Rosinco
{{Short description|Diesel-powered luxury yacht that sank in Lake Michigan}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=Georgiana III 1916 fitting out.jpg |Ship caption=Motor yacht Georgiana III at builder's fitting out dock. }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1917}} |Ship name=*Georgiana III (1916—1918)
|Ship namesake= |Ship owner=*William G. Coxe (1916—1917)
|Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Harlan and Hollingsworth Corporation, Wilmington, Delaware |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number=3447 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=20 May 1916 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=1916 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage=29 July 1916 |Ship in service=20 May 1916 |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification=*U.S. Official Number: 214160
|Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honours= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Sank 19 September 1928 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Ship class= |Ship type=Patrol vessel |Ship tonnage={{GRT|82}} {{NRT|44}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length=*{{convert|95|ft|m|abbr=on}} overall
|Ship beam={{convert|15|ft|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft={{convert|5|ft|m|abbr=on}} mean |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=1 240 ihp 4 cyl diesel, single screw |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed={{cvt|15|knots|mph km/h}} |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity= |Ship troops= |Ship complement=18 |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*2 × 3-pounder guns,
|Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes=Though commissioned as a Navy vessel the Navy did not own the yacht. Acquisition 3 May 1917 was by free lease. The vessel was commissioned 11 May 1917 and decommissioned 30 November 1918. }} {{Infobox NRHP |embed=yes |name = Rosinco |image = Rosinco.jpg |location = Lake Michigan off the coast of Kenosha, Wisconsin |coordinates = {{coord|42|37.50|N|087|37.62|W|display=inline,title}} |locmapin = Wisconsin#USA |built = 1916 |architect = Harlan and Hollingsworth; Fairbanks-Morse |refnum = 01000737 |added = July 18, 2001 }} |
Rosinco was a diesel-powered luxury yacht that sank in Lake Michigan off the coast of Kenosha, Wisconsin in 1928. The yacht was built in 1916 as Georgiana III and served during World War I as USS Georgiana III, a Section patrol craft, under a free lease to the Navy by her owner and commanding officer. After the war the yacht was sold and renamed Whitemarsh in 1918. In 1925, after sale to Robert Hosmer Morse of Fairbanks-Morse, the yacht became Rosinco. She was sunk following a collision in 1928 and the wreck was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.{{cite web|url=http://landmarkhunter.com/177090-rosinco/|title=Rosinco|publisher=Landmark Hunter.com|accessdate=2012-02-25}}
History
Originally named Georgiana III, the ship was constructed in 1916 by Harlan and Hollingsworth in Wilmington, Delaware, a 95-foot steel-hulled yacht as the yard's hull number 3447.{{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_serv.cfm|title=Service History|publisher=Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org|accessdate=2012-02-25|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202205156/http://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_serv.cfm|archivedate=2010-12-02}}{{cite web |last=Colton |first=Tim |title= Bethlehem Steel, Wilmington DE — (formerly Harlan & Hollingsworth, later Dravo Wilmington) |publisher=ShipbuildingHistory |date=November 15, 2020 |url=https://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/bethwilmington.htm |accessdate=2 April 2021}} Uniquely, she was built with a Southwart-Harris diesel engine so that if needed, she could be used for wartime purposes.{{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_serv3.cfm|title=Service History page 3|publisher=Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org|accessdate=2012-02-25|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203081408/http://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_serv3.cfm|archivedate=2010-12-03}} The 240 hp engine had four cylinders, each 9 inches in diameter, with a 13-inch stroke, and it could be powered up from a cold start in ten seconds - significantly faster than the steam engines then typical on yachts.{{cite news|author1=Jefferson Gray|author2=Dr. Richard Boyd|author3=Dr. John Jensen|author4=Russ Green|title=Rosinco|url={{NRHP url|id=01000737}}|accessdate=2018-06-22|work=NRHP Inventory-Nomination Form|agency=National Park Service|publisher=US Dept. of the Interior|date=2001-02-02}} With {{NRHP url|id=01000737|photos=y|title=3 photos.}} The engine could go from full ahead to full astern in five seconds.{{cite journal |last=Richardson |first=G. H. |date=September 1924 |title=From Iron Steamers to Steel Motorships |journal=Pacific Marine Review |pages=461–462 |location=San Francisco |publisher=J.S. Hines |url=https://archive.org/details/pacificmarinerev2124paci/page/n578/mode/1up |accessdate=2 April 2021}} Fuel, of crude or fuel oil, capacity was {{cvt|1070|gal|L}}. The propeller was {{cvt|4|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} in diameter with a {{cvt|60|in|m|1|abbr=on}} pitch. The yacht was equipped with a 3kw electric generator.{{cite journal |date=December 1916 |title=Diesel Engined Yacht Georgiana III |journal=International Marine Engineering |volume=21 |issue=12 |pages=526 diagram, 527–529 |location=New York/London |publisher=Aldrich Publishing Co. |doi= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JG_mAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA527 |accessdate=2 April 2021}}
The hull was divided into seven watertight compartments by six bulkheads, four of which had watertight doors. The bar keel, with a {{cvt|0.5|in|cm|1|abbr=on}} vertical through plate keel merged under the machinery, was {{cvt|5|in|cm|1|abbr=on}} by {{cvt|0.875|in|cm|1|abbr=on}}. The upper decks were narrow planks of white pine fastened from below by brass screws and glued together. They were edged by mahogany margin planks.
