt, 401 ft. by 54 ft., not nearly as large.    By way of comparison, the first of the trio of Russian American Liners, Czar of 1912 was 6,345 grt, 425 ft. by 53 ft.

Creole hull cross section. (For full-size scan, LEFT CLICK on image)  Credit: International Marine Engineering, October 1906.

The hull has been specially designed to provide against the weaknesses inherent in hurricane deck vessels have large cargo ports in wake of the over-all hatches on hurricane deck. The provision for extra strength consists in constructing the deck mentioned as the strength deck for about one-half the length amidships, and at the ends of the superstructure it is continued down to main deck by specially designed hogging girders, and from thence forward and aft the main deck is treated as the strength member. It will be obvious that this provides the structure with immense strength as compared with existing hurricane deck vessels.

On superstructure the midship houses are of comparatively light construction, specially braced to take the racking stresses incident to their location on ship. In addition, expansion joints are fitted at forward and after ends of superstructure, to relieve these erections of undue stresses.

The subdivision of the vessel mentioned arranges for four cargo holds in addition to orlop, lower and main 'tween decks, the lower and main 'tween decks being pierced with large hinged cargo ports providing for the expeditious handling of cargo, in addition to which there are four especially large over-all hatches extending the full width of hurricane deck, giving roomy exits for handling freight.

International Marine Engineering, October 1906.

Creole mid hull and superstructure cross section. (For full-size scan, LEFT CLICK on image. )Credit: International Maritime Engineering, October 1906.

Laid out on the "hurricane deck type" model, each had three complete decks extending fore and aft: Upper, Main and Lower, with a two deck-high superstructure: Promenade and Saloon with a separate bridge and wheelhouse island and aft poop deck house.  All of the accommodation, for both passengers and crew, was in the superstructure or first hull deck (Upper) to afford maximum ventilation and all passenger cabins (First and Second) were outside with the idea that "the ports can be kept open in all but the roughest weather." The hull was given over to cargo carriage and of immensely strong construction with girders and pillars internally instead of the usual closely space small stanchions of coastal vessels.  Conversely, the large superstructure was of "particularly light character and expansion joints are fitted to relieve such light structure from injurious stresses." (American Marine Engineer). A double bottom extended for three-quarters of the length of the hull amidships fitted for the storage of fresh water as well as water ballast if needed.  In all, and including tanks,  the hull was divided into twenty-two water-tight compartments.

At the base of each mast was a substantial steel quarter house, the forward one containing house four steam winches  and also fitted up as wash room and toilet for steerage passengers, and the after one as seamen's quarters, mess room, wash places, etc., in addition to enclosing four cargo winches.

With a total cargo capacity of 335,000 cubic feet, these ships had about 100,000 cubic feet more capacity than any coastal vessel of their time. Of this, 5,000 cu. ft.  (equal to four railroad reefer cars) was refrigerated to 36 degs. and additional chilled storage provided for provisions. 

While it was common for American coastal ships to use side ports in the hull to directly access the 'tween decks, especially for package freight, these ships were again more Atlantic liner with four conventional holds, two forward and two aft, with hatches extending right across to the sides with hinged watertight steel covers, in addition to large side ports, four sideports to the upper 'tween decks and eight to the lower 'tween decks.  Unusual to these ships, especially for the time, was their main cargo handling gear which was by means of substantial cargo booms hung from heavy derrick posts, fore and aft, with sheer and taper to suggest masts and with tops mainly to carry the wireless antenna and with no conventional rigging or ratlines. The holds were worked by sixteen 7½-ton derricks and one 20-ton derrick operated by eight double drum steam winches

In addition to cargo, each ship could bunker 1,700 tons of coal and the water tanks contained  800 tons of water. 

The machinery and boilers were designed by W.A. Fairburn, the chief engineer of the line, and were constructed in all their details, with the exception of special auxiliaries, by the Cramp company in accordance with Mr. Fairburn's directions. The auxiliaries were also specified by Mr. Fairburn and to him belongs the credit of this magnificent specimen of marine engineering.

The American Marine Engineer, January 1907.

The machinery of Momus and Antilles, identical and conventional, attracted far less attention (in every way) than Creole's novel and troublesome turbines.

Momus' engine in the shop at Cramp's. Credit: Cramp's Shipyard, 1910.

Momus and Antilles each had one vertical three-cylinder triple-expansion engine, direct acting with a high pressure cylinder (34" dia.) forward, low press cylinder (104" dia.) in the middle and an intermedate cylinder (57" dia.) aft with a common stroke of 63".  Steam was generated by  three double-ended (15' 4" diameter by 21' 4" long) and four single-ended boilers (15' 4" diameter by 11' 2" long),  the former being the largest boilers yet built in an American yard, each with eight furnaces each. The total grate surface was 770 sq . ft ., the heating surface was  26,500 sq . ft.  The engine could develop about 7,000 h.p. when making 70 r.p.m. with a steam pressure of 234 pounds at the boilers.

One of Momus' boilers. Credit: American Marine Engineer, January 1907.

The single propeller was of the built-up type, with a cast steel hub and manganese bronze blades,  20' in diameter and with  26' 6" pitch. The blades were fitted into recesses in the hub and held in place by steel bolts, kept from turning by lock nuts.

The ship has been designed for a sea speed of sixteen knots per hour or about eighteen and one-half statute miles which speed is higher  than that maintained by any vessel engaged today in American coastwise service.

Detroit Free Press, 23 December 1906.

The magnificent original funnels of these ships were doubled with the inner one 12 ft. 6 in. diameter venting the furnaces and an outer funnel casing 15 ft. 6 in. diameter created a interior ventilation flue to the boiler room.  The funnel itself rose 110 ft. from the grates. 

All three vessels are of the same dimensions and displacement so that the result obtained in economy of fuel, speed development and economy of maintenance will throw much light upon the vexed question of turbines versus reciprocating engine.

The Lincoln Star, 25 November 1906.

Contrary to the views of many thoughtful naval engineers, and probably in opposition to the advice of the several inventors, turbines were installed in vessels which were not designed to be operated at continuous high speed. The installation of Curtis turbines in the yacht Revolution and in the Morgan Line Steamer Creole are examples of the keen desire that existed upon the part of individuals to discard the reciprocating design, even though the development of the turbine had not progressed to a point to warrant its installation in vessels operating under such moderate speed.

Engineers and Engineering,  1912.

Patented in 1894 by Charles Parsons and first used by a vessel in 1897, the marine turbine was the last great wonder of the Victorian Age.  Its promise, if greater than its ultimate practical application before the developed of gear reduction for a system that was literally too fast and efficient to be economically transmitted to screws in ships below a certain speed and size, redefined the express Atlantic liner and started a global naval arms race with H.M.S. Dreadnaught. It was indeed the last great British marine engineering invention.  And in an era of virulent nationalism, prompted varying imitations and supposed improvements by other nations' native engineering abilities.  

General Electric brochure, 1904.

In America, then at the dawn of a century that would propel it into the global technological and economic dominance that Britain had enjoyed in the 19th century, the development an alternative to the Parsons turbine came from Charles Gordon Curtis as early as 1896 and a marine version of what had been primarily used for electric generation,  was developed by 1901 after patent had been acquired by General Electric Co..  

The first use of the Curtis marine turbine was in the yacht Revolution in 1902, a two-stage 1,800 i.h.p., 672 r.p.m. installation, whose performance was deemed by the Board of Naval Engineers as "quite satisfactory" while being "rather in the nature of experimental appliances."  From this, both Southern Pacific and the U.S. Navy specified Curtis turbines in Creole and the cruisers Salem and Birmingham in 1905. 

Longitudinal Section of Curtis turbine on Creole.  Credit: Engineer, October 1907.

Curtis Marine Turbine as fitted with Creole. Credit: Steam Turbines by Thomas Clapp. 

Creole was intended to be an exemplar of American engineering genius and manufacturing prowess as the first Yankee-built twin-screw turbine steamer and the largest merchantman to date with watertube boilers as well representing the forward thinking Southern Pacific under Harriman's dynamic management.  Not one to shy from new technology, but hedging his bets, Harriman stipulated that the contract require a 16.7-knot speed over the measured mile and a 16-knot average on 6½ tons of coal on a roundtrip between New York and New Orleans. It was, indeed, that same requirement that Momus and Antilles satisfied and the turbine experiment confined to but one of the three ships. 

Original caption: The assembled rotor of one of the propelling turbines with diaphragms in place. Credit: International Marine Engineering, October 1906.

Original caption: Wheels ready for assembling on shaft. Turbine casing at the right. Credit: International Marine Engineering, October 1906.

Original caption: The outside of the turbine casing, and six disks of blades on the rotors. Credit: International Marine Engineering, October 1906.

The main propulsion machinery of Creole consisted of two 10-foot reversing Curtis turbines, driving twin screws. Each turbine had a rate capacity of 4,000 b.h.p. at 230 r.p.m. and operating at 250 p.s.i., 100 degs F. Unique to the Curtis design, there was no separate astern turbine and each unit had seven ahead wheels and two reverse wheels. 

Creole engine room looking aft. Credit: Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers

The turbine consists of a cast-iron cylindrical casing divided by dished cast-iron diaphragms into series of separate compartments (cast steel is used for the two first stages, for strength). In each compartment or stage" there is a separate wheel, which carries on its periphery three rows of moving buckets (for reasons later described the first wheel has four rows). The wheels are all mounted on a hollow steel shaft carried by self-aligning bearings, as shown. Where the shaft passes through the diaphragms they are provided with bronze bushings having a small clearance, thus preventing appreciable steam leakage from one stage to the other. Where the shaft passes out through the ends of the casing it is provided with carbon stuffing-boxes, which prevent steam leaking out at the ahead end, or air leaking in at the back end, where a vacuum exists.

The stuffing-boxes are supplied with steam in the space between the carbon packing to prevent air leaking in and lowering the vacuum. They are also drained to the fourth stage shell.

Cast-steel steam-chests for ahead and astern running are attached to the front and back casing-heads as shown, and are flanged for the main steam-pipes. The nozzles for each stage are bolted to the diaphragms as shown, the diaphragms having steam-port openings cast in them to allow the steam to pass through to the nozzles.

Manoeuvring is accomplished by means of two lever-operated balanced throttle valves, each taking steam from the main steam-pipe, one delivering to the ahead steam-chest, and the other to the astern steam chest. 

There are seven ahead wheels and two reverse wheels. The reverse wheels are mounted on the after end of the casing, and under ordinary ahead running they are in a vacuum, and therefore do not waste power by steam friction. They are the same as the ahead wheels, except the blades are reversed. To reverse when going ahead, the ahead throttle-valve is shut and the reverse throttle-valve is opened, which is easily and quickly accomplished by the operating levers of the two throttle-valves. 

International Marine Engineering, October 1906.

Original caption: Plan of the hold, showing arrangement of the ten Babcock & Wilcox boilers and two Curtis propelling turbines and shafting. Credit: International Marine Engineering, October 1906.

The early Curtis marine turbine, alas, was not a success and in particular the earlier versions as installed in Creole and the light cruiser Salem, for reasons outlined in 1917:

The Curtis turbine is of the type known as "impulse velocity compounded." It had been used quite extensively on shore for driving electric generators before the marine type was designed. The type used on shore being built as vertical units, it became necessary to depart from this form to adapt the turbine for use on board ship.

At this early date the theory of this turbine carried with it the idea that as all expansion of the steam took place in the steam nozzles, wherein steam pressure was changed into velocity, there was no change in pressure throughout the blades of any one stage, and that therefore there was no unbalanced steam thrust on the rotor of the turbine.

The turbines of the Creole and Salem were made practically from the same patterns, the nozzle areas of the Salem being, however, twice as great as those of the Creole on account of being called upon to deliver twice the power. The turbines were built with seven-wheel stages, the drum type of Curtis turbine not having yet appeared upon the scene.

The turbines of both of these vessels were fitted with a type of blading which "hind sight" has taught us was so weak as to be a serious menace to the reliability. The diaphragms between stages were made each in one piece, and to overhaul the shaft packing of any diaphragm required that the turbine shaft be completely stripped up to and including the desired diaphragm. Further, the thrust bearings were made completely independent of the turbine casings, which was a serious mistake, as these bearings should come and go with the turbine as it expands or contracts. 

Attention is called to the fact that while the total steam consumption with reciprocating engines is decidedly better below about 22 knots than that of either the Curtis or the Parsons turbines, even though the latter are fitted with cruising turbines which are in use from 20 knots down, the economies are about even at 22 knots, and above that speed both types of turbines have a decided superiority. Hence, in cases where high speed and light weight were the prime factors to consider in the design of machinery for a vessel, some type of turbine machinery' was always to be preferred over reciprocating engines. In cases where the speed of vessel was comparatively low, where high speed was seldom called for and where economy of propulsion at cruising speeds was of paramount value, the reciprocating engine was, under the conditions of turbine design existing at this early date, very much to be preferred.

Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, May 1917.

Original caption: Babcock & Wilcox boilers installed on ship, showing superheaters, boiler casing not yet fitted. Credit: International Marine Engineering, October 1906.

Although her turbines garnered the most attention, Creole's steam plant was almost as noteworthy and up-to-date consisting of ten of the latest Babcock & Wilcox watertube boilers with superheaters.  This type of boiler had only recently been introduced and first used in James C. Wallace on the Great Lakes, realizing a 9 per cent savings in coal consumption, and followed by an order by the U.S. Navy to reboiler the battleship Indiana. The use of superheated watertube boilers was championed by W.A. Fairburn in a number of papers and it was his inspiration to fit them to Creole, making her the first big American merchantman so equipped. 

In all, ten Babcock & Wilcox watertube boilers were installed, each with superheaters, designed to work under 250 psi and 100 degs. F. superheat. The furnaces had a total grate surface of 770 sq. ft. and a heating surface of 28,500 sq. ft. with 4,450 st. ft. superheated. 

Screwed.  Creole's original and wholly unsatisfactory adjustable four-bladed propellers.  Credit: Schiffbau. 

Possibly no other significant passenger vessel ever went through more pairs and variation of propellers than did Creole during the first two years of her life.  If the Curtis turbine installation in itself was flawed in design and unsatisfactory in operation, economy and speed, much of the blame for her disappointing performance was laid at faulty screws, although having gone through five or six sets, it was clear the screws were merely adding to the problem not the real cause of Creole's dismal performance as a turbine steamer.  That being said, many early turbine liners, notably Lusitania and Mauretania went through several changes of screws and it was sometime before propeller design caught up with harnessing the power of high-speed direct-drive turbines.

As delivered, Creole was fitted with twin propellers, 11 ft. 6 in. in diameter with steel cast hubs and four adjustable manganese blades which was said to be designed by the U.S. Navy and tested in the experimental tank at Washington Navy Yard. These proved totally unsatisfactory on the ship's first trials and were replaced by fixed three-blade screws, 10 ft. 9 in. in diameter with 8 ft. 2 in. pitch which was less than the originals. With these Creole was able average 16.71 knots on a four-hour full-speed trial and that was sufficient to partly satisfy her contract requirements and she proceeded to New York to undertake her real test, a roundtrip to New York under full load conditions and normal running.  Even so, it was admitted that "the propulsive efficiency obtained by the propeller used is very poor, although it is better than that obtained by the first propeller fitted to the vessel. A third design is now being built, and it is expected that a material improvement will be obtain, which, of course, will give a higher speed of the vessel for the same brake horsepower of the turbine." (Journal of the American Society of Naval Engineers, August 1907).

Creole leaving Fore River on one of her initial trials. Credit: Mariners' Museum.

A four-hour full-speed trial was run between Wood End Light to Boston Light and return on 19 June 1907 recording an average speed of 16.83 knots out and 16.6 knots back or 16.71 overall . 

The maiden voyage recorded a disappointing average of 13.5 knots southbound and 14 knots for the roundtrip and failing her contract requirements as to average speed and fuel consumption on a regular return voyage.

As will be recounted, Creole spent two months back at Fore River and went through two more sets of screws and two more unsuccessful trials.  In November a third set of trials, she averaged 17.75 knots on yet another set of screws and made a satisfactory trial run to New Orleans and back.   

Back in service January 1908 but  by July, Creole had continued to demonstrate an astonishing appetite for coal and in a last effort to make her good, was back at Fore River to be get yet another new set of propellers and be fitted with forced draught. Back in service in November, she proved no less satisfactory, burning 2,000 tons a roundtrip compared to the reciprocating engined Momus and Antilles' 1,000-1,200 tons, and simply so uneconomic to run that she was laid from late late January 1909.

E.H. Harriman, who  died on 9 September 1909 of stomach cancer, aged only 61, would never realize his ambitions with Creole  and shortly before his death, Southern Pacific decided to put an end to the endless cycle of tweaks, changes and screws, and remove her turbines entirely and replace them with conventional triple-expansion engines along the lines of Momus and Antilles, but retaining the twin-screw arrangement and, significantly, the watertube boilers.  As relations between Fore River Shipyard and Southern Pacific were increasingly strained during the endless issues surrounding Creole's performance, yard intimating her problems stemmed more from her boilers, inept firing and poor coal, yet when Southern Pacific elected to proceed with the re-engining out of pocket pending claims against the builders, it was decided to retain the original boilers which, as it proved, were wholly satisfactory and more economical than the conventional Scotch boilers in her sisters.

The reports regarding the ship have been numerous and varied, but this much is certain, that she has not fulfilled her contract requirements as to speed and fuel consumption. It is altogether probable that the Creole's troubles are in a great measure those referred to elsewhere in this issue, as, common to turbine-driven ships. In all probability, the difference in combined efficiency of engine and propeller as between the reciprocating engines and turbines, was either overlooked or not sufficiently considered. It is not to be considered for a moment that this will in any sense affect the standing of the Curtis turbine as a marine motor within those limits where the turbine may be properly and profitably employed. The designed speed of the Creole, which is stated to be 16 knots, is in itself too slow for the best results; in fact , it is doubtful if any design of turbine or propeller can make so good a showing at this speed as the reciprocating engine. Moreover, the Creole was the first installation of the Curtis marine turbine, which has installed since been the scout cruiser Salem, and is being installed in the battleship North Dakota. The Salem did not make quite so good a showing as the Chester, which is fitted with Parsons turbines, but it was later discovered that the blading in the Salem had met with serious injury , and it is too soon to say that the results obtained are to be considered final.

The Marine Review, June 1909.

Creole was sent to Cramp's and had her turbines removed and replaced by reciprocating machinery which, if it were not for the astonishing improvement in her performance, would be regarded as a retrograde development. Instead, it redeemed the vessel.  Her new machinery consisted of two triple-expansion engines with cylinders of 27¾ ins., 36½ ins. and 79 ins. in diameter with a 42 in. stroke, developing a total of over 8,000 s.h.p., "carefully designed so as to divide the fall in temperature as nearly as possible equally among the three cylinders, and also to make the bearing pressures as nearly as equal as possible." (American Marine Engineer, September 1910). 

This vessel a few years ago was very prominently in the eye of the shipping world on account of her machinery equipment, which consisted of Curtis turbines, with Babcock & Wilcox boilers, both representing a departure from the ordinary practice, although as our readers well know, a large number of vessels on the Lakes and on both coasts have been fitted with these boilers. The real novelty was the Curtis Turbines.

It was a matter of surprise to those who were familiar with the conditions for efficient use of the turbine, that the manufacturers of the Curtis Turbine were willing to make an installation where the conditions were such as to make success very doubtful. Mr. Parsons has gone on record as opposing the use of direct-connected turbines where the speed of the ship is below 18 knots, but apparently the Curtis people had more courage. We have nothing to say regarding the use of turbines in places where they will give good results, and we only make this mention here to make the story of the Creole complete.

It is well known that while the vessel was fitted with turbines she was never satisfactory. She did not maintain her schedule, and she used an enormous amount of coal. After repeated trials, and considerable contention between the owners of the boat and the builders, the former finally decided to remove the turbines and install triple expansion engines, to work with 210 lbs. pressure and 50 degs. Of superheat. 

There had been statements to the effect that the trouble was not due entirely to the turbines, but in part to the water tube boilers, and the allegation was made that the engineers of the merchant service and their men were not equal to the job of handling these boilers. However, the owners decided to keep the boilers, so that the excellent performances which will be mentioned in a moment have been been made with the very same boilers which were in use when the turbines were in the ship.

After the new engines had been installed and given a short dock trial, the Creole was brought around from Philadelphia to New York on May 14th and 15th, this being their first trial in free route. Everything worked nicely and advantage was taken of passing the measured mile at the Delaware breakwater, to standardize the screws and determine her speed. Under natural draft, and without any forcing, an average in a number of runs over the measured mile gave a speed of 16.4 knots.

The trip to New York was a complete success in every way, and it was decided to place the Creole on the line for regular service. On her first trip, beginning May 25th, all the boilers were used with the idea of seeing just what she could do in the way of a performance under full power. It should be stated here that there are fans in the uptake to assist the draft, but these were not used on this trip, and indeed it was found that under natural draft alone the boilers would furnish more steam than the engines could work off, so that the ash pit doors were up a good portion of the time. The engines were worked with the links in full gear, and also with the by-passes to the I. P. and L. P. cylinders.

The result of this first trip was highly gratifying to the owners and to all concerned, and the schedule was beaten by several hours, both on the southern and northern trips, about 6 hours going south and 16 coming north. It was remarked by men who are well and favorably known in marine circles, that with the machinery as now fitted the Creole was the most satisfactory ship they had ever had the pleasure to observe, owing to the fact that the volume of steam was as easily obtained on the fifth and last day of the trip as on the first; nor did the warmer weather in southern waters have any effect on the ability to make steam. The fire-room temperature was also favorably commented upon as it did not exceed 100° in the warmest weather.

On the next round trip, it having been found that 10 boilers gave more steam than was needed, the ship was operated with 9 boilers going south and 8 boilers going north. The schedule was maintained without difficulty and again it was found that it was constantly necessary to close the ash pit doors. As a result of this experience, it was decided on the next trip to use 8 boilers going south and 7 boilers coming north. This trip was also a complete success in every way, so that it was decided on the next trip to again reduce the number of boilers in use. Beginning with this next trip, and continuing up to date, 7 boilers are used for the southern trip and 5 for the northern. If there had ever been any question as to the ability of the boilers to supply ample steam for driving the ship, these repeated trips in regular service have entirely settled the matter.

It will also be very interesting to know something about the coal consumption and without going into great detail, it may be said that since the adoption of seven boilers for the down trip and six for the up trip, the entire coal consumption on the Creole for the round-trip, including port charges, is only about 1,100 tons. This is less than she used for the southern trip alone when the old machinery was in use. It is also interesting to know that the machinery shows a decided saving in coal over the sister ships, Momus and Antilles, amounting to some 10 or 15 per cent. This is doubtless due in part to the higher steam pressure carried and the use of superheated steam, as well as the greater economy in evaporation of the water tube boilers as compared with the Scotch.

It was noted above that there had been remarks by those who were not qualified to judge, that the engineers in the merchant service and their men could not properly operate water tube boilers. When the vessel first came out the turbines made such an enormous demand on the boilers for steam that the firemen were compelled to work themselves almost to death, with the result that the ship was very unpopular among the men. With the new machinery and the boilers worked as they should be, the fireman's job has become a decent one, with the result that the ship has become very popular among the firemen, who stick by the ship and are very attentive to their duties-presumably being desirous of giving satisfaction in order to retain their jobs. It is easy to understand why these boilers. should be popular with the firemen, because steam can be raised rapidly owing to the much smaller amount of water contained than in the Scotch boiler, and for the same reason it cools off rapidly. There are no hot back connections to be cleaned out, and when washing out the boilers it is not necessary to climb on the braces or curl in the bottom manhole and wallow in several inches of water. It has been remarked that on the Creole the boilers can be washed out without getting wet. The firemen are recruited from the same source as before the change.

From the standpoint of the engineer, the rapidity with which steam can be raised and the boilers will cool off, is a great advantage in case any overhauling or repairs are necessary, to say nothing of the saving in the coal required for raising steam. Just on this point of the rapid cooling of the boilers, it was remarked on a recent stay of the ship at New Orleans, which was only for 48 hours, that the Creole's fireroom was the only cool place in New Orleans.

A very important point about the boilers, from the standpoint of the captain and owners, based on the rapidity with which steam can be raised, is the fact that it is not necessary to keep a reserve of boiler power actually under steam. It having been found that 7 boilers are sufficient for the southern trip, under average conditions, if the captain sees that bad weather is approaching he can have an additional boiler connected up in an hour or two. This enables the ship to be run with the utmost economy.

The conditions in the navy, where such high powers must be obtained on small weight, have made the water tube boiler an absolute necessity. This question of weight has not been of quite such great importance in the merchant service, but the experience with the Creole will be watched very carefully by the owners of freight steamers, and the advantages which have been pointed out above, added to the very decided saving in weight, will certainly appeal to them most strongly.

The American Marine Engineer, September 1910.

Creole, looking splendid indeed, outbound from New York, sporting her changed funnel, of considerably more slender and taller proportions which appears to have dated from either her re-engining or when fitted with forced draft in early 1909.  Credit: Mariners' Museum.

Few ships were as transformed by change of their machinery than was Creole which, from her very first trials post-re-engining and maiden round voyage to New Orleans with reciprocating engines, showed a remarkable increase in speed and, combined with her watertube boilers, exceptional economy: 

The vessel sailed from this port on May 25 in our regular passenger service between New York and New Orleans, and arrived at South Pass, mouth of Mississippi River, at 7:58 p.m., May 29; 6 hours ahead of scheduled. On the return trip the vessel sailed from New Orleans on June 1 at 10:10 a.m. and arrived in New York at 3 p.m., June 5; 16 hours ahead of schedule and breaking all north bound records between the two ports. The run southbound, bar to bar, was made in 103 hrs. 15 min., despite the fact that the vessel lost 2 hrs. 45 min. between Scotland Light and Diamond Shoal on account of being operated at reduced speed in dense fog. The run north bound, bar to bar, was made in 92 hrs. 20 min. The average speed over the bottom, bar to bar both ways, was 16.55 knots per hour.

A. S. Hebble, Superintending Engineer.

The Marine Review, July 1910

Not only did Creole vastly improve on her own performance and economy but proved superior to her sisters in these aspects as the following table shows:

Credit: Forced Steel Water-tube Marine Boilers, Babcock & Wilcox Co., 1914.

In the case of three sister-ships of 8,000 tons displacement, engaged on the passenger service between New York and New Orleans, the average consumption for a series of voyages was as follows: Steamship Creole fitted with Babcock & Wilcox boilers, 1,149 tons; steamship Momus, with cylindrical boilers, 1,412 tons; steamship Antilles, with cylindrical boilers, 1,336 tons. In an intermediate passenger steamer of 5,000 horsepower it has been estimated that by fitting Babcock & Wilcox boilers there would be an increase of heating surface of 23 percent, an increase of grate surface of 34.3 percent, a saving in weight of 225 tons, a saving in floor space of 14.33 percent, and a saving in fore-and-aft length of 12 feet. Furthermore, steam can be raised more quickly; devastating explosions and the risk of detrimental strains due to forcing would be avoided, and the boiler would be more suitable for higher pressures

The Institute of Marine Engineers, March, 1913.

Other than propulsion machinery and boilers, Momus, Antilles and Creole were otherwise identical below decks in their auxiliary machinery and accommodation.

Curtis generating turbines. Credit: Proceedings, Engineers Club of Philadelphia.

General Electric 75 k/w generator. Credit: Proceedings, Engineers Club of Philadelphia. 

Main Switchboard. Credit: Proceedings, Engineers Club of Philadelphia.

The generating plant comprised two 75 K. W. direct connected turbine sets and one General Electric Co. 10 K. W. direct connected generating set with single cylinder and forced lubrication. The turbine sets consisted of a Curtis steam turbine direct connected by flexible coupling to a four pole General Electric Co. compound wound generator. The turbine sets were two-stage type operating on a steam pressure of 230 pounds and the generators produced  110 volts direct current. 

Electric heating was provided throughout the ships and that for the cabins proved, if anything, rather too effective:

The stateroom heaters, which are 750 watts capacity, are mounted on the bulkhead and insulated therefrom by a pad of transite board, which acts as a heat insulating material. It was found necessary after these heaters were installed on board the vessel to place Russia iron shields over them in the staterooms to prevent dust, and particularly the passengers from throwing refuse on top of the perforated casings, as the intense heat of the heaters would probably start a fire, for when these heaters are running up to full heat, or 750 watts, the unit shows a very dull red color;  consequently you will understand that they are fairly hot, and particles of paper or refuse should not be allowed to come in contact with them, otherwise probably a fire will start, hence the necessity of placing shields over them. 

On the trial trip of the steamship Momus, an accident such as this did actually happen. One of the guests threw a pillow over the heater in his stateroom, and in a very short time there was some smoke and a bad odor of burning feathers from this particular stateroom, and, I may remark, also a very badly scared man, who was the occupant of the stateroom.

Proceedings, Engineers Club of Philadelphia.

Lifesaving equipment comprised eight 27-ft. metallic lifeboats at Mallory davits which were cleverly arranged above the Boat Deck to leave the rail clear and significantly increase the unobstructed deck space, and a further two boats atop the poop deck house.

S.S.  CREOLE

Profile & General Arrangement Plans

Credit: Marine Engineering & Shipping Age, October 1906.

(For full-size scan, LEFT CLICK on image)

Profile.

Wheelhouse & Bridge.

Promenade Deck.

Saloon Deck.

Upper Deck.

Centerfold of a 1922 brochure. Credit: eBay auction photo.

