![]() | |
History | |
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![]() | |
Name | |
Owner |
|
Operator |
|
Builder | Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co |
Yard number | 344 |
Laid down | 2 February 1931 |
Launched | 15 August 1931 [note 1] |
Acquired |
|
Commissioned |
|
Decommissioned | 29 November 1945 |
Stricken | 19 December 1945 |
Identification |
|
Fate | Scrapped 1965 |
Notes | USS Talamanca (1941–45) |
General characteristics [1] [2] | |
Class and type |
|
Type | civilian: passenger & cargo liner |
Tonnage | 6,963 GRT, 3,183 NRT |
Displacement | 11,345 tons (at maximum draft) |
Length |
|
Beam | 60.2 ft (18.3 m) |
Draft | 25 ft 2 in (7.67 m) |
Depth | 24 ft (7.3 m) |
Installed power | 4 oil fired Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 350 psi 230° superheat driving GE generator sets for main propulsion and auxiliary power [1] |
Propulsion | 2 GE 4,200 kw, 5,500 hp at 125 rpm, twin 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m), 3 blade screws [1] |
Speed |
|
Capacity |
|
Complement | Navy: 238 [3] |
Crew | Commercial: 113 |
Armament | one single 5 in (130 mm) dual purpose gun mount, four single 3 in (76 mm) dual purpose gun mounts [3] |
USS Talamanca (AF-15) was the United Fruit Company cargo and passenger liner Talamanca that served as a United States Navy Mizar-class stores ship in World War II.
Talamanca was the lead ship of six fast, turbo-electric transmission ships built primarily for banana transport for the United Fruit Company subsidiary shipping line, United Mail Steamship Company. The new ships were larger than previous fruit carriers and designed for substantial passenger service and to take advantage of new mail carriage subsidies. As a result of the later they were described by the company as its "Mail class" ships. In early commercial service three of the ships served on the Atlantic coast to Panama and three on the Pacific coast to Panama with inter coastal connections made at Panamanian ports.
All of the ships, including Talamanca were delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) for wartime operation. United Fruit retained ownership of all the ships which operated under bareboat charter by WSA with five of the ships sub bareboat chartered to the Navy which operated them as commissioned naval vessels. Talamanca was delivered to WSA and the Navy on 16 December 1941, converted for naval use and commissioned USS Talamanca with the designation AF-15 on 28 January 1942. The ship operated in the Pacific throughout the war. At the end of her naval service the ship again transported bananas, loaded during a stop at Puerto Armuelles, Panama, in transit from Hawaii to New Orleans for decommissioning which took place 29 November 1945. The ship was immediately delivered to WSA's agent, United Fruit, for the process of conversion back to the company's commercial service. On 8 July 1947 Talamanca was returned to the company for commercial service.
In 1958 United Fruit transferred Talamanca to its British subsidiary Elders and Fyffes which renamed the vessel Sulaco and operated the ship until retirement in 1964. Sulaco arrived in Bruges, Belgium 28 July 1964 for scrapping which took place in 1965.
