SS Georgia (1890)

{{otherships|Georgia (disambiguation)#Ships|SS Pickhuben|Housatonic (disambiguation)#Transport}}

{{Short description|German-built cargo ship sunk in 1917}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}

{{Infobox ship begin}}

{{Infobox ship image

| Ship image = SS Georgia (1890).jpg

| Ship caption = The ship as Georgia

}}

{{Infobox ship career

| Hide header =

| Ship name = *1891: {{lang|de|Pickhuben}}

  • 1895: Georgia
  • 1915: Housatonic

| Ship namesake = *1891: a street in Hamburg

| Ship owner = *1891: Dampfschiffs-Reederei „Hansa“

| Ship operator = *1915: Edward F Geer

  • 1916: Brown, Jenkinson & Co

| Ship registry = *1891: {{flagicon|German Empire}} Hamburg

| Ship route = *1891: Hamburg – Montreal

| Ship ordered =

| Ship builder = Barclay, Curle & Co, Glasgow

| Ship original cost =

| Ship yard number = 365

| Ship laid down =

| Ship launched = 14 November 1890

| Ship completed = January 1891

| Ship maiden voyage = 15 April 1891

| Ship refit =

| Ship identification= *1891: code letters RJFD

  • {{ICS|Romeo}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}{{ICS|Delta}}
  • 1915: US official number 213094
  • 1915: code letters LFHT
  • {{ICS|Lima}}{{ICS|Foxtrot}}{{ICS|Hotel}}{{ICS|Tango}}

| Ship fate = scuttled 1917

| Ship notes =

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

| Hide header =

| Header caption =

| Ship type = cargo liner

| Ship tonnage = {{GRT|3144}}, {{NRT|2042}}

| Ship length = {{cvt|331.0|ft|abbr=on}}

| Ship beam = {{cvt|41.1|ft|abbr=on}}

| Ship draft =

| Ship depth = {{cvt|19.2|ft|abbr=on}}

| Ship decks = 1

| Ship power = 265 NHP or 1,550 ihp

| Ship propulsion = *1 × triple-expansion engine

| Ship speed = {{convert|11|kn|km/h}}

| Ship capacity = passengers: 10 × 1st class; 620 × 3rd class

| Ship crew = 1917: 37

| Ship sensors =

| Ship notes =

}}

SS Georgia was a passenger and cargo ship that was launched in Germany in 1891 as {{lang|de|Pickhuben}}. The Hamburg America Line acquired her in 1892, and renamed her Georgia in 1895. In 1915 a US company bought her and renamed her Housatonic.

Mostly the ship traded across the North Atlantic. She carried European immigrants to the United States. In 1893 she brought to the US the German exhibits for the World's Columbian Exposition. In 1891 and 1894 she voyaged under charter to Australia. In 1914 she took refuge in the neutral US. In 1917 a German U-boat captured and scuttled her, contributing to increasing diplomatic tension that eventually led the US to declare war on Germany.

{{lang|de|Pickhuben}}{{'}}s first owner was Dampfschiffs-Reederei „Hansa“ ("Steamship line "Hansa") of Hamburg. DR „Hansa“ should not be confused with the larger and better-known DDG „Hansa“ company of Bremen. HAPAG took over DR „Hansa“ in 1892, and renamed the ship in 1895.{{cite web |url= http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/hansaii.shtml |last1=Swiggum |first1=Susan |last2=Kohli |first2=Marjorie |date=13 April 2006 |title=Hansa II / Dampfschiffs-Rhederei Hansa |work=TheShipsList |access-date=5 December 2012}}

This was the first of two steamships that HAPAG named after the US State of Georgia. The second was launched in 1922, sold in 1936, and renamed in 1937.{{sfn|Haws|1980|p=128}}

Building

Between July 1890 and January 1891, DR „Hansa“ enlarged its fleet with five new single-screw cargo ships from four different builders. Charles Connell and Company in Glasgow built {{lang|de|Grimm}} and {{lang|de|Stubbenhuk}}. Blohm+Voss in Hamburg built {{lang|de|Baumwall}}. Joh. C. Tecklenborg in Bremerhaven built {{lang|de|Wandrahm}}. Barclay, Curle & Co in Glasgow built {{lang|de|Pickhuben}}. All five ships were named after streets in Hamburg. No two ships were exactly the same, but all five were two-masted, three-castle ships of similar in size and appearance. They ranged from {{convert|319.3|to|331.0|ft}} in length, and from {{convert|40.0|to|41.3|ft}} in beam.{{sfn|Haws|1980|pp=48, 49, 51}}

