Kanawha (1899)

John Paterson Duncan was a grocery wholesaler and member of the NYYC.{{cite news |title=Death list of a day. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=7 |date=8 April 1901 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/04/08/118463521.html?pageNumber=7}} He ordered Kanawha from the Gas Engine & Power Company and Charles L Seabury and Company of Morris Heights in the Bronx. She was to replace an 1896 yacht of the same name, which the US Government had requisitioned from Duncan for the US Navy to use in the Spanish–American War. The Government paid Duncan $50,000 for the first Kanawha.{{cite news |title=The craft and those who sail them. |newspaper=New-York Tribune |page=6 |date=1 July 1898 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1898-07-01/ed-1/seq-6/}}{{cite news |title=The craft and those who sail them. |newspaper=New-York Tribune |page=10 |date=10 August 1898 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1898-08-10/ed-1/seq-10/}}{{cite news |title=Auxiliary Naval Vessels |newspaper=The Sun |place=New York |page=4 |date=29 November 1898 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1898-11-26/ed-1/seq-4/}} He paid Seabury's $250,000 for the second one.{{cite news |title=An exciting race up the bay |newspaper=New-York Tribune |page=8 |date=1 August 1899 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1899-08-01/ed-1/seq-8/}}

The new Kanawha was launched on May 27, 1899.{{cite news |title=Launch of the Kanawha |newspaper=New-York Tribune |page=4 |date=28 May 1899 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1899-05-28/ed-1/seq-4/}}{{cite news |title=Kanawha successfully launched |newspaper=The Sun |place=New York |page=5 |date=28 May 1899 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1899-05-28/ed-1/seq-5/}} Her registered length was {{cvt|208.4|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|24.4|ft|abbr=on}}, and her depth was {{cvt|14.8|ft|abbr=on}}. Her tonnages were {{GRT|475}} and {{NRT|323}}. She had twin screws, each driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine.{{cite news |title=Match for the Monmouth |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=5 |date=1 August 1899 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/08/01/102498984.html?pageNumber=5}} The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 172 NHP{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1905|loc=K}} or 3,200 ihp,{{sfn|United States Department of Commerce|1908|p=256}} and gave her a speed of {{convert|22|kn|km/h}}. In 1902, one newspaper compared her with Cornelius Vanderbilt III's {{convert|233|ft|adj=on}} yacht North Star.{{cite news |title=` |newspaper=News and Courier |place=Charleston, SC |page=16 |date=6 April 1902}}

Duncan had specified to Seabury that Kanawha must be swift enough to beat the New Jersey Central Railroad passenger steamer Monmouth, which ran across New York Bay between New York and Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. Kanawha{{'}}s sea trials included an impromptu race against Monmouth on July 31, 1899. Kanawha won the race, despite one of her propellers being damaged, and Duncan accepted Kanawha from Seabury.{{cite news |title=Kanawha passes Monmouth |newspaper=The Sun |place=New York |page=7 |date=1 August 1899 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1899-08-01/ed-1/seq-7/}} He registered her at New York. Her US official number was 161123, and her code letters were KPDW.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1900|loc=KAT}}

Duncan died on April 7, 1901. By 17 April Kanawha had been sold, and by 24 April Henry H Rogers was revealed to be the buyer.{{cite news |title=Steam yacht Kanawha sold |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=7 |date=18 April 1901 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/04/18/101071754.html?pageNumber=7}}{{cite news |title=H. H. Rogers The Kanawha's New Owner. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=7 |date=24 April 1901 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/04/24/101189471.html?pageNumber=7}}{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1902|loc=JUN}} Rogers happened to be a major developer of coal and railroads in West Virginia along the Kanawha River. Under Rogers' ownership, Kanawha raced Sandy Hook, which was another of the New Jersey Central Railroad's steamers. On September 11, 1901, Sandy Hook beat Kanawha across New York Bay. The next day the two steamers raced again, and Kanawha won.{{cite news |title=Kanawha won a race |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=12 |date=13 September 1901 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1901/09/13/102627012.html?pageNumber=12}}

In March 1902, Rogers took guests including the humorist Mark Twain, essayist Laurence Hutton, and former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Thomas B Reed aboard Kanawha on a visit to Santiago de Cuba and Newport News, Virginia.{{cite news |title=The Kanawha at Santiago. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=9 |date=1 April 1902 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/04/01/117979151.html?pageNumber=9}}{{cite news |title=Coming back from Cuba. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=1 |date=8 April 1902 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/04/08/101945550.html?pageNumber=1}}{{cite news |title=Steam yacht Kanawha here. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=1 |date=10 April 1902 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1902/04/10/101946006.html?pageNumber=1}} On another occasion, Rogers hosted the African American educator Booker T. Washington aboard Kanawha.{{cite web |title=People & Events: The Black Star Line |work=American Experience |publisher=PBS |url= https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/garvey/peopleevents/e_blackstar.html |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20010218141429/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/garvey/peopleevents/e_blackstar.html |archive-date=18 February 2001 |access-date=10 September 2024}}

In July 1903 Kanawha took part in the NYYC's annual cruise to Newport, Rhode Island, where she won the annual Lysistrata Cup race.{{cite news |title=Yacht Kanawha won the Lysistrata Cup |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=3 |date=25 July 1903 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/07/25/102015428.html?pageNumber=3}} On August 25, 1903 she won a race across New York Bay against steam yachts including {{USS|Chichota||2}}, {{USS|Noma||2}}, and {{USS|Zara||2}}. The NYYC chartered Kanawha{{'}}s old adversary Monmouth to carry about 700 guests as spectators.{{cite news |title=26 August 1903 |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=2 |date=26 August 1903 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1903/08/26/102019848.html?pageNumber=2}}

On June 18, 1904, Kanawha again won the Lysistrata Cup. This year the race was over a 60-mile course off the Sandy Hook Lightship, and competitors included the steam yacht Hauoli. The Navy had loaned the destroyer {{USS|Truxtun|DD-14|6}} to the Regatta Committee, and allegedly she was unable to keep up with Kanawha. The cup came with a $2,500 cash prize from James Gordon Bennett Jr., a former Commodore of the NYYC.{{cite news |title=Roger's Kanawha won steam yacht race |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=1 |date=19 June 1904 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1904/06/19/101167092.html?pageNumber=1}}

File:Asbury Park steamer Feb1910.jpg

In 1907 Twain was again Rogers' guest aboard Kanawha, this time to visit Norfolk, VA for the Jamestown Exposition.{{cite news |title=Twain and yacht disappear at sea |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=1 |date=4 May 1907 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/05/04/106751081.html?pageNumber=1}} On July 9, she raced another New Jersey Central Railroad steamer, {{SS|Asbury Park||2}}, across New York Bay. The New York Times reported that the race was so close that neither steamer could claim victory.{{cite news |title=Kanawha tackles the harbor queen |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=7 |date=10 July 1907 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/07/10/106757981.html?pageNumber=7}} In September 1907 Twain again on Kanawha from New York to Norfolk for a commemoration of Robert Fulton at the Jamestown Exposition. This time, Twain sailed as Kanawha{{'}}s commander, rather than as a guest. Kanawha sailed in company with Vanderbilt's North Star.{{cite news |title=Mark Twain skipper of Roger's yacht |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=9 |date=22 September 1907 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1907/09/22/104789936.html?pageNumber=9}}

Rogers died in 1909, and Kanawha passed through the hands of his executors.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1910|loc=KAP}} Her next owner was Abram Baudouine, one of the sons of Charles Baudouine.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1911|loc=K}} He spent about $100,000 on having her interior refitted. In May 1915 the financier Morton F Plant bought the yacht.{{cite news |title=Kanawha reported sold |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=18 |date=2 May 1915 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/05/02/104232676.html?pageNumber=18}} By September or October 1915 John Borden had acquired her,{{cite news |title=Many yachts change hands |newspaper=The Sun |place=New York |date=25 October 1915 |page=1 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1915-10-25/ed-1/seq-14/}} and by 1916 he had registered her in Chicago.{{sfn|United States Department of Commerce|1916|p=76}}

{{main|USS Kanawha II}}

File:USS Piqua 42427.jpg on July 4, 1918, as flagship of the US District Commander at Lorient, France]]

In April 1917 the US Navy requisitioned Kanawha for conversion into a patrol vessel. On April 28 the Navy commissioned her as USS Kanawha II, with the "II" probably to reduce confusion with the oiler {{USS|Kanawha|AO-1}}. She spent most of the war based at Brest, France, and operating in the Bay of Biscay. By 1918 she was equipped with wireless telegraphy. Her call sign was NND.{{sfn|The Marconi Press Agency Ltd|1918|p=778}} On March 1, 1918 the Navy renamed her Piqua, perhaps because Kanawha II had not been enough to prevent confusing two US Navy ships of the same name. In 1919 she returned to New York, where she was decommissioned on July 1, 1919.

The yacht seems to have passed to the United States Shipping Board (USSB) rather than back to her owner, as in 1920 Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line was reported to have bought her from the USSB.{{cite news |title=Coast Guard cutter goes to assist negro yacht |newspaper=Richmond Times-Dispatch |page=4 |date=30 August 1920 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045389/1920-08-30/ed-1/seq-4/}}{{cite news |title=Cutters rush to aid of disabled yacht |newspaper=The Sun and New York Herald |page=2 |date=30 August 1920 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030273/1920-08-30/ed-1/seq-2/}} Black Star is said to have renamed her Antonio Maceo, but this name may not have been registered, as news reports continued to call her Kanawha. By now she was no longer in good condition. On 26 August she left Norfolk, VA for Havana, Cuba on her first voyage for Black Star. She carried no passengers, but a crew of 39 and a cargo of onions.{{cite news |title=Speed to aid of Kanawha. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=9 |date=30 August 1920 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1920/08/30/96898568.html?pageNumber=9}} Three days later, one of her boilers exploded, killing one of her crew. The explosion left her adrift without power off Beaufort, North Carolina. She sent wireless distress signals; the cutters {{USRC|Manning}} and {{USRC|Seminole||2}} were sent to rescue her; and she returned to Newport News "in distress" on September 1.{{cite news |title=American ports |newspaper=New-York Tribune |page=18 |date=2 September 1920 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030214/1920-09-02/ed-1/seq-18/}}{{cite news |title=American ports. |newspaper=The Sun and New York Herald |place=New York |page=17 |date=2 September 1920 |via=Chronicling America |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030273/1920-09-02/ed-1/seq-17/}} Black Star ceased trading in February 1922.

{{reflist}}

{{DANFS}}

• {{cite book |title=Lloyd's Register of Yachts |year=1900 |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1900}} |url= https://archive.org/details/lloyds-register-of-yachts-1900/page/835/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |title=Lloyd's Register of Yachts |year=1902 |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1902}} |url= https://archive.org/details/lloyds-register-of-yachts-1901/page/844/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |title=Lloyd's Register of Yachts |year=1905 |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1905}} |url= https://archive.org/details/lloyds-register-of-yachts-1905/page/278/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |title=Lloyd's Register of Yachts |year=1910 |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1910}} |url= https://archive.org/details/lloyds-register-of-yachts-1909/page/314/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |title=Lloyd's Register of Yachts |year=1911 |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1911}} |url= https://archive.org/details/lloyds-register-of-yachts-1910/page/325/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |author=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd |author-link=Marconi Company |year=1918 |title=The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony |place=London |publisher=The Wireless Press, Ltd}}
• {{cite book |author=United States Department of Commerce |year=1908 |title=Thirty-Fifth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States |place=Washington, DC |publisher= Government Printing Office |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/annuallistmerch00navigoog/page/n272/mode/1up}}
• {{cite book |author=United States Department of Commerce |year=1916 |title=Forty-Eighth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States |place=Washington, DC |publisher= Government Printing Office |via=HathiTrust |url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433023734001&seq=578&q1=Kanawha}}

Category:1899 ships

Category:Maritime incidents in 1920

Category:Merchant ships of the United States

Category:Ships of the Black Star Line

Category:Ships built in Morris Heights, Bronx

Category:Steam yachts