Talamanca was laid down as hull number 344 by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company of Newport News, Virginia on 2 February 1931 as the first of six sister ships driven by turbo-electric transmission. [1] The company's ships were named for cities, provinces or mountain ranges in Central and South America. Talamanca qualifies as a mountain range, Cordillera de Talamanca and the region of the Kingdom of Talamanca. [4] [note 2] The six ships were ordered in August 1930 and built under the Merchant Marine Act of 1928 (Jones-White Act) for the United Mail Steamship Company, a subsidiary of the United Fruit Company, designed with specialized cooling and handling arrangements for transporting bananas. [1] [5]
The six ships were the first for the line not built in Europe. Construction in U.S. yards was a result of the Merchant Marine Act and more liberal government support in the form of mail contracts. [5] The company designated the ships as its "Mail class" due to their design to meet requirements for mail carriage subsidies. [6] [7] Three of the ships were built by Newport News Shipbuilding with Talamanca being the first of the group and class followed by Chiriqui and Peten (originally Segovia, later Jamaica) with Antigua, Quirigua and Veragua by Bethlehem Shipbuilding, Baltimore. [1]
Design of the ships was driven by the fact that bananas, requiring refrigeration, were the primary cargo and the United States government subsidies required compliance with the latest safety measures. The "two compartment" rule requiring the ship to stay afloat with any two compartments flooded was an expensive feature. 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 for the same amount of fruit cargo than earlier banana boats. 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. The holds were used for general cargo on southbound trips with steel being one of the main items. Aft at the main deck level was a special hold for cargo such as meat requiring lower temperatures than the fruit. The larger hull also allowed for more passenger space. The mail contracts were met with a special bulk mail compartment and strong room for carriage of bullion and other valuables was located starboard at main deck level with direct access through entry ports. [1]
The larger ships allowed features of ocean liners previously not incorporated into the company's ships. Accommodations for 113 passengers in 61 rooms, all first class, with public areas that included a swimming pool and deck ballroom. The ballroom had large windows making it practically open air and lighting to imitate moonlight. Public rooms were decorated in a "modern Spanish" style. The dining room could seat 108 at small tables in one sitting. The lounge, with hardwood floors, could also be used for formal, inside dancing. [1]
A turbo-electric transmission system with four Babcock & Wilcox oil fired boilers providing steam for two turbine driven General Electric (GE) generators and auxiliary generator sets for ship's power met contract requirements for sustained speed of 17.5 kn (20.1 mph; 32.4 km/h) and guaranteed 10,500 horsepower. [note 3] Propulsion was by two 3,150 volt, 4,200 kilowatt, 5,500 horsepower at 125 revolutions GE electric motors driving twin 15 ft 6 in (4.7 m), 3 blade screws. Ship's service electricity was provided by three GE turbine generator sets, 500 kilowatts each with 120 and 240 volt service, driven by steam from the boilers to power electric motors on auxiliaries and deck machinery as well as the electrical systems for quarters and navigation. All auxiliaries normally required at sea were electric motor driven. [1]
The basic design implemented in Talamanca was a ship of 446 ft 9 in (136.2 m) overall length, 430 ft (131.1 m) length on 24 ft (7.3 m) waterline, 415 ft (126.5 m) length between perpendiculars, 60 ft (18.3 m) molded beam, 36 ft 9 in (11.2 m) depth molded to upper deck, 24 ft 9 in (7.5 m) molded maximum draft, 11,345 tons displacement at maximum draft, 6,963 GRT, 3,183 NRT, 196,000 cu ft (5,550.1 m3) cargo capacity, 1,450 tons of fuel oil and 626 tons fresh water capacity. [1]
Talamanca was launched 15 August 1931 in a twin ceremony with Segovia (hull #345) in which First Lady Lou Henry Hoover christened both ships with water gathered from Central American rivers. Talamanca was delivered 12 December 1931, but Segovia burned at the fitting out pier to be rebuilt and renamed Peten in another ceremony with Mrs. Hoover on the anniversary of the launch. [1] [8] [9] The ship was registered with U.S. Official Number 231349, signal KDCC, at 6,963 GRT, 3,183 NRT, registry length of 415.4 ft (126.6 m), 60.2 ft (18.3 m) beam, 24 ft (7.3 m) depth, 10,500 horsepower, 113 crew and home port of New York. [2]
United Fruit placed Talamanca on express liner services between Central America and San Francisco along with Antigua and Chiriqui. The January—March schedule for 1933 shows the route as San Francisco to Balboa with return to San Francisco to include calls at Puerto Armuelles and Los Angeles. Effective May 1933 with Antigua sailing for Balboa the three ships maintained a weekly service taking eight days between San Francisco and Balboa with round trip for each ship taking nineteen days. Intercoastal connecting 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. [10] [11]
