SS Sea Owl

Last updated

SS Sea Owl at Weston Super Mare, England, November 1944.jpg
Sea Owl in November 1944
History
US flag 48 stars.svg
Name
  • Sea Owl (1944–1947)
  • Steel Scientist (1947–1971)
Owner
  • Maritime Commission (1944–1947)
  • Isthmian Lines, Inc. (1947–1971)
Operator
  • War Shipping Administration (1944–1947)
  • Isthmian Lines, Inc. (1947–1971)
Port of registry
  • Sea Owl: New Orleans
  • Steel Scientist: New York
Ordered23 April 1942
Builder Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi
Yard number
  • 407
  • USMC hull #863
Laid down22 July 1943
Launched17 December 1943
Completed27 June 1944
AcquiredDelivered WSA: 27 June 1944
In service1944
Out of service1971
Identification
FateScrapped 1971
General characteristics
Type Type C3-S-A2 cargo ship
Tonnage
Length
  • 492 ft 0 in (149.96 m) (LOA)
  • 466.5 ft (142.2 m) (registry)
Beam69.6 ft (21.2 m) [1]
Draft28.5 ft (8.7 m) [4]
Depth29.5 ft (9.0 m) [1]
Decks2 decks & open shelter deck
Propulsion2 Westinghouse geared turbines, 2 combustion engineering "D"-type boilers, single propeller
Speed18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Capacity
  • 450,300 cu ft (12,750 m3) (bale) [2]
  • 233,000 cu ft (6,600 m3) as trooper [4]
Troops2,156
Crew53
Notes
C3-S-A2 troop transports were designed to carry roughly 2,100 troops. Here 1,958 arrive in Boston from Europe on 26 July 1945 The Aiken Victory arriving in Boston with 1,958 troops from Europe, 26 July 1945.jpg
C3-S-A2 troop transports were designed to carry roughly 2,100 troops. Here 1,958 arrive in Boston from Europe on 26 July 1945
A Type C3-S-A2 troop transport with similar mast configuration SS Sea Tarpon, Type C3-S-A2 ship built by Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, MS.jpg
A Type C3-S-A2 troop transport with similar mast configuration

SS Sea Owl was a Type C3-S-A2 ship built during World War II by Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi. The ship was converted by Ingalls before delivery on 27 June 1944 into a troop transport for operation by the War Shipping Administration. The ship saw service in the European Theater of Operations with a final trip in January 1946 to Japan and return. The ship was released from troop service in February 1946 and placed in the James River Reserve Fleet 12 August 1946.

Contents

Sea Owl was converted to commercial service during 1946 and early 1947 and sold in April 1947 to Isthmian Lines, renamed Steel Scientist and operated commercially until 1971.

Construction

Sea Owl was laid down 22 July 1943 for the U. S. Maritime Commission by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation of Pascagoula, Mississippi as a Type C3-S-A2 ship, yard hull 407, USMC hull 863 under a contract of 23 April 1942. The ship was launched on 17 December 1943 and completed on 27 June 1944 by Ingalls as a troop transport with capacity for 2,156 passengers. Sea Owl was registered with U.S. Official Number 245730, Signal WPIT and delivered to the War Shipping Administration for operation the same day for operation under a General Agency Agreement by American Export Lines. [3] [1] [2] [4] [5]

The 1945 U.S. registry information for Sea Owl gives characteristics as 7,886  GRT, 4,600  NRT, 466.5 ft (142.2 m) registry length, 69.6 ft (21.2 m) beam and depth of 29.5 ft (9.0 m), 8,500 horsepower and crew of 53. [1]

Service history

War Shipping Administration (1944–1946)

Sea Owl was allocated to Army requirements and operated by a United States Merchant Marine crew. A contingent of the US Naval Armed Guard were assigned responsible for the ship's guns. The Army allocation led to erroneous conclusions the ship was an Army Transport, designated USAT, which was a term applied to ships owned or bareboat chartered by the Army. [6] [7] All ships engaged in Army troop transport had a complement of the US Army Transportation Corps (Water Division) and a representative of the Port of Embarkation [note 2] commander assigned, a Transport Commander, in command of all Army passengers but not the ship. [8]

Sea Owl's shakedown cruise was from Pascagoula to New York City, followed by a voyage to Newport News, Virginia, to pick up her first troop complement, an Army battalion headed for Naples. [9] The ship departed Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation at Norfolk on 27 July 1944 and returned to New York on 31 August. During the remainder of 1944 the ship made two trips from the New York Port of Embarkation to Europe. The first departed on 12 September for Milford Haven and Cherbourg, France. The second was on 22 October for the Mersey, the Bristol Channel and Avonmouth with return to the Boston Port of Embarkation on 16 November. On 24 November the ship sailed for Southampton with return to New York on 22 December 1944. [4]

The first four voyages of 1945 were from New York. On 10 January 1945 Sea Owl departed New York for The Solent, Le Havre, Plymouth and Southampton. The ship then departed again for Le Havre and The Solent on 27 February. Southampton was again the destination of a voyage on 4 April. On 10 May the ship again departed New York for Le Havre and Southampton with a return to Boston from which the ship departed on 8 June for Le Havre returning to New York. On 22 July 1945 a change was made as war in Europe ended with a mission to redeploy troops to the Pacific. The ship departed New York for Gibraltar, Leghorn and Naples but instead Sea Owl was diverted to Boston. The ship then operated out of Boston to Europe with a voyage on 24 August for Le Havre. On 15 September the destination was Marseilles with a return to Hampton Roads. From there the ship sailed on 13 October again for Marseilles and again on 10 November for Naples and Marseilles with return to Hampton Roads on 5 December 1945. [4]

On 15 December 1945 Sea Owl departed Hampton Roads to transit the Panama Canal for the Pacific arriving 14 January 1946 at Nagoya. With a stop at Incheon, Korea (named Jinsen during Japanese occupation) the ship returned to the Seattle Port of Embarkation 14 February 1946 to complete troop transport service. [4]

Units transported

Units transported included:

Sea Owl was also used to transport German POWs to the United States. [18]

Isthmian Lines (1947–1971)

Steel Scientist in 1961 Atlas Negative Collection Image (24837982846).jpg
Steel Scientist in 1961

Sea Owl was transferred to the Maritime Commission in 1946. A$282,00 contract for conversion into a cargo ship was awarded to J.K. Welding Co., of Yonkers, NY, to be completed in 70 calendar days. In 1947 she was sold to Isthmian Lines of New York. [3]

Beginning in 1947 it operated in Isthmian service as SS Steel Scientist hauling cargoes from Asia principally to U.S. Gulf ports carrying jute, gunnie sacks, shellac, and other materials. She was sold to Taiwan Shipbreakers, arrived at Kaohsiung 9 July 1971 and scrapped during that month. [3]

See also

Footnotes

  1. After conversion to commercial.
  2. The Army commands responsible for all Army troop and cargo shipments were the Ports of Embarkation which commanded not only the port facilities but shipments of troops and supplies from points of origin through the ports and to their destination. See New York Port of Embarkation for a description of the major port in operation in World War I and World War II.

Related Research Articles

SS <i>Argentina</i> (1929)

SS Argentina was a US turbo-electric ocean liner. She was completed in 1929 as SS Pennsylvania, and refitted and renamed as SS Argentina in 1938. From 1942 to 1946 she was the War Shipping Administration operated troopship Argentina. She was laid up in 1958 and scrapped in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York Port of Embarkation</span> United States Army command

The New York Port of Embarkation (NYPOE) was a United States Army command responsible for the movement of troops and supplies from the United States to overseas commands. The command had facilities in New York and New Jersey, roughly covering the extent of today's Port of New York and New Jersey, as well as ports in other cities as sub-ports under its direct command. During World War I, when it was originally known as the Hoboken Port of Embarkation with headquarters in seized Hamburg America Line facilities in Hoboken, New Jersey, the Quartermaster Corps had responsibility. The sub-ports were at Boston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and the Canadian ports of Halifax, Montreal and St. Johns. The World War I port of embarkation was disestablished, seized and requisitioned facilities returned or sold and operations consolidated at the new army terminal in Brooklyn. Between the wars reduced operations continued the core concepts of a port of embarkation and as the home port of Atlantic army ships. With war in Europe the army revived the formal New York Port of Embarkation command with the New York port, the only Atlantic port of embarkation, taking a lead in developing concepts for operations.

USS <i>General G. O. Squier</i> (AP-130)

USS General G. O. Squier (AP-130) was the lead ship of her class of transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II. Decommissioned in 1946, she was sold privately in 1965 and renamed SS Pennmar, and was eventually scrapped.

USS <i>General O. H. Ernst</i> (AP-133) General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II

USS General O. H. Ernst (AP-133) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general Oswald Herbert Ernst. She was decommissioned in 1946 and transferred to the Army Transport Service as USAT General O. H. Ernst. She was sold privately in 1964 and renamed SS Calmar, and was scrapped in 1980.

USS <i>General W. M. Black</i> (AP-135)

USS General W. M. Black (AP-135) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II. The ship was crewed by the U.S. Coast Guard until decommissioning. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general William Murray Black. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General W. M. Black in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General W. M. Black (T-AP-135). She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS Green Forest, before being scrapped in 1980.

