SS Dwinsk
{{short description|1897 ocean liner sunk by a U-boat in 1918}}
{{other ships|List of ships named SS Rotterdam}}
{{EngvarB|date=December 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Rotterdam 1897 by Fred Pansing.jpg |Ship caption= The ship as Rotterdam, in a painting by Fred Pansing }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship name= *1897: Rotterdam
|Ship namesake= *1897: Rotterdam
|Ship owner= *1897: Holland America Line
|Ship operator= *1917: Cunard Line |Ship registry= *1897 {{flagicon|Netherlands}} Rotterdam
|Ship route= *1897: Rotterdam – New York
|Ship ordered= |Ship builder= Harland & Wolff, Belfast |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= 312 |Ship laid down= 16 May 1896 |Ship launched= 18 February 1897 |Ship completed= 29 July 1897 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= 18 August 1897 |Ship refit= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship identification= *1897: code letters WLJR
|Ship fate= Torpedoed and sunk by {{SMU|U-151 | 2}}, 18 June 1918
|Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= *1897: ocean liner
|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|8139}}, {{NRT|5160}}, {{DWT|9390}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length= {{cvt|470.3|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|53.2|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= |Ship depth= {{cvt|22.3|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship decks= 3 |Ship power= 954 NHP, 5,500 ihp |Ship propulsion= *2 × screws |Ship speed= {{convert|15|kn|km/h}} |Ship capacity= *passengers, 1897: 212 × 1st class, 112 × 2nd class, 837 × 3rd class
|Ship crew= |Ship armament= by 1918: defensively armed |Ship sensors= |Ship notes= }} |
SS Dwinsk was a transatlantic ocean liner that was launched in Ireland in 1897 as Rotterdam, renamed C. F. Tietgen in 1906, and renamed Dwinsk in 1913. A U-boat sank her in 1918, with the loss of 23 lives. The ship was built for Holland America Line (Nederlandsch-Amerikaansche Stoomvaart Maatschappij, or NASM), but was successively owned by Scandinavian America Line and Russian American Line, and after the Russian Revolution she was managed by Cunard Line.
She was the third of several NASM ships to be named after the city of Rotterdam. She was also the first ship that Harland & Wolff built for NASM.
Building
Harland & Wolff built the ship in Belfast as yard number 312 on slipway number 9.{{cite web |url= http://www.theyard.info/ships/ships.asp?entryid=312 |title=Rotterdam |work=Harland and Wolff Shipbuilding & Engineering Works |access-date=6 June 2023}} Her keel was laid on 16 May 1896, she was launched on 18 February 1897 as Rotterdam, and she was completed on 29 July 1897.{{cite web |url= https://www.marhisdata.nl/schip&id=5591 |title=Rotterdam – ID 5591 |work=Stichting Maritiem-Historische Databank |language=nl |access-date=6 June 2023}} Her registered length was {{cvt|470.3|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|53.2|ft|abbr=on}} and her depth was {{cvt|22.3|ft|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1900|loc=ROT–ROW}} Her tonnages were {{GRT|8139}}, {{NRT|5160}} and {{DWT|9390}}.
Rotterdam had berths for 212 passengres in first class, 112 in second class, and 837 in third class. Her holds had capacity for {{convert|323000|cuft}} of baled cargo.
The ship had twin screws, each driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine. The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 954 NHP{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1900|loc=ROT–ROW}} or 5,500 ihp, and gave her a speed of {{convert|15|kn|km/h}}. She made her sea trials on 29 July 1897.
Career
NASM registered Rotterdam at Rotterdam. Her code letters were WLJR.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1900|loc=ROT–ROW}} On 18 August 1897 she left Rotterdam on her maiden voyage, which was to New York via Boulogne. Her final voyage in this route began from Rotterdam on 17 February 1906.{{cite web |url= https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsR.shtml |last1=Swiggum |first1=Susan |last2=Kohli |first2=Marjorie |title=Ship Descriptions – R: Rotterdam 1908 |work=TheShipsList |date=6 June 2008 |access-date=6 June 2023}}
On 5 April 1906 Scandinavian America Line bought Rotterdam and renamed her C. F. Tietgen, after the Danish industrialist Carl Frederik Tietgen. She was registered in Copenhagen, and her code letters were NPRK.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1907|loc=C.}} On 29 April she began her first voyage from Copenhagen to NewYork via Christiania and Kristiansand.
On 28 June 1906 C. F. Tietgen collided with the {{convert|70|ft|m|1|adj=on}}, {{GRT|63}} US schooner E. C. Hay in the North River off the Desbrosses Street Ferry terminal in New York City. E. C. Hay sank, but all four people aboard her survived.{{sfn|Bureau of Navigation|1907|p=375}}
By 1910 C. F. Tietgen was equipped for wireless telegraphy.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1910|loc=C.}} On 7 July 1910 she left Copenhagen on a cruise to the North Cape, calling at Bergen and Trondheim.{{cite web |url= http://www.norwayheritage.com/p_ship.asp?sh=cftie |title=S/S C. F. Tietgen, Scandinavian America Line |work=Norway~Heritage |access-date=6 June 2023}} By 1913 her call sign was DCF.{{sfn|The Marconi Press Agency Ltd|1913|p=226}} On 29 July 1913, Nordisk Film chartered her to appear in the film Atlantis. On 6 November 1913 she began her final voyage from Copenhagen to New York. She completed 110 transatlantic crossings for Scandinavian America Line.