United Fruit delivered Talamanca to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 16 December 1941 at New York under bareboat charter with WSA simultaneously delivering the ship to the Navy under sub bareboat charter. [12] The Maryland Drydock Company of Baltimore, Maryland converted Talamanca for Navy use with the Navy designating the ship AF-15 on 27 December 1941. On 28 January 1942 the Navy commissioned the ship as USS Talamanca under the command of Commander Nathan W. Bard. [3]
Talamanca sailed for the first time as a naval vessel on 13 February. Six days later, laden with cargo, passengers and mail, she transited the Panama Canal. She proceeded via Talara, Peru, across the southern Pacific and reached Wellington Harbour, New Zealand on 16 March. She then made a round trip across the Tasman Sea to Melbourne, Australia and back to Wellington. On 1 April she sailed for the United States. She called at Manzanillo, Mexico on the 16th and reached San Francisco, California, on 21 April. Between 9 May and 1 June, she made a round trip from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor and back. Shes spent the whole of June in the Mare Island Navy Yard, undergoing further conversion and some repairs. [3]
Talamanca left San Francisco on 8 July with a Hawaii-bound convoy. She reached Pearl Harbor on the 16th and stayed there for five days loading fuel and stores before heading southwest on the 21st. On 1 August she left the convoy, headed via the Fiji for New Zealand, reaching Auckland on the 7th. [3]
For the next three years Auckland was Talamanca's home port. Between August 1942 and April 1945, she plied the southwestern Pacific supplying US bases. She visited such places as Fiji; Espiritu Santo; Efate; Manus; and Napier, New Zealand. The closest she ever came to the combat zone were stops at Guadalcanal, Tulagi, Florida Island, and the Russell Islands in the Solomon Islands. However, these voyages were in 1944 after the fighting had moved up the Solomons chain past Bougainville and into the Bismarck Archipelago. In all, Talamanca made 36 resupply voyages from Auckland to various bases in the South Pacific and back again, all of them relatively routine. [3]
On 28 April 1945 Talamanca left Auckland for the last time. She headed to Noumea, New Caledonia, thence to Manus, and then to the Marianas. She reached Saipan on 10 May; discharged some of her cargo; and, on the 15th, went to Tinian where she discharged the rest of her cargo. From Tinian she sailed via Eniwetok Atoll for the West Coast of the United States. She entered San Pedro, California, on 2 June 1945 and loaded cargo. On the 9th she returned to the western Pacific. After fuel and water stops at Pearl Harbor and Eniwetok, Talamanca entered Apra Harbor, Guam, on 26 June. She unloaded her cargo and, four days later, sailed for Manus. She reached Manus on 3 July, embarked patients from the hospital for transport and left on 5 July for the United States. She called at Pearl Harbor on 13 July and entered San Francisco Bay on the 19th. [3]
Her passengers disembarked, Talamanca moored at a pier at the Moore Dry Dock Co. for overhaul. Overhaul and repairs were completed on 31 August, and after degaussing, compass compensation, and trials she began loading cargo on 3 September. On the 9th, she left San Francisco Bay for Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on the 14th. Two days later she left for Eniwetok where she stopped on the 23rd for fuel and water. From there she went to Guam, and thence to Iwo Jima where she unloaded cargo. On 8 October Talamanca left Iwo Jima with passengers for Saipan, where she arrived that afternoon. Her passengers disembarked that day and her cargo was unloaded the next day. After calling at Guam to embark passengers she left for Hawaii and the United States. She called at Pearl Harbor from 27 to 29 October and then continued to Panama. [3]
Talamanca reverted to her original employment as a fruit carrier on 10 November when she loaded bananas at Puerto Armuelles, Panama, for the War Shipping Administration. She transited the canal on the 13th and sailed for New Orleans, Louisiana, the next day. [3]
Talamanca reached New Orleans on 18 November 1945 for decommissioning on 29 November 1945 and delivery to the War Shipping Administration's operating agent United Fruit the same day. [3] [12] The name Talamanca was stricken from the Navy list on 19 December 1945. [3] United Fruit operated the ship under a General Agency Agreement with the War Shipping Administration for conversion to company use and operation until fully returned to the company on 8 July 1947. [12]
In November 1958 United Fruit transferred Talamanca to its British subsidiary Elders and Fyffes. [12] [13] Talamanca was renamed SS Sulaco after an earlier Fyffes ship of the same name. [13] [note 4]
As Sulaco the ship served in the Fyffes fleet until she was retired in 1964. On 28 July that year she arrived in Bruges, Belgium to be scrapped. She was broken up in August 1964. [12]
USS Ariel (AF-22) was the United Fruit Company cargo and passenger liner Peten, renamed Jamaica in 1937, that served as a United States Navy Mizar-class stores ship in World War II.