Barclay, Curle built {{lang|de|Pickhuben}} as yard number 365, launched her on 14 November 1890,{{cite web |url= https://www.clydeships.co.uk/view.php?&ref=1503 |title=Pickhuben |work=Scottish Built Ships |publisher=Caledonian Maritime Research Trust |access-date=16 April 2024}} and completed her in January 1891. Her registered length was {{cvt|331.0|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|41.1|ft|abbr=on}}, and her depth was {{cvt|19.2|ft|abbr=on}}.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1891|loc=PHI–PIC}} She had berths for 630 passengers: ten in first class, and 620 in third class.{{sfn|Bonsor|1955|p=398}} Her tonnages were {{GRT|3144}} and {{NRT|2042}}.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1891|loc=PHI–PIC}} Her single screw was driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine that was rated at 265 NHP{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1896|loc=GEO–GER}} or 1,550 ihp,{{sfn|Merchant Vessels of the United States 1915|p=131}} and gave her a speed of {{convert|11|kn|km/h}}.{{sfn|Bonsor|1955|p=398}}

''Pickhuben''

DR „Hansa“ registered {{lang|de|Pickhuben}} at Hamburg. Her code letters were RJFD.{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1891|loc=PHI–PIC}} On 15 April 1891 she left Hamburg on her maiden voyage, which was to Quebec and Montreal.{{sfn|Bonsor|1955|p=398}} On a voyage that summer from Hamburg via Antwerp, she carried mostly Jewish refugees from the Russian Empire. On 4 July, at position {{coord|50|09|N|14|25|W}}, she passed the burning wreck of the British barque Octavia from South Shields. No crew and no boats remained aboard the sailing ship, so it was assumed they had abandoned ship in her boats. {{lang|de|Pickhuben}} kept a lookout for boats and survivors, but found none.{{cite news |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn88053046/1891-07-23/ed-1/seq-8/ |title=In general. |newspaper=The Delaware Gazette and State Journal |place=Wilmington, DE |date=23 July 1891 |page=8 |via=Library of Congress |access-date=16 April 2024}}

Later that year the Deutsch-Australische Dampfschiffs-Gesellschaft (DADG) chartered her for a voyage to Australia. She left Hamburg on 17 October; called at Antwerp; and took 90 passengers and 4,500 tons of general cargo to Melbourne{{cite news |title=Shipping reports. The Pickhuben. |newspaper=The Argus |place=Melbourne |date=16 December 1891 |page=9 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/8619020}} and Sydney, reaching the latter on 22 December.{{cite news |title=The Pickhuben. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=21 December 1891 |page=6 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/28267635}} On 13 January 1892 she left Sydney on her return voyage to Hamburg via Melbourne, carrying cargo that included 6,876 bales of wool.{{cite news |title=Pickhuben, s, |newspaper=The Daily Commercial News and Shipping List |place=Sydney, NSW |date=15 January 1892 |page=2 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/157265875}}

File:German Government Building (3573569236).jpg, in which {{lang|de|Pickhuben}}{{'}}s cargo was exhibited]]

HAPAG took over DR „Hansa“ in March 1892,{{sfn|Bonsor|1955|p=398}} and sent {{lang|de|Pickhuben}} on her first voyage to New York on 17 April that year,{{cite news |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030272/1892-04-19/ed-1/seq-7/ |title=Sailed from foreign ports |newspaper=The Sun |place=New York |date=19 April 1892 |page=7 |via=Library of Congress |access-date=16 April 2024}} but thereafter she mostly reverted to the Montreal route.{{sfn|Bonsor|1955|p=398}} On 8 March 1893 she arrived in Baltimore carrying the German Government's exhibits for the World's Columbian Exposition. They included a railroad coach; exhibits from Saxon woollen mills; electrical products; books; and a gallery of artworks including pictures, bronzes, and statues.{{cite news |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn86092518/1893-03-09/ed-1/seq-2/ |title=The German Exhibit. |newspaper=Wheeling Register |place=Wheeling, WV |date=9 March 1893 |page=2 |via=Library of Congress |access-date=16 April 2024}}