In the state rooms, saloons, library, smoking room, and passenger quarters special ornamental fixtures are installed, and the design and finish of these fixtures harmonize with the interior furnishings.

Special attention was given to the library and smoking room fixtures. These were designed with special reference to the general style of these Louis rooms, the library being XVI style and the smoking room on the Dutch or Flemish.

Marine Review, 5 November 1908.

The Southern Pacific Trio managed to adopt the prevailing "Palace at Sea" ethos of the ocean liner in its Edwardian Era heyday to the smaller scale of the coastal liner and do so in a stylish, confident manner that, like the new passenger car fleets Harriman had renewed his Union Pacific and Southern Pacific trans-continental trains with, stressed comfort and modern convenience. So successful were these ships in transforming the 1,800-mile run from New York to New Orleans from transport to pleasure and recreation that their introduction elicited the "100 Golden Hours at Sea" slogan that had, afterall, as its origins a complimentary letter from a satisfied passenger using the phrase. 

Accommodating three classes of passengers, even like a trans-Atlantic liner, the three sisters carried 148 First, 38 Second and 252 Steerage and could also carry (and did) another 162 soldiers in hammocks, Southern Pacific often carrying troops south to the Texas border via New Orleans. 

Few routes combined as many climate variations and seasonal differences as that from New York to New Orleans-- from the frigid North River to the sultry Mississippi, the stormy coast off Hatteras and the languid expanses of the Gulf of Mexico.  With this in mind, considerable importance was placed in the siting of the accommodation high up in the vessels, in a substantial superstructure that contained all the cabins and, save for the dining saloon, the public rooms, thus affording the maximum of light and fresh air and being high up, ports and windows could be kept opened in all but the worst sea conditions.  The scale and number of public facilities and size of the cabins reflected, too, the relative shortness of the voyage which while more in the nature of 120-ish hours in duration rather than 100, was as long as any U.S. coastal voyage but shorter than any trans-ocean one. 

The arrangement of the passenger accommodation was simplicity itself with the traditional placement of First Class in the amidships superstructure (all of Promenade and Saloon decks) with the dining saloon forward on Upper Deck, Second Class aft in its own poop deck house, and steerage forward on Main Deck. 

Promenade Deck plan detail forward showing the foyer off the main staircase and light well as well as two of the suites. 

A spacious foyer forward on Saloon Deck featured a rectangular well lit from above by a skylight that extending down to Promenade Deck and Upper Deck providing natural light to the foyers and dining saloon.

Creole's Promenade Deck, September 1912. Credit: eBay auction photo.

In view of the agreeable atmospheric conditions under which the entire trip is made, the ships plying this service are constructed with ample promenade decks, which are features especially appealing to the comfort and pleasure of the passengers, allowing them to remain on the decks the greater portion of the voyage, and receive the full benefit of the pure salt air. 

Southern Pacific brochure, 1922.

Promenade Deck space, covered but otherwise open to the sea breezes, was extensive and encircled both superstructure decks, each 176 ft. in length and wide enough for deck chairs and promenading as well as deck sports out of the sun.  All of the cabins, too, had large windows, not ports, opening out to these decks so the accommodation was shaded from the sun but having immediate access to fresh air. 

Promenade Deck plan aft detail showing the Smoking Room and barber's shop.

Credit: Pacific Marine Review.

Credit: Southern Pacific brochure, 1922.

Credit: Southern Pacific. 

The Smoking Room, located aft on the Promenade Deck, is finished in oak, Flemish design, and is fitted with lounges, tables and chairs, affording opportunity to indulge in card and other games.

Aft of the promenade deck la a comfortable smoking-room fitted. In a luxurious manner, with oak wainscoting and panel above, the whole having a green color effect in old Dutch finish. The other rooms on the deck are a bar and barber shop. 

International Marine Engineering, October 1906.

First Class Library. Credit: eBay auction photo. 

Credit: Southern Pacific brochure, 1922. 

The Library, located forward on the saloon deck, is finished and decorated in Italian Renaissance and fitted with comfortable lounges, tete-a-tetes, writing decks, and contains the latest magazines and books of fiction. It makes a delightful lounging room for ladies. 

Forward on Saloon Deck, the library measured 28 by 15 feet and, "the color effect is varying shades of blue" with furniture in curly maple. This was lit by large ports on three sides.

First Class dining saloon, Credit: Southern Pacific brochure, 1922.

Credit: Southern Pacific brochure, 1920s.

At the forward end of the steel superstructure is a large dining saloon providing for a seating capacity of 164 first-class passengers. This saloon has mahogany wainscoting arid is finished in white. The upholstery and hangings have a dark green color effect and the saloon is lighted around three sides by large-hinged air ports. Adjoining the dining saloon is a commodious serving pantry. This pantry is in close connection by spacious passages with the general galley.

International Marine Engineering, October 1906.

The Dining Saloon, finished in rich mahogany (in pure Colonial style), is located on the upper deck and had seating capacity for all passenger, thereby assuring excellent service. 

Facilities for dancing are found in the dining saloon, where all tables and chairs are removed for the occasion. 

Southern Pacific brochure, 1922.

Detail of First Class Dining Saloon on Upper Deck.

The largest public room, by far, was the dining saloon forward on Upper Deck with galley immediately after around the funnel casing.  The saloon was accessed by the forward main stairway  and naturally lit and ventilated on three sides with extra large 20-ft. dia. portholes.  Seating 164 passengers at the traditional long tables with swivel chairs, those in the center could be removed and the space used as a dance floor.  A player piano at the fore bulkhead supplied the music.

First Class cabins on  Promenade and Saloon had capacity for 148 passengers in 66 regular cabins and four suites with parlor, cabin and bath. 

There are four luxurious suites located on the promenade and saloon  decks, each suite consisting of a bedroom, parlor, and private bath and toilet. The bedroom contains a brass bed, wash-basin and wardrobe. The parlor may be used as a bedroom as it contains an upper and lower berth, which may be converted into a lounge during the day. These suites will accommodate four persons (two in parlor and two in bedroom) and are convenient for families or parties wishing to be together on the voyage, as they afford the privacy of a home.

Southern Pacific Brochure, 1922.

Momus, bedroom of suite. Credit: Bryon photograph,Museum of the City of New York.

Momus, sitting room of suite. Credit Byron photograph, Museum of the City of New York.

Bedroom of suite. Credit: eBay auction photo.

Staterooms for 138 first cabin passengers are located amidships on the promenade and saloon decks, all being outside rooms, light, airy, comfortable and with plenty of ventilation, windows being opened or closed as desired. All rooms are entered from the inside of the ship.

Southern Pacific brochure, 1922.

First Class two-berth cabin. Credit: eBay auction photo. 

Each extending 176 feet amidships, the Promenade Deck house contained 33 staterooms and two suites with two grand staircases to saloon deck, and the Saloon Deck house had 34 staterooms, bathrooms as well as the library right forward. The staterooms had two berths with metal bedsteads, "side lights with ventilator above, colored glass, leaded sash, blinds, etc, and wash basins of the most approved type."

Staterooms for 38 second cabin passengers are located on the upper deck aft. The staterooms are all comfortable and well ventilated. Like the first cabin staterooms they open inboard, are fitted with upper and lower berths, lounge, wardrobe and wash-basin. 

International Marine Engineering. 

Poop Deck House Top (Second Class)

Detail of Second Class accommodation aft on Saloon Deck.

"Accommodations for 38 second class passengers are provided in a steel deck house at the extreme after end of vessel, comprising 19 staterooms, dining room (seating 44 people), pantry, and lavatories. A spacious promenade for the second class passengers is set apart on this deck house." (International Marine Engineering, August 1906).

New block of additional First Class cabins added when Momus and Creole were converted to oil-burning in 1922.

When Creole was converted to oil-burning in 1922, the opportunity was taken to replace her former firemen's quarters with nine new outside First Class cabins on the portside of Main (Upper) Deck amidships.  This was later done to Momus, the two now accommodating 166 First Class passengers. 

The crew of each vessel numbered about 117, 23 of which are allotted to the deck department, 46 in the engine room, and 48 in the stewards ' department.

Handsome and as well-found ships as any yet produced by American shipyards, Momus, Antilles and Creole had as trouble free and reliable careers (the latter, of course, following her re-engining) as any Yankee-built liners.  With them, the glories of The Harriman Era had come to Southern Pacific's steamship operations.  

Credit: Abe Books.com

One month ago today we sailed for Boston, and with pulling of ropes, tooting of steam calls, the yells of men, the sobs of women and waiving of face rags, the noble ship Antilles, of the Southern Pacific line, weighed anchor at 10 a.m., and steamed majestically down the great Mississippi, heading for the Gulf of Mexico and bound for New York. The ship's bugler was playing "The Girl I Left Behind," her gallant flag was dipping a fond good-bye to those on shore, and with mental prayers for the safety of our loved ones, your correspondent dismissed the gloom of doubt and called up sweet sunshine and pleasure. 

By arrangement, when the ship's bugle sounded the hour of luncheon, the aforesaid described sat down to our first meal on board the noble ship Antilles, and we continued messmates and shipmates until our landing.

Too much praise cannot be given the ship, the officers, the excellence of service, the incomparable meals, in fact, everything was Jam Up; and the benefits derived after five days or a hundred golden hours whiled away on the beautiful Atlantic, were SO real, so beneficial, that one must make this beautiful sail in order to have proper conception and appreciation of the pleasures offered the public, and not beyond the means of the most humble. Sickness was a stranger to those on board; the ocean was good to us poor children, and the nights bathed in moonlight, formed pictures of the deep that from memory's hall time will never steal away.

The Railway Conductor,  August, 1909.

So it was with this magnificent trio of ships that Southern Pacific transformed the New York to New Orleans run into a voyage of pleasure as much as purpose and an increasingly popular component of a unique "by wheel and wave" ship-to-rail trans-continental link for both passengers and cargo.

The first newspaper advertisement referencing Southern Pacific's soon to be famous slogan "100 Golden Hours at Sea" appears at the bottom left of the panel. Credit: The San Francisco Examiner, 13 October 1907. 

From the first "100 Golden Hours at Sea" national advertising campaign, January 1908.

First featured in Southern Pacific advertising in late 1907, the descriptive slogan "One Hundred Golden Hours at Sea" supposedly originated from a contented passenger in a testimonial to the pleasures of what was one of America's longest coastal ocean voyages, indeed exceeded only by rival Mallory Lines from New York to Houston.  Typical of the Harriman Era of the Southern Pacific, publicity, advertising, planted articles and other promotions in national magazines and local newspapers was fulsome and lavish for a coastal passenger service which, with the new trio, was actively sold as a holiday at sea as much as transport, either to New Orleans and further west via S.P.'s "Sunset Route."

Southern Pacific Atlantic Steamship Lines route map from 1915 brochure showing the track routes in red, one northbound (closer to coast) and the outer southbound track.  Credit: eBay auction photo.

Itinerary of the New Orleans to New York (left) and New York to New Orleans Southern Pacific/Morgan Line service, from a passenger list c. 1909.  Credit: eBay auction photo.

The Morgan Line route from New York to Orleans comprised 1,700 nautical miles or 1,957 statute miles and northbound, taking a slightly different track, 1,710 nautical miles or 1,968 statute miles. By comparison, it is 1,757 nautical miles from Southampton, England, to Valencia,  Spain, and 1,662 nautical miles to Tromso. A true coastal run, the greatest distance from the Atlantic Seaboard was 240 miles off Savannah, Georgia, southbound, and 120 miles northbound.  After passing Jupiter Light,  five miles off the Coast of Florida, Miami was passed just one mile off southbound and eight miles northbound.  The real sea passage commenced once passing Tortugas Light off the Florida Keys and then into the expanses of the Gulf of Mexico.  The South Pass entrance to the Mississippi river was reached at 2:00 a.m. on the fifth day out of New York and there remained 110 statute miles until the docks of New Orleans was reached in mid morning.  North River had thus been joined to the Mighty Mississippi on a four and half to five-day voyage of comfort, convenience and relaxation and ahead lay the great American southwest and the Golden West via one of the greatest and most scenic of all trans-continental railroads. 

1907

Plans to have Momus enter the  Havana service on 5 January 1907 were changed on 28 December 1906 to the 12th owing to Comus' annual drydocking with Momus laying over in New York until 2 January when she take her fleetmate's southbound sailing to New Orleans, arriving there on the 9th. Chalmette, in turn, would sail from New Orleans for New York, relieving Comus of her return voyage. "As the time for the first sailing of the ship [Momus] draws near the prospect for the Havana business grow more encouraging than ever. It is said that the passenger of Northern connecting lines feel assured that the capacity of the Momus will be tested on its every trip to Havana." (Times-Democrat, 29 December).  To fill-in for Momus, Excelsior would take her 5 January sailing to New Orleans.

Fog continued to bedevil the new ship and on 7 January 1907, Momus not berthing at her St. Louis Street wharf in New Orleans until 3:00 p.m. afternoon rather than 2:00 a.m. as scheduled owing to heavy fog in the Mississippi. Were it not for the fog, she would have put in a record passage for the run from New York which stood at 4 days 15 hours 30 mins.. She had 56 First Class passengers aboard. Making up some time, she put on another good show of speed coming up the river, prompting a editorial complaint in the Plaquemine Gazette (12 January 1907): 

On Monday morning at about 10 o'clock the new steamship Momus, Morgan liner, passed our office on her way to New Orleans. 

The Momus is one of the fastest, steamships which ply the river and is also one of the most dangerous for our levees. When she went up last Monday she was going at a speed of no less than twenty miles an hour and the waves that she threw against the levees were so big and strong that thousands of dollars of damage was done. ln some places where the battures are small and the levees nearer the river. the waves dashed against them with such terrific force that the water was thrown at least twenty feet inside of the embankments..

It is absolutely necessary for the protection of our lives and properties that some measure be enforced to suppress this dangerous practice by the steamships, and the Governor of our State is called upon to issue a proclamation requesting and ordering the captains to moderate the speed of their vessels when going up and down the river, and should they fail to heed the warning our people will have to resort to the extreme-their shot guns--for their protection and safety.

Momus (Capt. B.F. Jacobs) sailed from New Orleans on 12 January 1907 for Havana for first time, an occasion that prompted a rather wonderful account in that day's Times-Democrat:

Fully 125 first-class cabin passengers will leave this city this afternoon at 1 o'clock on the initial trip of the Southern Pacific steamer Momus, in the Havana service. All day yesterday F.E. Batturs, general passenger agent for the rail and steamship lines of the Southern Pacific, was kept busy answering requests for reservations, and telegrams were received from Cincinnati, Chicago, St. Louis and other cities reserving space for passenger to arrive to-day. The first trip of the Cuban special, the train of the Illinois Central dedicated to this service, will arrive at 11:30 o'clock and be hauled direct to the ship's side, so that passengers can transfer their luggage to the vessel. This, it is expected, will being a number of passengers for the Momus, so that it is assured that she will leave with a full cabin list.

Of the reservations made up to last night, fully seventy-eight had been made through the New Orleans office by letter and telegram and by personal application. Mr. Batturs feels encourage at the outlook for Cuban business this season. It was feared that this would be delayed in commencing on account of the moderate weather in the North, but reservations are already coming in for the sailing a week from to-day.

A number of Southern Pacific and Illinois Central officials will make the initial trip to Havana. John A. Scott, assistant general passenger agent for the Illinois Central at Memphis, arrived yesterday with his wifeto make the trip. C.W. Jungen, manager of the Atlantic steamer lines of the Southern Pacific at New York, did the same.  Ivon Lee, advertising man for F.E. Batturs, will act as representative of the general passenger department, and Capt. L.W. Withey, dock superintendent of the Southern Pacific and former commander of the Lousiana, which sunk in the harbor here, will assist in the voyage to Havana.

Not to be out done, the next day's edition had a full account of the sailing:

The steamship Momus of the Southern Pacific-Cuban service left yesterday at 1 o'clock on its initial trip for Havana. It was a gala occasion and numbers of ladles and gentlemen of the city were assembled at the wharf, the foot of St. Louis street, to witness it. The ship left with more than 100 first cabin passengers on time to the minute, and although on account of its great length there was some difficulty in getting it turned, no delay was occasioned. Passengers on the promenade deck were waving their good byes to the friends ashore and the various craft shrieked their farewells as the vessel steamed down the Mississippi.

Long before the hour of sailing there was great activity among the employees at the wharf, and the heavy derricks at either end of the vessel were busy handling the cargo. More than  5,000 tons were shipped by the time the vessel left, and every passenger registered had his baggage aboard. The sailing of the Momus was likewise the occasion of the initial trip of the Cuban special on the Illinois Central system. This arrived from Chicago but ten minutes late, and was carried directly to the wharf, where passengers were unloaded for the ship. The trip was made to the docks from the Union depot in about twenty minutes, and all passengers had an abundance of time to transfer their luggage and make their declarations before the departure of the vessel.

Momus passing El Morro Castle on entering Havana. Credit: eBay auction photo. 

Momus, holding down the Cuban service singlehanded, was scheduled to sail from New Orleans every Saturday at 1:00 p.m., arriving at Havana at sunrise on Monday and departing there at 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday and docking at New Orleans on Thursday.  Initially, through no fault of her own, it proved a difficult timetable to maintain. 

Fog in the Mississippi again bedeviled the new ship and on return from her first voyage to Havana, Momus did not dock at New Orleans until 9:45 a.m. on 19 January 1907, having arrived off the bar at 6:30 a.m. on the 18th and obliged to anchor until the fog lifted.  Consequently, her next departure for Cuba was put back from the 20th until the following day.  Further delays ensued on the voyage over as well as port congestion in Havana and Momus did not return to New Orleans until the 27th and had 3,000 bags of Cuban sugar in her holds.

By now, the ship's schedule was so out of kilter that she was dispatched from New Orleans on 7 February 1907, a Thursday, not Saturday, but was almost fully booked, Illinois Central reporting good numbers of passengers booked from Chicago and other Midwest cities through booked on her. But it was also announced that sailing for the following Saturday had been cancelled and the hope to have her back on schedule for her departure on the 16th. She docked at New Orleans from Havana on the 15th with 90 passengers and 4,000 bags of sugar. 

Credit: New Orleans Item, 16 February 1907.

Back on schedule, Momus' 16 February 1907 sailing for Havana took out a record 229 passengers… the most to have sailed from New Orleans to a foreign port and a record cargo. There were, in fact, 29 more passengers than available berths, and they were quartered in the steerage but "with the privileges of first-class passengers in the saloon and decks."  It was reported that the line had already taken 60 bookings for her next sailing.  Returning to New Orleans on the 23rd, Momus brought in a record 183 cabin passengers, the most ever from Havana and breaking Louisiana's previous mark of 147. 

Business was good enough that winter to warrant returning Excelsior to the Havana passenger service. She arrived at New Orleans  from New York with cargo on  1 March 1907 and left for Havana on the 4th, maintaining an every five-day schedule in conjunction with Momus.  The new flagship docked at New Orleans on the 6th with a record 198 passengers, the most yet brought into the port by any single vessel. 

But Momus would remain on the New Orleans service only until the end of the winter season and on 21 March 1907 the first advertisements appeared announcing her redeployment to the New York run effective with her New Orleans departure on the 30th at 10:00 a.m. She was replaced by Chalmette, arriving at New Orleans from New York on the 26th and leaving for Havana on the 28th.

Sailing from New Orleans on 30 March 1907, Momus arrived at New York from New Orleans on 5 April. The ship's departure from the Crescent City on the 17th for New York attracted an "exceptionally large list including three theatrical companies returning at the end of their engagements in the city and altogether, she went out with 180 passengers.  It was reported that the time that Antilles would join her on the route "as early as June 1."

In a freak accident as she was sailing from her New York pier at the foot of North Moore Street on 8 May 1907, Momus (Capt. John F. Boyd)  sank the White Star Towing Co. tug Anna J. Kipp, drowning  her cook and the others aboard jumping into a scow they were towing.  The accident was caused by a strong ebb tide and the tug disregarding the warnings from the liner as the sailed bow first, which was customary for Morgan Line ships, but unusual in the port. 

As described in the Evening World, "Coming down stream, approaching the Morgan Line pier, about 150 feet out, was the little tug, Anna J. Kipp, lashed to the starboard side of a big scow laden with ashes. Every effort was made by the captains of the steamer and the tug to avoid a collision, but the bow of the Momus struck the scow and tipped it to an angle of 45 degrees. Much of the deckload of the scow poured upon the lower deck of the tug and this, in connection with the pull of the lines lashing the tug to the scow, dragged the port side of the little steam craft under the surface of the water. The engine and boiler rooms were instantly flooded an the tug went down like a rock. The scow righted itself after the tug broke loose and floated down the river with the six survivors for half a mile. It was picked up another tug and towed to shore. The water is deep where the Kipp went down, and there is no sign of her above the surface."

Momus figured in an inspection visit to New Orleans by Texas travel agents on 14 May 1907 as part of Southern Pacific's working up to establishing a semi-weekly service with the addition of Antilles and Creole to the New York run. It was anticipated Antilles would in service by 1 June followed by Creole in July. 

Arising from a strike by longshoremen and stevedores in New York effecting incoming foreign vessels, New York experienced an onion shortage that summer, cut off from its normal sources in Bermuda and Egypt.  Louisiana growers profited enormously as a result, shipping  300,000-350,000 sacks to the city and Southern Pacific's ships went out with full holds, Momus having 9,140 sacks in her holds on departure on 22 May 1907.

Antilles left Cramp's on 8 May 1907 under Capt. Faulkner of the yard, for her trials and on the 10th proceeded to New York where she docked the following day.  There, her interior fittings and furnishings would be completed before her maiden voyage to New Orleans on the 25th.  

After making a record trip from New York to this city the steamship Antilles of the Southern Paciflc Steamship Company steamed into the harbor shortly before noon yesterday on its maiden trip. The ship proved gone of the swiftest and most seaworthy craft owned by the company, and made an average in its trip of more than sixteen knots per hour. Some of the journey was made at more than eighteen knots so that the distance was completed in a little more than four days.

The Times-Democrat, 31 May 1907.

Credit: New Orleans Item, 1 June 1907.

As the "second sister" and lacking the engineering innovations of Creole, Antilles' introduction was accomplished with far less publicity than that attending her fleetmates. Departing New York at noon on 25 May 1907, Antilles (Capt. Frank Kemble, formerly of Comus),  crossed the bar at the entrance to the Mississippi River  at 1:30 a.m. on the 30th, docking at 10:50 a.m.  and met on the wharf by S.P.'s general passenger agent F.E. Batturs. She was lightly loaded for her maiden trip, numbering only 25 First Class and 8 Second Class passengers. Capt. Kimbell told reporters that "the weather was ideal, and that the new ship not only kept on her schedule, but made such good time that she 'loafed' part of the way."  Antilles' officers included First Officer Nelson, Purser H.E. Burnett and Chief Steward P. Whamond. Among those aboard as a passenger was Purser John Scott of Momus. 

Credit: Daily Picayune, 30 May 1907.

Among those sailing aboard Antilles on her return maiden voyage to New York on 1 June 1907 was New Orleans Mayor Behrman and his son and daughter en route to West Point to see the graduation of Lt. James Collins, a nephew of Mrs. Berhman. 

So what of Creole, which was launched second of the trio and should have entered service ahead of Antilles?  She, alas, was one of the pacemakers, those pioneers whose innovation was alas rewarded instead by a litany of defects in turbines and screws which tormented the first eight months of her life. No single American liner was so beset with problems as Creole not even Oceanic's Sierra class of 1900.   Suffice to say, that the development of the steam turbine preceded that of the modern screw capable of translating the almost limitless power of the turbine into practical, reliable and not teeth jarring practical propulsion. Many of the early turbine-powered ships shared the same problem, but none to the extent of Creole. But as events proved, the turbines themselves proved wholly unsatisfactory and uneconomic.

Credit: Daily Ledger 4 April 1907.

It was planned to have Creole, in company with Oemulgee (for Brunswick Steamship Co. and on her delivery trip to New York) leave the Fore River yards on the afternoon of 4 April 1907. Under a shipyard crew and captain, Creole was to have been off on her initial builder's trial and run the U.S. Navy course off Provincetown, Mass.  In the event, she did  not get away before high tide and the four tugs detailed to escort her out, made for Boston on 3:00 p.m. and returned the following day.  The Quincy Daily Ledger of 5 April said "The joiner work is something which the Fore River company may be proud," adding that "one deck is finished in mahogany and one in birdseye maple and the contrast is pleasing." Creole remained, however, at the yard and on the 9th it was reported "it was found necessary to make some changes in the machinery, so that it will be some week before she is given her trial.

On 6 May 1907 the Quincy Daily Ledger reported that "Great interest is centered in the twin screw steamship Creole which goes out this week from the Fore River dock for her builders trial, as she is the first [sic] ocean going steamship equipped with turbines."  At the time, it was reported that her screws were "11 feet 6 inches in diameter and have cast steel hubs and adjustable manganese bronze blades." Finally, Creole actually left Fore River just before 8:00 a.m. on the 10th, with several tugs to guide the big ship through the Quincy Point drawbridge, passing through at 8:33 a.m. and heading toward Hull and with tugs in attendance as far as Broad Sound after which she would steam to Provincetown to start three days of trials on the U.S. Navy measured mile course there.  When Creole returned late on the afternoon of the 11th, the Quincy Daily Ledger reported that "President Bowles and other officials of the company expressed themselves as entirely satisfied with her performance," while adding "she did not develop the contract speed however on this run."  Creole was drydocked at the Charlestown Boston Navy Yard on the 13th (the first time a privately owned vessel had used the dock) for cleaning of her hull before returning to Fore River. 

Creole leaving Fore River on one of her many trials. Credit: eBay auction.

These initial trials had been unsatisfactory owing to the original screws which had too much pitch.  They were removed in drydock and sent immediately to Quincy where "everything was ready at the machine shop to receive them and the pitch of the blades was changed in record breaking time. They were sent back to Boston at 11 o'clock Monday [13th] and fitted to the propellers that she was floated again at high water this morning." (Quincy Daily Ledger, 14 May 1907). The paper added, "During the trial trip last week it was said that nothing better could be desired in the working of the machinery. Usually there are more or less breakdowns in the machinery on the first trip but in this case there was not. Mr. Curtis the inventor of the turbine, who was aboard said the machinery was the finest piece of work he ever saw."

Creole then sailed from Boston on the afternoon of 14 May 1907 for another set of trials off Provincetown, commanded by Capt. Edward Evans of Boston and Chief Engineer Salbador, ranking engineer of the Southern Pacific. Also on board were Mr. Curtis, Rear Admiral F.T. Bowles, president of Fore River and several navy officers.  When she returned to Fore River on the 17th, it was reported she had again failed to make her contract speed, "but in every other respect she more than fulfilled all expectations. The failure to make a speed of 16 knots was attributed to the style of propellers used and not to the lack of horsepower developed by the engines. The Creole is equipped with two propellers, each of which is supplied with four blades of a small and nearly flat pattern. These blades were designed by a navy constructor after a series of experiments in the testing tank of the department at Washington." With full speed ahead suddenly shifted to full speed astern, the wheels turned back in twelve seconds on the port screw, and in twenty-four seconds of the starboard screw. The huge vessel came to rest in two minutes and twenty-six seconds.

These blades were first tested when the ship when out last Saturday, and a study of conditions led the officials of the Fore River company to believe that if the pitch of the blades was toned down a faster speed would be developed. The propellers were accordingly detached from the ship while she was in the dry dock at the Charlestown navy yard and were brought down here to have some of the pitch taken down. With these readjusted propellers the Creole went out Wednesday and in the trial trips of yesterday and today she developed a speed of nearly 15½ knots.

Other than the speed feature the turbine engines worked perfectly and did all that was claimed of them. The coal and water consumption was less than was figured out before the start and the lack of vibration when going at top speed was so noticeable as to excite comment from everyone on board. The ability of the turbines to reverse on the same shafting was established beyond a doubt and it is on the point that the American turbine is expected to excel its English rival.

The Quincy Daily Ledger, 18 May 1907.

Fitted with an entirely new set of screws (designed by Fore River's own C.B. Edwards, and said to have the potential to develop a speed of 19 knots), Creole sailed from Quincy on the afternoon high tide of 17 June 1907, seen off by 1,000 persons and "without a hitch she steam majestically through the draw bridge, those on board waving their hankerchiefs and hats to those on the bridge and vicinity."  (Quincy Daily Ledger, 18 June 1907).  She was again commanded by Capt. Edward Evans with F.T. Cleverley as pilot. She was, once again, off to Provincetown to run the measured mile course there followed by standardization trials on the 18th, after which she would proceed to New York to be delivered, finally, to Southern Pacific.  Her captain, T.P.C. Halsey, was aboard for the trials along with Chief Engineer George W. Salbador. Among the guests was Y.I. Mizuiani, chief engineer of the Japanese naval dock yard at Kure. 

Racing up and down the South shore coast line, the new turbine steamship Creole is having an endurance test today. Starting at a point off the Race, Provincetown, and running to a point off Boston light and back, the Creole is having her work cut out for her and her builder, the Fore River shipbuilding company of Quincy, is confident that the 10.000-ton turbine boat will do all that is expected of her. 

The Creole was built to make 16 knots hour, and the greatest interest is being manifested in her performance by naval officers and engineers of the merchant marine. The Creole left Quincy Monday afternoon in command of Capt, "Ed" Evans of Boston. The engine room was in charge of John F. Paige, chief engineer of the Fore River company, who has done great work in bringing the turbine up to a high standard of working efficiency.