File:C F Tietgen postcard stern colorised.jpg
On 24 December 1913 Russian American Line bought C. F. Tietgen and renamed her Dwinsk (Двинск), which is a Russian name for the city of Daugavpils in what was then the Vitebsk Governorate of the Russian Empire. She was registered in Libau (now Liepāja in Latvia), her code letters were IWAR,{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1917|loc=DUR–DYS}} and her wireless telegraph call sign was RDK.{{sfn|The Marconi Press Agency Ltd|1914|p=429}}
On 10 February 1914, Dwinsk began her first voyage from Libau to New York. Her final voyage on this route began on 28 July 1914, the day the First World War began. On 20 September 1914 she began her first voyage from Archangel to New York via Hammerfest.
After the October Revolution in the Russian Empire, the United Kingdom government seized Dwinsk. The Shipping Controller appointed Cunard Line to manage her. Her UK official number was 142312 and her code letters were JSKH.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1917|loc=DUR–DYS}} She was defensively armed with one or more naval guns. On at least one voyage she carried troops from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Great Britain.{{cite web |url= http://www.norwayheritage.com/articles/templates/ships.asp?articleid=49&zoneid=5 |title=Pictures from the S/S Dwinsk (ex. C. F. Tietgen) |work=Norway~Heritage |access-date=6 June 2023}}
Loss
On 18 June 1918 Dwinsk was making {{convert|13|kn|km/h}} en route from Brest, France to the USA. Sources differ as to whether her destination was Newport News or New York.{{cite web |url= https://www.uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/1765.html |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |title=Dwinsk |work=uboat.net |access-date=6 June 2023}} The weather was fine, the sea was smooth, with a slight swell, and visibility was good. At about 09:20 hrs {{SMU|U-151||2}} fired a torpedo at her about {{convert|400|nmi|km}} north of Bermuda. Dwinsk{{'}}s lookouts sighted the torpedo on her port quarter at a range of {{convert|200|yard}}. Her helm was put hard to port, but the torpedo hit her and exploded in her number 4 hold. U-151 then surfaced and opened fire with her two 88 mm deck guns. One round hit Dwinsk{{'}}s magazine, which exploded. Her Master gave the order to abandon ship, and her crew launched seven of her lifeboats. Dwinsk sank at about 11:15 hrs at position {{coord|39|10|N|63|10|W|display=inline,title}}.
File:Dwinsk survivors rescued by USS Siboney.jpg
U-151 interrogated the occupants of the boat commanded by the Second Officer, but took no prisoners. The U-boat remained in the area, waiting to attack any ship that came to rescue survivors. Later on 18 June, the troopship USS Von Steuben approached the lifeboats. U-151 fired a torpedo at her, but by changing course Von Steuben avoided being hit, and the troop ship returned fire, firstly with her 5-inch guns, and then with depth charges.{{sfn|Blazich|2016|pp=176–177}}
In the ensuing days, the lifeboats became separated. On 21 June the westbound troop ship {{USS|Siboney|ID-2999|6}} found two of Dwinsk{{'}}s boats and rescued their occupants.{{cite web |url= https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/siboney-i.html |title=Siboney I (ID–2999) |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |date=11 November 2016 |access-date=6 June 2023}} Four more boats were found and their occupants rescued. One boat, commanded by the boatswain's mate, was found after eight days. The boat commanded by the Chief Officer lost one occupant to drowning. On 28 June {{USS|Rondo|ID-2488|6}} found the boat and rescued its remaining occupants.{{sfn|Gleaves|1921|p=214}} The boat commanded by the Second Officer was never found. Including the Second Officer, it carried 22 people.
In January 1919 Dwinsk{{'}}s Chief Officer, Robert Pritchard, and Boatswain's Mate, Philip Larbalastier, were awarded the Distinguished Service Medal{{London Gazette |issue=31130 |date=14 January 1919 |page=885 |supp=y |city=London |title=To receive the Distinguished Service Medal}} for their "good seamanship, management and fortitude" in command of their respective boats.
References
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFGleaves1921}}
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Blazich |first=Frank R |year=2016 |title=United States Navy and World War I: 1914–1922 |place=Washington, DC |publisher=Naval History and Heritage Command |url= https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/war-and-conflict/wwi/pdf/us_navy_wwi_chron.pdf}}
- {{cite book |year=1907 |author=Bureau of Navigation |title=Thirty-Ninth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States for the Year Ending June 30, 1907 |place=Washington, DC |publisher=Government Printing Office |url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b3330071&view=1up&seq=389 |via=HathiTrust Digital Library}}
- {{Gleaves 1921}}
- {{cite book |year=1900 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROSS1901/page/n650/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1900}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1907 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1908ST/page/n189/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1907}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1910 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1911ST/page/n200/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1910}} }}
- {{cite book |year=1917 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1918ST/page/n287/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1917}} }}
- {{cite book |author=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd |author-link=Marconi Company |year=1913 |title=The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony |place=London |publisher=The St Katherine Press}}
- {{cite book |author=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd |author-link=Marconi Company |year=1914 |title=The Year Book of Wireless Telegraphy and Telephony |place=London |publisher=The Marconi Press Agency Ltd}}
{{Holland America Ships}}
{{1906 shipwrecks}}
{{June 1918 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dwinsk}}
Category:Maritime incidents in 1906
Category:Maritime incidents in 1918
Category:Passenger ships of Denmark
Category:Passenger ships of the Netherlands
Category:Passenger ships of Russia
Category:Ships built by Harland and Wolff
Category:Ships built in Belfast
Category:Ships of the Holland America Line
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I
Category:Steamships of Denmark