Late in 1894 DADG chartered {{lang|de|Pickhuben}} to go to Australia again, as a substitute for its steamship {{lang|de|Erlangen}}. {{lang|de|Pickhuben}} left Hamburg on 14 September, called at Antwerp and Plymouth, and bunkered at Las Palmas. She sailed via the Cape of Good Hope, and about {{convert|80|nmi|km}} from Cape Town she found the British sailing ship Abbie S. Hart flying a distress signal with signal flags. Almost the entire crew of the sailing ship was ill, and her Second Officer had died, so {{lang|de|Pickhuben}} towed Abbie S. Hart to Cape Town. {{lang|de|Pickhuben}} continued her voyage via Port Elizabeth and Adelaide.{{cite news |title=The Pickhuben. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=24 November 1894 |page=10 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13977726}} On 19 November she reached Melbourne, where she collided with the 500-ton hopper barge Fawkner while the tugboat Eagle was towing her along the Coode Canal.{{cite news |title=Court of Marine Inquiry. |newspaper=The Age |place=Melbourne |date=18 December 1894 |page=6 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/190015956}} {{lang|de|Pickhuben}} reached Sydney on 23 November. On 17 December a court of marine inquiry in Melbourne dismissed charges against {{lang|de|Pickhuben}}{{'}}s Victorian pilot, and against Fawkner{{'}}s Captain.{{cite news |title=A collision in the Yarra. |newspaper=The Age |place=Melbourne |date=22 November 1894 |page=5 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/190016678}} {{lang|de|Pickhuben}} loaded 7,344 bales of wool,{{cite news |title=New South Wales wool shipments |newspaper=The Daily Commercial News and Shipping List |place=Sydney, NSW |date=18 December 1894 |page=3 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/157407447}} and in December left Sydney for Hamburg via Melbourne and Antwerp.{{cite news |title=Shipping items. |newspaper=The Daily Commercial News and Shipping List |place=Sydney, NSW |date=24 December 1894 |page=5 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Trove |url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/157407596}}

''Georgia''

File:Georgia HAPAG Pickhuben 1891 DRH.jpg

In 1895 HAPAG renamed the ship Georgia.{{sfn|Bonsor|1955|p=398}} On 24 April 1895 she sailed from Stettin in Pomerania (now Szczecin in Poland) to New York via Helsingborg and Gothenburg in Sweden, and Kristiansand in Norway. She remained on this route until 11 November 1897.{{sfn|Bonsor|1955|p=398}} On 2 April 1900 Georgia began her first voyage on the route between Genoa in Italy and New York via Naples. She began her last voyage on this route on 2 March 1902. On 7 May 1902 she began her first voyage on the route between Odesa and New York via Istanbul, Smyrna, and Piraeus. She began her last voyage on this route on 13 March 1904.{{sfn|Bonsor|1955|p=398}}

''Housatonic''

When the First World War began in August 1914, Georgia took refuge in New Orleans.{{cite news |title=Ships held at New Orleans. |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=4 |date=4 August 1914 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/08/04/100100158.html?pageNumber=4 |access-date=16 April 2024}} On 16 April 1915 the Housatonic Steamship Corporation bought her for $85,000 and renamed her Housatonic.{{sfn|Housatonic SS Co v. Germany 1926|p=320}} She was registered in New York, her US official number was 213094, her code letters were LFHT, and Edward F Geer was her manager.{{sfn|Merchant Vessels of the United States 1915|p=131}}{{sfn|Lloyd's Register 1914|loc=Supplement: H}} On 23 February 1916 a British company, Brown, Jenkinson & Company of London, chartered her "for the term of the present war",{{sfn|Housatonic SS Co v. Germany 1926|p=320}} purely as a cargo ship.