Boston Globe, 19 June 1907.

Creole made 15 runs over the measured mile off Provincetown on 18 June 1907, and recorded a maximum of 245 rpms giving a speed of 16.47 knots, thus finally making and exceeding her contract speed of three-fourths of a knot. She averaged 16.27 knots and reached 16.51 knots. A four-hour full-speed trial was run between Wood End Light to Boston Light and return the following day recording an average speed of 16.83 knots out and 16.6 knots back or 16.71 overall.  "The vessel left for New York this morning and will be delivered to the owners. Further economy test runs will be made on the way to New York. The turbine machinery on the test runs Tuesday worked very smoothly and satisfactory, not the least trouble was experienced in the maneuvering of the ship." (Quincy Daily Ledger, 19 June 1907). Creole, which left Provincetown on the afternoon of the 19th, was delayed en route by fog and arrived at New York at 8:00 p.m. on the 20th, and in a demonstration of her maneuvering abilities, docked without the aid of tugs. 

As with her sisters, Creole's interior furnishings were fitted alongside her New York pier and on 3 July 1907, her maiden voyage for New Orleans was set to depart on the 13th.  She was formally commissioned on the 9th with a luncheon held aboard hosted by E.H. Harriman. 

Commanded by Capt. B.F. Jacobs, Creole sailed from New York on 13 July 1907 with 47 First Class passengers and 12 steerage and "a heavy cargo of freight." Making the roundtrip were Chief Engineer Edwards, Asst. Manager Brown, Electrical Engineer Crane and other representatives of Fore River Shipbuilding, H.G. Nixon of Babcock & Wilcox as well as her designer W.A. Fairburn and Southern Pacific's C.W. Jungen.  J.G. Klumpp was purser and P. Whamond, chief steward.  

The steamship Creole, the newest and largest passenger and freight vessel of the Southern Pacific Company, and the first turbine ship to enter this trade, arrived from New York yesterday at noon on her maiden trip. She was given a bridal welcome as she steamed up the Mississippi to her berth at the head of St. Louis street, every whistle in the harbor from craft and factory alike saluting as soon as she rounded the Algiers bend. The boat is indeed the queen of the Southern Pacific fleet, being everything which has been written about her, in point of speed, equipment, displacement and furnishing.

The Times-Democrat, 20 July 1907.

A large crowd was down to the wharf to get a glimpse of the ship, and with the crowd of passengers and the committee from the city, made the advent of the steamer in these waters one long to be remembered. As she slowed down to make the landing, with head and stern high out of the water, the Creole presented a beautiful appearance, and unless all signs fail, will be prove a veritable greyhound of the ocean and one of the most popular vessels afloat.

The New Orleans Item, 20 July 1907.

Creole arrived at New Orleans at noon on 19 July 1907 after a comparatively slow but smooth maiden voyage and one hour off her scheduled time. She was met down the river by a delegation from City Hall headed by Mayor Behrman and including Southern Pacific officials who came down by tug to greet the liner as she came in and accompanied her to her wharf, followed by lunch aboard.

Credit: Times-Democrat, 20 July 1907.

With the turbine engines her speed is estimated at 16 knots per hour, but according to Engineer Salbador she made 13.5 knots per hour in comparatively good seas. In his opinion, however, it will be necessary to change her propeller to a smaller size in order to realize the full benefit of her engines. Several passengers stated that they could scarcely believe that the vessel was speeding along, so smooth did the ship glide over the waters. 

Times-Democrat, 20 July 1907. 

W.A. Fairburn, who came South to watch the vessel on its maiden voyage from New York. Mr. Fairburn said that during the Creole's trip to New Orleans it was impossible for one sitting in the dining room to detect that the ship moving. There was no seasickness on board, because of the easy-going qualities of the vessel. In this respect Mr. Fairburn believes the ship is remarkable, and that this quality will make it a success so as passenger business is concerned. Its speed is a matter to be determined definitively later. 

Mr. Fairburn said: "On the trip South we took our time. We arranged our schedule to reach here one day later than the trip is usually made. We did not want to run her fast until the machinery was warmed up. When we started we went about nine knots. Then we quickened our speed until 16.8 knots were made. This was considered exceptionally, as the ship was built for only 16 knots.

The Daily Picayune, 20 July 1907.

Credit: Times-Democrat, 21 July 1907.

Creole hosted thousands of Orleanians on 22 July 1907 during an open house inspection of the new ship who were welcomed aboard by S.P.  Passenger Agent Clarence Murphey. Commencing  her maiden northbound voyage on the 24th, Creole docked at New York  on the 29th.

With the delays and problems attending Creole, Momus and Antilles had work to do and summer 1907 was a busy season for Southern Pacific's New York run. Momus took out over 125 passengers on 10 July and, taken off the Cuban run to help fill-in for the already late in completion Creole, Chalmette sailed the following day, with Excelsior deputizing for her to Havana. Antilles next sailing, too, was fully booked.  Even with the greatly increased frequency of sailings with the two new ships which went from weekly to as many as five ever three weeks, berths were hard to find. 

Upon completing her maiden voyage, it was clear that Creole needed yet another pair of screws to maintain anything like her designed service speed.  Although poor coal was blamed for some of it, she had put in a desultory performance on the round trip, not averaging more than 14 knots and failing her contract speed which called for maintaining 16.7 knots over the measured miles, and an average of 16 knots on 6½ tons of coal an hour consumption on a round trip between New York and New Orleans. 

In what would prove a protracted and tedious episode which fully occupied the rest of the year, Creole was sent back to her builders.She arrived back at Fore River on 9 August 1907 and had aboard Chief Engineer Edwards and Electrical Engineer Crain of the shipyard and W.A. Fairburn of Southern Pacific. It was expected she would be there for three-four weeks, but it managed to be four months. There would be no privilege of drydocking at the Charlestown Navy Yard and instead, a cofferdam was constructed around the liner's hull and this was completed on the 24th and the blades removed from both screws two later and the new ones being finished in the machine shop. With the new blades fitted, the cofferdam was dismantled on the 28th but it was reported "that some work on the machinery remains to be finished." This included work on her pumps and condensers. 

Creole left Quincy on 16 September 1907 for trials and given that was the last reported of them and subsequent events, indicating they were not a success. Yet another set of propellers were designed and made while Southern Pacific were without their third sister for the rest of the year.  

A protracted longshoremen's strike in New Orleans in October 1907 taxed Southern Pacific to the limit and even after it hired 600 strikebreakers, there was enormous congestion on the piers with El Dorado and Momus reported to be unloaded on the 21st amid a veritable "blockade" of cotton bales and other cargo lining the pier heads.  Due to delays in loading her cargo, Antilles which was to have sailed on the 29th, did not get away until the following day.

Creole at Fore River Shipyards. Credit: eBay auction photo.

The Boston Evening Transcript of 18 November 1907 provided a good resume of what was still an ongoing saga  with Creole without equal in modern American merchant shipbuilding:

On the first trial trip she mode 14 knots, and it was then found that the engine worked perfectly under the circumstances and that the only trouble was with the propeller blades. After this trial the ship returned and the blades were taken off and the angle changed, and were rushed back from the Fore River yards, where the ship was built, to the Charlestown yard in double quick time. The second trial showed that the Creole had succeeded in making 16.7 knots, Just what her contract called for on the trial run. There was more difficulty ahead, however, for when the ship went on her run from New York to New Orleans, on which she was required by contract to average sixteen knots for the round trip, she got a very poor lot of coal and her speed for the run was a little under fourteen knots.

The builders were confident and they immediately set at work again to remedy the trouble, and now they feel doubly sure they have overcome all obstacles and that they have a steamship which will be fast enough to satisfy the owners in every way. The trial trip probably will take place off Provincetown, where she will run over a measured mile course, on Saturday, It is expected, and this will he followed  by a twenty-four hours' run at sea. The ship will go over the mile course some time Saturday and the same afternoon or Sunday morning will put to sea. The run will be straight out for twelve hours and then back.

Boston Evening Transcript, 18 November 1907.

Remarkably, in the ensuring months, Creole ran another set of trials with the altered screws which proved just as unsatisfactory so yet another propeller change ensued.   In what proved a protracted sojourn in Quincy finally ended in late November.  The U.S. Navy relented on 19 November 1907 when Secretary of the Navy Metcalf personally authorized Creole to be drydocked at Charlestown Navy Yard and she left for there on the 21st and docked that afternoon. All of the work and materials used were provided by the shipyard  but navy yard workers cleaned and painted her underwater hull but with paint provided by the yard and the government reimbursed for the labor as well for the use of the dock. There was a further delay in the delivery of the special carbon packing used around the turbines shafts. 

Creole sailed from Boston on 25 November 1907 and ran another set of trials off Provincetown which were completed on 2 December during which, according to the Quincy Daily Ledger, "extraordinary results were obtained." It was cited that on these Creole reached 18 knots, averaged 17.75 knots and on the measured mile, achieved 17.92 knots. "Under similar conditions the Creole proved to be over a know faster in this speed trial with her specially designed propellers than was obtained in either of the two previous tests."

Indicative of an past era when the local newspaper championed the local industries, the Quincy Daily Ledger of 4 December 1907 put as positive a spin on what had been a protracted and profitless enterprise to date for Creole's builders and owners:

After the first and second trials the ship was dock at the yard of her builders, and by means of a large wooden cofferdam the pitch of her propellers was changed, but these changes did not bring about the desired results, consequently propellers were designed to suit the Creole's engines, an after bring put into drydock at the Charlestown Navy Yard and the new propellers put in the place of the old ones. The ship was given her trial on Monday the result of which although being a surprise to many, was expected by her builders.

The Creole's turbines worked perfectly, and did more than was claimed for them. The coal and water consumption was less than figured before the start, and the lack of vibration when the whip was making 18 knots was so noticeable to be commented upon by everyone on board.

 

Once again, Creole was commanded on this latest series of trials by Capt. Edward Evans and Chief Engineer Paige in charge of the engine room. On board were Francis T. Bowles and Frank O. Wellington of the builders as well as Mr. Curtis. 

Creole's new set of screws, designed by Fore River's own C.B. Edwards, were said to have the potential to develop a speed of 19 knots

The Quincy Daily Ledger concluded:

A great deal has depended on this trial of the Creole's Curtis turbine engines, far more than the ordinary mind can comprehend. This was to be practically the final test to ascertain the real worth of this particular make of marine engine. On it depended almost wholly the failure or success of all the year and hundreds of thousands of dollars spent by Curtis in working out his theories. The engines ability to reverse the propellers on the same shaft was shown beyond a doubt, and it is on this point that the American turbines are expected to show great superiority over the foreign engines. 

It was owing to the professional and business foresight of Rear Admiral Francis T. Bowles, who is president of the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, that the company in the firs adopted this engine when it was in its infancy, and in 1906, he who sponsor to the engine which will undoubtedly revolutionize ship and engine building in this country, persuaded his director to set aside $200,000 as a reserve for turbine development.

The Creole will be delivered in her owners in the near future, and as the vessel has fulfilled the expectations of all concerned there will be undoubtedly be a goodly demand for further vessels with Curtis' turbines, which will mean much to the company and to the City of Quincy.

George H. Corliss, The Quincy Daily Ledger, 4 December 1907

After loading sand ballast, Creole ran endurance tests starting on 9 December 1907. On these, loaded to 10,000 tons deadweight, she averaged 15.70 knots in a gale and when the winds died down, recorded 16.74 knots.  After discharging her ballast at East Boston, Creole sailed for New York on the 21st. 

Beginning 28 December 1907, Southern Pacific increased the frequency of the Havana run from weekly to every five days with the placement of Proteus on the route, running with Chalmette.  Momus would not be reprising her winter duty on the run due to the demand on the New York service and the absence of Creole. 

Credit: Times-Democrat, 5 January 1908.

Creole finally resumed service with her departure, under Capt.  B.F. Jacobs, from New York at noon on 28 December 1907 on what the Times-Democrat called "her second, and it is hoped, final trial trip. The first one was made last August, when certain slight defects were discovered, which have since been remedied." Crossing the bar at 6:00 a.m. on 2 January 1908, Creole was alongside at New Orleans by 5:00 p.m. after a voyage described as "successful in every way."  Heavy fog in the Gulf delayed her two hours and she clocked  5 days 5 hours for the passage, averaging "about 12 knots an hour." She landed 66 passengers, 50 of whom were in First Class.  Among those aboard were Rear Admiral Coghlan and journalist Walter Meriweather and his wife.  Three passengers, students from the Stevens Institute, Hobojen, N.J., made the trip as guests of C.W. Jungen of Southern Pacific, to make a detail study of the ship's turbine machinery. Capt. Jacobs told reporters "The engines did very nicely, it was a very successful trip and I am well satisfied."

Credit: Theatre.

1908

Creole sailed for New York on on 8 January 1908 and further establishing her early reputation as a "hoo-doo ship," ran aground on a mud bank west of the Pass, at the entrance to Gulf of Mexico, late that afternoon. The tug R.W. Wilmott was dispatched from New Orleans and had to work on getting her off for the best part of 24 hours, finally getting her free at 9:00 p.m. on the 9th, assisted by El Dia, inbound from New York.  It was the same mudbank that had caught Momus on her last arrival. Undamaged, Creole was able to continue on her voyage to New York. 

Her second trial trip to New Orleans proving successful enough, on 23 January 1908 Southern Pacific announced that Creole had been finally been accepted from the builders.  This would permit Momus to lay up for overhaul and repairs at New York and when she returned to service, one of the three big ships would arrive every Saturday in New Orleans with Comus arriving on Wednesdays every third week.  To celebrate her entry into the fleet, Creole hosted a "visitors' day" on the afternoon of the 30th, during her third call at New Orleans, and the first as properly commissioned, the ship being in "gala attire" at her St. Louis pier. She brought in 165 passengers on the run down from New York.

When Creole docked at New Orleans on 18 February 1908, her cargo included 280 tons of steel rails for the new street car/interurban line being built to Jeanerette. 

In a shocking incident, Capt. Frank Kemble,  aged 64, master of Antilles, was found dead at 1:45 a.m. on 29 February 1908  at the corner of Conti Street and the L&N tracks, with his pockets turned out. It was later determined he had died of natural causes and his body had been rifled for valuables before it was discovered. "Capt. Kemble had the distinction of bringing down more steamships from New York to New Orleans on their initial trips than any other captain. He was a man of amiable disposition and was liked by everyone. His sailors loved him, and when news reached the ship that he was dead sadness reigned aboard and worked ceased." (Times-Democrat, 1 March 1908). Kemble had served Morgan Line and Cromwell Line for 40 years. In tribute, all ships in the Port of New Orleans flew their flags at half mast when news reached them of Kemble's passing.  Capt. G.P. Woodward was given command of Antilles. 

Capt. George P. Woodward brought Antilles alongside her New Orleans wharf at 1:00 p.m. on 16 March 1908 with a very good list of 171 passengers and reported a good passage although detained by fog in the river, and passed the outbound Creole on the 15th, 190 miles from the bar. 

While lying at her St. Ann Street wharf on 3 June 1908, Creole received "a severe glancing blow" when the steamer Java, from Fiume, with a cargo of beet sugar, was carried across the river by an adverse current. The damage to the liner was estimated at $1,500. 

Nothing spurred passengers on American coastal liners like conventions and gatherings. When Momus arrived at New Orleans on 9 July 1908, she was fairly thronged with 125 Elks from New York en route to the national convention being held in Dallas. They and the ship were met by local Elks who chartered the tug El Mozo to greet their arrival off Twenty-Mile Point. 

After almost a year's trial in service between New York and New Orleans, the turbine steamer Creole, of the Southern Pacific Steamship Company, has proven itself incapable of making the time, and has been sent to shipyard to have her turbines replaced with regulation reciprocating engines of the standard type. In so far as this one turbine steamer is concerned, the new type of marine engine is said to have proven a failure.

The Houston Chronicle & Herald, 9 July 1908.

Creole continued to the lame horse of the Morgan Line troika. On 6 July 1908 the Times-Democrat reported that she had "arrived safely" at New York on the 4th [from New Orleans on 27 June] and "made good time on the upward trip. It is stated that the ship will be laid up for repairs for some time, as she can not come up to the speed required for the Southern Pacific passenger service. The removal of the Creole of that line, but it will force the ships to double back north three days after their arrival, instead of lying in the harbor for cargo as formerly." 

The following day, C.S. Fay, general freight agent for Southern Pacific in New Orleans told the Times-Democrat that Creole "had to be generally overhauled because she could not make the time required for the fast schedule between New York and this port. Mr. Fay said that she would have to have new engines, and it was not certain whether the cost would have to be borne by the Southern Pacific Company or the contractors who built here. The Harriman people will be probably insist that the builders do the work, alleging that the Creole has never done satisfactory work."

It was duly reported on 15 July 1908 that re-engining was not in the offing but that Creole would be fitted with forced draft and might also be converted to oil burning as well as having yet another set of screws.  

Creole arrived at Quincy on 23 August 1908, "to be fitted with new propellers and a new system of forced draught." (The Boston Herald, 24 August 1908). 

Creole left Quincy on 30 October 1908, commanded by Capt. Thomas E. Evans for Provincetown.  For years, the port captain of the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, Evans would also be starting a new career with Southern Pacific Steamship Company, and assume command of the tug El Chico at New York.  Creole then proceed to New York where she arrived on 1 November. 

It was reported on 7 November 1908 that Creole had been fitted with forced draft  and "is to have another trials to see if she can make the speed called for by contract. So far she has failed to come up to the requirements, though her builders, the Fore River Shipbuilding Company, are confident her Curtis turbines are not to blame. The contract price is said to be about $1,000,000, and if the trial is not satisfactory she will be given new propellers. She is shortly to be drydocked at New York and after ward will probably resume her run to New Orleans.  

Back in service again, Creole  (Capt. B.F. Jacobs) sailed from New York on 11 November 1908. Aboard was a large party of delegates attending the convention of the American Humane Association, including President W.G. Stillman.  Due to dock at New Orleans on the 16th, Creole was so delayed that she could not come into until the following day, causing a delay of the meeting of the executive committee.

In a welcome bit of good publicity for the beleaguered vessel, famous boxer  Jim Corbett, age 28, bound for a New Orleans ten-round match with Cleveland lightweight Phil Brock on 12 December 1908, sailed, together with trainer and coach Al Lippe, aboard Creole from New York on the 2nd.  To keep fit during the passage and lose a few pounds, Corbett would volunteer as a stoker during the voyage. "Heaving coal and feeding the boiler fires on the Creole during the trip here was decided on by Corbett to keep his condition, and he should be in fine shape when he lands Monday."  But sure enough, Creole which was to have reached New Orleans on the 7th, was delayed by poor weather in the Gulf of Mexico, and did not arrive until the following day, cancelling the elaborate reception the Southern Athletic Club planned. 

Credit: Theatre Magazine.

1909

Creole began what prove an transformational year with her arrival at New York from New Orleans on New Years Day 1909. By now, the vessel had proven, beyond all doubt and all hope, to be wholly unsatisfactory both as regards her speed averages, and worse, her astonishingly high coal consumption, burning 2,000 tons on a round trip compared to the 1,000-1,200 tons of her reciprocating engined sisters.  It was simply no longer economic to operate her in her present configuration and with no publicity or even announcement, the liner, which left New Orleans on 14 January 1909 was laid up indefinitely after arrival in New York  on the 20th.

Such was the demand for southbound space at the height of the winter season, that Antilles had all of her Second Class cabins reassigned to First Class to accommodate 170 passengers for her 17 February 1909 departure from New York. This was offered as a special roundtrip voyage, timed for Mardi Gras, and passengers could stay aboard during the turnaround in New Orleans. Southern Pacific added five extra Pullman cars on a special train from Houston as well as the carnival season encouraged record bookings. 

Antilles (Capt. John Burns) grounded outside the Passes on 7 April 1909, after departure from New Orleans earlier that day.  She was refloated at 9:00 a.m. on the 9th and recommenced her voyage, undamaged, at 9:35 a.m. and docked at New York at 12:15 p.m. on the 14th.

The U.S. Navy's scout cruisers Birmingham, Chester and Salem, all built at Fore River Shipbuilding, each had different machinery-- reciprocating, Parsons turbines and Curtis turbines respectively.  The results were telling with Birmingham having the lowest fuel consumption and the Parsons higher and the Curtis far higher than the others.  The Daily Picayune of 16 April 1909, added: "The Morgan Line steamer Creole is equipped with Curtis turbines, and she has been found to such an excessive coal burner and so unreliable as to speed that the Company has put her out of commission."

Quite a flurry has been caused in marine engineering circles by the announcement from New York that the Southern Pacific liner Creole, which not long ago made her appearance in the New York and New Orleans service, is to have her reciprocating engines installed in their stead.

Wauwatosa News, 18 June 1909.

The S.S. Creole seems about to subjected to dis-Curtis-y.

The Times Record, 9 June 1909.

It was received with some measure of astonishment when the New York Times broke the story on 5 June 1909 that Southern Pacific had decided to replace Creole's turbines with the same reciprocating machinery as fitted to Momus and Antilles, thus ending a protracted, frustrating and enormously expensive endeavor. The news came at a particularly sensitive time given the similar problems experienced the new scout cruiser Salem fitted with Curtis turbines whose sister ships, one with reciprocating engines and the other with Parsons turbines had already been commissioned and the Navy took keen interested in Southern Pacific's decision especially given that it had decided on Curtis turbines for the new dreadnaught North Dakota. 

Charles G. Curtis initially declined any comment on the action but on the 6th, said that "it was a mistake to install boilers of the water tube type instead of the fire tube type, inasmuch as the former had failed to prove their superior usefulness for navigation." (New York Tribune, 7 June 1909). The U.S. Navy, for now, stuck with their decision to fit Curtis turbines to Salem and North Dakota, and navy officers at Fore River Shipyard told The Boston Globe that "it  was recognized by engineers that the turbine was not economical on a slow ship. such as the Creole. The design of the Creole is not such that she can be a speedy boat, and beside she has a lot of dead weight beneath the water line. After she was built it was that she was inclined to be a bit top heavy, and thousands of pounds of pig iron were placed in the bottom her hull to steady her."

Considerable comment was caused in engineering circles this week by the announcement that the turbines of the Southern Pacific steamer Creole of the New York-New Orleans service are to removed and and reciprocating engines installed in their place. The reason given for this change is the excessive consumption of coal by the turbines, as it is said to have taken 2,000 tons of coal for the Creole to make the round trip between New York and New Orleans. Whereas other vessels of the Southern Pacific Company equipped with reciprocating engines  make the round trip on a coal consumption of between 1,000 and 1,200 tons.

The vessel was built by the fore River Shipbuilding Company of Quincy, Mass., and equipped by them with Curtis turbines, for which they hold the marine rights in this country. When the contract with the Fore River Company' for the building of the Creole was concluded, it is understood that the stipulation was for a speed of at least sixteen knots on a fixed maximum of coal consumption. Many trials have convinced the owners that  this is impossible, and they have so informed the builders. The Creole cost in the neighborhood of $1,000,000. This decision on the part of the Southern Pacific Company is considered as a setback to the progress of the Curtis turbine, which was pronounced to be an improvement on the Parsons type.

Shipping Illustrated.

The Daily Picayune had an interesting article published on 6 June 1909, stating that the Navy Department had contacted Southern Pacific to obtain details as the performance and issues it had in relation the Curtis turbines as the initial trials experiences with Salem with the same machinery indicated many of the same problems and the new dreadnaught type battleship North Dakota was also to have Curtis turbines. "It is understood that the Southern Pacific Company was rather guarded as to its replies to the Government, and that nothing like adequate data concerning the experiences with the Creole's turbines was submitted to Washington, the reason being that the steamship company did not care to assume the risk of rendering itself liable to the manufacturers of the turbines.  A Southern Pacific representative told a reporter: "There are several reasons we intend to have the turbines taken out of the Creole. Excessive coal consumption, as stated, is one of the reasons. As to the others, we can nothing at the present time." The article continued:

Since winter the liner has been lying idly at her pier in the North River and all queries in regard to her, steamship men have raised their eyebrows and smiled significantly. It has been common remark on West Street of late that E.H. Harriman has been eyeing the vessel with disfavor for some time.

'Harriman,' said a steamship man recently, speaking of the Creole, 'is a man who likes to be 'shown'. He is not likely to have had his head turned by all the fireworks which attended the appearance of the new vessel last year.  When a vessel costs a thousand or so dollars more for coal than other good steamships of the line, it is not likely to be popular with the man who controls the Southern Pacific.'

The company's determination to change the engines would indicate that this man was not speaking idly. The turbines installed in the Creole are the invention of Charles G. Curtis, and are known as American turbines in contradistinction to the Parsons turbines, installed in the Lusitania, Mauretania and other large British steamships. The Fore River Shipbuilding and Engine Company constructed the Creole and installed the engines.

It is said that an hourly speed of sixteen knots on a fixed minimum of coal consumption was agreed upon. Repeated tests, it is stated, have failed to demonstrate that the vessel could take her speed on anything like the desired amount of coal. It is said that she used 2,000 in a round trip between New York and New Orleans, which is considerably more than the large vessels of the same line, fitted with reciprocating engines, consume.

It is understood that the Curtis concern does not admit the contentions of the Creole's owner, believing that the difficulty with the propulsive power was due to the wrong combination of boilers and engines.

The Daily Picayune, 6 June 1909.

"Prospects for passenger travel by water from New Orleans to New York are bright," the Times-Democrat reported on 24 June 1909 as the summer excursion season on the Morgan Line boats began with the dispatch of Antilles, fully booked with 200 passengers, for the north.  Beginning 28 July, there would be two sailings a week to New York, one on Wednesday and the other on Saturdays employing five steamers: Momus, Antilles, Comus, Proteus and, diverted from the Cuban run for the season, Excelsior which would remain on the New York run until the return of Creole. 

Southern Pacific announced on 19 July 1909 the addition of Excelsior to the New York run to give two sailings a week on the route beginning 11 August every Wednesday and Saturday in Momus, Antilles, Comus, Proteus and Excelsior with Chalmette alone on the Cuba run.   

With litigation already in hand between Southern Pacific and Fore River Shipbuilding, tenders for the re-engining of Creole were asked and received from a number of yards but not the Quincy firm and the contract went, not unexpectedly, to the builders of Momus and Antilles, Cramp Shipbuilding of Philadelphia. 

On 26 July 1909 the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that E.F. Luckenbach had been engaged by Southern Pacific to tow Creole from New York to Cramp's Shipyard in Philadelphia and the tugs Walter A. Luckenbach and M.E. Luckenbach tasked for the job.  Creole passed out of New York Harbor on the 27th and arrived at Philadelphia the following day. She arrived at Cramps with the Mallory liner Comal which was getting new boilers. 

The simmering dispute and frustrations between Southern Pacific and Fore River Shipbuilding over Creole's machinery spilled out beyond the courtroom with an extraordinary statement published by the shipyard in the maritime press in August 1909: 

The Fore River Shipbuilding Company contracted with the Southern Pacific Company for the building of the steamer Creole strictly on the owners' plans and specifications for the hull, and agreed to install twin-screw Curtis marine turbines and Babcock & Wilcox watertube boilers. The shipbuilding company guaranteed that the vessel, under such arrangements as should be agreed upon between the parties to be proper, should show a speed of 16 knots on the round trip between New York and New Orleans in ordinary weather on 10,000 tons displacement and with a coal consumption not exceeding 7 tons per hour. The contract also provided that if the turbines and boilers did not prove entirely satisfactory to the Southern Pacific Company, and they decided to install reciprocating engines and Scotch boilers, the shipbuilding company would, if requested within six months after delivery of the ship, stiffen up the hull as might be necessary for this purpose.

Before the delivery of the Creole, in December, 1907, the shipbuilders' installed a fourth set of screw propellers and made several trials of the vessel both light and loaded. The load draft trial run for a period of twenty-four hours in heavy weather showed that the vessel was able to meet the contract conditions, the speed and coal consumption having been measured and certified to by independent outside experts. On the measured mile at Provincetown the vessel showed 17.23 knots light as a mean of high runs and 16.57 loaded. A speed through the water of about 15.4 knots is sufficient to show 16 knots average round trip from New York to New Orleans. After this time the vessel made fourteen round trips to New Orleans, but failed on any trip to show the contract speed.

The management of the Southern Pacific Company always refusing to provide a fire-room force either satisfactory to the shipbuilding company or in numbers and efficiency adequate for the type of boilers, met with continual and increasing difficulties in the operation of the watertube boilers. These boilers, on the builders' trials, were shown to have fulfilled the efficiency guaranteed, and were built by manufacturers whose experience in land and marine boilers is unexcelled. Although difficulties were encountered in obtaining efficient screw propellers for the Creole the shipbuilders continued to give this matter attention and had secured satisfactory screws. The turbines were shown on trial and in service to have obtained the designed efficiency and economy and to be successful in mechanical operation, notwithstanding the severe treatment which they received from excessive boiler priming, brought about by inexperience and carelessness in the fire room. Notwithstanding the fact that the shipbuilding company installed assisted fire-room draft on the Creole, and carefully overhauled all auxiliaries on the vessel, subjected to unusual deterioration from the use of salt and muddy water in the boilers, and excessive priming from careless water tending, the boiler difficulties continued to increase until the vessel was laid up by the Southern Pacific Company, with the boilers in such condition that it was not safe to continue operation without careful overhauling.

"The Southern Pacific Company has demanded of the shipbuilding Company that they should remove the Curtis turbines and Babcock & Wilcox watertube boilers from the Creole, and install at their own expense reciprocating engines and Scotch boilers. The shipbuilding company, in declining to do this, maintains that the turbines, boilers and engine room auxiliaries are exactly as were contracted for, and are capable under proper and intelligent operation of fulfilling the contract conditions. Considering the conditions of operation by the Southern Pacific Company, and particularly the scale of compensation of mechanical staff adopted by the company, it is probable that the operation of watertube boilers is not suitable, although they were recommended by and acceptable to the company's management at the time the contract was made. If the shipbuilders had sacrificed the greater turbine efficiency, due to the higher pressure and drier steam of the watertube boilers, and installed Scotch boilers originally, they are confident that the turbine equipment would have given satisfaction, and that the difficulties experienced are due to the conditions of operation of the watertube boilers, the turbines having stood punishment through which no reciprocating engine could have passed.

Marine Engineering Log,  August 1909.

Heavy seas and high winds in the Gulf of Mexico were reported by all arriving ships at New Orleans on 23 August 1909 and Momus did not come in until 12:30 p.m. that day, landing 140 passengers:

The main delay of the Momus was chiefly occasioned by the failure of the pilot boat to land the bar pilot for almost two hours. Passengers report a very interesting time during this interval. The Underwriter, the pilot boat, was unable to come close to the Momus on account of the heavy seas, and the passengers from the liner could see the smaller craft tossing on the waves, which often bared the keel of the pilot boat. The waves were so high that passengers on the promenade deck were drenched with the dashing of the spray.

The Times-Democrat, 24 August 1909.

Credit: The Times Democrat, 22 September 1909.

A number of ships which have reached New Orleans had a strenuous experience on the Gulf during the storm. The Southern Pacific's big steamer, the Antilles, however, rode the storm in fine shape, standing off from the passes during the height of the storm, and then making port through the heroic act of one of the bar pilots boarding the vessel in a very dangerous sea.

The Lafayette Advertiser, 24 September 1909. 

It was an "active" tropical storm season the late summer of 1909 and "considerable apprehension was felt in regard to the safety of ocean steamers due in this port yesterday, particularly the Morgan line steamship Antilles which was due here yesterday morning from New York…" (The Times-Democrat, 21 September  1909). The vessel reported by wireless the previous day it was impossible for her to enter the mouth of the river in the face of 60 mph winds, but Antilles managed to make port late the following evening.  It was, in fact, one of the severest storms in the history of New Orleans, causing some $250,000 in damage, killing at least five people and leaving the city cut off from railroad and wire communication with sustained winds of 65 mph. 

One of the most daring acts recorded during the storm was the boarding of the Antilles Monday afternoon outside the Passes by Pilot Frederick R. Blasland from a yawl pulled by Boatswain Ed Wright during the height of the storm. These photographs were taken by A.M. Blampkin of New Orleans, a passenger on the Antilles. Upper picture shows the pilot boat Underwriter overhauling the Antilles. The middle one shows the Underwriter rounding to, preparatory to launching the yawl with the pilot and boatswain.The lower one shows the pilot in the yawl watching for a chance to board the Antilles. Credit: The Semi-Weekly Times-Democrat, 24 September 1909.

Antilles landed 143 passengers who described the thrilling boarding of the ship by a river pilot the afternoon of the 20th. "Under so skillful a commander of Captain John Burns and with an excellent crew and so stout a ship as the Antilles, however, there did not seem to me any serious danger," passenger General Dudley Avery told reporters.  With great danger to himself, pilot F.R. Blasland, formerly the captain of Chalmette, managed to board Antilles from the pilot boat Underwriter. "With Blasland at the wheel the Antilles was then head for the Pass and with a majestic turn under the skillful handling of the pilot finally made her way into the river and what was relatively smooth water, to the immense satisfaction of every one on board." (Daily Enterprise Leader, 22 September 1909).

Antilles even managed to dock without assistance of a tugboat on arrival. Making a quick turnaround to get back on schedule, she  sailed from New Orleans on 22 September 1909 for New York. 

Credit: The Times-Democrat, 13 October 1909.

Antilles departed New Orleans on 9 October 1909 at 10:00 a.m. and Momus from New York the same day. Among the 60 passengers aboard Antilles was Governor Jared Y. Sanders who, "run down by incessant work," was taking the voyage for relaxation. Instead, he and everyone aboard was sailing right into the path of another hurricane roaring up from the West Indies and coming up the Florida coast.

On 11 October 1909 Antilles was in the teeth of a full gale off the Florida coast that evening, and on the 12th, The News-Star reported "It is one of the sturdiest vessels in the line an officials of the line are confident she will pass through the hurricane without mishaps. On the other hand, the friends and other relatives of many passengers on board from this port were thrown into the greatest anxiety by the report of the West Indian hurricane sweeping northwards." Key West was wrecked by the storm which reached its height at 1:00 p.m. on the 11th with winds of 100 mph. 

At 8:00 p.m. on 12 October 1909 a wireless message, picked up by the Ward Line's Morro Castle from Antilles, stated she had been beached on Grand Bank, Bahama Islands: "Capt. Burns of steamship Antilles advises steamer ashore, latitude 24 43 longitude 79 07, Asks for assistance and to take passengers off." This put her 180 miles due east of Key West.  Fortunately, Southern Pacific's manager C.W. Jungen was in New Orleans on an inspection trip and immediately coordinated efforts to assist the ship and her passengers.  Cables were sent to Chapman-Merritt Wrecking Co. in Havana for a salvage run and Charleston, S.C. Comus (Capt. H.T. Boyd) which was lying at New Orleans was immediately dispatched and expected to reach Antilles by the evening of the 15th. In addition, Momus, headed southbound from New York, was reported to be close to Antilles' position. Jungen told reporters he did not think the passenger were in any danger as the storm passed quickly and where Antilles had ground was soft, white sand and shells and could be easily pulled off by tugs. He estimated she was about 25 miles off her normal course.

A wireless from Momus received on 13 October 1909 reported she was unaffected by the storm, but had been in wireless contact with Antilles for several days. She arrived at New Orleans on the 14th at 10:20 a.m., her 225 passengers constituting a record number ever landed by a single Morgan liners. 

A reassuring wireless from Antilles on 13 October 1909 advised that all aboard were well and content to await the arrival of Comus to take them off, discounting wild reports of the ship listing heavily. Comus, due to reach the scene by noon the 15th, was to be joined by El Dia, from Galveston, and it was anticipated that between them, all passengers would be landed at New York on the 18th or two days late. Capt. Burns reported Antilles was resting easily in smooth water and in no immediate danger. 

On 14 October 1909, Capt. Burns wired "Ship in good condition, lying in twenty-three feet of water. Weather fine and passengers O.K. Full food supply for passengers good for days to come." No wrecking tugs were available out of Havana or Charleston so ones had to be dispatched from New York and, with Comus and El Dia, expected to be on the scene the following day.  

Comus reached Antilles at 11:25 a.m. on 15 October 1909 and by 4:20 p.m. all the passengers and their baggage had been transferred and on their way to New York by 4:45 p.m. Antilles was reported resting on a soft white clay and sandy bottom. Comus and her passengers arrived at New York on the 18th where Gov. Sanders gave reporters an account of the grounding:

We had experienced two days of heavy weather capped on Monday morning by a hurricane, in which observations were impossible. Neither the captain nor the passengers felt much alarm, however, and most of us had retired when, shortly before midnight Monday, the Antilles struck a sandy bottom with a shock that brought everybody up in a minute. There was no panic, and Capt. Burns assured us, after a hasty examination, the boat was in no Immediate danger. 

Meanwhile the constant splutter of the wireless overhead informed us that news of our plight was being flashed out to all the world.

From Monday night until Friday we lay in waiting  for the arrival of the Comus, which we learned had been sent to take us off. For nearly four days we did not see a sail or any other signs of life except an occasional sea gull and one flamingo, which had been caught in the hurricane and was brought on board, where it died of exhaustion. With a calm sea again, the passengers beguiled the time as best they could. The ship lay in about twenty-four feet of water, with her nose nearly three feet in the shifting sand.

Gov. Sanders gave a more detailed and animated account to the Daily Picayune in his suite at the Waldorf in New York:

We cleared from New Orleans on Saturday night and Sunday, all day, it was rainy and raw, and all of us that knew the region down there knew there was something going to break right soon. I got up at 6 o'clock next morning and it was blowing great guns and raining tomcats. By 8 o'clock it was a hurricane all out of the sou'east. Stand amidships and you couldn't see forward of the bridge nor aft to the taffrail for the rain.

I never saw in my life such a blow. Believe me or not, but 9 feet of solid 2x4 oak rail was blown oft the iron stanchions. The Antilles is a big ship, but those seas just took her and shook her, and then knocked her over the head, stove in skylights and half-drowned the cabins, punched the bottoms out of boats on the davits, and, of course, nearly turned the passengers inside out.

We had a hundred or so, lots of them, from Louisiana and Mississippi, and more from about New York here. Both kinds get sick sometimes. 

At 11:25 that Tuesday morning the barometer was lower than I ever saw it before. At noon we ran into the dead center o hurricane, out of a wind of heaven knows how many miles, into a flat calm. Thirty-five minutes after that we caught the hurricane again, but in the opposite quarter.

It was out of the north-west now and harder than ever. That night at 11 o'clock we ran on the Great Bahama bank. 

I was in my cabin when she struck. We went ashore easy and kindly and ran ahead until we were fast aground. It wasn't quite like turning over in bed, but there was nothing like a shock to your nerves until it was all settled that we had got there. Out on deck it was dark as the inside of a cow. They couldn't see the jackstaff from the bridge, but she went on easy; it seemed sure we were on some thing soft that wouldn't rip her open. We quieted down the women folks. There wasn't nowhere as much as excitement as might be expected. 

We had soundings all around the ship within a few minutes. and found she was in twenty- three feet of water on a sand and clay bottom. An earthquake couldn't have hurt her there, with no coral nor rocks to tear her open, and the captain came and told us so. From the bottom he found with the lead and, seeing there were no breakers anywhere around, he figured we were on the great Bahama Bank, which we were. 

Well, there we stayed. The storm blew out that night and by Wednesday noon it was flat and calm with lots of sunshine a blue water with hardly a ripple. The wireless fixed us up, of course, getting help for us and sending news ashore that we were safe. The Momus picked up our message and was coming to help us, but the captain didn't see it that way, seeing she was bound back to New Orleans and we were headed for New York. So we waited till the Comus was sent out for us from New Orleans. From the day the storm hit us till she hove in sight there wasn't a smear of smoke in sight of us.

The Weekly Iberville South, 30 October 1909.

Capt. Burns and part of the crew remained aboard Antilles. She was refloated at 2:30 p.m. on 21 October 1909 and at 6:00 p.m. proceeded to New York under her own steam with her cargo intact. It was believed her hull had not been badly damaged but she would be drydocked on arrival for inspection. Antilles came into New York on the 25th, the same day Comus arrived back at Orleans. 

Antilles went into Morse Dry Dock where a number of her hull plates were replaced, tail shaft and engines overhauled before she was undocked on 18 November 1909.

Meanwhile, while Creole was being "made good"  (at least as far as Southern Pacific was concerned) in Philadelphia,  the legal issues surrounding her were taken to a new level in Boston. On 20 October 1909 cross suits were filed in the U.S. Circuit Court, Boston, by Fore River Shipbuilding Co. seeking to recover $100,000 as the last installment due on Creole, $125,000 for repairs done to the vessel following delivery and $546,929 for labor and various work, and Southern Pacific asking for $600,000 damages for breach of contract in the construction of the vessel. 

On 12 November 1909 Southern Pacific announced that Louisiana mineral water would be used aboard Momus and Antilles with individual bottles provided for each cabin and also on the dining tables as well being used to make coffee. The same water, from the geyser in Hammond, La., was also being used on all the dining cars of the Illinois Central.

It was reported on 26 November 1909 that Capt. John Burns had been relieved of command of Antilles and would go to El Sud. Gov. Sanders "made a strong efforts to save Capt. Burns but failed."

Now commanded by Capt. H.T. Boyd, Antilles resumed service upon her departure from New York on 28 November 1909. She arrived at New Orleans on the morning of 2 December. 

The vessel had undergone a thorough overhauling while in the dry docks, and turned over to the Morgan Line at good as new. Capt. Boyd said that only slight repairs were necessary, as only a few plates on the vessel's bottom had been wrenched out of position by the pounding on the Bahama Hanks. 

'The Antilles demonstrated her seaworthiness during the Florida storm, said Capt. Boyd. 'Had It not been for her stout construction and ability to withstand gales there would have been a different tale to tell. Capt. John Burns, who was in charge of the ship, showed remarkable ability as a navigator, but he was operating against conditions which were superior to the ken of man. The Antilles got into the vortex of the storm which has visited the Florida coast in many years. The gale swept over Key Wet and Sand Keys at the rate of 114 miles an hour, and it created a wall of water which forced the Antilles before if like a toy. No human force could withstand such a hurricane. From what Capt. Burns and the passengers said, the Antilles received the strongest test of her seaworthiness that any ship could be given. It was in the very center of the hurricane, for in the midst of the terrific gale it came to a place where there was a perfect calm. A few seconds later, however, a terrific northeaster began to drive the ship before it, and the huge superstructure acted like a sail. It and the wall of water which forced the vessel along  used under-currents of such rapidity as no human mind could conceive.

'By the greatest good luck the ship was driven upon a soft coral bank. Had it been otherwise she would have been dashed to pieces, and not a one of the 200 passengers would have been left to tell the tale. As it was the Antilles churned against the bank until it made a mixture or water and coral as thick as mortar. It ground against this, and the steel bottom and plates resisted the force to such a degree that not a particle of the highly perishable cargo was damaged by water. Capt. Burns deserves the greatest credit for his seamanlike conduct. Not a person was injured in a slightest degree, and there was universal commendation of the officers' conduct by the passengers.'

The Times-Democrat, 3 December 1909.

In addition to Capt. Boyd, Antilles had a new First Officer (C.M. Medboe) and Second Officer (H.G. Yordt) who, like their captain, came over from Comus. 

Momus alongside Southern Pacific's New Orleans wharves, c. 1910. Credit: eBay auction photo.

1910

Anticipating that year's traditional Mardi Gras peak season, it was reported on 20 January 1910 that Antilles, sailing from New York on 2 February, would be landing 200 visitors in time for the Carnival and that the ship was already fully booked for the trip. She arrived at New Orleans on the 7th.

In March 1910, Momus was at Tietjen & Lang Dry Docks, New York, having her crank shafts turned up at the machine shops, each weighing 40 tons each. 

It was announced on 29 March 1910 that on her next voyage south, all of Momus' accommodation would be reserved for Shriners attending their 36th annual session of the imperial council in New Orleans in April. With no few than 300 nobles of Mecca Temple aboard, Momus cleared New York on 6 April. "It will be a Shriners' boat throughout, and advices received at headquarter show that something of a record crowd will be brought to New Orleans on the craft." (Times-Democrat, 5 April 1910). Momus also included her cargo an "automobile ambulance" for the Charity Hospital donated by an anonymous patron. 

On 2 April 1910, The Times-Democrat reported that Southern Pacific would maintain a bi-weekly service on the New York-New Orleans route and, unlike the previous year, be able to stick to it with five ships on the run instead of four, with the expected return of Creole in May.  She would join Antilles, Momus, Creole, Proteus and Comus on the route. "The demand for space on our line is usually very heavy and we can doubtless use all five of our vessels to good advantage by the beginning of the summer tourist season,"  L.H. Nutting, general passenger agent, told the paper. 

In another full ship charter, every berth aboard Momus for her 11 May 1910 sailing from New York was engaged for the National Credit Men's Association meeting in New Orleans. 

The re-engined Creole left Cramp's on 14 May 1910 for New York, arriving there at 8:38 a.m. on the following day. 

On May 14 and 15 the vessel was brought around from Cramps' Yard to the Southern Pacific Co.'s dock in New York, and, while no attempt was made to conduct a regular trial trip, observations of the performance of the engines and boilers were taken, with very satisfactory results. Advantage was taken of the convenient location of the measured mile at the Delaware breakwater, to standardize the screws, with the result that, without any attempt at forcing, a mean speed of over 16 knots was obtained, with a little over 7,000 horsepower. The vessel was, of course, not down to her load draft at this time, but the boilers were steaming so easily that there is no question but that the same speed can be obtained in full-load condition. It is especially to be noted, as showing the splendid workmanship on the machinery, that the vessel had not left the dock at Cramps until she went on this trip, so that the performance attained was during the first time the engines had been operated in free route.

International Marine Engineering, July 1910.

The welcome news that Creole was to finally re-entered service was announced on  16 May 1910. "This ship has been one of the unfortunates in the business. It was originally constructed as a turbine and was never successful as a maker of schedules," noted the Times-Democrat.  She would be commanded by Capt. B.F. Jacobs. "The Creole comes with entire new furnishings, and is practically an entirely new ship," added the Daily Picayune. 

The big news of 1910 was the long anticipated return of Creole or, rather remarkably, for a vessel three years old, her proper and successful introduction onto the service she was built for and her two sisters had been faithfully plying. Few if any liner had a more frustrating beginning but finally, Creole had been truly "put right" and "made good" from the moment she left Cramp's.  

Creole (Capt. B.F. Jacobs) sailed from New York on 24 May 1910 with 54 First Class passengers and new lease on life. 

"The trip of the Creole created great interest in maritime circles throughout the country. A. S. Hebble, supervising engineer of the Morgan lines, was aboard to observe the movements of the ship, and W.S. Leand, a marine construction engineer of the Fall River Shipbuilding Company, which built the vessel, was a passenger. Both were well pleased with the run and said it was sufficient demonstration of the powers of the Creole." (Times-Democrat).

Few ships had more expected of them than Creole and she more than exceeded them, arriving at New Orleans the morning of the 30th after a record breaking passage, averaging 16.3 knots from Ambrose Light to Diamond Shoals lightship and despite being slowed during a 13-hour period of fog, she had to be slowed down so as not to arrive ahead of her schedule.

J.H.R. Parsons, Southern Pacific's general passenger agent and other officials were on the wharf to welcome the arrival of the liner, which the Daily Picayune described as "one of the most palatial ships plying the American flag."

Among those aboard was Southern Pacific Atlantic Lines manager C.W. Jungen who expressed his delight with the ship's performance to a reporter from The Times-Democrat:

"The Creole has come up to the mark. Its trip from New York was an ample demonstration of  its capabilities in every particular, and the capabilities way it made time all along the voyage was evidence of the success of its new equipment. We had to hold the engines back almost all the way, and even under the most unfavorable fog conditions we arrived ahead of time. There can be no doubt as to the ship's behavior from now on."  He added that the repairs and re-engining had cost $275,000 and "the ship practically new as to its interior."  

Creole sailed for New York on 1 June 1910 and arrived there on the 5th after putting in an astonishing performance. Doing the run in 101 hours, she came in about 19 hours ahead of scheduled time and setting up a new record for the northbound run which Antilles had previously set at 110 hours.  Creole, which left New Orleans at 10:00 a.m. on 1 June, reached New York on the 5th at 3:00 p.m., clocking 4 days 5 hours for the run. "The trip is the swiftest made by any Morgan Line ship, and is by long odds the fastest time for an ocean voyage from New Orleans to New York," observed the Times-Democrat (7 June 1910).  The Daily Picayune reported that her average speed was 17.5 knots for the passage. 

The vessel sailed from New York May 25 in her regular passenger service between New York and New Orleans and arrived at South Pass, mouth of Mississippi river, at 7:58 P. M., May 29, 6 hours ahead of schedule. On the return trip the vessel sailed from New Orleans June 1 at 10:10 A. M. and arrived in New York at 3:00 P. M., June 5, 16 hours ahead of schedule and breaking all north-bound records between the two ports. The run south bound, bar to bar, was made in 103 hours 15 minutes, despite the fact that the vessel lost 2 hours 45 minutes between Scotland Light and Diamond Shoal on account of being operated at reduced speed in dense fog. The run, north bound, bar to bar, was made in 92 hours 20 minutes. The average speed over the bottom, bar to bar both ways, was 16.55 knots, and the vessel was fully loaded both ways, so that conditions were thoroughly normal.

International Marine Engineering, July 1910.

Credit: Life, 1910.

Travel to New York by Southern Pacific ships is proving the heaviest in years, and every boat leaving the Toulouse Street pier has its passenger accommodations well taken up. The palatial Creole, and her sister ships, the Antilles and the Momus are favorites with the traveling public, but the Proteus and Comus, the two smaller ships, also have their share of admirers, and the same up-to-date service and modern convenience is to be had on all the vessels, and the same schedule is followed, there is really little room for choice.

The Daily Picayune, 24 June 1910.

Upon arrival at New Orleans on 27 June 1910 with 159 passengers, it was reported that Antilles had encountered a remarkable school of whales en route on her northbound trip:

Perhaps one of the most unusual sights ever witnessed by Morgan Line passengers in the history of the company was seen on the last trip of the steam ship Antilles to New York. It consisted of a school of large whales, which were seen disporting themselves in the waters off Cape Hatteras. The school numbered more than fifteen. They were first noticed by Capt. H.T. Boyd, master of the ship, who considered the sight so extraordinary that be had a whistle blown, calling all passengers to the upper decks. Men and women lined the rails, watching the sea monsters for more than half an hour as they spouted throwing streams of water twenty to thirty feet in the air. Officers of the Morgan Line say that it is not unusual to see one or two whales at this season of the year off Cape Hatteras, but not in many years have as many as fifteen been seen as close together.

Hundreds of flying fish were also seen, especially in the Gulf stream and around the Florida straits. On the down trip of the Antilles no whales were sighted, although the passengers spent hours scanning the sea in the hope of seeing a 'spouter.'

The Times-Democrat, 28 June 1910.

Such was the demand for space, that when Antilles sailed from New Orleans on 29 June 1910, eight intending First Class passengers had to contend with being berthed in steerage, and all Second Class one also had to find berths there, although all received the table and deck privileges of their booked class. She took out more than 200 in First Class and Capt. H.T. Body "said the number was the largest he had ever seen apply for passage on any one coastwise steamer." (Times-Democrat, 30 June 1910). 

Momus (Capt. John  Boyd) sailed from New York on 20 July 1910 with 101 passengers and a crew of 120. 

The wireless station at the Charleston, S.C. Navy Yard received a message on 23 July 1910 stating that a fire had been raging in a cargo hold aboard Momus since the previous afternoon. She was reported to be anchored in 12 fathoms off the coast of Southern Florida and Comus had arrived to take off the passengers. Southern Pacific officials "expressed belief that the fire would be confined in afterhold, where is no inflammable freight."Comus had sailed from New Orleans the same day Momus left New York so, by happy coincidence the two ships were very close to passing each other when it was decided to put the passengers off the ship in an abundance of caution while the fire was tackled. The News-Star noted that "the passengers enjoyed the novelty of being transferred from ship to another at sea."

On 24 July 1910 messages were received that reporting that the fire in Momus' after hold was out at 12:15 p.m. after a 34-hour battle by her crew and Comus remaining standing by with her passengers aboard. Her location was not specified but other messages relayed by the Mallory liner Alamo indicated she was anchored off Cape Canaveral.  It was reported on the 25th that Comus was still standing by and had all Momus' passengers aboard and would take them north, "unless the captains of the two vessels believe it is safe for them be to retransferred to Momus." With the fire out, the passengers were retransferred to Momus and she immediately made for New Orleans. 

On 25 July 1910 Southern Pacific could announce that Momus would be able to sail from New York by the 30th, only three days off her original departure of the 27th. 

A delay of only three days is considered remarkable considering the unusual experience through which the Momus went on Saturday and part of yesterday fire broke out in the after hold off the Florida coast Saturday and it raged stubbornly for thirty-plans three hours according to advices re. passenger received by Agent Walker yesterday the fire was extinguished and the vessel continued on her return trip to New Orleans with her own steam The three days’ layover will be given mostly to cleaning the boat and repairing the damage which is under stood to have been only slight owing to the water-proof material used in her construction.

The Shreveport Journal, 25 July 1910.

It was further announced that Momus would dock at New Orleans on 26 July 1910 between 1-2:00 p.m. On the 26th, her arrival was set back to 7:00 p.m. and Southern Pacific stated it would dispatch Momus for New York now on the 28th and that most of her intended cargo north would instead be taken by El Norte which had been diverted from Galveston. In a final twist, Momus managed to run aground on a mudbank at the mouth of the Mississippi the evening of the 26th, refloated the following morning and finally docked at 10:00 a.m.  

The steamship Momus of the Southern Pacific Line, and the flagship of the fleet, docked at her wharf here this morning. Capt. J.S. Boyd reported that thirty-two hours were consumed in fighting the fire which appeared in the after hold of the vessel while off the east coast of Florida last Friday. Four hours were required to haul the vessel off the mud bank on which she stuck near the mouth of the river while coming up the Mississippi last night.

The passengers tell a story of splendid discipline and display of heroism during the trying trlp aboard the Momus.

When the fire in the after hold was discovered an attempt was made to extinguish it with steam, but this failed and water was equally ineffective. The Comus was reached with wireless, and after a conference between the captains of both vessels it was decided to transfer the passenger. They were transhipped, and their baggage,  in the middle of a moonlit evening in a dead calm and without accident in just two hours ten minutes. The Momus was then run into shallow water, the compartment in which the fire was burning was flooded and the flames extinguished. It was then found that the Momus could proceed under her own steam and the passengers were transferred from the Comus to Momus and the trip resumed. The passengers adopted and signed resolutions commending Captain Boyd and crew for the splendid discipline maintained, thanking the captain of the Comus for her assistance and congratulating the Southern Pacific Company on the splendid character of its maritime officers. Captain Boyd says at no time were the passengers in the slightest degree excited, or even anxious. He commented on their great coolness and courage, which was marked, though at no time was there danger of loss of the ship. A portion of the cargo consumed was general merchandise, but until the vessel is discharged it is impossible to state the extent of the loss. The ship will resume her regular trips, leaving here Thursday for New York. The Comus reached New York at 8:55 o'clock this morning.

The Times (Shreveport), 28 July 1910.

The Times-Democrat of 28 July 1910 featured a detailed account of the incident:

The fire in the Momus was discovered at 3 o'clock Friday afternoon as the vessel was speeding south in her regular course off the Florida coast. A few faint traces of smoke floating from the starboard ventilators gave the first intimation. The hatches of the after hold were opened and heavy volume of smoke poured out. It was found necessary to close the hatches again. Immediate steps were taken to fight the fire, and at the same time Capt. Boyd sent word among the passengers not to be alarmed. At first five streams of water were turned on the burning cargo, but the flames had already gained great headway, and in the closely packed hold were difficult to reach. Additional streams were put into service, and during the evening twenty streams were playing into the hold. 

Within a few hours after the fire was discovered the iron plate separating the after hold from the engine room was red hot. The heat in the engine room became intense and smoke gathered there in dense clouds. It seemed that no human being could live in such a place, and it looked as if every moment the men would be forced to abandon the engines. Had this occurred the boat would have been lost, left without power to run for the beach, 180 miles away, to flood her after hold or to maintain the streams of water being used to keep the flames in check.

In this crisis Capt. Boyd ordered steam turned into the engine room. This converted the smoke and cleared the air so the men could work. Then streams of water were kept playing on the heated wall. It was difficult work, but the crew of the Momus fought steadily.

When it became evident that the fire was serious, Capt. Boyd cut in toward the beach, and began to signal for the Comus, which is knew could not be far off.  A Mallory Line steamer and a revenue boat answered, but were not needed, and finally the Comus was reached seventy-five miles away. It was 7 p.m. Friday evening when her wireless operator answered. She was immediately turned toward the point for which the Momus was making. At midnight the Momus reached the beach and the Comus arrived soon afterwards. After a consultation with Capt. Maxson of the Comus, Capt. Boys decided to move the passengers and their baggage to the other ship.

A 3 o'clock Sunday morning the boats were lowered. The sea was smooth as glass and the moon shone brilliantly. All of the passengers were in a good humor, and the scene seemed almost that of a picnic party. They were lowered from the side in boats and rowed across the 100 yards of sparkling sea to the Comus.

Relieved of passengers, the Momus steamed into six fathoms of water, her sea gates opened and compartments three and four filled with water. The entire stern of the boat was submerged. By 6 o'clock an investigation showed the fire had been entirely extinguished. The sea gates were closed and the pumps started. Before noon the after hold was clear of water again. 

Aboard the Comus every care was taken to give the 101 passengers from the Momus the best possible accommodation. The Comus herself had a full compliment of passengers. Capt. Maxson strained every effort to make room for his enforced guests, and succeeded so well that the crowd gave three cheers for him on leaving the boat.

At noon Capt. Boyd had his ship in trim to resume her voyage. The passengers and their baggage were taken back from the Comus and at 12:15 the Momus was under full steam for New Orleans.

Everything proceeded well until off the Mississippi delta rough seas and high wind were encountered and the ship delayed some. Then on entering the river the second accident of the voyage occurred, again delaying the boat Monday night.

Carried by the swift current, the Comus ran into a mud lump at the West Jetties, a short distance from the mouth of the river. The river pilot was at the wheel at the time. The boat was so securely stuck that united services of the tugs Underwriter and Jennie Wilson and the Momus' own engines was found necessary to pull her off the bank. The mud banks at the West Jetties have been considered a menace to shipping for years.