USS <i>General H. F. Hodges</i> (AP-144)

USS General H. F. Hodges (AP-144) was a General G. O. Squier-class transport ship for the U.S. Navy in World War II. The ship was crewed by the U.S. Coast Guard until decommissioning. She was named in honor of U.S. Army general Harry Foote Hodges. She was transferred to the U.S. Army as USAT General H. F. Hodges in 1946. On 1 March 1950 she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS General H. F. Hodges (T-AP-144). She was later sold for commercial operation under the name SS James, before being scrapped in 1979.

USS <i>General John Pope</i> (AP-110) United States Navy/Army troop transport

USS General John Pope (AP-110) was a troop transport that served with the United States Navy in World War II. After the war she was transferred to the Army and redesignated USAT General John Pope. She later served in the Korean and Vietnam Wars as a civilian-manned Military Sea Transportation Service vessel, as USNS General John Pope (T-AP-110).

USS <i>General W. P. Richardson</i> (AP-118)

USS General W. P. Richardson (AP-118) was a troopship that served with the United States Navy in World War II. She was later transferred to the United States Army and served briefly during the Korean War as USAT General W. P. Richardson before entering commercial service.

USS <i>General William Weigel</i> (AP-119)

USS General William Weigel (AP-119) was a troopship that served with the United States Navy in World War II. After the war, she was acquired by the US Army and became USAT General William Weigel. On the outbreak of the Korean War, she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) and designated USNS General William Weigel (T-AP-119), a designation she retained for her later service in the Vietnam War.

USNS <i>Henry Gibbins</i> (T-AP-183)

USNS Henry Gibbins (T-AP-183) was a troop transport that served with the United States Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) during the 1950s. Prior to her MSTS service, she served as US Army transport USAT Henry Gibbins during World War II. She later served with the New York Maritime Academy as TS Empire State IV and with the Massachusetts Maritime Academy as USTS Bay State.

USNS <i>David C. Shanks</i> (T-AP-180)

David C. Shanks was a troop transport that served with the US Army during World War II as USAT David C. Shanks, and during the Korean War with the US Navy's Military Sea Transportation Service as the USNS David C. Shanks (T-AP-180).

USAT J. W. McAndrew was a Type C3-P&C troop ship for the United States Army during World War II.

SS <i>Sea Marlin</i>

SS Sea Marlin was a C3-S-A2 cargo ship operated for the War Shipping Administration (WSA) by Grace Lines during World War II. WSA allocated Sea Marlin to United States Army requirements. Sea Marlin was crewed by United States Merchant Marines, with a contingent of the US Naval Armed Guards for the guns and had a complement of the US Army Transportation Corps aboard for troop administration.

USS <i>Admiral W. S. Benson</i>

USS Admiral W. S. Benson (AP-120) began as an unnamed transport, AP-120, that was laid down on 10 December 1942 at Alameda, California by the Bethlehem-Alameda Shipbuilding Corp., under a Maritime Commission contract. She was named Admiral W. S. Benson (AP-120) on 20 October 1943 and launched on 22 November 1943; sponsored by Miss Dorothy Lucille Benson, granddaughter of the late Admiral William S. Benson. She was accepted from the Maritime Commission on 23 August 1944 and commissioned the same day.

USS <i>Admiral R. E. Coontz</i>

USS Admiral R. E. Coontz (AP-122) was an Admiral W. S. Benson-class transport built for the U.S. Navy during World War II. She was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract on 15 January 1943 at Alameda, California, by the Bethlehem Steel Corp., and launched on 22 April 1944. She was sponsored by Mrs. Edwin Kokko, daughter of Admiral Coontz, and commissioned on 21 November 1944, Capt. Montford R. Tawes, USNR, in command.

USS <i>Admiral E. W. Eberle</i>

USS Admiral E. W. Eberle (AP-123) was laid down on 15 February 1943 under a Maritime Commission contract by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Alameda, California; launched on 14 June 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Earl Warren, the wife of the Governor of California who later became Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court; and acquired by the Navy and commissioned on 24 January 1945, Capt. G. C. Carlstedt, USCG, in command.

SS <i>Claymont Victory</i> Victory ship of the United States

SS Claymont Victory was a type Victory ship-based VC2-S-AP2 troop transport built for the U.S. Army Transportation Corps late in World War II. Launched in November 1944, it saw service in the European Theater of Operations during 1945 and in the immediate post-war period repatriating U.S. troops.

Athos II was a passenger and cargo liner for Compagnie des Messageries Maritimes making her maiden voyage from Marseilles 25 March 1927 starting on the line's Far East service serving Marseilles, Malaya, Indo-China, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Kobe and Yokohama. The ship, laid down in 1923 and launched 12 November 1925, had been completed by Aktien-Gesellschaft „Weser", Bremen and delivered to the French as part of World War I reparations. After a 1937 refit, including boilers increasing speed to 19 knots, Athos II resumed Far East service.

The 655th Engineer Topographic Battalion was a technical support unit formed to provide surveying, drafting, and map production activities for the US Army during World War II. With the beginning of the war in Europe, the U.S. realized that the existing European maps were inadequate for tactical purposes or use by artillery units, since existing map grids were inconsistent and did not match up between countries. The Engineer Topographic Battalion's wartime mission was the development of accurate 4-color topographic maps created through timely survey work, drafting, printing, and distribution of military maps as required by the Allied Armed Forces of the United States. The Battalion was first formed in December, 1943 and deactivated in December, 1946.

MS <i>Torrens</i> (1939)

MS Torrens was a Norwegian cargo motor ship built in 1939 by Kockums Mek.Verksted AB., Malmö, Sweden, for Wilhelm Wilhelmsen, Tønsberg, Norway. In 1940, after the German invasion of Norway, the ship operated for the Norwegian Shipping and Trade Mission (Nortraship) in London. Voyages in early 1940 involved U.S. Atlantic ports and the Philippines, China and Japan. By mid 1940 the operations tended to be out of U.S. Pacific coast ports, with occasional visits to the Atlantic, to the same destinations. The same pattern repeated in 1941.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Merchant Vessels of the United States 1946. Washington, D.C.: Treasury Department, Bureau of Customs. 1 January 1946. p. 444. hdl:2027/osu.32435066707266 . Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  2. 1 2 3 Maritime Administration. "Sea Owl". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Lewis, Skip (2003). "S.S. Steel Scientist". IsthmianLines.com. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Charles, Roland W. (1947). Troopships of World War II (PDF). Washington: The Army Transportation Association. p. 261. LCCN   47004779 . Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  5. Colton, Tim (30 June 2020). "Ingalls Shipbuilding". ShipbuildingHistory. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  6. History of the 57th Fighter Group "Group departs Italian soil aboard USAT Sea Owl bound for the Pacific Theatre."
  7. Roster of Armed Guards on U.S. ships in World War II "USAT SEA OWL"
  8. War Department (1944). FM55-105 Water Transportation: Oceangoing Vessels (PDF). War Department Field Manual. Washington, DC: United States Department of War. pp. 25–34, Section 14, Allocated Vessels, Diagrams following p. 64. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  9. Cullinan, George, Sea Grapes and Rattlesnakes, Bloomington, IN, 2004, p. 124 "I signed on as Second Mate on July 27, 1944. We left the shipyard and took her on a shakedown cruise up the Atlantic coast to New York, then down to Newport News to load our -live cargo, which seemed like an entire army battalion. She was a beautiful ship on the outside, but below the main deck every inch of space was filled with triple-decker bunks. It was so crowded that many of the GIs took refuge on the main deck for much of the voyage. We were part of a convoy transporting a full Army division to Naples."
  10. Stone, Herb, Bio at 10th Amored Division Veterans Western Chapter, 30 January 2010: "The division headed north to Camp Shanks in New Jersey and on Sept. 12, 1944 the 55th AEB departed the U.S. on a banana boat called the Sea Owl. Eleven days later we disembarked in Cherbourg, France"
  11. Passage dates per "Travels of the 289th"
  12. 1270th Engineer Combat Battalion: Introduction (citing National Archives)
  13. 1944 World War II Troop Ship Crossings
  14. History of the 661st Tank Destroyer Battalion
  15. 57th Fighter Group of WWII: Pictures
  16. 644th Tank Destroyer Battalion
  17. WWII SS Sea Owl troop ship paper for returning GIs 644 Tank Destroyer BN
  18. Sipes, Greg, The Transformation of the Soul, Bloomington, IN, 2008, p. 69. "It's late December 1944. The small ship aboard which I am stationed is docked at Le Havre, France. We just unloaded the war materials carried from America to re-supply our forces during the "Battle of the Bulge," the battle that was the fiercest and one of the final battles of the war in the European theater of operations. The ship, the S.S. Sea Owl, relatively unarmed and with a crew of about forty-five, is now empty and preparing for the return trip to the United States. The word comes that we will be transporting fifteen hundred to two thousand German prisoners of war back to the States....The German soldiers come aboard in single file over the narrow gangplank."