SS Manhattan (1931)

The SS Manhattan was a 24,189-ton luxury liner of the United States Lines, named after the borough of New York City. On 15 June 1941, the Manhattan was commissioned as the USS Wakefield and became the largest vessel ever operated by the US Coast Guard. In 1942, the ship caught fire and was rebuilt as a troop ship. The Manhattan never saw commercial service again.

A postcard of the SS Manhattan.
History
United States
Builder: New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden
Yard number: 405
Laid down: 6 December 1930
Launched: 5 December 1931
Sponsored by: Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt, Sr.
Acquired: 27 July 1932 (Delivered)
Out of service: 1959
Renamed: USS Wakefield (1941)
Identification:
  • Official number: 231779
  • Signal: WIEA
Fate: Sold for scrap, 1965
General characteristics
Tonnage: 24,289 GRT
Length:
Beam: 86 ft (26 m)
Draft: 32 ft (9.8 m) light load
Depth: 79 ft (24 m) to promenade deck
Decks: 9
Propulsion: Steam Turbines - Twin Screw
Speed: 20 Knots Standard
Capacity: 1,300 passengers
Crew: 481
For other ships with the same name, see Manhattan (ship).

Kindertransport

On 22 March 1939, the passengers embarking on the Manhattan in Hamburg included 88 unaccompanied children who were Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany.[10]. This roughly 24-hour journey from Hamburg to Southampton was part of the Kindertransport, as it later came to be known, between December 1938 and the outbreak of war in September 1939.

70% of the children (62 individuals) had been born in Berlin.[10]

Early WWII

In October 1939, the Manhattan transported passengers, mostly Americans, from England (then at war with Germany) to New York. On 4 February 1940, the ship was seized by British forces in Gibraltar and released after 390 sacks of mail bound for Germany were confiscated. From January 1940 until Italy's entry into World War II in June 1940, the Manhattan sailed between New York and Genoa. On 12 January 1941, while in coastal service on the Atlantic seaboard, she went aground 9 nmi (17 km) north of Palm Beach, and was re-floated 22 days later. On 6 March 1941, the commander of the marine inspection bureau suspended the master and first officer after finding them guilty of negligence in the grounding. The master received an eight-month suspension while the first officer was suspended for one month.[11]

As a Troopship
Main article: USS Wakefield (AP-21)

On 14 June 1941 the Manhattan was delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) which immediately delivered the ship to the US Navy for operation under bareboat charter.[12] The ship was subsequently commissioned as the troopship USS Wakefield on 15 June 1941. Assigned a Coast Guard crew under Commander Wilfrid N. Derby, she became the largest vessel ever operated by the Coast Guard.[13] On 18 September 1942 the ship was purchased by the Navy.[12]

The Manhattan would never re-enter commercial service. On 3 September 1942, while en route from Clyde to New York as part of convoy TA-18, a fire broke out aboard. Taken in tow by the Canadian Salvage vessel Foundation Franklin, the Wakefield reached Halifax five days later, still burning. By the time the last flames were extinguished, her hull was effectively gutted. Paid off by the US Navy, she was towed to Boston Navy Yard and rebuilt to troopship specifications.[13]

See also

References
  1. "THE SS MANHATTAN… created the "Manhattan" cocktail… right out of Prohibition…". Cruise Line History. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  2. "Uncle Sam Enters The Atlantic Race", February 1931, Popular Mechanics article on the new construction in the 1930s
  3. Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (September 1932). "New York Shipbuilding Company". Pacific Marine Review. San Francisco: J.S. Hines: 355. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  4. McKinnon, H.C.; Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (January 1933). "Steamship Manhattan Launched". Pacific Marine Review. San Francisco: J.S. Hines: 33. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  5. Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (December 1931). "Largest American Built Liner". Pacific Marine Review. San Francisco: J.S. Hines: 491–492. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  6. Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (September 1932). "The Largest American Built Liner". Pacific Marine Review. San Francisco: J.S. Hines: 322–336. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  7. Merchant Vessels of the United States. Washington, D.C.: Department of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation. 1933. pp. 88–89. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  8. Pacific American Steamship Association; Shipowners Association of the Pacific Coast (October 1932). "Unique Introduction to a New Passenger Liner". Pacific Marine Review. San Francisco: J.S. Hines. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
  9. "s.s. Manhattan, Washington, USL, Benny Goodman, Goody Goody, Swing, Jazz". Youtube.
  10. "German Jewish Refugee Children Who Arrived in Southampton From Germany on the S.S. Manhattan". USHMM. Retrieved 16 September 2019.
  11. Associated Press, "2 ARE SUSPENDED IN GROUNDING OF S.S. MANHATTAN", Chicago Daily Tribune, Friday 7 March 1941, Volume C, Number 57, p.3.
  12. Maritime Administration. "Wakefield". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  13. Naval History And Heritage Command (23 October 2015). "Wakefield". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History And Heritage Command. Retrieved 21 August 2019.
  14. "The Story of a Transport - USS Wakefield". Youtube.
  • Gibbs, C.R. Vernon (1957). Passenger Liners of the Western Ocean (2nd ed). London: Staples Press Limited. LCCN 57001880
  • New York Shipbuilding Corporation (1948). 50 Years: New York Shipbuilding Corporation. Camden:house publication
  • Newell, Gordon (1963). Ocean Liners of the 20th Century (1st ed.). Seattle: Superior Publishing Company. LCCN 63-18494
  • Winchester, Clarence, ed. (1937), "The Manhattan and the Washington", Shipping Wonders of the World, pp. 678–682 illustrated description of these ships
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