Only superficially damaged, Momus was unloaded by 3:30 p.m. and able to sail for New York at 6:20 p.m.  on 28 July 1910 with 174 passengers. and with every single berth reserved.  It was not possible, however, to remove 310 tons of cement rock in her hold, the result of the wetting of 270 tons of bagged cement and this would have to pick-axed out on arrival at New York. Much of the damaged cargo was coffee and large rolls of newsprint which had swelled into an vast heap that had to be cut out with axes. In all, damage to her cargo was assessed at $45,000.

Momus docked at New York on 1 August 1910 and Southern Pacific announced she would be out of service until 1 September to undergo repairs which included replacing a few plates, complete repainting and removing the cement from her hold.  Her first sailing from New Orleans would be on 7 September.  To make up for her absence and to main the twice weekly service, the turnarounds in New York of the other ships was reduced from five to three days. From New Orleans, the new departures would be Proteus 13 August; Antilles, 17 August; Comus, 20 August; Creole, 24 August; Proteus, 27 August; Antilles, 31 August; Comus, 3 September; and Momus 7 September. 

Southern Pacific, on 13 August 1910, announced that as the repairs were progressing faster than anticipated, it would put Momus back into service on 24 August rather than the 31st.  She left New York with 134 First Class and 13 Second  passengers and the usual pattern of sailings and five day layovers in New York resumed. 

The Momus, flagship of the Southern Pacific's big passenger fleet, came in yesterday morning and her arrival was like the home-coming of a popular member of the family. The Momus was on her first trip since the fire in her hold, which was so magnificently fought by Captain John Boyd and his capable crew. 

The Town Talk, 31 August 1910.

Momus returned to New Orleans on 30 August 1910. Capt. Boyd reported a pleasant voyage with only a "a little bit of squally weather." The return was marred when, unloading cargo that day, 12 bags of cement fell from a pallet and severely injured two longshoremen. 

Momus docking at New Orleans, c. 1910. Credit: eBay auction photo.

The traditional end of summer busy season on southbound sailings was shown when Antilles came into New Orleans on 19 September 1910 with 173 passengers and almost every berth in First and Second Class booked. 

It was another active hurricane season and on 20 October 1910 considerable anxiety was felt over Momus which was transiting the Florida Straits when a powerful storm was sweeping up the coast, but she was able to wireless that she was safe and already within 250 miles of the Mississippi bar.  Thirty-six hours late, Momus dock at New Orleans on the 21st and reported having to heave to for 28 hours while at the northeastern edge of the hurricane, just off Jupiter Light. Owing to her late arrival, the ship's northbound sailing was put back from the 22nd to 10:00 a.m. the following day.   Creole, too, was 26 hours late coming into New Orleans on the 21st, and also have to hove-to for 24 hours on the 18th and reported seeing a sailing vessel and two steamships driven ashore while passing through the Florida straits. 

Credit: National Geographic, 1911.

1911

Detained by heavy fog at the mouth of the Mississippi River, Creole did not dock at New Orleans until 10:00 p.m. on January 1911. She had full compliment of passengers and it was necessary to hold the outbound Southern Pacific trains for the west to prevent connecting passengers from missing their onward connections. 

Credit: Life, 22 December 1910.

Creole was the Mardi Gras boat that season, offering a special roundtrip from New York departing 22 February 1911 with a two-day stay aboard privilege offered during the turnaround at New York. 

Again for the summer season, it was announced on 18 April 1911 that Southern Pacific would maintain sailings from New York twice weekly on Wednesdays and Saturdays commencing the departure of Antilles (Capt. H.T Boyd) for New York with 64 saloon passengers and number in steerage.

A serious fire broke out in Southern Pacific's North River, New York pier at the foot of Bank Street on the afternoon of 3 June 1911.  The two-alarm blaze gutted much of the second story of the structure and at one point appeared to threaten Antilles and Creole lying at the adjacent pier and they were pulled into the stream as a precaution before the fire was finally extinguished in three quarters of an hour. The damage was estimated at $20,000.

Among Antilles' passengers landing at New Orleans on 26 June 1911 were 25 enlisted men of the U.S. Army who were transferred to the 11:30 a.m. Sunset Limited for San Antonio and deployment at Fort Sam Houston.

The men celebrated the progress of the strike in joyous mood. A thousand or more members of the union gathered in mass meeting near the river front to-day, in view of the anchored vessel, and roared announcement out across the water to the silent ships that they were ready "to fight all summer."

The Times-Democrat, 18 June 1911.

Amid calls for a general strike by 15,000-20,000 coastwise seamen and stewards, 50 stewards walked off Momus at New York on 17 June 1911 just before she was to sail and threatened to take 40 more with them and coal passers. The men were demanding overtime pay, better quarters and food.  Comus was able to sail from New Orleans the same day, however. Before the day was out, the strike had spread to all four Morgan liners in New York-- Antilles, El  Rio and El Norte-- and some 500 crew off their jobs.  

In a chaotic scene the following day, when Momus cleared her pier at the foot of W. 11th Street at 3:00 a.m. and with four tugs went to an anchorage below Liberty Island.  It was found her engines were working badly and discovered that sand had been put in the bearings.  While this was being rectified, 14 firemen and four cooks engaged as strikebreakers sailed aboard the Morgan Line tug El Amigo followed by another tug C.P. Raymond manned by strikers which came alongside Momus and took 36 union men off the liner.  When the tug returned to Momus for a second time, she was warned off by ships officers who then turned fire hoses on the tug. Unnoticed during the melee, 10 more men deserted the ship via  launch and 17 passengers worried they would be further detailed, left Momus  as well.  By 3:00 p.m. the liner numbered 100 crew aboard, about 40 short her usual compliment. She was finally on her way, some 36 hours late, at 5:30 p.m.  Antilles and El Cid could still not sail for lack of crews and the crew of the tug El Chico also walked off the job.

When Momus finally arrived at New Orleans late on the morning of 24 June 1911, she was 46 hours late and her 65 passengers had endured a pretty miserable voyage:

With eighty strike breakers aboard as stokers, cooks, stewards and sailors, the steamship Momus landed at the Southern Pacific wharf yesterday morning forty-six hours late. The members of the crew were picked up from the streets of New York, and, according to the statements of the officers, they were about as unskilled and worthless a lot as could have been found. It is said that the ship lost time because of the inefficiency, and that the company will ship them back to New York rather than be bothered with them any longer. A crew can be pieced together here, it is said, before the ship sails today. A new of the strike breakers who proved themselves fair workers being retained. 

The Times-Democrat, 25 June 1911. 

Originally scheduled to sail from New York on 24 June 1911 at 10:00 a.m., Momus was finally off the following day at 6:00 p.m.

In a terrible tragedy, three men-- Chief Officer H.E. Boesch (aged 28), Boatswain J.P. Sery (aged 21) and Seaman R. Norberg-- were washed overboard and drown when a rogue wave swept the forward deck of Momus on 3 November 1911 while the ship was navigating the Floridia straits in a 50-mph gale.  The ship had been battened down and the passengers sent below as the blow came on and the men had gone out on the main deck to fix the cap to ventilator which had come loose and was flooding the steerage. 

Momus had experienced bad weather almost as soon as she sailed north from New Orleans and after noon on Friday, the wind had shifted to northwest and up to 40 mph. Hitting head seas, Capt. Boyd reduced speed to about four knots.

Although the seas were very high, the Momus was riding them well, and no particular danger appeared to attend the task. P. Gibbons and O. Sutherland, seamen, were standing in the shelter of the deckhouse watching the three men forward. 

Boesch and his assistants were stooping with their backs turned to the bow when, without any warning, a great wave arose right in front of the ship and swept over the deck. The three men at work were overwhelmed. The chief officer and the boatswain were swept over the port side, the seaman over the starboard side. 

Gibbons and Sutherland dashed into the flood of water on deck and endeavored to grab bold of Norberg, who was jammed against the rail for a moment. They failed to reach him and both were painfully bruised by being swept against a winch.

Capt. Boyd was just climbing the gangway to the bridge when his men went overboard. He threw all the life preservers he could reach into the sea, signaled for full speed astern, and ordered a boat lowered. This was a dangerous proceeding, owing to the necessity for swinging the ship around to allow of lowering the boat on the leeward side. The boat was manned by Second Officer Munigkelt, Quartermasters George Thompson and H. Anderson, Seamen J. Ludwig, W. Hamilton, and H. Hanson, Second Baker F. Olsen and Third Cook C. Hocheim. 

By the time the boat reached the water, several of the passengers were on deck. They were terrified at the chances taken by the would-be live-savers. The lifeboat was tossed about like a peanut shell. It was impossible to do more than keep it headed to the waves.  Once, the men in the boat, said they got a glimpse of an oil skin coat immersed In a wave, but could not reach it.

After the small boat had been buffeted by the seas fifteen minutes. Capt. Boyd ordered the search abandoned. There was no hope remaining that the three men who had been swept off the ship were alive. Then came a terrific task in getting the lifeboat and the crew back to the ship.

It was found impossible to get the small boat under the port quarter, where her davits were located. A lee was made on the starboard side and the boat was made fast to a line thrown from the main deck. Then the men were hoisted aboard singly by means of a line tied under their arms. Finally the entire crew got the lifeboat aboard and lashed it to the deck forward, where it remained when the Momus made her dock to-day.

Capt. Boyd says the wave that swept his men into the sea was of the tidal variety. For several hours the waves  had been running at uniform height and at a uniform distance apart. The big wave seemed to pop right out of the sea. It was twice as high as the one that preceded it or the one that followed, and struck the ship right at the bow, instead of quartering, as the others had done.

Boesch, the lost chief officer, had been fifteen years with the Morgan Line and seven years on the Momus. He was promoted to the position of chief officer a year ago for heroism in the thrilling experience of the Momus in July 1911 when Capt. Boyd and his crew brought her into New Orleans afire. Boesch's home was at Wakefield Mass. Seery and Norberg lived in this city.

The Times-Democrat, 7 November 1911.

Momus arrived at New York on 6 November 1911 with her flags at half-mast.  

Detroit Publishing Co. card of Momus, Antilles and Creole. Credit: eBay auction photo. 

1912

Delayed by heavy fog outside the river, Creole crossed the bar at 8:25 p.m. on 18 March 1912 and finally arrived at her New Orleans pier the following morning, "there had been some anxiety over the non arrival of the vessel, as she carried a large number of passengers." (Times-Democrat). Her late arrival also caused her departure for New York to be put back from the 20th to the following morning. 

Antilles suffered a failure to her steering gear not long after departing New Orleans on 20 April 1912.  She spent that night anchored off Fort St. Philip effecting repairs and then further delayed when thick fog rolled in and she was not able to continue her voyage until the following morning.  

Credit: New Orleans Item, 25 April 1912.

The next sailing for New York, by Creole, on 24 April 1912, was also delayed when she struck a mud lump at the mouth of the Mississippi, near the Jetties,  at 1:00 a.m. the following morning. She was pulled off at 6:40 p.m. by the tug Wilmot and continued on her voyage. 

In the wake of the Titanic tragedy attention was focused on the lifeboat capacity of liners. An inspection ensured of American coastal liners and of six Morgan line ships seen at New York, it was reported on 1 May 1912 that they had between them boats for 2,358 persons or well beyond capacity. Antilles, for example, which carried 463 persons had lifeboat capacity for 624. 

When the HAPAG liner Bermuda went aground at the head of the South Pass at the mouth of the Mississippi after sailing from New Orleans on 6 May 1912, it caused the detour of the incoming Atenas of United Fruit to the Southwest Pass and the delay of the inbound Antilles which had to anchor off the Bar until 7:30 a.m. when Bermuda was pulled off and she did not arrived in New Orleans until later that day. 

That summer saw another wave of labor unrest.  When Antilles' schedule departure from New York on the morning of 29 June 1912 was postponed when 45  of her engine room crew, mostly Spanish, walked off the job and said to be egged on by "three Irishmen," Capt. Boyd would have none of it.  Summoning the local U.S. Shipping Commissioner J.C. Baumann and Deputy J.E. Flynne to the ship who then read to the crew the articles governing mutiny as they had sign articles for the round trip in New York and an offense to desert ship, punishable by a $2,000 fine or ten years in prison.  When they still refused to go back to work, they were put ashore and line officials scoured the waterfront for replacements and Antilles anchored off Algier Point in the river. The replacements were taken out to her by the S.P. tug El Moro.  After a 24-hour delay, she and her 150 passengers were on their way to New York  by 10:00 a.m. on the 30th. 

The forty-five men taken aboard Saturday night were all negroes, many of whom are making their first ocean voyage,  but the quick run down the river indicated that they have proved competent, as the Antilles' run to the mouth of the river was up to her standard, according to Agent E. E. Lamberton of the Southern Pacific. If the New Orleans negroes prove to be up to the requirements they will be given steady employment on the ships owned by this company, as it is not believed that any agreement will be made with the union again.

In nearly every case the strikers are composed of foreigners, who. in the majority of cases, have not the slightest knowledge of the English language. When ordered quit work they obeyed the mandate of the union, but most of them were unable to give any reason for leaving their positions. The Antilles' trouble was said to have been caused by three Irishmen employed in the engine room as oilers, and who spread, dissatisfaction among the Spaniards an caused them to quit. None oft the Spaniards has even an elementary knowledge of the union's constitution or by-laws, but simply joined in New York in order to get a berth aboard the vessel.

The Times-Democrat, 1 July 1912.

On 1 July 1912 Federal Marshals, with drawn revolvers, arrested 16 of Antilles crew who were charged with mutiny and revolt, amid a crowd of 150 crew and union members the local headquarters of the union in New Orleans. Unable to make bail, the 16, none of whom could speak a word of English, were remanded to prison awaiting a hearing on the 3rd. 

More trouble ensued when Creole docked at New Orleans on 1 July 1912 and 21 firemen,  four water tenders and 12 coal passers left the ship and also charged with desertion. 

At 10 o'clock this morning the Creole will get under way for New York, taking with her a crew of negroes to supplant the foreign element which deserted the ship on Monday. The men are signed for the round trip, and if they make good they will be re-engaged by the company. So far the negroes have demonstrated the fact that they are well able to stand the strenuous duty imposed upon them, and the company is well please with them.

It was thought at first perhaps they would not come up to the standard, of the foreigners, but when the Antilles succeeded in breaking her previous records on tie run down the river Sunday this belief was dissipated.

The Times-Democrat, 3 July 1912.

Creole was able to sail on 3 July 1912 at 10:00 a.m. 

Thanks to the strikes, Southern Pacific could now boast of an all-American engine crew and it henceforth engaged New Orleans blacks as engine crew and stokers exclusively. Capt. Maxson of Comus said they "were far superior to the men who left the vessel in New York," and the Times-Democrat of 7 July stated "The New Orleans negroes who were shipped on the Creole and the Antilles have given a splendid account of themselves, particularly the firemen, who have enabled the ships to make better time between here and New York than ever before."

Excelsior, which had blown out one of her cylinders in the Gulf of Mexico in May and laid up for repairs, was pressed into service as an accommodation for the replacement crews and on the Algiers side of the river. Many of the men had certificates as first class firemen and more than 100 men on hand to ship out as needed. 

On 10 July 1912 Momus and Chalmette arrived at New Orleans from New York and Havana respectively with their new crews which had proved very satisfactory according to the Times-Democrat: "According to the captains of both vessels, the negroes stood up well under the strain, and it is believed that they will prove equal, if not superior, to the striking employees of the company, who, in most eases, are Spaniards. It is the in intention of the company to weed the incompetent negroes out, and eventually, It is thought, the company will be able to boast of a first-class crew."   As it was Momus was delayed in docking at New Orleans owing to being detained at New York finding replacement crew. She was late, too, in departing for New York, sailing the evening of the 10th.

The case against the Antilles strikers went before  a Grand Jury on 17 July 1912 and indictments against 41 members returned on 25th. Most of the accused had already fled the country and their bonds forfeited.

It was reported by the Times-Democrat on 9 September 1912 that Southern Pacific, one of the first railroads to adopt oil fuel for its locomotives, was actively considering converting its steamships to the fuel to save on labor costs and avoid strikes by stokers and trimmers. "The change will be made gradually, it is said, but if possible the big passenger ships Momus, Antilles and Creole and the Comus and Proteus will be changed by the commencement of the heavy southbound tourist business."

When the Southern Pacific steamship Momus swings into the middle of the river this morning for her regular trip to New York, Capt. John S. Boyd will starting on his one hundred and first voyage between New Orleans and New York as commander of the ship.

The Times-Democrat, 18 September 1912.

With her departure from New York on 18 September 1912, Momus began her 115th voyage and the 101st under the command of Capt. John S. Boyd.  Of her 115 trips, 13 had been made on the Havana run and the others to New York, all but two under the command of Capt. Boyd who had put in some 30 years service with the company, 20 of which were as captain, and in a seafaring career that had begin at the age of 16. 

Credit: Wall Street Journal, 14 November 1912.

1913

The flagship Momus again had the honor of making the annual Mardi Gras season voyage from New York to New Orleans, arriving there on 16 January 1913 with 125 passengers.  A second Mardi Gras voyage departed New York 29 January, arriving New Orleans on 3 February. 

An exceptionally delayed Antilles finally docked at the St. Ann Street wharf, New Orleans, at 8:00 a.m. on 25 January 1913 after being held up by persistent heavy fog off the Southwest Pass entrance to the Mississippi River since 4:00 p.m. on the 23rd. She had been scheduled to dock at noon that day but Capt. Boyd, taking no chances, was obliged to anchor and wait out the fog. Her northbound sailing was put back to the 27th at 5:00 p.m. as a consequence. 

Destined for the Mexican border, Southern Pacific was contracted to transport 284 soldiers of the U.S. Army to Texas City via ship and train with the first contingent, totaling 136 officers and enlisted men, departing New York on Proteus on 26 March 1913 followed by 193 on Antilles, arriving New Orleans on 3 April, and thence by special S.P. train to Texas City. Most of the troops were from New York, some from the Governor's Island Barracks. In all, Antilles landed 308 passengers, her most to date. Another contingent of 125 U.S. Army soldiers bound for deployment at Texas City arrived at New Orleans aboard Antilles on 10 July and another 50 on her arrival on the 28th.

Another addition to passenger lists that summer, 99 Chinese strikebreakers were landed at New Orleans from Creole 24 July 1913 for work aboard a United Fruit Co. boat.  They were attacked by empty bottles and plates by the crew of Heredia  as they tried to come aboard and had to seek shelter. Three arrests were made. 

The Daily Picayune, 10 July 1913.

The Daily Picayune of 10 July 1913 reported that Southern Pacific was to build three new ships, two passenger vessels and one freighter, for its New York-Orleans service and the "it is probable bids will be asked for the construction of the vessels during the month of August."  The passenger ships were said to be "of the type of the Momus, Antilles and Creole, 10,000-ton vessels, capable of great speed and affording a large space for freight and every comfort and convenience for passengers. It was added: "The Southern Pacific's Atlantic line is perhaps the most complete and thoroughly efficient coastwise line in the United States, the splendid ships of the fleet have materially added to the business relations existing between the two great metropolitan centers. " Finally, it was surmised that the new ships "will probably be built at Newport News, where other Southern Pacific vessels were constructed, and definite announcement regarding the big move upon the part of the great corporation will doubtless soon be made."

"On time to the minute," Momus docked at New Orleans on 25 September 1913 with her largest passenger list to date: 270 in all, including 165 in First Class.  The Daily Picayune added: "Captain John M. Boyd is the commanding officer and so wide is Captain Boyd's popularity that his ship is generally well filled, many waiting over to travel with him."

Credit: Daily Picayune, 10 October 1913.

'What may prove to be the prologue to one of the countless tragedies of the sea was received in the firm of a wireless message to the Herald that sent via the wireless station at the Battery to-night. It was a dispatch couched in the thoroughly nautical and unsentimental language of the sea and relayed to the Herald from the Southern Pacific Liner Creole, bound from New Orleans to New York. It read:

'To the Herald, via Creole: At 1 a.m. latitude 33 degrees, 12 minutes north, longitude 76 degrees, 50 minutes west, slghted sunken schooner showing distress signals. Six a.m. succeeded in launching boat. Five minutes later weather became thick, and succeeded in finding and picking up schooner's boat. Nothing more seen of schooner. 'Linco, Steamer Rayo.'

The Rayo, according to the Marine Register, is a freighter owned by P.M. Gregor & Sons that is bound out from New Orleans to New York. She signalled the Creole, a faster vessel, as they passed, and by means of flags transmitted this message.

It is thought that the schooner foundered or was run down in the heavy weather. The fate of her screw is a matter of conjecture.

The Daily Picayune, 10 October 1913. 

The inbound Momus (Capt. J.S. Boyd)  ran around at the South Pass entrance to the Mississippi River on the morning of 13 October 1913. With a pilot at the helm, Momus was just entering the river before 5:00 a.m when, at 5:10 a.m. "a slight jar and churning at the stern indicated that the vessel had run into the west bank. The engines stropped immediately and reversed. This was unavailing, however, as the Mississippi mud had gotten a substantial hold on the Momus." Chalmette, inbound from Havana, was nearby and stood by in case it was needed to transfer Momus' passengers but this was not needed and, instead, she tried to pull her fleetmate off the mud.  Capt. Boyd requested a tug and the Morgan Line's El Toro dispatched from New Orleans immediately and on the scene by noon.  She had Momus pulled clear in less than an hour and across the bar at 2:00 p.m. Momus docked at 9:30 p.m. that evening, landing 133 First and 35 Second Class passengers. Among them were 50 U.S. Army soldiers bound for duty at the prison camps in Texas City and Galveston for Mexican insurgents. 

Credit: The Times-Democrat, 21 December 1913. 

1914

Antilles was the Mardi Gras boat that season of 1914, departing New York on 18 February and arriving at New Orleans on the 22nd and northbound on the 25th, returning to New York on 2 March, Passengers could do the roundtrip for $70 plus $15 for using the ship as an hotel, with meals, during the turnaround. 

Antilles continued her periodic duties as a U.S. Army transport, landing 130 new Army recruits from the East Coast at New Orleans on 25 March 1914 en route for Texas and deployment on the Mexican border, 113 with the 7th Infantry and the remainder with the 13th Field Artillery and 6th Cavalry. Spending the night alongside, they left by train on the 26th for Galveston and Texas City. 

On 22 July 1914 Antilles answered the distress calls from the Italian freighter Oceano (Capt. Longo) which had lost her rudder 75 miles southeast of the Virginia Capes, while bound for Norfolk after delivering a cargo of coal to Dakar. On reaching Oceana at 7:30 a.m. the following morning, Capt. Boyd found her wallowing in the swell, rudderless and helpless.  Arranging a tow, he hauled the vessel off the Virginia Capes to a rendezvous at 2:45 p.m. on the 24th with the tugs Joseph M. Clark and Reliance which went out from Norfolk to take up the tow and allow Antilles to continue her voyage. Capt. Boyd and his crew were eligible for a claim of salvage worth $315,000. Fifteen hours late, Antilles docked at New Orleans at 1:00 a.m. on the 25th.

The sudden outbreak of The Great War in early August 1914 at the height of the summer tourist season stranded an estimated 30,000 Americans, many of whom quickly became short of funds and had to cross quickly changing battlefronts, frontiers and make their way to the Channel ports in hope of securing passage home on already packed westbound liners.  After some dithering and confusion, a combination of State Dept. and private organizations stepped in facilitate some measure of homeward transport for tourists suddenly turned in war refugees with a flurry of charters of all manner of vessels, not the least of which and far more suited than many, were Southern Pacific's Antilles and Creole whose "Atlantic liner qualities" would be proven as a result.

On 14 August 1914 it was announced that Antilles and Creole had been chartered to sail to Europe to bring back stranded Americans. Antilles sailed from New Orleans, on schedule, on the 15th, for New York whence she would make a single voyage to Genoa, chartered to John G. Johnson, a Philadelphia lawyer and L.F. Loree of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad,.  Creole had been chartered to the big American tourist agency Raymond & Whitcomb and would sail from New York on the 19th for Liverpool and already completed booked with 400 fleeing tourists. 

"The Southern Pacific Company does not know how long their steamers will be in the government service. At least two transatlantic trips will be made by each. This will curtail the New Orleans service for more than a month." (The Town Talk, 15 August 1914).  In their absence, the New Orleans-New York passenger service would be reduced from twice-weekly to weekly and maintained by Proteus and Comus.  El Cid and another Morgan Line freighter would go on the route to maintain the original frequency at least for cargo.  The ships would be missed and Antilles brought in 264 on her arrival at New Orleans on the 13th, 173 being immigrants from Germany, Austria and Russia, in steerage and bound for Texas. 

Under charter to John G. Johnson, a Philadelphia lawyer, and L.F. Loree of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad, Antilles  left New York on 24 August and reached Genoa on 6 September and laid over there until the 11 to shift her  return coal supply from her holds to bunkers. arrived at New York on 24 September 1914 from Naples and Genoa (11th) with 242 Americans who paid $500 each for their passage home.  Antilles was stopped by a British torpedo boat at Gibraltar but allowed to proceed. Antilles was one of four refugee ship to dock that day, the other being Chicago from Le Havre with 343, Virginie from Bordeaux with 44 and New York from Liverpool with 550. 

Creole arrived New York on 17 August 1914  and after two day coaling and provisioning, she sailed under Capt. B.F. Jacobs, with Leon Culver representing Raymond & Whitcomb and expected to sail on the the 19th. This was postponed to the following day. Arriving at Liverpool on the 29th, where she remained for three days during which time she embarked a total of 162 passengers, 114 of whom were women. Creole docked at New York on 10 September "after an exceedingly rough trip," and one of five packed inbound liners-- Celtic, Ausonia, San Giorgio and Flandre  with 2,662 passengers between them.  

Part of Momus' cargo when she arrived at New Orleans on 31 August 1914 were the big pumps for the massive drainage scheme of the Plaquemine-Jefferson district.  The pumps were loaded on barges on 2 September and towed to Harvey's canal and then to the site where massive foundations for them had been prepared. 

Southern Pacific announced on 7 September 1914 that Antilles and Creole "will soon be back in the regular service of the New York-New Orleans service of the line." The Times-Picayune added: "With the fleet reduced to three passenger ships, the company managed to maintain a fast and satisfactory service between New Orleans and New York, but the Creole and Antilles will be welcomed back to help out in the steadily increasing business."

Resuming her normal duties, Creole left New York on 23 September 1914 and arrived at New Orleans at 11:00 a.m. on the 28th. She departed for New York on the 30th. 

Back on the New Orleans run, Antilles sailed from New York on 30 September 1914. On her first northbound voyage, Antilles cleared New Orleans on 7 October with 50 passengers and a cargo that included 418 bales of cotton, 410 barrels of molasses, 100 barrels of sugar, 760 barrels of alcohol, 5,000 packets of rice, 1,300 barrels of rosin, 100 barrels of turpentine, 6,000 bundles of box material, 2,240 bars lead bullion, 283,922 feet lumber and 1,200 packages of sundries. She arrived at New York on the 12th.

In an extraordinary event, Momus docked at New Orleans on 30 November 1914 from New York without her master, Capt. J.S. Boyd.  He was first noticed missing at 3:00 a.m. the previous day when the ship was steaming northwest into the Gulf of Mexico. 

Somewhere out in the Gulf of Mexico. just before dawn Sunday morning. Capt. John S. Boyd,senior commanding officer of the ships of the Southern Pacific fleet, found the sudden and tragic end to his long and brilliant career as a sea captain. While the full details of the end of a useful life ever will remain a mystery, everything indicate that the captain's death was accidental.

Capt. Boyd disappeared from the deck of the Momus, one of the ships of the Southern Pacific fleet, between 3 and 4 o'clock Sunday morning. The ship at that time was on her way to New Orleans, heading northwest through the Gulf with the Dry Tortugas about seventy-five miles astern. 

Rain had been falling Saturday night, and the sea, agitated by the stiff  breeze, rose and fell. The Momus a held to her steady course, and with the action of the waves rolled monotonously from side to side. Everything was snug and secure. The watch forward and the watch aft were in their places, but the ever-watchful captain, a winner of several bitter fights with death in the trackless deep, sought the deck, to make certain, it is supposed. that the orders of the night were being carried out, and he was never seen again.

The theory that Capt. Boyd had  committed suicide, was never for a moment entertained either by Mr. Anderson or any of the ship's officers. Saturday night the captain apparently was in excellent humor, and as was his custom--a custom which gave him e a greater popularity than any other captain coming here enjoyed--he mingled with the passengers until time to retire for the night.

The theory of foul play also was dismissed as being out of keeping with Captain Boyd's mode of life. The captain was held in the highest veneration and respect by every member of his crew. The men swore by him. He was a commander with a reputation for kindness as well as fairness, and the men also were proud of him for the record he had made.

The generally accepted theory was that the captain was standing nearing the taff-rail when a sudden roll of the ship caused him to go over the side.

Capt. Boyd was born in Boston sixty-one years ago, and entered the service of the Southern Pacific Company in 1882, two years before his marriage. When the Momus was built eight or nine years ago, Capt. Boyd was given command and retained the place until the day of his death.

There was no man who ever trod the deck of a ship in the local harbor with more close friend that Capt. John Boyd. He was considered a model among ship commanders, a thorough and trustworthy sailor, and his long record showed only triumphs of seamanship. 

The Madison Journal, 12 December 1914.

1915

Creole finally docked at New York on 19 January 1915 after being held up on account of fog in the Lower Bay for 24 hours. 

Credit: The Evening World, 12 February 1915.

