SS Hewitt
{{Short description|Ship that went missing in 1921}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=SS Hewitt.jpg |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship name=*Pacific (1914–15)
|Ship owner=*J S Emery Steamship Co. (1914–15)
|Ship operator= |Ship registry= {{flagicon|USA|1912}} New York City, United States |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Fore River Shipbuilding Co |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 4 August 1914 |Ship completed= September 1914 |Ship christened= |Ship acquired= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= January 1921 |Ship identification=*United States Official Number 212560
|Ship fate=Missing since 26 January 1921 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship tonnage={{GRT|5,399}}, {{NRT|3,395}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length={{convert|420|ft|0|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|60|ft|0|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship draft= |Ship depth={{convert|38|ft|0|abbr=on}} |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship sail plan= |Ship power=Triple expansion steam engine, 2,000 ihp |Ship propulsion=Single screw propeller |Ship speed={{convert|12|kn|km/h}} |Ship capacity= |Ship crew=42 |Ship notes= }} |
The SS Hewitt was a steel hulled bulk freighter built for the J. S. Emery Steamship Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, as the Pacific. (She had one sister ship named Atlantic.) She was sold to the Union Sulphur Company in 1915 and in 1921 she and her entire crew disappeared without a trace off the southeast coast of the United States.{{Cite web |title=The Ghost Ship of 1921 – Paranormal Enlightenment |url=https://www.paranormalenlightenment.com/ghost-ship-1921/ |access-date=2022-11-09 |website=www.paranormalenlightenment.com}}
Description
The ship was {{convert|387|ft|7|in|m|2}} long, with a beam of {{convert|54|ft|3|in|m|2}} and a depth of {{convert|27|ft|7|in|m|2}}. She was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine which had cylinders of {{convert|25|in|cm}}, {{convert|41|in|cm}} and {{convert|68|in|cm}} diameter by {{convert|48|in|cm}} stroke. The engine was rated at 2,000 ihp. Steam was produced by three boilers, {{convert|13|ft|9|in|m|2}} diameter by {{convert|11|ft|11|in|m|2}} length, working at a pressure of 190 lb/in2.{{cite journal |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015021113686;view=1up;seq=232;size=125 |journal=Johnson's Steam Vessels of the Atlantic, Gulf and Pacific Coasts |publisher=Eads Johnson M.E. Inc. |location=New York City |year=1920 |title=Union Sulphur Co |page=144 }} The engine drove a single screw propeller, it could propel the ship at {{convert|12|kn|km/h}}. She was assessed at {{GRT|5,399}}, {{NRT|3,395}}.
History
{{refimprove section|date=September 2015}}
Pacific was built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Co. of Quincy, Massachusetts, for the J. S. Emery Steamship Co. Her port of registry was Boston, Massachusetts.{{cite journal |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.c2633302;view=1up;seq=566 |title=The Record |journal=Record of American and Foreign Shipping |publisher=American Bureau of Shipping ("American Lloyd's") |location=New York City |page=594 |year=1914 }} She was delivered in September 1914. Pacific was purchased by the Union Sulphur Company in 1915. After a refit she was renamed Hewitt.{{cite journal |date=June 1921 |author1-last=Southern |author1-first=David A. |editor1-last=Clark |editor1-first=Grenville |title=The Mystery Ship: Tragedy of the S.S. Hewitt and Other Ill-Fated Vessels |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fJnlAAAAMAAJ&q=SS+Hewitt+1921&pg=PA323 |journal=National Service |location=New York |publisher=Military Training Publishing Corporation |volume=9 |issue=6 |pages=323–327 |access-date=18 September 2015}} The American Official Number 212560 was allocated. Her port of registry was changed to New York City. She was later allocated the Code Letters LDPG.{{cite journal |url=http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433019094329;view=1up;seq=368 |title=The Record |journal=Record of American and Foreign Shipping |publisher=American Bureau of Shipping ("American Lloyd's") |location=New York City |page=362 |year=1917 }} Exactly what modifications, if any, Union Sulphur Co. made are unknown, but she probably remained mostly as she was built. The ship was described as "one of the largest bulk cargo carriers constructed in the United States."
Hewitt plied the route along the American east coast. During World War I she delivered sulfur to ammunition and chemical industries. Beginning on 9 August 1917, when the Navy requisitioned the ship in Newport News, Virginia and, continuing until the end of the war, she shipped war materials to various French Atlantic ports. During this time, she became the first U.S. merchant marine vessel fitted with a six-inch gun, designed for defense against German U-boats. Apparently, no war-related incidents were reported. After the war, she remained with Union Sulphur Co., returning to the company in Norfolk, Virginia on 26 February 1919.
In October 1920, the vessel was taken to Hoboken, New Jersey for an overhaul that lasted 45 days at a cost of $100,000. Following the overhaul, she was inspected and certified by the United States Steamboat Inspectors in Portland.
Under command of Capt. Hans Jakob Hansen, she left fully loaded from Sabine Pass, Port Arthur, Texas on 20 January 1921. She was bound for Portland, Maine with a stop in Boston, Massachusetts.{{cite journal |date=19 February 1921 |editor1-last=Marvin |editor1-first=Winthrop L. |title=Mystery of the Deering and the Hewitt Added to Grim List |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kOs_AQAAMAAJ&q=%22Union+Sulphur%22+%22Hewitt%22&pg=RA10-PA11 |journal=The Marine Journal |location=New York |publisher=The Marine Journal Company |volume=43 |issue=20 |page=11 |access-date=17 September 2015}} She made her regular radio calls on 24 January and 25 January, and reported nothing unusual. She was last seen {{convert|250|nmi|km}} north of Jupiter Inlet, Florida. From that time to this, she remains missing. No further radio signals from her were received.Lawrence Journal-World. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2199&dat=19210216&id=YeZiAAAAIBAJ&sjid=BnkNAAAAIBAJ&pg=2782,6263124&hl=en "Steamer Hewitt Lost"]. February 16, 1921, p. 2. Retrieved on September 18, 2015. After the Hewitt failed to arrive in Boston on its expected due date of 29 January, Union Sulphur sent the ship's wireless call (K I L) through Atlantic coastal stations, and notified the United States Navy. A huge search along her route found nothing.
Initial hypotheses about the ship's disappearance were varied. Initially, Coast Guard officials in Atlantic City reported hearing an explosion and seeing a flash approximately {{convert|20|mile|km}} offshore on the night of 3 February, and connected this event with the Hewitt.Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=2293&dat=19210206&id=IuVfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=FgMGAAAAIBAJ&pg=3724,3829858&hl=en "Atlantic City Flash Lost Tanker - Belief"]. February 6, 1921, p. 1. Retrieved on September 18, 2015. No further evidence linking this explosion to the Hewitt, however, was ever found. A British insurance company suggested that the Hewitt may have sunk in a collision with the Carroll A. Deering, another ship that vanished around the same time, but examinations of the Deering after it came ashore (without a crew) did not show damage consistent with a collision. Others speculated about piracy, perhaps connected with "Bolshevik raiders" in the aftermath of the Red Scare, although authorities discounted these suggestions.St. Petersburg Times. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=888&dat=19210622&id=P5AmAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9EwDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6811,5212678&hl=en "Search World to Find Crew of 'Spook' Ship"]. June 22, 1921, pp. 1, 3. Retrieved on September 18, 2015. These concerns were fueled further because of the subsequent disappearance of several other vessels in nearby waters during 1921.Evening Independent (St. Petersburg, Fla.). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=950&dat=19210623&id=J7dPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=wVMDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4749,5704887&hl=en "More Missing Ships Reported: Three Vessels Bound to and from Newport Believed Pirates' Prey"]. June 23, 1921, p. 10. Retrieved on September 18, 2015.
In the aftermath, families of the victims filed suit against Union Sulphur Co., seeking more than $100,000 in damages.Lewiston Daily Sun. [https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1928&dat=19241223&id=HqwgAAAAIBAJ&sjid=amkFAAAAIBAJ&pg=4127,6040823&hl=en "Two Portland Families Get Awards of $2,500"]. December 23, 1924, p. 1. Retrieved on September 18, 2015.{{cite journal |date=7 January 1922 |title=Union Sulphur Co. Suit |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jncdAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Hewitt%22+%22Union+Sulphur%22+%22crew%22&pg=PA1072 |journal=Commercial & Financial Chronicle |location=New York |publisher=William B. Dana Company |volume=114 |issue=1 |page=1072| access-date=18 September 2015}} In a representative case, two families in Portland received settlements of $2,500 each; the court deemed that the crew members were presumed drowned off Florida.
The Union Sulphur Company owned many ships. It eventually transitioned to oil and gas production and, through a series of transactions, became part of British multinational energy company BP.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://books.google.com/books?id=-6dIAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA369 New Freighters for the Panama Canal Trade; September 1914 article detailing design, technical detail with plans.]
{{1921 shipwrecks}}
{{coord missing|Atlantic Ocean}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hewitt, SS}}
Category:1920s missing person cases
Category:Maritime incidents in 1921
Category:Merchant ships of the United States
Category:Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts
Category:Shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean