SS Minnehaha

Last updated

Coaling MINNEHAHA LCCN2014696935.jpg
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameSS Minnehaha
Owner Atlantic Transport Line house flag.svg Atlantic Transport Line
Port of registry Belfast
Builder Harland & Wolff, Belfast
CostUSD$1,419,120 (£292,000) [1]
Yard number329 [1]
Launched31 March 1900 [1]
Maiden voyage7 July 1900 [1]
Identification
FateTorpedoed and sunk, 7 September 1917 [1]
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeMinne class ocean liner
Tonnage
Length600 ft 8 in (183.08 m)
Beam65 ft 6 in (19.96 m)
Depth of hold39 ft 6 in (12.04 m)
Decks4 decks and shelter deck
Propulsion
  • Quadruple expansion steam engines
  • 1,227 nhp
  • 2 screws
Speed16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph)

SS Minnehaha was a 13,443-ton ocean liner built by Harland and Wolff and launched on 31 March 1900. Operated by the American-owned Atlantic Transport Line, she was the sister ship of Minneapolis, Minnetonka, and Minnewaska.

Contents

In her first year of operations, the Minnehaha collided with and sank a tug in New York Harbor on 18 September 1900. The tug suffered two fatalities. [1]

On 18 April 1910, the liner grounded on rocks on Bryher in the Isles of Scilly while en route from New York City to Tilbury, near London; [2] she remained stranded until 13 May when two tugs managed to pull her off the rocks. The cattle on board were saved by swimming them onto the island of Samson, Isles of Scilly where there was temporary pasture; there were no deaths. [3]

The ship was being used to ferry munitions to Britain from the U.S. during the early years of World War I. During a multi-state crime spree, German sympathizer Eric Muenter planted a timed bomb on the Minnehaha after bombing the U.S. Capitol and before shooting financier J. P. Morgan, Jr. Days after his jail-cell suicide, Muenter's bomb exploded, setting off a fire, though the explosion did not reach the munitions and caused minimal damage to the ship itself. [4]

On 7 September 1917, Minnehaha sank within four minutes with 43 fatalities, after being torpedoed by German U-boat U-48, off the Fastnet. Her sister ships Minneapolis and Minnetonka were sunk while in use as troop transports during World War I. [5]

See also

Related Research Articles

HMS <i>Colossus</i> (1787) 1787 ship of the line of the Royal Navy

HMS Colossus was a 74-gun third-rate ship of the line of the Royal Navy. She was launched at Gravesend on 4 April 1787 and lost on 10 December 1798. During her years of service she participated in the Battle of Groix, the Battle of Cape St Vincent, and the Battle of the Nile. While carrying wounded from the latter, she was wrecked at the Isles of Scilly. The wreck is a Protected Wreck managed by Historic England.

MV <i>Cita</i>

On 26 March 1997, the 300-ft merchant vessel MV Cita pierced its hull when running aground on rocks off the south coast of the Isles of Scilly in gale-force winds en route from Southampton to Belfast. The incident happened just after 3 am when the German-owned, Antiguan-registered 3,000 tonne vessel hit Newfoundland Point, St Mary's.

SS <i>Schiller</i> German ocean liner launched in 1873

SS Schiller was a 3,421-ton German ocean liner, one of the largest vessels of her time. Launched in 1873, she plied her trade across the Atlantic Ocean, carrying passengers between New York City and Hamburg for the German Transatlantic Steam Navigation Line. She became notorious on 7 May 1875, while operating on her normal route, when she hit the Retarrier Ledges in the Isles of Scilly, causing her to sink with the loss of most of her crew and passengers, totaling 335 fatalities.

The Minnehaha was a barque built in 1857 and wrecked on 18 January 1874 in the Isles of Scilly.

SS Castilian was a British cargo steamship and is now a dangerous wreck in the Irish Sea off the coast of North Wales. She was built in 1919 to a standard First World War design. In 1943 while carrying munitions she struck rocks off The Skerries, Isle of Anglesey and sank.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bristol City Line</span>

Bristol City Line was a British shipping line based in Bristol, England that traded from 1704 until 1974. From 1760 Bristol City Line also built ships.

SS <i>Mohegan</i> British steamship which wrecked off the coast of the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall (1898)

The SS Mohegan was a steamer which sank off the coast of the Lizard Peninsula, Cornwall, on her second voyage. She hit The Manacles on 14 October 1898 with the loss of 106 out of 197 on board.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scilly naval disaster of 1707</span> Loss of four Royal Navy vessels off the Isles of Scilly in 1707

The Scilly naval disaster of 1707 was the loss of four warships of a Royal Navy fleet off the Isles of Scilly in severe weather on 22 October 1707. Between 1,400 and 2,000 sailors lost their lives aboard the wrecked vessels, making the incident one of the worst maritime disasters in British naval history. The disaster has been attributed to a combination of factors, including the navigators' inability to accurately calculate their positions, errors in the available charts and pilot books, and inadequate compasses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Western Rocks, Isles of Scilly</span> Group of rocks in the Isles of Scilly, England, United Kingdom

The Western Rocks are a group of uninhabited skerries and rocks in the south–western part of the Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom, and are renowned for the numerous shipwrecks in the area and the nearby Bishop Rock lighthouse. In 1971, the rocks and islands were designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest for their breeding sea birds. Landing on the islands is both difficult and discouraged and there are few published records of visits by naturalists.

Richard James Vincent Larn, OBE is a retired Chief Petty Officer in the Royal Navy, a businessman and maritime history writer who is widely regarded as one of Britain's leading historic shipwreck experts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Innes McCartney</span> British nautical archaeologist

Innes McCartney is a British nautical archaeologist and historian. He is a Visiting Fellow at Bournemouth University in the UK.

The following index is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Wikipedia's articles on recreational dive sites. The level of coverage may vary:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Outline of recreational dive sites</span> Hierarchical outline list of articles about rereational dive sites

Recreational dive sites are specific places that recreational scuba divers go to enjoy the underwater environment or for training purposes. They include technical diving sites beyond the range generally accepted for recreational diving. In this context all diving done for recreational purposes is included. Professional diving tends to be done where the job is, and with the exception of diver training and leading groups of recreational divers, does not generally occur at specific sites chosen for their easy access, pleasant conditions or interesting features.

SS <i>Norseman</i> (1897)

SS Norseman was a British cargo liner that was torpedoed by the German submarine SM U-39 in the Mediterranean Sea off Thessaloniki, Greece on 22 January 1916 while on route from Plymouth, United Kingdom to Thessaloniki, Greece, while carrying a varied cargo including about 1,100 mules and munitions. Norseman was subsequently beached at Moudros, Greece, and declared a total loss. She was scrapped in situ in 1920.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "S. S. Minnehaha". The Atlantic Transport Line 1881 - 1934. Retrieved 5 August 2010.
  2. Larn, Richard (1992). Shipwrecks of the Isles of Scilly. Nairn: Thomas & Lochar.
  3. Noall, C. (c. 1969). Cornish Shipwrecks Illustrated. Truro: Tor Mark Press. p. 22.
  4. Kinghorn, Jonathan. "S.S. Minnehaha". The Atlantic Transport Line. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  5. "Minnehaha" . Retrieved 7 July 2012.

51°17.82′N9°17.88′W / 51.29700°N 9.29800°W / 51.29700; -9.29800