Certainly among the more unusual passengers that she carried, Antilles docked at New York on 12 February 1915 with 97 Germans colonists, men, women and children, on safe conduct passage from the former German New Guinea to home. Of these, 73 were "husky fighting men," who fully intended on re-joining the colors on arrival home in Germany. On arrival, they were taken by HAPAG tug across the North River to President Lincoln, dressed overall in honor of the ship's namesake's birthday, to be accommodated with other refugees from New Guinea who had arrived via other routes, and all who would embark on the next Scandinavian-American liner to Sweden, and then the final leg home to the Fatherland. 

Making her first call there, Antilles called at Havana en route to New York on her 24 February 1915 sailing to New York.

Southern Pacific's summer 1915 sailing schedule. Credit: eBay auction photo.

The New Orleans Item of 13 September 1915 reported that Southern Pacific reported its busiest week in the port in many years after El Occidente, El Mundo and Alba were transferred to New Orleans from Galveston.  Averaging a ship day, S.P.'s crews, totalling some 1,900 men, handled El Occidente, El Mundo, Alba, Momus, Chalmette and Proteus the previous week followed by Creole and El Monte.

Credit: New Orleans Item, 23 September 1915.

Upon arrival at New Orleans on 23 September 1915, Capt. C.P. Maxson of Momus told a New Orleans Item reporter that the ship had been stopped by a British cruiser patrolling 25 miles out of Atlantic City but ascertaining she was of American registry, permitted her to proceed. "It was nothing to become alarmed over. The British cruisers pull up alongside of American vessels very often but on finding the vessel's registry always allows it to proceed."  Capt. Maxson also related that he paused to give some provisions to a fishing smack which was running short on supplies and "loaded down with goods, the smack continued on its journey."

Credit: The Times Picayune, 17 August 1915.

It was another active hurricane season and Creole found herself in the thick of it.  A furious Capt. B.F. Jacobs when he brought his liner safely into New Orleans, five hours late, on 16 August 1915, was quoted in the Times-Picayune of the 17th:  "We are five hours late and the the five hours we lost we spent out there in the hurricane-swept gulf, with no light at Southwest pass to show us the way in. The United States government has appropriated money for two lightships for the river's mouth, and what has become of them? The old wooden lightship now in service was taken into the river last night, I suppose, for fear she would founder in the gulf, and the passes were left totally without beacons of any kind. There is a floating light buoy at Southwest Pass, but the light buoy went out during the hurricane and was altogether useless."

It was a frustrating end to an already epic voyage through a hurricane raging off the Florida coast in which Creole proved the tough qualities she shared with her sister ships:

The Creole made a remarkable trip, and bore the full sweep of the hurricane for more than thirty hours without even straining a plate or losing any of her exposed deck features. It was Sunday morning at 1 o'clock that the first storm struck the big ship. She was off Jupiter light in the Florida straits. The wind came down with a terrific rush and raged for hours with unabated force. The hurricane was on the vessel's port, but the Creole maintained her course south and followed her regular path into the gulf.

All day Sunday the ship drove northwest through the gulf, in the very teeth of the hurricane, the wind from the east beating the sea into monstrous billows, and at times seeming to lift the great steel hull by the stern bodily from the water. The storm steadily increased in strength and by nightfall everything was battened down, and the life boats in their davits  were secured with extra ropes.

The Creole reached Southwest Pass at 2:20 o'clock Monday morning, but there was no way to get into the river, and for five hours the ship bucked the hurricane and held as closely to her position as she could. 

At 7 o'clock in the morning, with the sea still running high, the pilot came aboard and in a little white the Creole was on her way up the river. As she was about to land, Captain Jacobs encountered the second barrier to the complete safety of his ship. At the Southern Pacific wharf, just a short distance above the berth of the vessel, were moored several barges, and the ship had to exercise the greatest care in coming in to avoid hitting the rear boat.

Capt. Jacobs and his officers were on the bridge without rest during the dangerous passage of the Creole through the Gulf. Capt. Jacobs was asked if his passengers were much affected by the storm.  He answered that the voyagers were both seasick and homesick, and 'were mighty glad to get safe into the river.'

The Times-Picayune, 17 August 1915.

With what was called "one of the biggest passenger lists of the season on her arrival," Creole came into New Orleans on 15 September 1915 and most of her passengers onward bound for the west and the Panama Pacific Exposition in San Francisco which, along with the European war, had spurred Southern Pacific's passenger business that season. "J.H.R. Parsons, the general passenger agent of the Southern Pacific, said that while the present season was a good one, he thought that the winter would prove even better, and that the many attractions in New Orleans would keep the passenger lists big on the New York ships all through the cold season.  Special attention is being paid to the company's sea service, and bands for concerts and to furnish dance music for the passengers are now attached to the ships of the fleet. 'We intend to make the sea service as attractive during the winter as in the summer, ' said Mr. Parsons. (The Times-Picayune, 15 September 1915).

Few Morgan liners were without their particular encounter with tropical hurricanes.  Creole's came shortly after her departure from New Orleans on 29 September 1915 for New York, 

A passenger aboard, J. Oliver Williams, penned an account of the experience to the Times-Picayune which was published in the 3 October edition:

We left our hotel in an automobile for the steamship, with the wind blowing about forty-five miles an hour and in torrents of rain. Warnings of the approaching hurricane had been sent out. The Creole started down the river at 10:00 a.m., with the band playing. There was a very large number of passengers.

The wind increased steadily in velocity until the captain of the Creole estimated it was blowing 100 miles an hour. The passengers were frightened and declared the storm was the worst they had ever seen. 

The terrific wind lashed the water into great waves and filled the air with spray, actually picking the water up and filling the air so it was impossible to see anything on the ship. The high wind and dashing waves destroyed the levees on both sides of the river. Bodies of animals of all kinds were seen floating around in the water. I believe the loss of life in that section will be found to be great.

People were seen on top of houses calling for help. One house was floating down the river with two or three people on the roof. We saw a very large church fall. The water was observed far inland, with white capped waved plainly visible. Several vessels were aground along the river and many small ones turned upside down.

The wind was so strong that the seamen on the Creole were unable to walk on the decks. Those who had to go out held on the rails of the ship.

We arrived at the mouth of the river and came to anchor after a most exciting afternoon's sail against the mighty hurricane. Thousands of acres were submerged, homes evidently lost and many lives lost as well as cattle.

I was an eye witness on the steamship Creole of these most thrilling incidents. All aboard expressed their sympathies for the unfortunate people ashore who were in distress.

Yours truly

J. Oliver Williams

Creole's wireless and that of Excelsior, in New Orleans, provided much of the only news of the storm to the rest of the country.  When Creole (commanded by Capt. George P. Woodward in relief of Capt. Jacobs), returned to New Orleans on 14 October 1914, one of her operators told the New Orleans Item, "Everyone seemed to want information at the same time. How is New Orleans. What are conditions there? We were kept busy from early in the afternoon until late into the night assuring everyone that New Orleans was safe. The entire country must have thought New Orleans lost."The storm passed quickly and Creole, after anchoring off Fort St. Phillip,  resumed passage and the rest of the voyage to New York enjoyed in good weather and she docked there on the 5th. 

One hundred twenty "happy going away visitors to New Orleans" swelled Creole's list on her 20 November 1915 sailing to New York, all delegates bound for the International Association of Ticket Agents convention there. 

1916

Shortly after sailing from New York, Momus rescued nine crew members from three barges in high seas off the New Jersey coast on 8 April 1916 when the tug towing them, Defiance of Baltimore, had to put into Sandy Hook Bay for assistance. 

Creole at New York, 10 April 1916. Credit: Mariners' Museum.

An early season storm with 90 mph winds churned up the mouth of the Mississippi River on the afternoon of 5 July 1916 and Antilles, which sailed from New Orleans on schedule that morning, was obliged to anchor near the Passes until the storm subsided along with the United Fruit Co. steamer Parismina. Antilles was able to proceed the following day and docked at New York the morning of the 10th.

Antilles landed 170 U.S. Army soldiers at New Orleans on 20 July 1916 in addition to cabin passengers. Her military personnel continued their journey to Texas aboard a special Southern Pacific train.

In relief of Captain Boyd, Antilles was commanded by Capt. J.A. Clancy, just promoted from First Office, when she arrived at New Orleans on 24 August 1916 "at 10:30 o'clock, exactly on time." In addition to cabin passengers, she also had a detachment of soldiers on their way to the Texas border.  

Creole, en route from New York to New Orleans, sailed through a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, arriving on 20 October 1916, several hours late.

Among those sailing in Creole from New York on 1 November 1916 was C.H. Ebbets, owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers en route to a meeting in New Orleans of baseball team owners. 

With only 81 passengers in First and Second Class, but the largest cargo she had landed in the port in a year, Momus docked at New Orleans on 30 November 1916. 

It took the brains of two men, and the hacksaw and chisel of the first assistant engineer of the Southern Pacific liner Antilles, as she lay tied up at St. Ann Street, to free a woman passenger from the most distressing case of feminine captivity, First Officer Clancy says he ever encountered in all his years as a seaman.

Madame Marcelle, of Boston, taking the southern route to California, was the woman in distress.

Purser Gilbert, passing the corridor of the passengers' staterooms, heard a woman's shrill cry for help. Opening the door of the room whence the cries issued, he beheld a woman fidgeting about on a trunk.

Madama Marcelle blushed, then admitted she had called for aid.

The purser looked around. He could see no trouble.

'I can't get up,' she said.

The hem of Madame Marcell's dress was caught in the trunk. She explained that she had packed the trunk, then when she sat on it to solidify its contents-- click-- the trunk fastened.

Madame Marcelle realized that tugging would tear her chic traveling suit. Purser Gilbert was plainly perplexed.

'Wait a minute, madame,' he said, 'I'll get some more help.'

First Officer Clancy was told of Madame Marcelle's trouble by the purser, while she still sat on the trunk.

'In all my years on the seas,' quoth Clancy, 'I never heard the like.'

Realizing they were helpless, an after due consultation, Clancy and Gilbert decided that the remedy was the hacksaw and chisel of Charles Andrews, 38, unmarried, of the Bronx, New York, and first assistant engineer.

The engineer did not sail. Madame Marcelle was at last set free.

The New Orleans Item, 27 December 1916. 

1917

Delayed by bad weather en route, Creole, which was to have docked at New Orleans at 10:30 a.m. on 15 January 1917 did not come alongside until 5:00 p.m. that late afternoon.

With one of her largest passenger lists ever, Momus docked at New Orleans on 22 January 1917 with 450 aboard, including crew and 155 U.S. Army soldiers bound for the Texas border. In all, she had 132 First and 27 Second Class, two steerage among her commercial passengers. A few hours of rough weather off South Carolina had her late in arriving and she did not get alongside until 7:55 p.m. 

Creole was that season's Mardi Gras ship with her sailing from New York on 14 February 1917.

Southern Pacific liners continued to participate in the build-up of American military forces on the southern border and among those landing from Momus at New Orleans on 15 March 1917 were 15 recently graduated medical officers of the army medical school in Washington, D.C., en route to San Antonio for duty as well as 28 Army recruits bound for Fort Sam Houston. 

Promising a good spring season, Creole sailed from New Orleans with a full passenger list on 24 March 1917, and "it was said by the steamship officers that many applications for reservations for the trip could not be handled. A large number of negroes sailed on the vessel for New York and other cities because of the demand for laborers in munition and other factories. The steamship also had on board a large cargo of general merchandise. It is said that passenger traffic between this city and New York on the steamship line will be unusually heavy next month because many tourist from the north who formerly spent the winter in Europe or California, were at various vacation resorts this year." (The Daily States, 24 March 1917). 

Momus and S.P.'s tug El Rey in New York Harbor. Credit: Mariners' Museum.

Members of the Louisiana Naval Reserves, under Commander George W. Rowbotham and Lt. James P. Mulvey, were on the wharf when Momus arrived at New Orleans on 2 April 1917, to escort the passengers off the ship and permit no one else on the pier and an extra detail to guard the ship while she was being unloaded.  The Daily States reported that "Momus, it was learned, carried a cargo of government property which will be distributed in Southern territories through this point. The nature of the cargo, however, was not revealed. An embargo was place on all freight in New York, during the loading of the Momus to allow the government property to be taken aboard."

To the Editor of The Times-Picayune, 2 May 1917

While looking over the city of New Orleans from the bridge of S.S. Antilles, I noticed a number of flags flying that were mastheaded; some of them were from two to six feet below the truck of flagpole. This looks very ugly from the river and it seems to me the wrong spirit to float the national colors to the breeze.

I would like to see this remedied, and now suggest that draw attention of the public through the columns of your valued paper to the improper manner of flag-flying throughout this city. By doing so, I feel sure it will have the good effect of helping to see 'Old Glory' flown as it should be-- at the masthead.

H.T. Boyd, Master

C.S. Fay, traffic manager of Southern Pacific's New Orleans office announced on 30 May 1917 that the U.S. Government had requisitioned Momus and Antilles as well El Occidente as transports. "The commandeering will not interfere with our New York service at this time. We have transferred El Cid from the Galveston service to the New Orleans service and will maintain our freight sailings of two vessels a week. The Antilles and Momus were at New York  when they were commandeered and I understand that two New York vessels of the United Fruit Company an two from the Ward Line were taken at the same time."  

Antilles had sailed from New Orleans on 19 May 1917 and turned over to the government on the 26th while Momus left New Orleans that same day and consigned to the U.S. Army on 1 June. Keeping their names and civilian crew (a U.S. Navy gun crew and officers manned their defense armament), they were designated as U.S. Army Chartered Transports. 

The first American convoy at sea: Antilles, Momus and Lenape. Credit: wikipedia, from The Corsair in the War, 1920.

Original caption: On board the Momus at sea, in the danger zone, part of the civilian stevedore battalion, under command of captain Geoge Luberoff, Q.M.C., on board the Momus in the danger zone, on their way to Saint Nazaire, France. Credit: U.S. Army Signal Corps, Library of Congress collection.

Antilles and Momus were part of the first troop convoy from the United States which was a bit of a shambles with delays and minor chaos attending the arrival and embarkation of her troops at Hoboken, New Jersey, and finally the two S.P. liners together with U.S.A.T. Henderson sailed on 14 June. The convoy was divided into four groups with Momus, Antilles and Lenape composing  the second. Two German submarines were encountered on the 26th, 100 miles from the French coast and one of the escorts, U.S.S. Cummings, dropped depth charges which damaged or sunk one of them, and the transports safely arrived at St. Nazaire later that day. They sailed back to New York on 14 July.

Service of the Southern Pacific Company's steamship lines between New York and New Orleans and Galveston was declared by the interstate commerce commission to-day to be in the interest of the public and of advantage to the convenience and commerce of the people. This finding was based upon the Southern Pacific filing tariffs effective from New York and the Atlantic seaboard to Galveston and interior Texas, which corrected objectionable practices cited in a decision of the commission on the company's application for an extension of time during which it might continue to operate its Atlantic lines, despite provisions of the law prohibiting control of competitive lines, The commission in its original decision disclosed a widespread practice of applying on interstate traffic rates not lawfully on all and other objectionable practices. These, the commission says, are now done away with by the new rate tariffs filed.

Nashville Banner, 26 July 1917.

On her third transport voyage, Antilles left New York with convoy no. 8 on 24 September 1917 with Henderson, Lenape and Finland.  Lenape was forced to return with engine trouble.

Antilles had the misfortune of being one of three American troop transports to be sunk by German submarines in the First World War along with President Lincoln and Covington (formerly the HAPAG liner Cincinnati).  Torpedoed and sunk at 6:45 a.m. on 17 October 1917, 300 miles west of Quiberon Bay,  Antilles was the first so lost, but fortunately on her return voyage from France and thus lightly loaded with 237 aboard. Even so, the 67 (four gun crew, 16 soldiers, 45 crew, a civilian ambulance driver and a stevedore) represented the great loss of American lives since the United States entered the war.  She sank in four minutes and one can only imagine the losses had she been fully loaded on an eastbound voyage. 

U.S.A.C.T. Antilles. Credit: U.S. Navy Historical Center. 

The transport Antilles arriving at a French port with American troops. Credit: United States National Archives. 

Sailing from Quiberon Bay at 3:52 p.m. on 15 October 1917  along with the transport USAT Henderson and the storeship Willihad with a motley escort of converted private yachts Corsair, Aphrodite, Wakika, Alcedo and Kanawha II, the convoy hit bad weather second day out and Kanawha II, leaking, was forced to return to port. The next day, 17th, the weather moderated but a fire broke out aboard Antilles in a stateroom on the port side of Promenade Deck and took considerable hold until finally extinguished.  With the crew still at fire stations and everyone aboard already up in the pre-dawn hours, the ship was attacked by a submarine at  6:43 a.m. when  Antilles was hit by a single torpedo from what was later unidentified as U-62. This struck the ship at the port side of the engine room with such force that the blast threw the lookout from the forward mast out of the crow's nest to the deck below, killing him, and also killing everyone in the engine room except an oiler who managed to escape via a skylight.  Listing to port immediately, Antilles was gone within four minutes.  

Her Navy gun crew commander, Daniel T. Ghent, submitted a report of her loss which read in part:

We left Oct. 15 for America with the transports Henderson and Willehad in the convoy, and the Corsair, Kanawha, and Alcedo as escort. All zigzagged, as we knew the waters to be infested with submarines. The second day we were forced to reduce our speed to permit the Willehad, which had been feeling the heavy seas, to regain formation. Passing through submarine zones every one is on edge, and when fire was discovered early the following morning on the promenade deck, every one was stimulated to swift action. The fire was soon under control.

Just after daylight a torpedo was sighted heading for us about two points abaft the port beam on a course of 45° with the keel. The torpedo was seen by the second officer on the bridge, the quartermaster and signalman on watch; by the first officer and first assistant engineer from the port side of the promenade deck, and by one of the gun crews on watch aft. They estimated the distance from 400 feet to as many yards. Immediately on sighting the torpedo the helm was put hard over' in an attempt to dodge it, but before the ship began to swing the torpedo struck us near the after engine-room bulkhead on the port side. The explosion was terrific; the ship shivered from stem to stern, listing immediately to port. One of the lookouts in the main top, though protected by a canvas screen about 5 feet high, was thrown clear of this screen and killed on striking the hatch. This case is cited as indicating the power of the whip caused by the explosion. Guns were manned instantly in the hope of getting a shot at the enemy, but no submarine was seen.

The explosion wrecked everything in the engine room, including the ice machine and dynamo, and almost instantly flooded the engine room, fireroom, and No. 3 hold, which is just abaft the engine-room bulkhead. The engine room was filled with ammonia fumes and with the high-pressure gases from the torpedo and it is believed that every one on duty in the engine room was either instantly killed or disabled except one oiler. This man happened to be on the upper gratings at the time. He tried to escape through the engine-room door, which is near the level of the upper gratings, but found the door jammed, and the knob on his side blown off. Unable to force the door, and finding he was being overcome by the gases and ammonia fumes, he managed to escape through the engine-room skylight just as the ship was going under. Within a few seconds after the explosion the water was over the crossheads of the main engines, which were still turning over slowly. Of the 21 men on duty in the engine room and firerooms only 3 managed to escape. Besides the oiler 2 firemen managed to escape through a fireroom ventilator. The fact that the engines could not be maneuvered and the headway of the ship checked added to the difficulty of abandoning ship.

Just as the torpedo struck us I was on the way to the pilot house from the scene of fire. Before I could reach the bridge the officer of the deck had sounded the submarine alarm, and I immediately sounded the signal for 'Abandon ship.' The officer on watch, quartermaster, and signalman went to their boats. Radio Electrician Watson, being relieved by Radio Electrician Ausburne in the radio room, reported on the bridge for instructions. I sent an order to get out an S. O. S. signal. Radio Electrician Watson, who was lost, remained with me on the bridge until the gun crews forward were ordered to save themselves. He was wearing a life jacket and was on his way to his boat when I last saw him.

Before leaving port all boats had been rigged out except the two after boats, which, owing to their low davits, could not with safety be rigged out except in favorable weather. All other boats had been lowered to the level of the promenade deck. All hands had been carefully instructed and carefully drilled in the details of abandoning ship. The best seamen in the ship's crew had been detailed and stationed by the falls; men had been stationed by the gripes of each boat, and all boats had been equipped with sea painters; two axes had been placed in each boat, one forward and one aft for the purpose of cutting the falls or sea painters in case they should get jammed and men had been detailed to cast them off. That only 4 boats out of 10 succeeded in getting clear of the ship was due to several causes the short time the ship remained afloat after being torpedoed; the headway left on the ship, due to the fact that the engine-room personnel was put out of action by the explosion; the rough sea at the time; the fact that the ship listed heavily; and that one boat was destroyed by the explosion.

When there was no one left in sight on the decks I went aft on the saloon deck, where several men were struggling in the water in the vicinity of No. 5 boat and making no attempt to swim away from the side of the ship. I thought perhaps these men could be induced to get clear of the ship, as it was feared the suction would carry them down. By the time that point was reached, however, the ship, being at an angle with the horizontal of about 45 degrees, started to upend and go down listing heavily to port. This motion threw me across the deck where I was washed overboard. The ship went down vertically. The suction effect was hardly noticeable.

"The behavior of the naval personnel throughout was equal to the best tradition of the service. The two forward gun crews in charge of Lieutenant Tisdale remained at their gun stations while the ship went down and made no move to leave their stations until ordered to save themselves. Radio Electrician Ausburne went down with the ship while at his station in the radio room. When the ship was struck Ausburne and McMahon were asleep in adjacent bunks opposite the radio room. Ausburne realizing the seriousness of the situation, told McMahon to get his life preserver on saying as he left the room to take his station at the radio key Good-by, Mac!' McMahon later, finding the radio room locked and seeing the ship was sinking, tried to get Ausburne out but failed.

As soon as the Henderson saw what was wrong she turned to starboard, and made a thick smoke screen which completely hid her from view. The Willehad turned to port and made off at best speed. The Corsair and Alcedo returned to the scene of the accident and circled about for about two hours, when the Alcedo began the work of rescue of the survivors, the Corsair continuing to look for the submarine. The total number of persons aboard the Antilles was 234, the Corsair rescuing 50 and the Alcedo 117. Too much credit cannot be given to the officers and men of the Corsair and Alcedo for their rescue work and for the whole-heartedness and generosity in succoring the needs of the survivors. The work of the medical officers attached to the above vessels was worthy of highest praise.

"An instance comes back which indicates the coolness of the gun crews. One member was rescued from the top of an ammunition box which by some means had floated clear and in an upright position. When this young man saw the Corsair standing down to him he semaphored not to come too close, as the box on which he was sitting contained live ammunition."

Blue Jackets of 1918: Being the Story of the Work of the American Navy in the World War. John Abbot Willis, 1921.

Survivors of Antilles approaching U.S.S. Alcedo. Credit: U.S. Naval Historical Center.

Survivors of the United States transport Antilles, which was sunk by a German submarine while being convoyed on her homeward trip by American warships, were landed at a French port, October 21, by auxiliary vessels.

The torpedo struck the ship at a quarter to seven on Wednesday morning, October 17. Many of those on board were killed in their berths and others while dressing. The explosion killed the engineers, oilers and mechanics and those of the crew who were in the bunks below.

All the survivors commend the captain of the Antilles and the men of the gun crew, who stuck to their posts while the officers searched with field glasses for the submarine until the waves closed over the vessel.

When the Antilles sank 40 or 50 men were at the stern. Most of them leaped 50 feet or more into the sea as the stern rose to a perpendicular position and some were drawn down by the suction of the sinking vessel. The submarine was not sighted either before or after the explosion. The sea was running high at the time, making it difficult to save the crew and passengers. Some survivors, clinging to débris, were in the water an hour before they were sighted by the lifeboats. Ñew York Herald, 22/10.

An Account of Sinking by a Survivor. Tribute to the efficiency of the United States Navy is the keynote of the tales told by survivors of the transport Antilles.

'Until Wednesday morning, just after sunrise, the voyage was uneventful. Then, without warning, a torpedo struck us amidships, the force of the explosion being felt chiefly in the engine-room. Our engines were smashed to smithereens and we began taking water fast.

Fortunately, there were only a few passengers, and everybody was up on deck in mighty quick time. The Antilles began to go down bow first before the first lifeboat was launched. One of our boats was smashed against the side of the ship by a big wave, but we finally got three launched, loaded with sick soldiers, medical officers and men and some of the crew. I jumped overboard just after the boats were off and by hard swimming managed to get aboard one of them. We pulled away as hard as possible to escape the suction and then rested on our oars as the ship plunged under the surface. Clinging to the stern were a handful of sailors, some of whom miraculously kept their heads above water and were picked up by our boats or those of other vessels.

I believe 20 men at least were killed in the engine-room when the torpedo burst. We saw the last of the ship five minutes later.

Boats saved everyone that could be found. The captain of the Antilles, who stuck to his bridge till the ship sank, was picked up clinging to a bit of wreckage. The gun crew also remained at their posts until the very last minute.   Baltimore News, 23/10.

Proceedings of the United States Naval Institute, Vol. 43, 1917.

Of the survivors, 117 were rescued by Alcedo and 50 by Corsair.

While she was being converted into a transport, fire broke out aboard Momus on 6 December 1917 in a cargo hold.  It was only extinguished after a three and one half hour battle by the fireboats Mayor Gaynor and New Yorker.  The blaze, which occurred five weeks into her conversion, was believed to have been caused by spontaneous combustion from bezine, turpentine and oils stored in the hold. 

1918

Creole (Capt. B.F. Jacobs), which departed New York for New Orleans on 26 January 1918 with 37 passengers, collided with an unidentified vessel late that evening off the Delaware Capes in a heavy snowstorm.  The storm, which began at midnight, had her speed already reduced to barely steerageway. The blow tore a hole in Creole's starboard bow but her bulkheads held.  The other vessel, believed to be a freighter was damaged but in no immediate danger and was heard over the wireless requesting a tow to the Delaware breakwater. "According to stories told, the Creole was making fair headway when the collision occurred. Lookouts were posted forward and in the crow's nest. Suddenly the man forward gave the alarm, followed instantly by the quartermaster throwing the nose of the Creole hard aport. Then came the crash. Captain B.F. Jacobs, master of the Creole, rushed to the bridge. He could see no light on the vessel that had been struck. Investigation aboard his own steamship showed the hole made in the starboard bow was about ten feet by seven and above the water line." (Times-Picayune, 28 January 1918).  

The New York Tribune added: 

While picking his way cautiously through the blizzard he (Capt. Jacobs) heard the whistle of a vessel. Before he could manoeuvre out of harm's way the stranger crashed into him. The impact threw the Creole over to port and jostled out bunks many of the passengers who had retired. The vessels almost immediately drifted apart and were lost to each other in the snowstorm.

Captain Jacobs knew that the stranger had gone off to starboard, and, putting the Creole around to port, steamed eastward until a survey of the damage was made. Within a few minutes it was discovered that the damage as above the waterline just abaft the collision bulkhead, and that the ship was in no danger. The passengers were assured of this, and many of them returned to their cabins.

Meanwhile, after the crew shored up the hole with timbers and a tarpaulin. Captain Jacobs decided to return at once to New York where Creole docked at Pier 48, North River, at 4:00 pm. On the 27th.  Passengers were put on trains to New Orleans and an initial survey made to the vessel indicating repairs would take about ten days. It was later determined that the other vessel was the schooner James William which reached the Delaware River safely. 

Still with temporary repairs, Creole returned to New Orleans on 6 February 1918. Creole left New Orleans for New York the following day and stayed on the route until her 20 April sailing for New York.

Momus returned to her commercial duties in February 1918 and listed for sailings from New Orleans on 7 and 24 March, 18 April, 4 May after which she seems to have resumed her transport duties and featured prominently in the American press that September as helping to transport the "second million of Yankee soldiers being sent across." With the Armistice, Momus resumed the New York-New Orleans run and arrived there on 21 November. She sailed 27th for New York

Proteus was sunk in a collision with the oil tanker Cushing off the Virginia Capes on 19 August 1918, killing one and 94 survivors rescued and landed at Norfolk on the following day. 

Credit: eBay auction photo.

1919

Finally, in March 1919, Southern Pacific's New Orleans-New York service was restored to some degree of regularity with weekly sailings, from New Orleans, on Saturdays by Comus (22nd) and Momus (29th) with Chalmette on the fortnightly Havana run.  

Momus in New York Bay, 1919. Credit: eBay auction photo. 

Southern Pacific could announce on 14 June 1919 that it had four ships on the New Orleans to New York run and a dozen cargo ships on the Galveston service with traffic up by 20 per cent. 

Momus dodged a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico, following in the wake of the storm and arriving on schedule at New York on 11 September 1919.

When Capt. Jacobs brought Creole, with 75 passengers, into New Orleans on 13 September 1919, he told reporters he had "while he had experienced storms of great intensity, he had never experience winds of such sustained intensity in all his 27 years of navigation before." The liner had actually been reported missing on the 12th and it was with considerable relief that it was reported the following day that she had crossed the bar at midnight and expected alongside at 8:00 a.m., 48 hours late. The last wireless received from Capt. Jacobs on the 12th stated that all passengers were safe and this was first news from Creole since she left New York on the 6th although she had been reported to be 60 miles south of Jupiter, Florida, on the 9th. The captain was on her bridge for 56 hours and the New Orleans States headlined "Hundreds of Orleanians Saved by Sea Hero."

Credit: New Orleans States, 14 September 1919.