Georgiana III, the third yacht for William G. Coxe, the president of the company that built it, was intended for use on the Delaware Bay. The yacht was launched 20 May 1916 at a private event attended by a few friends.{{cite journal |date=May 20, 1916 |title=Georgiana III |journal=Evening Journal |volume=28 |issue=298 |page=7 |location=Wilmington, Del. |publisher=J. Milton Davidson |doi= |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042354/1916-05-20/ed-1/seq-7/#date1=1916&index=1&rows=20&words=GEORGIANA+III&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1919&proxtext=%22Georgiana+III%22&y=0&x=0&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 |accessdate=3 April 2021}} At the time the yacht was considered among the finest examples of motor yacht construction. The yacht was registered with U.S. Official Number 214160 and signal of LGCH at Wilmington, Delaware.{{cite book |year=1918 |title=Fiftieth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States, Year ended June 30, 1918 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Department of Commerce and Labor, Bureau of Navigation |page=236 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7tlLAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA236 |accessdate=2 April 2021}} On 29 July 1916 the yacht left the builder's yard for an initial trip to Cape May, New Jersey and return.{{cite journal |date=July 29, 1916 |title=Georgiana III On Trip |journal=Evening Journal |volume=29 |issue=47 |page=7 |location=Wilmington, Del. |publisher=J. Milton Davidson |doi= |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn85042354/1916-07-29/ed-1/seq-7/#locshare/share |accessdate=3 April 2021}}
The deckhouse was paneled in mahogany, with a large davenport and card table, and with large plate glass windows for good views. Below decks, the main salon was paneled in oak, with English tapestry for wall panels and upholstery, and with three built-in sofa beds, oak furniture, an 8-person dining table, and two sideboards with glazed and leaded glass. The grand stateroom contained a 3/4 bed, a Pullman bed, two dressing tables, and a bathroom. Georgiana III was listed in the 1916 New York Yacht Club registry with a private signal pennant with a white hen on a blue background.{{cite book |year=1916 |title=New York Yacht Club |location=New York |publisher=New York Yacht Club |pages=19, Private Signals 18 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ywDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PT19 |accessdate=3 April 2021}}
= World War I service =
Prior to the U.S. entry into the war many yachtsmen aspired to serve as Naval auxiliaries and lobbied the government to include them and their yachts in naval planning. The Navy reluctantly created an office to acquire and prepare for acquisition of yachts suitably modified and strengthened to mount weapons and endure hard service. A part of the office's work resulted in yacht designs suitable for military use with some yachtsmen building new yachts to those military suitable designs. Georgiana III incorporated features of those military designs.
During the spring of 1917 Edward T. Stotesbury of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania purchased the yacht from Coxe and turned her over to his stepson, James H. R. Cromwell who was a member of Corinthian Yacht Club of Philadelphia and the U.S. Naval Reserve Force (USNRF).{{cite magazine |date=February 1919 |title=Motor Boats Loaned to the Navy for the War |magazine=MotorBoating |volume=23 |issue=2 |location=New York, N.Y. |publisher=MotorBoating |pages=38, 56 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ok5hr7AXxPwC&pg=PA36 |accessdate=3 April 2021}}{{cite journal |date=May 25, 1917 |title=Georgiana III |journal=The News Journal |volume= |issue= |page=18 |location=Wilmington, Delaware }}{{cite DANFS |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/g/georgiana-iii.html |title=Georgiana III (S. P. 83) |author=Naval History And Heritage Command |date=February 5, 2016 |work=Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships |publisher=Naval History And Heritage Command |accessdate=1 April 2021}}
File:USS Georgiana III (SP-83) at anchor, circa 1917-1918.jpg
On 3 May 1917, the U.S. Navy acquired the yacht by free lease from her owner, J. H. R. Cromwell for World War I service as a Section patrol vessel.{{cite journal |date=March 31, 1917 |title=(Photo section) Philadelphia Keeps in Step in its Contributions Towards "Millions for Defense"—Donates Himself and Yacht for Country's Service |journal=Evening Public Ledger |volume= |issue= |pages= |doi= |url=https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83045211/1917-03-31/ed-1/seq-23/#date1=1917&index=0&rows=20&words=Cromwell+H+J+R&searchType=basic&sequence=0&state=&date2=1918&proxtext=%22J.+H.+R.+Cromwell%22&y=12&x=18&dateFilterType=yearRange&page=1 |accessdate=2 April 2021}} The Navy took control and commissioned the yacht as USS Georgiana III with the designation SP-83 on 11 May 1917. Georgiana III went to Wilmington on 26 May 1917 for conversion into a Section patrol craft by Harlan and Hollingsworth, with the ship being fitted with two 3-pounder (47 mm) guns. After conversion the vessel was assigned to the 4th Naval District.
