USS Rondo (ID-2488)

Last updated

USS Rondo (ID-2488).jpg
Rondo with Dutch neutrality markings,
before her US Navy service
History
NameRondo
Owner
Operator Flag of the United States.svg US Navy (1918–19)
Port of registry Flag of the Netherlands.svg Amsterdam
Builder Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maats
Yard number42
Laid down17 October 1913
Launched26 September 1914
Completed9 December 1914
Acquiredby US Govt, 21 March 1918
Commissionedinto US Navy, 28 March 1918
Decommissionedfrom US Navy, 21 June 1919
Identification
FateScrapped in 1933
General characteristics
Type cargo ship
Tonnage7,549  GRT, 4,759  NRT, 4,755  DWT
Displacement15,300 tons
Length450.3 ft (137.3 m)
Beam55.9 ft (17.0 m)
Draft26 ft 11 in (8.20 m)
Depth35.6 ft (10.9 m)
Depth of hold35 ft 7 in (10.85 m)
Decks2
Installed power829 NHP, 5,300 ihp
Propulsion
Speed13 knots (24 km/h)
Capacity
  • cargo: 542,000 cubic feet (15,300 m3) grain; 496,000 cubic feet (14,000 m3) bale
  • passengers: 10 × 1st class
Complementin US Navy, 70
Armament

USS Rondo (ID-2488) was a Dutch cargo steamship that was built for Stoomvaart Mattschappij Nederland ("Netherland Line") in 1914. She served in the United States Navy from March 1918 until June 1919. She was scrapped in 1933.

Contents

This was the first of two Netherland Line ships to be called Rondo. The second was a Type C3-class ship built in 1946 and scrapped in 1971. [1] She was also the second US Navy ship to be called Rondo. The first was the motorboat USS Rondo (SP-90), which in April 1918 was renamed USS SP-90 to avoid confusion.

Building and identification

Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij built Rondo in Rotterdam for Netherland Line as yard number 42. She was laid down on 17 October 1913, launched on 26 September 1914 and completed on 9 December 1914. Her registered length was 450.3 ft (137.3 m), her beam was 55.9 ft (17.0 m) and her depth was 35.6 ft (10.9 m). Her tonnages were 7,549  GRT, 4,759  NRT, 4,755  DWT. Her holds had capacity for 542,000 cubic feet (15,300 m3) of grain or 496,000 cubic feet (14,000 m3) of baled cargo. She also had berths for ten first class passengers. [2]

She had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine. It was rated at 829 NHP [3] or 5,300 ihp, and gave her a speed of 13 knots (24 km/h).

Netherland Line registered Rondo at Amsterdam. Her code letters were PRMF. [3] By 1917 she was equipped for wireless telegraphy. By 1918 her call sign was PHM. [4]

US service

On 21 March 1918 the United States Customs Service seized Rondo under angary at New York. She was one of 89 Dutch ships seized in US ports that day under Proclamation 1436. [5]

31 of the seized Dutch ships were commissioned into the US Navy. Rondo was commissioned on 28 March, with the ID number ID–2488. She was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service. [5] She was fitted with one 5-inch/51-caliber gun and one 3-inch/50-caliber gun as defensive armament. [6]

On 12 April Rondo left New York for Norfolk, Virginia, where she loaded Army supplies for the American Expeditionary Forces. Between 7 May and 5 September she made two transatlantic round trips in convoys between the USA and France, on which she discharged cargo at La Pallice, Le Verdon-sur-Mer, and Bordeaux. [5]

In September 1918 Rondo was refitted to transport horses under United States Shipping Board account. She sailed to Uruguay, reaching Montevideo on 16 February 1919. There she embarked horses, which she took to Boston. [5]

Rondo was later assigned to take food to Europe. She suffered engine trouble, for which she returned to port. She reached Falmouth, Cornwall on 28 May 1919, and continued to Amsterdam, where she was decommissioned and returned to her owners on 21 June. [5]

Fate

Rondo resumed merchant service with Netherland Line. In April 1933 she was sold to SA Ricuperi Metallici of Turin. On 17 April she arrived in Genoa, Italy, to be scrapped. [2]

Related Research Articles

Holland America Line is a US-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States.

