USS Merak (AF-21)

Last updated
USS Merak (AF-21) off the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Virginia (USA), 20 September 1944 (19-N-73129).jpg
History
US flag 48 stars.svgCivil Ensign of the United Kingdom.svg
Name
  • Veragua (1932–42; 1946–58);
  • Merak (1942–46)
  • Sinaloa (1958–64)
Owner
Operator
  • United Fruit Company (1932–42; 1946–58);
  • United States Navy (1942–46)
  • Elders and Fyffes (1958–64)
Port of registry
  • New York (1932–1958)
  • United Kingdom (1958–1964)
OrderedAugust 1930
Builder Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation
Yard number1446
Launched23 April 1932
Acquired
Maiden voyage11 August 1932
In service1932
Out of service1965
Identification
  • U.S. Official Number: 231755
  • Signal: KDCT
FateScrapped 1965
Notes
  • Commissioned U.S. Navy:
  • 8 May 1942—21 June 1946
General characteristics [1] [2] [3]
Class and type
TypePassenger & cargo liner
Tonnage6,982  GRT, 3,178  NRT, 4,750  DWT
Displacement7,068 t.(lt) [4] 10,928 t.(fl)
Length
  • 447 ft 10 in (136.50 m) (LOA)
  • 415.8 ft (126.7 m) (Registry)
Beam60.3 ft (18.4 m)
Draft24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Depth24.1 ft (7.3 m)
Installed power4 oil fired Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 350 psi 230° superheat driving GE generator sets for main propulsion and auxiliary power [5]
Propulsion2 GE 4,200 kw, 5,500 hp at 125 rpm, twin 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m), 3 blade screws [5]
Speed19 knots (35 km/h) (max)
Capacity
  • Commercial:
  • Passengers: design 113, postwar 95
  • Cargo:
  • 240,070 cu ft (6,798.0 m3) refrigerated
  • 5,370 cu ft (152.1 m3) baggage, mail & other
Troops100+
ComplementNavy: 238
Crew103 registry, 113 design
Armamentone single 5 in (130 mm) dual purpose gun mount, four single 3 in (76 mm) dual purpose gun mounts, eight 20 mm guns

USS Merak (AF-21), the second Navy ship of the name, was the United Fruit Company cargo and passenger liner Veragua that served as a United States Navy Mizar-class stores ship in World War II.

Contents

Veragua was built for United Fruit's subsidiary United Mail Steamship Company by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Fore River Plant, Quincy, Massachusetts. The ship was one of six nearly identical ships with three each built by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and Bethlehem Shipbuilding.

The ships were designed to take advantage of U.S. subsidies, including mail contracts, and designated by the line as its "Mail class" vessels to meet the company's primary purpose of refrigerated banana transport with passenger and mail being important sources of revenue. Veragua, launched 23 April 1932 and delivered 5 August was one of three ships assigned to the company's Atlantic routes to Panama allowing an intercoastal connection with the three ships assigned to the Pacific.

Veragua was delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) in March 1942 for wartime operation under bareboat charter. The Navy acquired the ship from WSA under sub bareboat charter at the same time, commissioning the ship 8 May 1942 as Merak designated AF-21 after modifications were made for wartime naval service. The ship served in the Atlantic throughout the war. After decommissioning of Merak in June 1946 Veragua was reconverted to commercial operations and then returned to the company for resumption of service on a similar route as before the war. The ship, with two sister ships, was transferred to its British subsidiary Elders and Fyffes to be renamed Sinaloa operating until 1965 when the ship was scrapped.

Construction

Veragua, named for a mountain range in Panama, was the last of six nearly identical ships, the first being Talamanca, launched for the United Mail Steamship Company, a United Fruit Company subsidiary. [note 1] The six ships were built to a common design by two builders, Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and Bethlehem Shipbuilding. Newport News Shipbuilding built Talamanca, Chiriqui and Peten. The other Bethlehem ships were Antigua and Quirigua. [5] [6]

United Fruit's primary business was transport of bananas from Central and South America with passengers, mail and general cargo as important components. The design was thus driven by the special requirements of a refrigerated fruit carrier, in effect an enhanced "banana boat", in which refrigeration and banana handling capability was incorporated in the basic design. An expensive feature, required by the government for loans, was the "two compartment" rule requiring the ship to stay afloat with any two compartments flooded. The ships were subdivided into nine compartments by eight watertight bulkheads. As a result of shorter compartments more refrigeration equipment was required driving costs and requiring larger ships than the former "banana boats" for the same amount of fruit cargo. Sixteen refrigerated cargo compartments were located in two cork insulated holds forward and two aft of the central superstructure with York Ice Machinery Corporation refrigeration units located below the orlop deck aft. [1] [5] [7] The company designated the ships as its "Mail class" due to their design to meet requirements for mail carriage subsidies. [8] [9]

Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Quincy, Massachusetts built the ship as yard hull 1446 with launch on 23 April 1932 and delivery in August 1932. [10] Design was based on Antigua, the first of the ships from Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, with slight variance from the Newport News implementation. Specifications were 447 ft 10 in (136.50 m) , length between perpendiculars of 415 ft 0 in (126.49 m) and 428 ft 9 in (130.68 m) on designed waterline. Beam of 60 ft 0 in (18.29 m) with a design draft, molded of 24 ft 0 in (7.32 m) and depth, molded to upper deck of 24 ft 0 in (7.32 m). Displacement tonnage to the designed waterline was 10,928, gross 7,035.12 and net 3,523 with cargo capacities of 240,070 cubic feet refrigerated space in two holds forward, two aft and two special low temperature holds aft with 5,370 cubic feet of mail and baggage storage. Normal service speed of 17.5 knots was achieved by two turbo-electric transmission with of 10,500 normal shaft horsepower and some of the ships reached 19 knots during trials. [1]

Veragua was registered with U.S. Official Number 231755, signal KDCT at 6,982  GRT, 3,178  NRT, registry length of 415.8 ft (126.7 m), 60.3 ft (18.4 m) beam, 24.1 ft (7.3 m) depth, 10,500 horsepower, 103 crew with home port of New York and owner as United Mail Steamship Company. [2]

Commercial service

Veragua was delivered 5 August 1932 and made her maiden voyage on 11 August to Havana, Kingston, Cristobal and Limón. [11] Scheduled sailings for January through March 1933 show Veragua along with Quirigua and Peten operating on a New York, Havana, Kingston, Cristobal, Limón and return to New York omitting Kingston as a port of call. The other three, Antigua, Talamanca and Chiriqui meanwhile operated on a San Francisco to Balboa route with return to San Francisco via Puerto Armuelles and Los Angeles. An intercoastal service for passengers and cargo was formed by the ships connecting in Panama. That schedule remained through 1936. In January 1939 all the ships operated on the New York to Panama route. [12]

On 2 February 1940 naval historian Samuel E. Morison and his Harvard Columbus Expedition returned to New York aboard Veragua after retracing the voyages of Christopher Columbus since the previous August. [13]

US Navy service

On 20 March 1942 United Fruit delivered Veragua to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) at New Orleans under bareboat charter. Simultaneously the Navy acquired the ship under sub bareboat charter. [3] The ship was converted to naval use by Todd Pacific Shipyards of Galveston, Texas and commissioned Merak, designated AF-21, on 8 May 1942, commanded by Cmdr L.E. Divoll. [4]

shakedown training began on her maiden Navy voyage to Charleston, South Carolina. By 20 March 1943 she completed 10 voyages in convoy from east coast ports to Caribbean islands. She then made one supply voyage to Reykjavík, Iceland, arriving on 10 April. She then made two short deliveries to Cuba before making her first transatlantic crossing in July, delivering men, mail, and stores in Algeria, North Africa. Between further Caribbean trips, Merak voyaged to both Sicily and Scotland before the end of 1943. [4]

She continued Caribbean sailings and transatlantic voyages until February 1945, including four crossings from Bayonne, New Jersey, to Italian ports. After a brief drydocking she supplied ships and bases from Iceland to Trinidad. On her last voyage to Reykjavík, on 14 July 1946 a blizzard blew her ashore while anchored at Argentia, Newfoundland. She was freed by tugs and completed her voyage. She then made two more trips to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and Trinidad before being released by the Navy. [4]

Merak’s crew were awarded the following medals: American Campaign Medal, Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal. [14]

Post-war commercial service

On 21 June 1946 Merak was decommissioned at New York and returned the ship to WSA. Veragua was then operated by United Fruit as WSA's agent under a General Agency Agreement to be converted back to commercial service and then returned to the company on 8 January 1948. [3] [4] The April to December 1950 schedule shows the ship on a New Orleans, Havana, Puerto Barrios and direct return to New Orleans with 1952 showing New Orleans, Cristobal, Tela and direct return to New Orleans. [12]

Sale

In December 1958 United Fruit transferred Veragua and her sisters Quirigua and Talamanca to its British subsidiary Elders and Fyffes, which changed Veragua's name to SS Sinaloa. [15] She was scrapped in Ghent, Belgium in 1965. [14]

Footnotes

  1. ↑ The last ship delivered was Peten due to it burning during final fitting out under its original name, Segovia. The ship was rebuilt as a different yard hull number and renamed with delivery on 24 February 1933.

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Pacific Marine Review (1932). "New Turbo-Electric Steamship Antigua". Consolidated 1932 issues (July 1932). 'Official Organ: Pacific American Steamship Association/Shipowners' Association of the Pacific Coast. Retrieved 16 July 2021.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. 1 2 Merchant Vessels of the United States, Year ended June 30, 1934. Washington, D.C.: Department of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation and Steamboat Inspection. 1934. pp. 180–181. hdl:2027/osu.32435066706961 . Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  3. 1 2 3 Maritime Administration. "Veragua". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Naval History And Heritage Command (August 7, 2015). "Merak II (AF-21)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (January 1932). "Important Addition to Pacific Shipping". Pacific Marine Review. San Francisco: J.S. Hines: 3–12. Retrieved 9 August 2021.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. ↑ Pacific Marine Review (June 1932). "Naming the Great White Fleet". Pacific Marine Review. San Francisco: J.S. Hines: 210. Retrieved 9 August 2021.
  7. ↑ Miller, Wayne G. (2013). Fore River Shipyard. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing. p. 94. ISBN   9780738597980. LCCN   2012942950 . Retrieved 24 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "S.S. Quirigua Rejoins the Great White Fleet". The Log. Los Angeles: Miller Freeman Publications of California. 42 (5): 50–51. May 1947. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  9. ↑ Pacific Marine Review (July 1947). "Cruise Queen Conversion (Bethlehem Advertisement noting particulars)". Pacific Marine Review. San Francisco: J.S. Hines: 79. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  10. ↑ Pacific Marine Review (September 1932). "Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Fore River Plant, Quincy Mass". Pacific American Steamship Association/Shipowners' Association of the Pacific Coast: 351. Retrieved 9 August 2021.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  11. ↑ Pacific Marine Review (1932). "American Shipbuilding—Veragua Delivered". Consolidated 1932 issues (September 1932). 'Official Organ: Pacific American Steamship Association/Shipowners' Association of the Pacific Coast. Retrieved 3 September 2014.{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. 1 2 Larsson, Björn (June 22, 2019). "United Fruit Company". Maritime Timetable Images. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "Samuel E. Morison's Columbus Expedition Reaches United States After Five Months of Following Explorer's Courses". The Harvard Crimson. The Harvard Crimson. February 2, 1940. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  14. 1 2 Priolo, Gary P. (27 April 2018). "USS Merak (AF-21)". NavSource Online. Retrieved 10 August 2021.
  15. ↑ Coombe, Ian. "Elders & Fyffes". Merchant Navy Nostalgia. Retrieved 4 May 2013.
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