A honeymoon couple, Mr. & Mrs. James Coker, of New Orleans, related their experience during the storm to the New Orleans States, 14 September 1919:

It was a wonderful experience and I wouldn't exchange it for anything in the world. It would be more enjoyable to talk of it now that we are safe, if it hadn't last so long. Imagine one being below deck on a rolling vessel, with waves constantly washing over the ship for four days. It was dreadful.

Captain Jacobs is a wonderful man. He seemed ever on duty. Not once during the blow did any of the passengers glimpse Captain Jacobs, who remained on the bridge 56 hours.

We left New York on the afternoon of September 6 and for two days had wonderful weather. The sea was perfectly calm, scarcely disturbed even by a ripple. We left at the same time as the Mexico, which accompanied us through Saturday night.  We sighted her once Sunday morning, but after that lost trace of the vessel.

Monday morning about 10 o'clock orders came to put up the port windows. Shortly afterwards the sea became choppy. A brisk breeze started. It began to rain. We were not alarmed, thinking it was a merely a slight blow. Gradually, however, the wind increased, and it soon was blowing a gale. We were ordered to remain below deck.

All passengers on the port side of the ship were removed to the starboardside, where they were allowed on deck. Although great waves dashed over the lower decks, we were in comparative safety. During the afternoon, through the aid of powerful glasses, we sighted a steamer. Through the glasses it appeared as it the steamer was damaged, as it rolled heavily and listed badly to port. A little later a mist enveloped the vessel and we did not see it anymore.

All through that night, and all day Tuesday and Tuesday night the gale continued, ever seeming to increase in force. All the hatches were battened down, and everything moveable lashed securely to the deck. One monster wave, larger than any other we encountered, completely enveloped the ship. No one was injured.

The fury of the hurricane increased Wednesday night when the wireless apparatus was blown down, part of the wreckage falling into the sea. It as that the sailors set the rigging and readjusted some of the wires, in spite of the terrible velocity of the wind and rolling of the vessel, which made their position perilous.

Wednesday afternoon a heavy gust of wind struck us head-on. The vessel began to dip, meeting each wave squarely. When the nose of the vessel was in the water the steam turbines would rise up. The vessel would vibrate.

As the ship passed Miami, Fla., I sent a radio message to the station there for New Orleans. The government reporting station at Sand Key was demolished. It was shortly after I flashed my message that our apparatus was blown away.

Late Wednesday we sighted a ship in distress. Veering slightly from his course, Captain Jacobs directed the Creole in the vessel's direction. It proved to be the schooner Copperfield, laden with lumber.

That no uneasiness was felt by the members of its crew was indicated by the indifferent attitude they assumed assumed, leaning nonchalantly against the rails. They made no signals of distress, and the hull was intact. Lumber stored on the upper deck was partly awash, which seemed to be the vessel's only mishap.

The hurricane was eccentric in several ways. Sometimes the Creole seemed to be standing still, when the power of her engines was directly opposing the wind. At other times, driven by the storm, she would seem to be flying over the water. On occasions she would proceed smoothly for several hundred feet, when the hurricane would again strike.

At one time during the hurricane the women passengers were not even allowed to eat in the dining room of the ship. They were ordered to remain in the staterooms on the starboard side, where their meals were brought to them by attendants.

None of the passengers expressed any fear that the Creole would not ultimately come out of the hurricane in safety.

You should have heard the passengers Friday night when the Mississippi River was sighted, just before complete darkness. They cheered, whistled and hurrahed for ten minutes.

We waited outside South Pass for several hours for the bar pilot. He finally came, in a small tugboat. In the maneuvers to get him safely on the ship, the Creole was obliged to turn completely around. He approached our vessel in a small tender, which was connected to the tugboat with a long rope. A rope ladder was thrown over the side of the Creole and he clambered aboard.

New Orleans States, 14 September 1919.

Creole's crew told reporters that they attributed the ship's weather the five days of hurricane to the presence aboard of four honeymoon couples. The ship suffered comparatively mild damage although many portholes and windows broken and the carpets and furnishings soaked by the wind driven rain and sea that came inside.  The officers praised the behavior of the 210 passengers.  Creole hit the hurricane halfway between Cape Hatteras and the Florida Straits. "Many passengers told of the heroic work rendered during the trip by the two stewardesses, Mrs. Florence Shaw and Mrs. Kate Lisley. They stuck to their posts all through the gale and administer to the sick and cheered those who grew despondent when the storm continued." (The Times-Picayune, 14 September 1919).

When Momus docked at New Orleans on 14 October 1919, several passengers complained of a lack of fresh water aboard during the voyage, one W.B. Lancaster told a reporter that they were served no fresh water after the first dinner aboard ship while another, J.F. Arthur, said there was plenty of water, "but it was salty".

Southern Pacific announced on 22 November 1919 that the New Orleans-New York run has "been put back on a pre-war basis" with Comus, Creole and Momus departing every Wednesday for New York with passengers and cargo and El Mar, El Dia and El Monte sailing Saturdays with cargo only. 

The Southern Pacific Company operates the only line of steamships plying direct between New York and New Orleans.

The trip, occupying about five and one-half days, is not only adapted to those bent on pleasure, but appeals to those seeking complete rest and change of surroundings, and is also a favorite route the commercial traveler.

This route is agreeable both for  summer and winter travel. Tempered by the balm of the Gulf Stream the winter trip is comfortable, and in the summer the bracing salt sea air and the ozone of the ocean of the ocean give new life and vigor. 

Southern Pacific brochure, 1922.

What was once a trio, and now sadly reduced to a duo, soon found a new heyday in the boom times of the Roaring 'Twenties.  Although, the decade began slowly burdened economically by the high taxes, government spending and inflation which were lingering holdovers of the Wilson Administration.  Under the pro-business, lower taxes and reduced spending of the successive Harding and Coolidge Administrations, the American economy flourished as never before with an unprecedented expansion of the Middle Class and with it the explosion of the modern consumer society of which travel, both foreign and domestic, was a key component. By the middle of the decade, there was a new Southern Pacific flagship, Bienville, which was ill-starred and lasted but three voyages as such, and replaced by Dixie which would prove the last of the Morgan liners. Through the busy decade, Momus and Creole, now oil-burning, were the staunch, reliable favorites and made their reputations as such as they coursed towards their vintage years. 

1920

On arrival at New Orleans on 1 March 1920, Manuel Pann, a fireman aboard Creole, was charged by Capt. B.F. Jacobs and Engineer A.S. Harrigan and Jr. Engineer Harry Ryling, with attempted assault. When Harrigan asked Pann to work overtime, he refused and attempted to strike the officer with a shovel, he was oversome and taken before Capt. Jacobs and fined $15. Taken off the vessel in handcuffs, Pann was held in person on a $1,000 bond on each charge. 

A protracted longshoremen's strike on the U.S. East Coast shut down most coastal services and on 22 March 1920 Southern Pacific announced suspension of the New York service indefinitely and passengers who had already embarked Momus at the port were given refunds and rebooked on southbound trains.  In all, 14 of the line's ships were idled by the strike. 

The end of the longshoremen's strike in New York in mid April 1920 proved premature and although announced that Momus would resume service on the 24th, she and the other units of the fleet would remain idle through most of the summer.  

On 24 July 1920 it was reported by the San Francisco Bulletin that the Moore Shipbuilding Company "had closed a contract for the construction of a combination passenger and freight steamship of 16,340 deadweight tons for the Southern Pacific Steamship Company. The terms are private. It is said that the vessel, upon which work will soon be started, will be the largest ever built on the United States Pacific Coast. It will be operated out of New Orleans." This was additionally reported the following day by the San Francisco Examiner and that was the last heard of the project. 

Creole (Capt. Jacobs) finally returned to service upon her departure from New York on 24 July 1920 and arrived at New Orleans on the 30th. She left for New York on 3 August, her holds filled with 509 bales of cotton, 200 barrels of alcohol, 300 barrels of molasses, 17 barrels of oil, 850 barrels of rosin, 643 bundles of steel, 600 pieces of lumber and 140 rolls of pulp board.  

On 31 July 1920, Momus (Capt. Maxson)  sailed from New York for New Orleans where she docked on 6 August. Northbound, she left on the 11th, her cargo including rosin, alcohol, coffee, lumber, beans, rubber and sarsaparilla. 

After nearly six months of labor trouble in New York and Galveston which tied up Southern Pacific operations and caused massive freight delays, it was finally announced on 12 August 1920 that the line's operations had been fully restored.  Three steamers, Momus, Creole and Comus, would run on the New York-New Orleans route with weekly passenger sailings in both directions on Saturdays and a freight departure every Wednesday and Saturday.  It was not an immediate return to normalcy and on 2 September, a pitched battle broke out at Southern Pacific's Pier 50 between 1,000 white longshoremen reporting for work and finding 500 non union negro stevedores unloading El Capitan. "Freight handlers, hooks, clubs and stones were used freely," said newspaper accounts and "strong police squads" were needed to separate the two. 

Southern Pacific's E.F. Lamberton, in charge of the line's New Orleans operations, published figures in September 1920 dramatically showing the fall-off in labor efficiency at the port since the war. Citing five arrivals in the port, the tonnage worked in 1914 was 2 per cent less than in 1919-20 but the man hours 41 per cent higher.  Pilferage, too, had soared from 34 claims in 1914 to 655 in 1919-20. 

A fire in a hold aboard Momus alongside her St. Ann Street wharf in New Orleans on 23 November 1920 destroyed about $2,000 worth of cargo before it was extinguished by the ship's crew and the fire tug Sampson.   Consignments of molasses, rice and logs were destroyed and about $500 damage to the vessel itself was caused. The blaze, which broke out in the coal bunkers and superheated the bulkhead to the hold which ignited lumber on the other side, was discovered by a watchman at 6:30 a.m. 

Momus went to the aid of the steamer Inocensio Figaredo, three miles north of the Tortugas on 29 December 1920 and was 28 miles distant when receiving her distress call. 

Creole in New York Bay, early 1920s. Credit: Mariners Museum, Cranford Collection.

1921

When Creole docked at New Orleans on 14 January 1921, passengers reported "two days of unusually rough weather on the South Atlantic during the trip and many cases of seasickness among the large number of passengers." (New Orleans States, 15 January 1921). Another arrival, on 25 February, with 200 passengers and 2,000 tons of cargo, was "according to Capt, B.J. Jacobs, the trip was the most pleasant as well as the quietest which he has ever made." (Times-Picayune, 26 February 1921). Owing to mild late winter weather up north, some wintering northerners opted to return early and when Creole cleared New Orleans on 2 March she had 130 First, 13 Second and 10 steerage passengers, an unusually large list for that time of year. 

Shortly after sailing from New York on 6 February 1921, Momus collided with the Prince liner Moorish Prince as she was passing out of the Narrows in heavy fog, after passing Quarantine at 3:35 p.m. . Both ships were able to continue their voyages, sustaining only the most minor damage from their "brush."

Some nine years after Southern Pacific, which helped to pioneering use of the fuel in its steam locomotives, had mooted converting its steamships to the fuel, finally decided to proceed with the conversion. In March 1921 it was announced that Momus would be fitted with new Babcock & Wilcox watertube boilers, similar to those fitted to Creole, and fitted with oil burners, to the specifications of S.P's Superintending Engineer A.S. Hebble.  The new boilers would have a heating surface of 22,680 sq. ft. and 2,250 sq. ft. of superheated surface.  Bids for the work were opened on 7 April and won by the Tietjen & Lang Dry Dock Co. of Hoboken, New Jersey.

With more labor unrest in the offing, Momus got away from New Orleans on 11 May 1921 with a union crew which had signed on for the round voyage at New York. But that would be her final trip that summer in any event as she spend the summer at Hoboken being converted to oil burning.   

When Creole docked at New Orleans on 24 May 1921 she landed Edmund Johnson, of Tuscon, Arizona who comprised the entire passenger list.  As the New Orleans Item explained "passengers are not being carried out of New York during the marine strike, officials explained, for the reason that the liners leave the minute their non-union crews are completed and their sailing time is indefinite. Capt. R.F. Jacobs said the voyage down was on schedule, the non-union crew proving competent."  Mr. Johnson was accommodated being a disabled war hero and was met at the wharf by Southern Pacific officials and transferred him to his connecting S.P. train home. When Creole sailed for New York on Saturday, she was fully booked.

Momus returned to service upon her sailing from New York on 10 September 1921. With her return, Southern Pacific could again offer weekly sailings effective 1 October in Momus, Creole and Comus with sailings from New York on Saturdays and from New Orleans on Wednesday.  El Lago, El Estero and El Isleo would maintain the cargo service. 

Both Momus (from New York on 22 October) and Chalmette (en route from New Orleans to Havana) reported on 26 October 1921 they had safely passed through the path of one of that season's tropical hurricanes. El Largo, also avoid the storm by changing course and arrived at New Orleans from New York on the 25th. Momus arrived at New Orleans on schedule on the 27th. "Capt. C.P. Maxson said the Momus traveled to the east of the storm and it was only after passing Hatteras they felt a stiff wind which blew about 45 miles an hour when the vessel reached a point below Jupiter and Key West, off the Florida coast. 'The Momus did not even rock,' smiled Captain Maxson. 'She is in the best shape possible now since the company spent $250,000 in fitting her up with new boilers and converting her into an oil burned. It is the first time in all my sea experience that I have charge of an oil burner and believe me the improvement is wonderful. You can say as coming from me that the Momus is the Queen of the Atlantic.' (New Orleans States, 28 October 1921).

Momus, departing from New York on her first voyage as an oil-burner, made the cover of the Southern Pacific Bulletin, January 1922. 

1922

Getting to and from the mild winters of New Orleans was the object of many of Morgan Line's passengers but getting there was not always half the fun. A full day late, Momus finally made New York on 31 January 1922 with 70 passengers after passing through the worst of a storm raging off the Atlantic coast. When Creole docked at New Orleans on 3 February, The Town Talk the following day reported that "just after leaving New York a terrible blizzard struck the ship, which made pretty rough sailing and resulted in many bruises and injuries to the passengers caused by the rolling of the boat." 

Capt. Maxson was run ragged as host, chaperone and master-at-arms to 100 "athletic boys" of the Samuel J. Peters School in New Orleans who descended on Momus on a chilly 5 March 1922. The 7-8th graders were intent on seeing every inch of her from the wheelhouse to her engine room.  One of the lad's coats caught the whistle control on the port bridge wing and set Momus' impressive siren off with the loudest blast in the Port of New Orleans before the boys settled down to a recital in the music room and ice cream, cake and coffee in the dining saloon. 

Credit: Southern Pacific Bulletin.

Beginning what would become an annual tradition with Southern Pacific train and steamship, the first "Creole Special" departed Los Angeles on 9 April 1922, a special de luxe limited train to New Orleans connecting with the northbound Creole on the 12th and operated as a special escorted group tour. The train featured a radio concert and dancing in the observation car arranged by the L.C. McIntosh and Roy Brainard of the S.P. Telegraphic Department of Los Angeles and the tour arrangements organized by H.P. Monohan, District Freight Agent, Los Angeles.  The dining car featured typical Southern dishes prepared by a French chef.  So popular was this first excursion that it was repeated with a 7 May departure, connecting at New Orleans with the northbound Momus on the 10th. 

Credit: The Traffic World, 12 May 1922.

It was reported on 16 April 1922 that Southern Pacific had signed a $200,000 contract with Todd Shipyards Corporation, Robbins Plant,  to convert Creole to oil burning and improvements to her accommodation. The ship would enter the shipyard on 1 May. 

With a capacity list, Momus docked at the St. Louis St. wharf, New Orleans, on 26 May 1922, after a most pleasant and unusually entertaining voyage. "Passengers arriving of the Morgan liner Momus in from New York Friday morning were treated to several interesting concerts aboard that vessel while en eoute. A. McQuhae, an accomplished tenor from the East, who is traveling to Dallas, Texas with his wife was responsible for the driving away of many dull hours aboard ship. Mr. McQuhae makes a specialty of singing popular Irish melodies. Mrs. McQuhae is an accomplished musician and she assisted her husband on all occasions thus assuring the success of each entertainment. " (New Orleans States, 26 May 1922). Also aboard was Fred Locher, creator of the comic strip Cicero Sapp, who entertained passengers with some sketches of his fellow travellers. 

Making remarkably good time aided by the Gulf Stream, a bottle containing a letter with the signatures of 117 passengers which was cast over the side of Momus on her 22 April 1922 voyage from New York was acknowledged by letter from the Azores in mid July from the only English speaking inhabitant on the island. The bottle had drifted in the current for 4,000 miles and found by local fisherman. 

Such was the extent of her outbound cargo as well as a capacity passenger list, that Momus was almost an hour late getting away from New York on 10 May 1922.

The celebrity aboard Momus when she docked at New Orleans on 26 May 1922 was a member of the crew, James Francis (Moxie) Cassidy who was completing his 265th voyage between New York and New Orleans. He had been part of the ship's original crew when Momus left Cramp's and stayed with her ever since. That it was also his 50th birthday was cause for additional celebration organized by his shipmates and Southern Pacific at one of the big French restaurants in town.  "All his friends, afloat and ashore join in wishing him a happy birthday and many, many more of them. Their associations with him have been most enjoyable and it is only their hope and prayer that he will remain with them on the Momus for many, many more trips to come.  (New Orleans States, 28 May 1922).

With Capt. C.P. Maxson taking some well deserved leave, Momus was commanded by Capt. J.H. Halsey, normally the skipper of El Valle, when she arrived at New Orleans on 7 July 1922.

On the occasion of her 268th voyage, passengers aboard Momus presented Capt. C.P. Maxson with a silver loving cup shortly before the liner departed New Orleans on 2 August 1922.

It was reported on 6 July 1922 that Creole would resume service following her conversion to oil-burning with the departure from New York on the 8th.  She would relieve Comus to undergo her own conversion and reboilering at Todd's Eire Basin yard in Brooklyn and her final voyage as  coal burner began from New Orleans on 28 June. 

After three months at Erie Basin shipyards at Brooklyn, Creole (Capt. Benjamin F. Jacobs)  returned to service and arrived at New Orleans at 6:55 a.m. on 14 July 1922 with 160 First, 34 Second and 16 steerage passengers.  In addition to being converted to oil-burning, her engine were thoroughly overhauled, some cabins enlarged and nine additional First Class cabins installed on Upper Deck amidships in place of the former firemen's quarters.  The conversion to oil reduced her crew by two dozen men.  As with Momus, Creole would be bunkered during her turnaround in New Orleans with the oil brought up from Mexico on Southern Pacific's two tankers.  With the conversion of Comus and El Siglo, the entire Morgan Line fleet would be oil burning. 

While the din and noise of the workman altering the vessel was driving every one almost frantic, while she lay in the shipyard hardly resembling the fine vessel that she really is hardly recognizable with her amidships portion torn out, the skipper stood by the ship like a parent would stand by his child and saw to it that work was progressing according to schedule and that nothing, which would serve to assure the convenience of passenger was overlooked. He watched every detail and made it a point to be sure that every new installation was accurate and up to the mark in all respects. He reported, when the vessel reached the city, that she had behave admirably on the southbound trip and although she was not pushed there was every indication that the changing of fuel aboard her, will not interfere in any way with the maintaining of speed or seaworthiness for which she has always been noted. The Creole is the only twin screw vessel of the Morgan Line Fleet.

Through the effort of Chief Steward A.J. Tuck, a very interesting and enjoyable dance was arranged in the dining saloon Wednesday night while the Creole was barely in the Gulf. All the passengers were well pleased at the opportunity to indulge in that form of recreation and it served to brighten them as well as to raise their spirits for the trip across the Mexican Gulf, often borders on monotony. Mr. Tuck was untiring in his efforts to give them a good time. Before the voyage was over, those who were interested enough to witness it voted their thanks to him and moved that he rated 100 per cent. This move was immediately seconded.

New Orleans States, 14 July 1922.

Creole's first northbound trip as an oil burner commenced on 18 July 1922 at 10:00 a.m., arriving at New York on the 24th.

Two stewards, John Garcia, 18, and Salvadore Gillican, 19, were arrested on the arrival of Momus at New Orleans on 8 September 1922 and charged with having stolen goods in their possession.  The captain reported the pair to local police after they were found with articles in their cabin, including a dozen pair of women's stockings valued at $4 a pair and pillfered from cargo. 

Among those sailing from New Orleans aboard Momus on 13 September 1922 were 65 alien radicals culled from federal penitentiaries in Atlanta, Seattle, Leavenworth, California and Washington and destined for Ellis Island and deportation. One of them, Robert Fay, had been arrested in an unsuccessful attempt to blow up a bridge at the Canadian border. "Pending the departure of the ship, the sixty-five prisoners were given the privilege of the decks and they mingled with other passengers. " (Chattanooga News, 14 September 1922). 

It proved a doubly tragic voyage for Momus when she arrived at New Orleans on 29 September 1922 with the bodies of her purser, William C. Gilbert and a passenger, G.W. Kroder, en route to Alburquerque. With ten years service with the line, Gilbert, who was a native of Bermuda, had been purser aboard Antilles when she was torpedoed and sunk. He died on the 26th eight hours after an operation for  paralysis. Mr. Kroder passed away the same day, of tuberculosis.  

With Capt. Maxson recovering from surgery in New York, it was Capt. Pinchin, normally the skipper of El Monte, who was tasked with bringing Momus into the Mississippi in a thick fog on 21 December 1922. "She had to virtually pick her way through the dense atmosphere experiencing a delay of thirty-five minutes because of the prevalance of the mist." (New Orleans States, 24 December 1922). This contrasted with "mirthful pleasure with unusually delightful weather enabling full appreciation of the six-day voyage from New York," and Momus was alongside her St. Charles St. wharf the morning of the 22nd. 

Credit: Times-Picayune, 4 January 1923.

1923

Momus carried another lot of deportees, totaling 105, on her 31 January 1923 sailing from New Orleans. They arrived in four locked and barred coaches attached to the S.P. train from San Francisco and came aboard late the previous evening and "herded into the hold where living quarters had been specially arranged for them. Cabin passengers including many Orleanians will see nothing of the convicts during the voyage as seven immigration officials, equipped with pistols and rifles, are post in the hold. At New York, the prisoners will be transferred to steamers bound for European ports." (The New Orleans Item, 31 January 1923.)

Credit: New Orleans States, 24 February 1923.

After missing three voyages owing to illness, Capt. C.P. Maxson was back in command of Momus as she came into New Orleans on 23 February 1923, her 141 passengers enjoying a special Washington's Birthday entertainment aboard. 

Looking the picture of health and showing no semblance of the ordeal of illness from which he has just recovered, Captain C.P. Maxson, popular skipper of the Morgan Line steamship Momus, returned to New Orleans in command of that vessel Friday morning. 

Captain Maxson has been on a leave of absence for about six weeks, missing the last three trips of the Momus to this port. He underwent a serious operation in New York and as soon as sufficiently able to do so, journeyed to his home in Mystic, Conn., for a brief rest.

He return to the Momus last Saturday at New York, receiving congratulations and a warm welcome from his officers and crew as well as many others of his acquaintances. His host of friends in the Crescent City are equally pleased to learn that the well-known commander is again on the road to complete recovery and regaining of his former strength and vigor.

New Orleans States, 24 February 1923.

Credit: Southern Pacific Bulletin, May 1923.

Southern Pacific announced on 25 February 1923 a "Momus Special," following the success of the previous year's excursions, departing Los Angeles on 8 April for New York by a second section of the Sunset Limited and connecting at New Orleans with Momus sailing on the 11th. The special was enlivened by representatives, led by actress Ruth Roland of the American Historical Review and Motion Picture Exposition to held in Los Angeles that July.  Once again, S.P. arranged a radio broadcasting and receiving station aboard the train en route.  A special radio broadcast was made just before the train departed Los Angeles.  Aboard ship, a special entertainment program including a costume ball was arranged. 

Credit: Times-Picayune, 1 July 1923.

As Momus was coming up the Mississippi on 29 June 1923, one of the 104 Chinese deportees she was carrying from New York (en route to San Francisco) jumped overboard in an attempt to escape. "After floundering around in the muddy waters he swam out to shore to find himself at the quarantine station, where he was taken into custody and returned to the steamship and railroad company to continue his journey to San Francisco." (The Times-Picayune, 1 July 1923). The men were put on an S.P. train to the coast at 11:00 p.m. in cars with barred windows and guards. 

Making a frantic dash for freedom, to escape deportation back to Europe, one of the 166 undesirable aliens sent out of New Orleans on the Southern Pacific steamship Creole, dashed past his guards as the liner swung into midstream, hurled himself over the steamer's rail and hurtled a score of feet past the steel sides of the steamship to plunge into the swirling current of the Mississippi river.

His rushing leap and his plunge into the Mississippi profited him only one thing-- a bath he needed badly.

New Orleans States, 11 July 1923.

Deportation of thousands of undesirable aliens continued throughout 1923 and Creole left New Orleans on 11 July 1923 with no fewer than 162 of them.  One who jumped overboard in a desperate effort to escape was rescued by the Bisso Co. tug that was pulling Creole into the stream and quickly returned aboard. That they were not missed by the majority of Americans was reflected in the reporting of the incident:

The alien who risked his life to escape back into the United States was just one atom of the human sweepings that deportation broom pushed out through the watergate of New Orleans, in one of Uncle Sam's regular house cleanings.

Many gathered to see the squad of deported ones swept out.

In the steerage of the Southern Pacific steamship Creole they were swept-- 162 of them. And they huddled in sweating discomfort, with glowering looks from beneath matted and greasy shocks of hair, with trickles of bitter talk from twisted lips, with yellow fingers rolling innumerable cigarettes, with faces unshaven.

Austrians, Czecho-Sloavaks, Italians and Spaniards formed the bulk of the human riff-raff that Uncle Same had decided officially was unfit for residence in the United States.

New Orleans States, 11 July 1923.

On arrival off Quarantine, the deportees were taken off onto the Coast Guard cutter Raritan for Ellis Island to await embarkation for Europe.

Southern Pacific Sailing List, 1924. Credit: eBay auction photo.

1924

With his daughter, Miss Dorothy Maxson, designated to be the ship's godmother, Capt. Maxson accompanied her and Mrs. Maxson to Tacoma, Washington, for the launching of the new Southern Pacific liner Bienville, on 16 July 1924.  In his absence, Capt. H.T. Boyd assumed command of Momus and would retain the title upon Bienville's completion when Capt. Maxson would be promoted to her. 

Momus and Creole passed through the same hurricane off Cape Hatteras that August. 

En route from New Orleans to New York, Momus sailed into the teeth of a major hurricane and on 29 August 1924 reported the death of a passenger, Mrs. Lena Buesner, "it is believed her death was caused by the storm. The passengers reported many harrowing experiences during the hurricane." (New Orleans States, 29 August 1924). Momus docked at New York on 1 September.

After passing through the vortex of the hurricane 120 miles southwest of Cape Hatteras for 12 hours, Creole was brought safely into New Orleans at 7:00 a.m. on 29 August 1924, dead on time and her passengers, including 39 Orleanians, "loud in their praises of Captain Jacobs and the crew on the way the ship was handled and the excellent treatment received by all aboard." 

Captain Jacobs, in commenting on the storm, said that, while the hurricane was the worst he had encountered since 1919, reports of its severity had been exaggerated in some instances and that at no time was the Creole in danger.

The ship entered the hurricane, which was traveling in a northwest direction Monday morning, in the the upper right half of the hemisphere, the captain said, and was swept by an easterly wind with a velocity of 100 miles an house and rough seas. The general rule, he explained, is to avoid the center of or vortex of a hurricane, but this hurricane was not considered of enough violence to divert the ship's course materially and the Creole marched right into the vortex and 'made good weather.'

The main trouble encountered during the story, according to Captain Jacobs, was the unpleasantness for passengers who were ill to be forced to remain shut up in their staterooms with all air ports closed and a shortage of  fresh air thereby caused. This was aggrevated, he said, by the fact that even the latest construction cannot prevent water from getting into the rooms under such conditions.

Captain Jacobs said the behavior of the passengers was above criticism and that as a whole they showed very little fear and were very little trouble during the storm.

Times-Picayune, 30 August 1924.

Southern Pacific sailing list for August-December 1924. Credit: eBay auction photo.

1925

Creole was used in the annual S.P. Special from Southern California to New York. The group, comprising some 100 participants, left Los Angeles and other Southland cities on 15 March 1925 and arrived at New Orleans on the 17th to embark on Creole for Manhattan. 

It was a bargain hunters paradise after a steam pipe broke aboard Creole in April 1925 en route to New Orleans, damaging a large consignment of dry goods and merchandise for Fiebleman's Department Store there.  Consigned by the underwriters, the goods were sold at huge discounts starting on the 15th. 

Capt. B.F. Jacobs enjoyed a six-week vacation while his Creole underwent a complete overhaul at New York.  Returning to service with her departure on 9 August 1925, she arrived at New Orleans on the  14th with a capacity 165 First Class passengers and a full cargo. 

Credit: Brooklyn Eagle 17 November 1925.

Evoking a heyday of the American liner, on 25 November 1925 the Palm Beach Post reported that the following liners had been in communication with the local radio station there: Apache, Creole, Esther Weems, Finland, Henry R. Mallory, Heredia, Momus, Munargo, Pastores, Robert E. Lee, Siboney, Toloa and Western World. 