SS <i>Dwinsk</i> 1897 ocean liner sunk by a U-boat in 1918

SS Dwinsk was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in Ireland in 1897 as Rotterdam, renamed C. F. Tietgen in 1906, and renamed Dwinsk in 1913. A U-boat sank her in 1918, with the loss of 23 lives. The ship was built for Holland America Line, but was successively owned by Scandinavian America Line and Russian American Line, and after the Russian Revolution she was managed by Cunard Line.

SS <i>Potsdam</i> (1899) Steamship that was built as an ocean liner and later converted into a whaling factory ship

SS Potsdam was a steam ocean liner that was launched in Germany in 1899 for Holland America Line. In 1915 Swedish American Line acquired her and renamed her Stockholm.

SS <i>Noordam</i> (1902) Dutch ocean liner built in Ireland & chartered to Sweden

SS Noordam was a steam ocean liner that was launched in Ireland in 1901 and scrapped in the Netherlands in 1928–29. Holland America Line owned her throughout her career. From 1923 to 1924 Swedish American Line chartered her and renamed her Kungsholm.

USS <i>Rijndam</i> Dutch ocean liner that was a US troop ship in the First World War

USS Rijndam (ID–2505) was the Holland America Line (HAL) ocean liner Rijndam, also spelt Ryndam, which was launched in Ireland in 1901 and scrapped in the Netherlands in 1929. The US requisitioned her as the United States Navy troopship USS Rijndam from 1918 until 1919. She was the first of four Holland America Line ships to be called Ryndam.

USS <i>Bali</i> Dutch cargo steamship that served in the United States Navy

USS Bali was a Dutch cargo steamship that was built for Stoomvaart Mattschappij Nederland in 1917. She served in the United States Navy, with the ID number ID–2483, from March 1918 until May 1919. She supplied the American Expeditionary Forces in France, and in 1919 she took food relief to Europe.

USS <i>Maartensdijk</i> Cargo steamship that served in the US Navy in the First World War

USS Maartensdijk was a cargo steamship that was laid down in England in 1902 as Egyptiana, but launched as Rapallo. She served in the United States Navy as USS Maartensdijk from 1918 until 1919, with the Naval Registry Identification Number ID-2497.

SS <i>s Jacob</i> Dutch passenger steamship that was built in 1907 and sunk in 1943

SS 's Jacob was a passenger steamship that was launched in the Netherlands in 1907 and sunk by enemy action off New Guinea in 1943. She spent most of her career with Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij, based in the Dutch East Indies.

USS <i>Zeelandia</i> Dutch-owned ocean liner that was a US Navy troopship in 1918 and 1919

USS Zeelandia was an ocean liner that was built in Scotland in 1910 and scrapped in the Netherlands in 1936. She was the largest ship in the Koninklijke Hollandsche Lloyd (KHL) fleet from 1910 until the liners Gelria and Tubantia were completed in 1913 and 1914. She was USS Zeelandia from April 1918 until October 1919, when she was a United States Navy troopship.

SS <i>Zaanland</i> Dutch cargo ship that served in the US Navy in the First World War

SS Zaanland was a cargo steamship that was built in Scotland in 1900 for Dutch owners, and sunk in a collision in 1918. She was built for the Zuid-Amerika Lijn, which in 1908 became Koninklijke Hollandsche Lloyd. The US Government requisitioned her in March 1918 as USS Zaanland, with the Naval Registry Identification Number ID–2746. She was sunk in a collision less than two months later.

USS <i>Oosterdijk</i> Dutch cargo ship that served in the United States Navy in 1918

USS Oosterdijk was a Holland America Line cargo steamship that was built in 1913 and sank as a result of a collision in 1918. She served in the United States Navy, with the Naval Registry Identification Number ID–2586, from March 1918 until her loss that July. Some sources anglicise her name as Oosterdyk, but Lloyd's Register registered her with the Dutch spelling Oosterdijk.

USS <i>Beukelsdijk</i> Dutch-owned cargo ship that was requisitioned for the US Navy in WW1

USS Beukelsdijk was a Dutch-owned turret deck ship that was built in England in 1903 as Grängesberg. She was renamed Beukelsdijk in 1916 when she changed owners. In 1918 she was requisitioned as USS Beukelsdijk, with the Naval Registry Identification Number ID–3135. She returned to civilian service in 1919, and was wrecked in the Norwegian Sea in 1923.

SS Binnendijk was a Holland America Line (NASM) cargo steamship. She was one of NASM's "B" class ships: the company's first cargo ships to be powered by steam turbines. Binnendijk was built in South Holland in 1921, and sunk by a mine in the English Channel in 1939. She was the first ship that NASM lost in the Second World War. Her wreck off the coast of Dorset, England is now a wreck diving site, nicknamed "The Benny".

SS <i>Ophir</i> Dutch steamship that served in the US Navy and was gutted by fire

SS Ophir was a Dutch steamship that was built in 1904. She carried passengers, cargo and mail between Rotterdam and the Dutch East Indies until March 1918, when the United States seized her under angary and she became USS Ophir (ID-2800). In November 1918 a fire and explosion damaged her beyond economic repair. She was scrapped in 1922.

SS <i>Van Heemskerk</i> Dutch passenger steamship that was built in 1909 and sunk in 1943

SS Van Heemskerk was a passenger steamship that was launched in the Netherlands in 1909 and sunk by enemy action off New Guinea in 1943. She spent most of her career with Koninklijke Paketvaart-Maatschappij, based in the Dutch East Indies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Rotterdam Lloyd</span>

Royal Rotterdam Lloyd was a Dutch shipping line that was established in Rotterdam in 1883 as Rotterdamsche Lloyd (RL). It became "Royal Rotterdam Lloyd" in 1947. RL mainly operated scheduled passenger and mail services between Rotterdam and the Dutch East Indies. Its independent existence ended in 1970, when KRL merged with four other Dutch shipping companies to form the Nederlandsche Scheepvaart Unie (NSU). In 1977 NSU became Nedlloyd.

SS <i>Koningin der Nederlanden</i> Dutch passenger steamship that was a US troopship in the First World War

SS Koningin der Nederlanden was a Dutch passenger steamship. She was built in 1911 for Stoomvaart Maatschappij Nederland, which ran scheduled passenger and mail services between Amsterdam and Java.

SS <i>Aquileia</i> Dutch-built ocean liner that became a troopship and hospital ship, and blockship

SS Aquileia was a Dutch-built steamship that was launched in 1913 as the ocean liner and mail ship Prins der Nederlanden for Netherland Line. She ran scheduled services between Amsterdam and the Dutch East Indies until 1930, when she was laid up.

SS <i>Goentoer</i> Dutch mail steamship that was a UK troopship in the First World War

SS Goentoer was a Dutch passenger and mail ship that was built for Rotterdamsche Lloyd in 1902 and scrapped in 1925. Her regular route was between Rotterdam and the Dutch East Indies. She was a UK troop ship from 1918 to 1919, after being seized under angary in Singapore.

SS <i>Westerdijk</i> Dutch cargo ship that served in the United States Navy in 1918–19

SS Westerdijk was a Holland America Line cargo steamship that was completed in 1913 and scrapped in 1933. She served in the United States Navy, with the Naval Registry Identification Number ID–2514, from March 1918 until September 1919. Some sources anglicise her name as Westerdyk, but Lloyd's Register registered her with the Dutch spelling Westerdijk.

References

  1. "Rondo – ID 5575". Stichting Maritiem-Historische Databank (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  2. 1 2 "Rondo – ID 5574". Stichting Maritiem-Historische Databank (in Dutch). Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 Lloyd's Register 1917, ROM–RON.
  4. The Marconi Press Agency Ltd 1918, p. 724.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Rondo II (Id. No. 2488)". DANFS . Naval History and Heritage Command. 20 October 2005. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
  6. Radigan, Joseph M. "Rondo (ID 2488)". Identification Numbered Vessel Photo Archive. NavSource Online. Retrieved 31 May 2023.

Bibliography

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Rondo (ship, 1914) at Wikimedia Commons