SS Manhattan was a 24,189 GRT luxury ocean liner of the United States Lines, named after the Manhattan borough of New York City. On 15 June 1941 she was commissioned as USS Wakefield and became the largest ship ever operated by the US Coast Guard. In 1942 she caught fire and was rebuilt as a troop ship. Manhattan never saw commercial service again.
USS Euryale (AS-22) was built as the Hawaiian Merchant by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company in Kearny, New Jersey for the Matson Navigation Company. Hawaiian Merchant was launched 12 April 1941, minutes after sister ship Hawaiian Shipper, and was completed April 1941. Matson intended the ship to join Hawaiian Planter and Hawaiian Shipper in the U.S. Pacific Coast—Australia route. The ship was under United States Army Transportation Corps charter when the United States went to war and came under the control of the War Shipping Administration which allocated the ship to the Army's continued charter until the ship was purchased 15 April 1943 by the United States Navy and commissioned 2 December 1943 as USS Euryale (AS-22), serving as a submarine tender through the war. Euryale was decommissioned 7 October 1946, going into reserve until 9 August 1972 when she was delivered to the Maritime Administration with immediate sale to American Ship Dismantler, Inc. for disposal.
USS Mizar (AF-12) was the United Fruit Company fruit, mail and passenger liner Quirigua that served as a United States Navy Mizar-class stores ship in World War II.
USS Uranus (AF-14) was a Uranus-class stores ship bareboat chartered to the U.S. Navy by the War Shipping Administration for use in World War II. The ship was one of the Danish vessels idled in U.S. ports seized by the United States after the occupation of Denmark by German forces. The ship was the Danish J. Lauritzen A/S line vessel Maria, ex Caravelle, ex Helga until chartered to the Navy and commissioned on 11 August 1941 under the name Uranus.
USS Tarazed (AF-13) was the United Fruit Company cargo and passenger liner Chiriqui that was acquired by the United States Navy through a sub bareboat charter from the War Shipping Administration (WSA) which acquired the ship by bareboat charter from the company. The ship served as a Mizar-class stores ship in World War II. In peacetime before and after the war she carried fruit and passengers; in war she supplied troops and ships in the field. In 1958 she was sold to a German shipping line and renamed Blexen which was scrapped in 1971 after 39 years' service.
USS Roamer (AF-19) was the Danish refrigerated motorship African Reefer, completed 1935, of the J. Lauritzen shipping company which had put in at Madeira after Germany occupied Denmark. The ship later sailed to a U.S. port on assurances it would be treated equally with U.S. vessels chartered for war purposes. Instead it was seized by the United States Maritime Commission and placed in service under War Shipping Administration (WSA) allotment to commercial, Army transport and finally Navy use at half the rate paid for U.S. ships. The agreed to rate was not restored until 1958 after a Supreme Court judgement and Congressional action.
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.
Fyffes Line was the name given to the fleet of passenger-carrying banana boats owned and operated by the UK banana importer Elders & Fyffes Limited.
USS Leedstown (AP-73), built as the Grace Line passenger and cargo ocean liner SS Santa Lucia, served as a United States Navy amphibious assault ship in World War II. The ship had first been turned over to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) and operated by Grace Line as the WSA agent from February to August 1942 in the Pacific. In August the ship, at New York, was turned over to the Navy under sub-bareboat charter from WSA. She was sunk 9 November 1942 off the Algerian coast by a German submarine after German bombers caused damage the day before.
USS George F. Elliott (AP-105) was a cargo liner built for the Mississippi Shipping Company as SS Delbrasil for operation between New Orleans and the east coast of South America in 1939 by its operator, Delta Line. The ship entered that service and operated until taken over by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 28 April 1942 for operation by Delta Line acting as WSA's agent. On 25 August 1943 WSA allocated the ship to the Navy for conversion to a troop transport commissioned and operated by the Navy for the duration of the war. Ownership of the ship was transferred from Mississippi Shipping to WSA on 4 February 1944 while under Navy operation and was retained until sale to American South African Lines on 22 December 1948. The ship was renamed African Endeavor until returned as a trade in to the Maritime Commission on 22 September 1960 for layup in the James River reserve fleet and later sold to Boston Metals for scrapping.