When Momus docked at New York on 1 December 1925, her turnaround at Pier 49, North River, there was marred by the tragic but heroic death of Chief Officer Herman A. Mathias, aged 35, who died rescuing three crewmen who were suffocating in a hold from trapped gas from an earlier fumigation of the space.  Single-handed, he dragged two of the almost lifeless men to safety and collapsed as he brought the third on deck.  He waved off others from coming to his own aid.  The other three-- Petty Officer John Lang, deck hands Arthur Nelson and Charles Lindholm-- were resuscitated but Mathias was pronounced dead an hour later. 

1926

Credit: Los Angeles Examiner, 6 March 1926.

Creole again figured in the annual "Creole Special"  in 1926 with the special section of the Sunset Limited departing Los Angeles on 4 April and connecting with the liner at New Orleans on the 7th. 

Captain Maxson is an old sea dog. He has been at all of his life, and for the past 40 years in the service of the Southern Pacific Steamship Company. Yet he said that it was the worst storm he can experienced in all his years at sea.

Wichita Daily Times, 8 August 1926.

The S.P. Sisters seldom missed the hurricane season and that of 1926 tested Momus (Capt. C.P. Maxson)  like few others.  When she docked at New Orleans from New York on 31 July, some 36 hours late, the paint scoured off her hull by the wind driven seas and her 154 passengers "pale and wan" after being confined below decks for 17 hours, after having weathered one of the worst hurricanes ever experienced by ships of that line off the Florida coast.

They told of mountainous seas, wave-swept decks, terrific winds, crying women and children and heroic efforts of the ship's officers and crew that finally brought the vessel safely into the Gulf.

The worst of the storm struck early Tuesday morning, according to Mrs. H. Kalmans, while the Momus was off the coast of Florida, near Miami.

'It look to us at times the waves were splitting the ship in half,' she said. 'The waves were so high that sometimes we couldn't see the sky.'

'Nobody went to the table to eat Tuesday and when time came to sleep, man went to bed with life preservers on. There was water in the staterooms and our clothes were soaked.'

Though some of the women were crying and most everybody looked worried, on the whole the passengers remained fairly calm, according to Ben F. Harless, wholesale jeweler of Houston, who was also on the ship.

'It was just as much like the old Galveston storm of 1915 as it could be, ' he declared. 'The waves went as high as 40 feet and the wind attained a velocity of 85 miles an hour after noon Tuesday. All the dinner slid off the stove so there wasn't much eaten that day, even by those who could eat.

'We came within 14 miles of Jupiter Light. The wind was from the east and we headed into it. Later the ship was allowed to drift with the current and we went backwards for more than 100 miles. It was good maneuvering on the part of the captain and that was what saved us, I think.'

Wichita Falls Record News, 3 August 1926. 

Capt. Maxson stayed on the bridge for 40 hours straight and rewarded for his seamanship and devotion to duty by a written testimony of appreciation by the passengers, to which he told a reporter of the Morning Advocate: "I deserved no credit for anything that was none. Common sense and sea training made me do what I did. We hove to for 18 hours in all. It was off Mandenalla reef in the Bahamas.  The passengers behaved fine because I didn't tell them anything.'

Momus went 300 miles off her course when she was hove to, and according to passenger Fred Hopkins, "It was terrible. Most of the passengers were horribly seasick. The dining salon was deserted. Cold food was served in the cabins, but no one any appetite. We lived on coffee and bread for the most part. The air in the cabins with all windows and doors closed was fetid and hot to a stifling degree. The crew was splendid. There was no outward evidence of panic among the passengers. I cannot say too much in praise of Captain Maxson who kept the passengers encourage and the ship on a safe course."  (New Orleans States, 1 August 1926). 

John B. Lowe, of Baltimore, wrote in a letter to his parents: "The entire stern of the ship came out of the water time and again. The whole hull creaked and groaned and vibrated terrifyingly from the racing of the screw. The sickening sensation changed to wild jubilation as the ship rose to the swell and created the waves. At such times, as far as the eye could see were great waves galloping across the top of the sea like wild horses. The side roll was terrible. I was thrown from my berth into the water covering the cabin floor time after time."  The cabins were soaked with water, the promenade deck awash with waves some  33 ft. and as the wind rose to a maximum of 95 mph, terrified passengers huddled in the saloon, sang "Nearer My God to Thee." (New Orleans States, 1 August 1926). 

The weather had begun to deteriorate the second day out of New York on Saturday 24 July 1926 and the barometer rapidly dropping by late Sunday. By Monday, the ship was battened down and all port holes and doors closed. 

During the storm, a fire broke out in the purser's cabin from an electrical short which filled much of the accommodation with smoke until it was extinguished after a two-hour battle by the crew and after terrifying the passengers.  Three stewards were injured when several barrels of potatoes fell on them in the galley. Scheduled to dock on 29 July 1926, the storm battered Momus was furthered delayed by engine trouble even after the storm had abated. 

Southern Pacific ships continued to occasionally carry Army personnel and on 25 August 1926, Creole sailed from New York with 65 regulars bound for Fort Sam Houston, Texas. 

In dense fog, Creole (Capt. Benjamin Jacobs), with  26 First Class and a number of Second and steerage passengers, went aground on West Jetty  in the South Pass entrance to the Mississippi River on  at 9:00 a.m. 29 October 1926, inbound from New York (23rd).  She grounded one-eighth of a mile from the Port Eads pilot station. Two Bisso Co. tugs, Robert W. Wilmot and Barranca, were immediately dispatched from New Orleans and after five hours on the bank, had her off in two hours of work and towed back into the channel, undamaged.  She docked at New Orleans the morning of the 30th. 

When Momus docked at New Orleans on 3 December 1926, she brought with her news of a rescue, on the northbound trip, of three fishermen adrift in a launch off the coast of Florida back on 19 November.

The first-hand story of how three men in a 40-foot launch off the Florida coast, were saved from certain death was told in New Orleans Friday upon the arrival of the Southern Pacific steamship Momus bearing Chief Mate Torjus Nilssen and three members of the crew who figured in the rescue.

The most interesting feature of the rescue, as revealed here, was the providential manner in which the Momus ran across the leaking launch only a short time before it would have sunk, although the men had been adrift in the boat with a disabled motor, facing starvation, for three days.

Chief Mate Nilssen said Friday that the trio was exhausted when aboard a lifeboard of the Momus and would have gone down with the boat without being able to make a struggle.

'Things turned out for those fellows just as they do in the movies where the situation is always saved in the nick of time,' said Chief Mate Nilssen. 'They were weak, but still trying to attract attention to their plight by means of a tattered shirt fastened to the mast.'

'They had been making that effort for days, and there seems to be somewhat providential in the fact that we came along in a heavy sea just when it was only a matter of hours until the leaking launch went down.'

I wish you would demphasize, however, that those of us who lowered a Momus lifeboat and went to their rescue not endanger our own lives.'

It was on the afternoon of November 19 that J.C. Bach. Junior Second Mate of the Momus, sighted the three fishermen drifting helplessly about off Hillsboro Light, Florida. The rescue was effected by Chief Mate Nilssen and six members of the crew-- three of whom quit the ship in New York. The three still with the ship are L. Portlock, A.W. Johnson and Daniel McCarthy.

The three men were on the Momus to New York and a cablegram sent by the Momus to Miami that if a boat was sent out immediately there might be chance to save the launch before it foundered.

'I have never seen men more happy to get anywhere than those men were to crawl aboard the Momus,' Mr. Nilssen declared. 'We fed them slowly, gave them an opportunity to bathe and get fresh clothes.'

'They explained that they had set out from Miami three days before the rescue, fishing for kingfish. They got into trouble when their motor stalled and seemed to have followed a course where they did not come under the scrutiny of any passing ships.'

The fishermen were Jolin Morey, Harry Smith and Roy Palmer. They said their homes were in Miami.

The New Orleans Item, 3 December 1926.

Credit: Brooklyn Eagle, 23 December 1926.

Momus was the cover girl for the Southern Pacific Bulletin's January 1927 issue. 

1927

The inbound Creole from New York with 151 passengers, was rammed in the Mississippi River on 20 January 1927 by a vessel later identified as the tanker Bulko.  Capt. B.F. Jacobs beached Creole but radioed he would be able bring her into port when the fog lifted. The collision occurred 80 miles down river off Fort Point at 8:50 p.m.  

Credit: Times-Picayune, 22 January 1927.

With a hole in her bow but under her own steam the passenger ship Creole, rammed Thursday night in a fog in the Mississippi, docked Friday afternoon at 4 o'clock at the foot of St. Louis Street.

Hysteria seized the passengers when the ship collided with the oil tanker Bulko, but according to the report of Captain Benjamin F. Jacobs, skipper of the Creole, none of the 151 passengers or 117 passengers were injured in the rush for the deck that followed the crash.

The lights of the Bulko, said the captain, were sighted at about 8:30 o'clock across the Creole's port bow. The lookout reported and warning bells were sounded, it was said, but coming at right angles to the course of the Creole, the Bulko struck head-on a few moments later.

Frightened by the shock and fearing that they had been caught in a sea disaster, passengers tumbled out of their bunks half-clothed, and ran out on deck. Loungers in the smoking room, and other who had been playing cards when the shock of the collision hit the ship, were knocked from their seats, and also joined the pell-mell rush on deck.

Lifeboats were not manned, the captain said, and efforts were immediately made to quiet the passengers.

Then the ship was swung, almost directly after the crash, over toward the nearby mud flats and beached, the captain said. It was kept there until daylight to investigate seriousness of the damages.

When it was learned that there had been leakage during the night, steam was put on and the trip to New Orleans finished. The Creole came into port showing, as the only evidence of the collision, a gaping hole in the plates on the port side, close to bow.

The Times-Picayune, 22 January 1927.

Bulko had her bows badly stove-in but she was able to make into Meraux, about seven miles below New Orleans under her own steam. At the time of the accident, Creole was under the command of C.E. Torgusen, river pilot and Capt. Jacobs and the Third Officer on the bridge.  

Creole went into dry dock at Janhncke's shipyard on 26 Janaury 1927 for inspection and bids for her repairs invited the following day. A.S. Hebble, superintending engineer for S.P. was supervising the project. The contract was awarded on the 28th to Robins Brooklyn Yard for $49,966 with a 12-day turnaround over the bid by Jahncke's of $79,000 and 26 days.   Creole would temporarily repaired locally, costing $15,000 and taking four days and then sail under her own steam, without cargo, to New York and left New Orleans on 3 February.

Fully repaired, Creole arrived at New Orleans on 4 March 1927.

Momus had the traditional Mardi Gras timed voyage from New York in 1927 and arrived at New Orleans on 26 February with 160 visitors aboard. 

Momus reported by radio on 6 March 1927 sighting the half-submerged wreck of an unidentified schooner 40 miles off Beaufort, S.C. with its bow still showing four feet out of the water but the rest of the vessel submerged and the wrecked rigging floating nearby. The Coast Guard cutter Manning was dispatched from Norfolk, Va. to locate and destroy the wreck as a menace to navigation. 

Missing missed a trip in April 1927 for overhaul, Momus was replaced by El Lago carrying cargo only.

Having already been briefly displaced as flagship by the ill-fated Bienville, Momus faced another usurpation in late 1927 by the new Dixie. On her arrival at New Orleans on 14 October it was made known than Capt. C.P. Maxson, Chief Steward H. Bartholemew and Purser John J. Brennan would be transferred to the new ship upon her entry into service late that year or early 1928. 

When she sailed for New York on 19 October 1927, Momus had among her passengers 37 aliens for deportation. As for Momus, on her return to New York, she underwent a second refit, missing a roundtrip and returning to service with her departure from New York on 19 November. 

The venerable Comus, last of the old Cromwell Line, arrived at New Orleans on 9 December 1927 and left for New York on 3 January 1928, and later sold to Munson Line.

Creole making knots outbound in New York Harbor.  Credit: Edwin Lewick Collection, Mariners' Museum.

1928

The big news of 1928 was the introduction of the splendid new flagship Dixie, the finest and largest vessel ever built for the U.S. Eastern Seaboard coastal service, upon her maiden voyage from New York on 28 January and arrival at New Orleans on 3 February. With her advent, the venerable Morgan Line achieved its apogee. Teamed with Momus and Creole, the threesome would maintain a thrice-weekly service, but with varied days of departure instead of the regular Wednesday and Saturday pattern. 

Making her final arrival as flagship, Momus docked at New Orleans on 26 January 1928. Among her passengers were seven New York engineers on a inspection and buying tour sponsored by the Long Leaf Yellow Pine Manufacturers Association and  "all Tammany Democrats."

The Southern Pacific steamship Creole swung into Dumaine Street Friday morning, immaculate after buffeting a 90-mile gale twelve hours on the edge of the great West Indies hurricane off Jacksonville.

New Orleans States, 21 September 1928.

After being pummeled for 12 hours by a hurricane off Jacksonville, Florida, Creole managed to arrive at New Orleans from New York  at 7:00 a.m. on 21 September 1928, on time.  Capt. B.F. Jacobs told a reporter from the New Orleans Item:  "While we were off Jacksonville, Monday at about 8 p.m., the winds surrounding our course began to rise until they reach a velocity of about 75 miles an hour. The sea was running in mighty waves and the passengers were forced to keep below. This lasted until Tuesday morning. There were few passengers sick. The boat rolled a lot but the waves did her no damage. We had 145 persons on board." When asked if the ship could have weathered the full brunt of the storm, having only hit its fringes, Capt. Jacob laughed and replied: "Huh, this boat's been through many a hurricane and she still here." Although delayed some six hours by cutting speed during the worst of the storm, he proudly noted she had made up the lost time to arrive right on schedule. "Her skipper declares she is still able laugh at the tropical seas."

Capt. Jacobs was quoted in the New Orleans States: "From 8 p.m. Monday until 8 a.m. Tuesday the Creole rode the 90-miles gale. The seas were heavy and confused. They were big and came it seemed from all direction. But the Creole was carrying a good cargo and the vessel rode well. She would ridden the storm well anyhow, but the cargo lessened rolling.  Throughout the night, when the gale was at its height, the Creole held her course. The force of the wind and the height of the seas reduced speed somewhat. We were six hours behind schedule when passed Jupiter light, but made up the lost time in Gulf of Mexico. Neither the ship nor any of the passengers were injured in the storm. The Creole is a good ship and could ride much worse than a 90-mile an hour gale."

When the Lamport & Holt liner Vestris, bound from New York to the River Plate, foundered in heavy weather off Cape Hatteras on 12 November 1928 due to shifting cargo, among the 10 vessels answering her distress call was Creole, bound from New Orleans (sailing 7 November)  to New York, and 115 miles distant and expected to be on the scene in 11 hours.  In the event, Creole did not arrive in time to participate in the rescue of survivors, but managed to encounter the full brunt of the bad weather which help cause the tragedy.  

A passenger aboard, Mrs. W.N. Collins of Shreveport, La., recounted her experience to The Shreveport Journal of 15 November 1928: We had a smooth, lovely trip up until the following Friday at 6 p.m., when a storm began to gather from the northwest just off the coast of Cape Lookout, between this point and Cape Hatteras. We experience the first storm, according to Captain Jacobs of the Creole, which is 21 years old. The captain termed it as a 'whole gale,' the wind blowing from every direction, blowing at a velocity of 100 miles an hour. Considerable damage was done to our ship and quite a few people injured, but no one was killed. We were held up several hours, causing a delay in arriving at New York." 

Capt. Jacobs was on the bridge for 48 hours and his ship was badly damaged by the blow, one wave smashing lifeboats and portholes and carrying away the aft binnacle and sounding apparatus. One steward was thrown to the deck, breaking three ribs and passengers hurled out of their berths. At one point the wind carried away the whistle lanyard setting the siren off.  Capt. Jacobs received messages from other ships that were closer to Vestris and wisely decided not to further risk his ship.

Creole in New York Harbor. Credit: Mariners Museum. 

1929

The S.P. sisters still carried army personnel southbound and when Creole docked at New Orleans on 4 January 1929, she numbered 35 recruits bound for training at San Antonio and Houston, among her passenger list in addition to 93 cabin passengers.  

Credit: Dallas Morning News, 14 March 1929.

Among those disembarking from Momus  at New York on 4 March 1929 was a passenger with more sea time than many of her crew, Joan Lowell who sailed on her father's clipper ship from the age of 11 months until she was 17 and who had just published her account of her nautical upbringing, The Cradle of the Deep. 

Laid up at New York for three weeks in late April-early May 1929 for refitting, Creole returned to service with her 11 May departure for New Orleans, arriving there on the 16th with a good list and heavy cargo. 

Creole was the center of a sensational murder case when a passenger, Jack Craft, aged 35, a writer with the New York Evening World, from Greenwich Village, New York, was murdered aboard the liner on 11 October 1929 and thrown overboard when the ship was 60 miles below New Orleans in an alleged quarrel over the affections of Miss Ione Orde, another passenger, with Second Officer John McGouldrick. It had originally been assumed Craft had jumped overboard in a suicide but when his body was recovered on the 14th a bullet was discovered in his chest.  After a preliminary investigation on, McGouldrick was indicted on the 19th following testimony by Miss Orde arrested on 21 October 1927 when the liner arrived at New York and extradited to back to New Orleans that evening on the Crescent Limited. When Creole returned to New Orleans on 1 November, four of her crew were taken into custody as material witnesses.  The ensuing investigation went nowhere and on 22 November McCouldrick was released from jail a free man and court officials recorded the Jack Kraft murder as an unsolved murder. 

Momus' big news event that year was an unfortunate encounter with a mother sperm whale and her calf while transiting the Gulf of Mexico on 1 October 1929. The story was picked up by the wire services and had the ship and Capt. Harry T. Boyd more "in the news" than in many years.

Captain Harry T. Boyd, master of the Morgan Line steamship Momus, is the latest victim of the habit of inconsiderate whales ignoring the ancient traffic signals of the sea. Captain Boyd steamed into New Orleans from New York recently, the survivor of a collision with a gigantic mother sperm whale, one of a school of ten whales, who was conducting her 20-foot mite of a baby daughter squarely across the steamer lane. The steamer was doing 17 knots when it hit the lady whale in the neck. The crash dyed part of the Gulf of Mexico a bright red and it stood the mama whale in a position no lady whale with any dignity at all likes to occupy tale squarely on her head, with her protruding 40 feet in the air.

And Captain Boyd doesn't like it at all. He's been going to sea for more than 40 years and it's the first time any whale, lady or gent, has ever tried to trip him up when he had the right of way.

When I first saw the school of whales, I called to some of the passengers," says Captain Boyd. "Suddenly I saw one of the whales right in front of the bow. There seemed to be a 20- foot baby whale alonside her. Then I saw that he baby whale was getting its early nursery supper.

I think the big mother whale must have been asleep. "The bow of the Momus hit the mother. whale squarely, some 15 to 20 feet back of her nose. "No, sir, there wasn't any shock. I know a 60-foot whale is big.

It would feel like the Leviathan if you got it on a fish line. It would look big in a parlor. But it isn't so in the Gulf of Mexico. And a 10,000 ton steel steamship is bigger. "But what did happen was strange enough.

The baby whale swam away like a streak. But the mother whale stood squarely up on her head. Forty feet of her stuck out of the water like a flagpole. I suppose the shock of the Momus hitting her, either stunned or paralyzed her. But there she stood on her head.

"The upraised tail of the whale level with the upper deck. I was standing at the rail and could have reached out and slapped the whale on the tail as she slid past. I'm sorry now I didn't. It would have been the first time anybody ever spanked a lady whale under those conditions or under any other." Still standing on her head, her tail still 40 feet in the air, the whale slid along the whole starboard side of the Momus, and was left astern. Presently the whale began to wriggle a bit and then disappeared beneath the surface.

Rushville Republican, 28 September 1929.

.

In a heavy fog that descended on New York Harbor for 48 hours, Creole and Anchor Line's Transylvania collided off the Battery on 7 December 1929. Both were forced to return to their piers with 69 passengers aboard the Morgan Liner and 309 on the Anchor vessel. 

According to Captain David Bone of Transylvania the collision occurred when the Transylvania turned to avoid two tugs which loomed out of the fog bound up the river. The Transylvania had signaled the Creole that she was going to pass her on the on the port side, he said, and the Creole answered.

The Creole was making slow speed, he said, and suddenly as the Transylvania broke through the fog the other ship was but a few yards from the stern. 'When we saw that collision was imminent, ' he continued, 'we put on full speed ahead and put the helm hard a starboard, with the result in toward the East River." The Creole hit her, then back away and cleared the Transylvania's stern.

A hole three feet in diameter was torn in one of the Transylvania's plates just below the deck and several feet of railing was twisted as the ships scraped sides. 

The Creole limped into drydock at Hoboken when she will be given a careful examination to learn the extent of its damage. It was said by observers on shore that she had a large hole in her bow.

The Transylvania's damage was not considered serious and she expected to get away again in a few hours. Passengers were eating lunch when the collision occurred and there was no excitement on board, ship's officers said. There was only a slight jar as the ships fouled.

After repairs had been made, the Transylvania sailed again at 7:45 o'clock tonight.

The Providence Sunday Journal, 8 December 1929.

Quick work was made on repairing Creole and she left Tietjen and Lang's Drydock on 8 December 1929. Sailing immediately for New Orleans, she arrived on the 13th.

Creole as painted by Joe Wilhelm. Credit: invaluable.com

Operations of the Morgan Line were under constant scrutiny by SP accountants throughout the depression; it failed to generate net income after 1931, and, as a consequence, older vessels were sold or retired rather than replaced. Lower volumes of traffic were offered the line, but depressed conditions demanded reduced rates to retain even that. Furthermore, the relative value of the Morgan Line to the Southern Pacific to the Southern Pacific had decreased following the acquisition of the St. Louis Southwestern Railway in 1931.

The Southern Pacific, 1901-1985.

1930

The effects of the stock market crash the previous October were beginning to be felt already and on 31 July 1930, Southern Pacific announced in New Orleans reductions in ship and rail rates to New York with  special excursion fares for passengers originating in Louisiana and Texas.  Momus would depart New Orleans on 20 August (with rail connections from Houston the previous day) and return on her sailing from New York on the 30th or Creole on 6 September for  $90 min. roundtrip. 

Credit: New Orleans Item, 15 August 1930.

Heavy fog prevented Momus, which anchored Scotland Lightship at 6:00 a.m. on 25 August 1930 from proceeding to her North River pier for some hours and also delayed were the incoming Veendam, California (Panama Pacific), American Trader Pennland and Coamo. 

Credit: New Orleans Item, 14 September 1930.

With the retirement of the veteran Capt. Maxson, there was a reshuffle of skippers on the Morgan Line trio in late August 1930.  Momus docked at New Orleans on 5 September commanded by Capt. E.W. Sundstrom, veteran of 26 years with the line and 19 years previously, Second Officer aboard the ship.  Momus' former captain, B.F. Jacobs, went to command Dixie and Capt. Harry Boyd assuming command of Creole. 

Creole at New York, 1931. Credit: P.L. Sperr photograph, Mariners' Museum.

1931

Losing a veritable race to save the life of an engineer of another vessel, Momus arrived at New Orleans on 20 February 1931.  En route from New York, sighted distress flags from the Munson Line freighter Munorway to save the life of First Assistant Engineer Christian Neilsen who was stricken with acute appendicitis. Although Momus did not carry a doctor, she had the greater speed and chance to get the man to Miami as soon as possible for treatment.  The two ships rendevoused in heavy weather and lifeboats lowered to make the transfer but the man died before reaching Momus. The body was taken aboard and brought to New Orleans and consigned the Munson Line agent there.

In a sensational case, charges of assault on the high seas were brought against E. Rea, a dining room steward aboard Creole, for attempted assaulted on a six-year-old child, the daughter of a passenger, aboard the ship which arrived at New Orleans, a day late owing to bad weather, on 15 August 1931. The attempted attack occurred on the 11th and upon learning of it, the mother reported the incident to an officer and Rea immediately clapped in irons for the remainder of the voyage. "Rea had nothing to say when arraigned before United States Commissioner Carter Saturday. He told newspaper men, however, that he had served in the Canadian army overseas and suffered from shell shock in addition to head wounds. He said he sometimes suffered from temporary insanity. He gave his age as 42." (The Item-Tribune, 16 August 1931). Later testimony claimed that Rea had been drinking heavily before the attempted assault. 

Credit: Times-Picayune, 4 December 1931.

Creole continued to "make the papers" for all the wrong reasons in 1931 and when she arrived at New Orleans on 3 December, customs agents seized 136 oz. of narcotics ($8,000 worth of morphine) secreted behind fire extinguisher tanks. It was one of the largest seizures in the port in many months and led to suspicion of a drug smuggling ring  operating between New York and the port. 

In another rate cut to spur lagging business, Southern Pacific announced on 13 December 1931 a special roundtrip fare starting at $84 from New Orleans to New York in Momus on the 16th and Creole on the 23rd with return on either before the end of January. 

1932

The Depression finished off the two Morgan Line sisters in quick order and after posting a loss on its steamship operations in 1931, and with no recovery in sight, Southern Pacific began to drastically reduce its New York to New Orleans passenger service.  Given their age, Creole and Momus were ripe for retirement but under the circumstances, hardly replacement and the service would be left to Dixie to continue in what would prove a holding operation for the ensuring decade. 

On 12 January 1932 Creole (Capt. Lange) left New Orleans for New York on what would prove to be her final voyage.  On the 28th, in reporting that El Almirante being late in arriving at New Orleans "is coming out in place of the liner Creole which has been laid up for a trip for repairs."  Instead, she was indefinitely laid up in Staten Island.  

The last advertisements listing Momus, teamed with Dixie, appeared in May 1932. Credit: The Brownsville Herald, 20 May 1932.

Southern Pacific now operated a two-ship service with two or three sailings a month by Momus and Dixie.  

1933

Momus, making her last trip sailed from W. 11th Street at 12:45 p.m. 17 December 1932 and docked Bienville St. wharf on the 23rd.  She left New Orleans for the last time on the 28th. arriving 2 January 1933 at Pier 48 at 7:00 a.m.  She was later joined Creole in lay up at Staten Island. 

Creole laid up at Staten Island in 1932. Credit: The Mariners' Museum.

In the mid 1930s, a voracious Japanese economy consumed enormous quantities of scrap metal from the west, not the least of which came in the form of a constant flow of ships made redundant with the Depression. It was a demand that Southern Pacific profited from and it sold the long idle Creole and Momus to Japanese breakers in mid 1934 after conceding demand on the New York-New Orleans run was barely enough to support Dixie alone and having not generated a net profit since 1931.  

1934

Creole was purchased by the Taminsosuka Miyachi & Co. and Momus by Mijachhi & Co. and renamed Creole Maru and Momus Maru respectively and officered and manned by Japanese crews now well versed in the art of the single voyage delivery to Osaka and the local scrapyards.  In autumn 1934, they were just among a dozen ships heading east on their last voyages to the breakers, as dismal and desultory flotilla as ever assembled. 

Credit: News-Pilot, 8 November 1934.

Bound for Osaka, Creole Maru transited the Panama Canal on 22-25 October 1934, arrived at Wilmington on  8 November  at midnight.  After refuelling, she sailed for Osaka on the 10th at 12:45 p.m.Sailing from New York 2 December, Momus Maru transited the Panama Canal on 12-14th and arrived at Long Beach for Osaka on the 28th and left on the 30th at 1:20 p.m. following day.

The Depression killed off the Edwardian Ocean Liner--Mauretania, Olympic, France, Leviathan--  forming a desultory flotilla bound for the breakers.  All, like Momus and Creole, had fulsome and memorable careers of a quarter of a century or so, but unlike the others, the Southern Pacific twins would not be replaced.  When their fleetmate, Dixie, was sold seven years later, The Morgan Line passed with her.  The clock had run out on "100 Golden Hours at Sea."

Momus in the Mississippi River. Credit: Pacific Marine Review.

Built by William Cramp & Sons Ship & Engine Building Company, Kensington, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Yard no. 338 (Momus) and no. 339 (Antilles). 

Built by Fore River Engine Builders & Shipbuilders, Quincy, Massachusetts. Yard no. 135 (Creole).

Gross tonnage        6,878 (Momus & Antilles)

                                  6,754 (Creole)

Length: (o.a.)          440 ft.  

              (b.p.)           410 ft. (Momus & Antilles)

                                  407 ft. (Creole)

Beam:                      53 ft. 

Machinery:           triple-expansion reciprocating 7,500 i.h.p., single-screw (Momus  & Antilles)

                                 Curtis turbines, 8,000 b.h.p., twin-screw (Creole)

                                 triple-expansion reciprocating, 7,000 i.h.p., twin-screw (Creole post-1910) 

Speed:                    15.5 knots service

                                16 knots trials

Passengers            148 First Class 38 Second Class 252 Steerage (as built)

                                166 First Class 38 Second Class 60 Steerage (post 1922)                               

Officers & Crew    117                 

 

American Passenger Ships, The Ocean Lines and Liners, 1873-1983, Frederick E. Emmons, 1985.

Blue Jackets of 1918: Being the Story of the Work of the American Navy in the World War. John Abbot Willis, 1921.

Forced Steel Water-Tube Boilers, Babcock & Wilcox, 1914

The Road to France, The Transport of Troops and Military Supplies, 1917-1918, Benedict Crowell and Robert Forrest Wilson, 1921. 

The Southern Pacific, 1901-1985, Donovan L. Hofsommer, 1986.

Southern Pacific Water Lines, David F. Myrick, 2007.

Steamboat Days, Fred Erving Dayton, 1925.

Steam Turbines, Thomas Clapp

The United States Merchant Marine in World War I: Ships, Crews, Shipbuilders and Operators, Greg H. Williams, 2017.

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© Peter C. Kohler