File:German Submarine War Zone Announced 1 February 1917.jpeg

On 6 January 1917 Housatonic left Galveston, Texas carrying 144,200 bushels of wheat. She called at Newport News, Virginia, where she left on 16 January for Liverpool, England.{{sfn|Carlisle|2007|p=44}} On 31 January, Germany announced an exclusion zone around the coasts of the Entente Powers. It declared that "Neutral ships navigating these blockade zones do so at their own risk". It imposed conditions on US shipping trading with the Entente Powers, one of which was that the US Government "guarantees that no contraband (according to the German contraband list) is carried by those steamers".{{cite news |title=Text of the Annex to Germany Note, Outlining Barred Zones and Prescribing Conditions for American Vessels |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |page=1 |date=1 February 1917 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/02/01/118131429.html?pageNumber=1 |access-date=16 April 2024}}

At 10:30 hrs on 3 February {{SMU|U-53||2}} intercepted Housatonic about {{convert|20|nmi|km}} southwest of Bishop Rock, Isles of Scilly.{{cite news |title=Captain says U-53 sank Housatonic |newspaper=The New York Times |page=2 |date=21 February 1917 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/02/21/98240599.pdf |access-date=5 December 2012}} The U-boat fired two warning shots at a range of about {{convert|250|yd}}, forcing Housatonic to heave to. U-53{{'}}s commander, Hans Rose, ordered Housatonic{{'}}s US Master, Captain Thomas Ensor, to bring his ship's papers aboard the U-boat for inspection. Rose told Ensor "I find that the vessel is laden with grain for London. It is my duty to sink her." After Ensor protested, Rose replied "You are carrying foodstuffs to an enemy of my country, and though I am sorry, it is my duty to sink you".{{sfn|Carlisle|2007|p=46}}

File:Crew ofU-53-Agence Rol.jpeg (left) and two of {{SMU|U-53||2}}{{'}}s officers in 1916]]

A German boarding party came aboard Housatonic. All 37 members of Housatonic{{'}}s crew abandoned ship in two of her lifeboats: one commanded by Captain Ensor, and the other by her Chief Officer. The boarding party planted explosives in various places below decks, opened her hatches, and knocked off her seacocks. They also took soap from the ship, explaining that the German munitions industry's demand for glycerine had caused a shortage of soap.{{sfn|Carlisle|2007|p=46}}

U-53 towed the lifeboats clear; there were two large explosions; and Housatonic sank at position {{coord|49|35|N|06|08|W|display=inline,title}}.{{cite web |url= https://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/2899.html |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |title=Housatonic |work=uboat.net |access-date=16 April 2024}} Ensor persuaded Rose to tow the lifeboats toward land. After about two hours, Ensor sighted the Royal Navy naval trawler HMAT Salvator. Rose ordered two shots fired from one of the U-boat's deck guns; satisfied himself that the patrol boat had seen the lifeboats; and ordered U-53 to dive. The patrol boat rescued Housatonic{{'}}s survivors and took them to Penzance.{{sfn|Carlisle|2007|p=46}} Ensor returned to the US on the liner {{SS|Orduña||2}}, and his crew followed on the liner Philadelphia.

Consequences

File:SS Housatonic headline.png

The US reacted cautiously to Housatonic{{'}}s sinking. The New York Times noted the courtesy and propriety with which Rose had applied the rules of war.{{sfn|Carlisle|2007|pp=46–47}} The US Government did not regard Housatonic{{'}}s sinking as a casus belli.{{sfn|Carlisle|2007|p=43}} However, U-boats sank two other US ships without loss of life: the schooner Lyman M. Law on 12 February, and steamship Algonquin on 12 March. This led President Woodrow Wilson to address both houses of Congress on 26 February, asking for the power to arm US merchant ships defensively, and to give those ships gunners to crew them.{{cite news |title=Right to arm ships asked |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=27 February 1917 |pages=1, 2 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/02/27/98242694.html?pageNumber=1}}

The US refrained from declaring war against Germany. However, on 16 March 1917 a U-boat sank the US steamship {{SS|Vigilancia||2}} without warning, killing 15 of her crew, including six US citizens.{{cite news |title=Thrown from a small boat |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=20 March 1917 |page=1 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/03/20/102322797.html?pageNumber=1}}{{cite news |url= https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn83030431/1917-03-21/ed-1/seq-2/ |title=Vigilancia's Captain talks. |newspaper=The Sun |place=New York |date=21 March 1917 |page=2 |via=Library of Congress |access-date=16 April 2024}} US newspapers called that an act of war, or words to that effect.{{cite news |title=Comments of Today's Newspapers On Sinkings of American Ships |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=19 March 1917 |page=2 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/03/19/102322451.html?pageNumber=2}} On 21 March an explosion, caused by either a mine or a torpedo, sank the US oil tanker {{SS|Healdton||2}}, killing 21 of her crew, including seven US citizens.{{cite news |title=Tanker's lights a target |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=24 March 1917 |pages=1, 2 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/03/24/102324310.html?pageNumber=1}}{{cite news |title=Depicts suffering of Healdton crew |url-access=subscription |newspaper=The New York Times |date=27 March 1917 |page=4 |access-date=16 April 2024 |via=Times Machine |url= https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/03/27/102326464.html?pageNumber=4}}