SS Manchuria was a passenger and cargo liner launched 1903 for the San Francisco-trans Pacific service of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. During World War I the ship was commissioned 25 April 1918–11 September 1919 for United States Navy service as USS Manchuria (ID-1633). After return to civilian service the ship was acquired by the Dollar Steamship Line in 1928 until that line suffered financial difficulties in 1938 and ownership of Manchuria was taken over by the United States Maritime Commission which chartered the ship to American President Lines which operated her as President Johnson. During World War II she operated as a War Shipping Administration transport with American President Lines its agent allocated to United States Army requirements. After World War II, she was returned to American President Lines, sold and renamed Santa Cruz. The liner was scrapped in Italy in 1952.
SS Point Bonita was constructed in 1918 and launched 27 March 1918 after a hull being built for foreign owners at Albina Engine and Machine Works was requisitioned during World War I by the United States Shipping Board (USSB). The ship saw service as the Navy transport USS Point Bonita, assigned Identification Number 3496, from 7 October 1918 to 7 April 1919, was returned to the USSB and saw civilian service with several commercial companies as San Pedro and Oliver Olson before again seeing service in World War II as USS Camanga (AG-42). After return to commercial service as Oliver Olson the ship was wrecked at the entrance to Bandon harbor in Oregon.
Banana boat is a descriptive nickname that was given to fast ships, also called banana carriers, engaged in the banana trade. They were designed to transport easily spoiled bananas rapidly from tropical growing areas to North America and Europe. They often carried passengers as well as fruit.
President Taylor was a cargo-liner, ex President Polk, ex Granite State, requisitioned for war service in December 1941 and allocated by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) to the U.S. Army and operating as a troopship in the Pacific Ocean in World War II when grounded and eventually lost on 14 February 1942.
SS Santa Rosa was a passenger and cargo ocean liner built for the Grace Line for operation by its subsidiary Panama Mail Steamship Company of San Francisco. She was the first to be launched and operating of four sister ships, the others in order of launch being Santa Paula, Santa Lucia and Santa Elena. All four ships, dubbed "The Four Sisters" and "The Big Four" were noted as the finest serving the West Coast and were of advanced technology. All served in World War II as War Shipping Administration (WSA) troop ships. Both Santa Lucia and Santa Elena were lost in air and torpedo attacks off North Africa.
USAHS Marigold was a United States Army hospital ship during World War II. The ship was built as Old North State in 1920 for the United States Shipping Board as a civilian passenger/cargo liner. The ship changed ownership and operating companies several times with name changes to President Van Buren and President Fillmore before being acquired for military transport service in 1941. After government acquisition during World War II President Fillmore served as a War Shipping Administration troop transport before conversion to hospital ship service.
SS Antigua was a United Fruit Company passenger and refrigerated cargo liner completed as one of six nearly identical vessels, three built by Newport News Shipbuilding and three by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, for operation by the company's subsidiary the United Mail Steamship Company. The ship was the first of the ships built by Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Quincy, Massachusetts.
SS Haiti was a passenger and freight ship built for the Colombian Mail Steamship Company built at Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Virginia and delivered 15 December 1932. The ship was renamed briefly Puerto Rico in 1938 and Monterey in 1939 to operate for the New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company until requisitioned with transfer of title to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 25 September 1942. The ship was then allocated to the U.S. Army for operation under a bareboat agreement as USAT Monterey. In 1943 the ship was assigned to the command at Trinidad to supply bases in Brazil and Ascension Island. After layup in the reserve fleet the ship was sold to Turkey.
SS Tivives was a United Fruit Company passenger and refrigerated fruit cargo ship built 1911 by Workman, Clark & Company, Ltd. in Belfast. The ship was launched 1 August 1911 as Peralta but renamed before completion. As a foreign built vessel operating for a company in the United States the ship was British flagged. With outbreak of war in Europe in 1914 the ship, as did all British registered company ships, changed flag to the United States. Between 5 July 1918 and 25 April 1919 the ship was chartered and commissioned by the United States Navy for operation as USS Tivives
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