On 25 July 1917 she reported for harbor entrance patrol duty at Cape May, New Jersey. For the remainder of World War I she patrolled the entrance to Delaware Bay, cruising between Cold Spring Harbor, New Jersey, and Lewes, Delaware. Fitted with underwater listening gear in July 1918, she also escorted ships through the Defensive Sea Area of Delaware Bay.
Georgiana III was decommissioned at Essington, Pennsylvania, on 30 November 1918 and returned to her owner.
= Postwar =
In 1918, she was purchased by W. L. Baum of the Chicago Yacht Club and renamed Whitemarsh.{{dubious|date=April 2021}}{{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_serv5.cfm|title=Service History page 5|publisher=Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org|accessdate=2012-02-25|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203080939/http://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_serv5.cfm|archivedate=2010-12-03}}U.S. [https://books.google.com/books?id=5PXe-NjogGsC&pg=RA3-PA112 registry information as late as 1922] does not reflect the ownership change though it does show the name change. The [http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/USMM/Annual_List/1923.pdf 1923 register] contains even more confusing entries. Under the list arranged by call letters, page 111, for call letters LGCH and Whitemarsh the owner is Stotesbury, home port Philadelphia. Under Merchant Motor Vessels, page 301, the entry shows Whitemarsh with home port of New Orleans. A footnote specifies the former name as Georgiana III. Robert Hosmer Morse of Fairbanks-Morse bought the vessel in 1925 and gave her the name Rosinco. He had the original engine replaced with a Fairbanks-Morse model 35 diesel engine from his own company.
= Loss =
In September 1928, Rosinco set off for Milwaukee, Wisconsin from Chicago, Illinois.{{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_final.cfm|title=Final Voyage|publisher=Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org|accessdate=2012-02-25|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101202205320/http://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_final.cfm|archivedate=2010-12-02}} On the 18th of September, Robert Hosmer Morse left Milwaukee to visit the Fairbanks-Morse plant in Beloit, Wisconsin and Rosinco was to return to Chicago. In the early morning hours of the 19th, Rosinco reportedly struck a raft of sawed wooden beams that ruptured the hull and began sinking rapidly.{{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_final2.cfm|title=Final Voyage page 2|publisher=Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org|accessdate=2012-02-25|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203081511/http://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_final2.cfm|archivedate=2010-12-03}} While all humans aboard survived, the ship's mascot, a canary, did not.
Wreck site
Rosinco sits upright on the bottom of Lake Michigan, 190 feet beneath the surface, embedded in the lake bed, well-preserved in the cold freshwater. Some artifacts have been removed by divers, and the wreck has been snagged by fishnets, but otherwise remains largely intact.{{cite web |title=Rosinco (1916) |url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/Vessel/Details/539 |website=Wisconsin Shipwrecks |publisher=Wisconsin Sea Grant, Wisconsin Historical Society |accessdate=2018-06-22}}
The Wisconsin Underwater Archaeology Association has been researching the shipwreck since 1998.{{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_today2.cfm|title=Today page 2|publisher=Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org|accessdate=2012-02-25|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203080520/http://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_today2.cfm|archivedate=2010-12-03}} Rosinco is held in public trust by the State of Wisconsin and is managed by the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.{{cite web|url=http://www.wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_today5.cfm|title=Today page 5|publisher=Wisconsin Shipwrecks.org|accessdate=2012-02-25|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101203080759/http://wisconsinshipwrecks.org/explore_rosinco_today5.cfm|archivedate=2010-12-03}}
Footnotes
{{reflist|group=note}}
References
{{reflist}}
{{DANFS}}
{{NRHP Lake Michigan shipwrecks of Wisconsin|state=collapsed}}
{{1928 shipwrecks}}
{{recreational dive sites|wresit}}
External links
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=JG_mAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA526 As built profile and plan diagrams.]
- [http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/170083.htm NavSource Photo Archive: Georgiana III (SP 83)]
{{DISPLAYTITLE:Rosinco|noerror}}
Category:Ships built by Harlan and Hollingsworth
Category:Patrol vessels of the United States Navy
Category:World War I patrol vessels of the United States
Category:Maritime incidents in 1928
Category:Shipwrecks of Lake Michigan
Category:Shipwrecks of the Wisconsin coast
Category:Shipwrecks on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Kenosha County, Wisconsin