On 2 April, President Wilson asked Congress to declare war against Germany. During the congressional debate of the proposal, news came that a U-boat had sunk {{SS|Aztec||2}}, causing the death of 28 of her crew, including 11 US citizens.{{cite web |url= https://uboat.net/wwi/ships_hit/594.html |last=Helgason |first=Guðmundur |title=Aztec |work=uboat.net |access-date=24 March 2024}} On 6 April, Congress passed the motion by an overwhelming majority, and the US declared war on Germany.{{cite web |url= https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/65-1/s2 |title=To pass S.J. Res. 1,(40 stat-1)m deckaribg war on Germany (P.200, col.1). (sic) |website=govtrack.us |access-date=24 March 2024}}{{cite web |url= https://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/65-1/h10 |title=To adopt S. J. Res. 1, (43 Stat-1, April 16, 1917), declaring that a state of war exists between the Imperial German Government and the Government and People of the U.S... |website=govtrack.us |access-date=24 March 2024}}

The Housatonic Steamship Company sued for $839,600 damages from the Government of Germany for Housatonic{{'}}s sinking. Edwin B. Parker, Commissioner of the American–German Claims Commission, heard the case on 14 May 1926. After an argument as to the value of the ship, Parker found in favour of the steamship company, but awarded it only $4,500 plus five percent annual interest from the date of the sinking.{{sfn|Housatonic SS Co v. Germany 1926|p=323}}

References

{{Reflist}}

Bibliography

  • {{cite book |last=Bonsor |first=NRP |year=1955 |title=North Atlantic Seaway |volume=I |place=Prescot |publisher=T Stephenson & Sons |via=TheShipsList |url= http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsP-Q.shtml}}
  • {{cite journal |last=Carlisle |first=Rodney |date=July 2007 |title=The Attacks on U. S. Shipping that Precipitated American Entry into World War I |journal=The Northern Mariner |volume=XVII |issue=3 |pages=41–66 |doi=10.25071/2561-5467.363 |s2cid=247426039 |url= http://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol17/tnm_17_3_41-66.pdf }}
  • {{cite book |year=1915 |title=Forty-seventh Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States, for the Year ended June 30, 1915 |place=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Department of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation |page=131 |via=HyperWar |url= https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AMH/USMM/Annual_List/1915.pdf |ref={{harvid|Merchant Vessels of the United States 1915}} }}
  • {{cite book |last=Haws |first=Duncan |year=1980 |title=The Ships of the Hamburg America, Adler and Carr Lines |series=Merchant Fleets in Profile |volume=4 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |isbn=0-85059-397-2}}
  • {{cite journal |year=2006 |origyear=1926 |title=Housatonic Steamship Company, Inc. (United States) v. Germany |journal=Reports of International Arbitral Awards |volume=VII |publisher=United Nations |pages=320–323 |url= http://legal.un.org/riaa/cases/vol_VII/320-323.pdf |ref={{harvid|Housatonic SS Co v. Germany 1926}} }}
  • {{cite book |year=1891 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1892ST/page/n460/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1891}} }}
  • {{cite book |year=1896 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1897ST/page/n282/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1896}} }}
  • {{cite book |year=1914 |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=I.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |via=Internet Archive |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1915ST/page/n1286/mode/1up |ref={{harvid|Lloyd's Register 1914}} }}

{{1891 shipwrecks}}

{{1894 shipwrecks}}

{{February 1917 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Georgia, 1890}}

Category:1890 ships

Category:Captured ships

Category:Maritime incidents in 1891

Category:Maritime incidents in 1894

Category:Maritime incidents in 1917

Category:Ships built on the River Clyde

Category:Ships of the Hamburg America Line

Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War I

Category:Steamships of Germany

Category:Steamships of the United States

Category:World War I merchant ships of Germany

Category:World War I merchant ships of the United States

Category:World War I shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean