USS Caesar

{{short description|Collier of the United States Navy}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

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{{Infobox ship image

|Ship image= USS Caesar (1898-1922).jpg

|Ship caption= USS Caesar in port, perhaps when fitting out for US Navy service in 1898

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{{Infobox ship career

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|Ship country=

|Ship flag=

|Ship name= *1896: Kingtor

  • 1898: USS Caesar
  • 1923: Mogul
  • 1935: Mogul Maru

|Ship namesake=

|Ship owner= *1896: J Holman & Sons

  • 1898: US Navy
  • 1923: Coastwise SS & Barge Co
  • 1934: Gen Nav Co of Canada, Ltd

|Ship operator=

|Ship registry= *1896: {{flagicon|United Kingdom|civil}} London

  • 1898: {{flagicon|United States}}
  • 1923: {{flagicon|Canada|1868}} Victoria, BC

|Ship route=

|Ship ordered=

|Ship builder= Ropner & Sons, Stockton

|Ship original cost=

|Ship yard number= 317

|Ship laid down=

|Ship launched= 31 January 1896

|Ship sponsor=

|Ship completed= February 1896

|Ship maiden voyage=

|Ship acquired= by US Government, 21 April 1898

|Ship commissioned= *into US Navy:

  • 13 May 1898, 27 December 1904

|Ship decommissioned= *from US Navy:

  • 23 May 1904, 11 June 1922

|Ship in service=

|Ship out of service=

|Ship identification= *1898: pennant number: AC-16

|Ship fate= Scrapped 1935

|Ship notes=

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{{Infobox ship characteristics

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|Ship type= collier

|Ship tonnage= {{GRT|2738}}, {{NRT|1828}}

|Ship displacement= {{convert|5920|LT|t|abbr=on}}

|Ship length= {{cvt|310.0|ft|abbr=on}}

|Ship beam= {{cvt|44.0|ft|abbr=on}}

|Ship draft= {{cvt|19|ft|7|in|abbr=on|2}}

|Ship depth= {{cvt|20.5|ft|abbr=on}}

|Ship decks=

|Ship power= 241 NHP

|Ship propulsion= triple-expansion engine

|Ship speed= {{convert|10|kn|lk=in}}

|Ship capacity=

|Ship crew=

|Ship complement= in US Navy: 98

|Ship armament= in US Navy: 2 × 3-pounder guns

|Ship sensors=

|Ship notes=

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USS Caesar (AC-16) was a collier that was built in England in 1896 and scrapped in Japan in 1935. She was launched as Kingtor for a British shipping company, served in the United States Navy as Caesar from 1898 to 1923, and then was sold to a Canadian shipping company who renamed her Mogul.

In the US Navy she served in the Spanish–American War, Philippine–American War and First World War. She is notable for having been one of the ships which in 1905–06 towed the floating dry dock {{USS|Dewey|YFD-1|6}} from the United States via the Suez Canal to the Philippines.

Building and British service

Ropner & Sons built Kingtor at Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. She was launched on 31 January 1896 and completed that February. Her registered length was {{cvt|310.0|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|44.0|ft|abbr=on}} and her depth was {{cvt|20.5|ft|abbr=on}}. Her tonnages were {{GRT|2738}}, {{NRT|1828}} and {{convert|5920|LT|t|abbr=on}}.{{cite web |url= http://www.teesbuiltships.co.uk/view.php?year_built=&builder=&ref=168858&vessel=KINGTOR |title=Kingtor |work=Tees Built Ships |publisher=Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |access-date=13 July 2021}}

Kingtor had a three-cylinder triple-expansion steam engine. It was rated at 241 NHP{{cite book |year=1930 |chapter=Steamers & Motorships |title=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |volume=I |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/30/30b0810.pdf |via=Southampton City Council |access-date=13 July 2021}} and gave her a speed of about {{convert|10|kn|lk=in}}.{{sfn|DANFS}}

Kingtor{{'}}s first owner was J Holman & Sons, who registered her in London.

US Navy service

File:USS Pennsylvania (ACR-4) in Drydock Dewey.jpg {{USS|Dewey|YFD-1|6}} in Olongapo in 1906 or 1907, with the battleship {{USS|Pennsylvania|ACR-4|6}}]]

On 21 April 1898 the United States declared war on Spain. On the same day, the United States Government bought Kingtor. New York Navy Yard fitted her out, and on 13 May 1898 she was commissioned as USS Caesar. Her pennant number was AC-16 and her first commander was Lt Cdr AB Speyers.{{sfn|DANFS}}

Caesar sailed from Lambert's Point, Virginia on 1 June 1898 laden with coal for the North Atlantic Squadron then blockading Cuba and Puerto Rico in the Spanish–American War. She continued to carry fuel for this force until 8 July 1900, when she left Norfolk, Virginia, on the first of four voyages to the Far East. Sailing via the Suez Canal, Caesar brought cargo to ships taking part in the Philippine–American War, and helped to establish bases in the new US territory. In July 1903 Caesar returned to duty with the North Atlantic Fleet until decommissioned at Norfolk Navy Yard on 23 May 1904. On 27 December 1904 Caesar was recommissioned. She took equipment and supplies for the solar eclipse expedition of 1905 to Valencia, Spain. At the end of the scientific program, she returned the equipment to Norfolk on 13 October 1905. While out of commission at Norfolk from 28 October to 4 November 1905, Caesar was fitted with towing machinery. She then joined the stores ship {{USS|Glacier|AF-4|2}}, collier {{USS|Brutus|AC-15|2}}, and tug {{USS|Potomac|AT-50|2}} in towing the floating dry dock {{USS|Dewey|YFD-1|2}} via the Suez Canal to Olongapo, Luzon, a voyage that took from 28 December 1905 to 10 July 1906.{{sfn|DANFS}} This remains one of seafaring's great towing achievements.

File:USS Caesar - LOC 15845351055 (cropped).jpg

By 1914 Caesar was equipped for wireless telegraphy. Her call sign was NCY.{{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 |page=439}}

Caesar sailed to the Mediterranean from October 1915 until April 1916 and from July until September 1916. On her first, she carried 135 refugees from Jaffa to Alexandria, Egypt. Leaving New York for the Mediterranean once more on 19 December 1916, Caesar delivered Red Cross relief supplies for Syria at Alexandria, then sailed on to Olongapo. She carried cargo and passengers for the Asiatic Fleet until August 1918, when she sailed for the Panama Canal and Norfolk, arriving on 26 October. Three days later she sailed for France with US Army cargo, returning to Norfolk on 26 February.{{sfn|DANFS}}

East coast operations preceded an extensive overhaul at Norfolk which began in September 1920. From May 1921 she resumed transporting coal and other supplies between the east and west coasts, and on 11 March 1922 she left Hampton Roads on her last voyage. After carrying cargo through the Panama Canal to Tutuila, American Samoa, she went to Mare Island Navy Yard, where she was decommissioned on 11 June and sold on 22 December.{{sfn|DANFS}}

Canadian service and fate

The Coastwise Steamship and Barge Company of Canada bought Caesar, renamed her Mogul and registered her in Victoria, British Columbia. In Canadian service her United Kingdom official number was 105797 and her code letters were MFVR. The General Navigation Company of Canada bought her in 1934, and sold her for scrap in 1935. On 20 June 1935 she reached Yokohama, where she was broken up.

References

{{reflist}}

Sources

  • {{cite web|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/caesar.html|title= Caesar | work =Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships|publisher=Naval History & Heritage Command (NH&HC) | access-date =18 August 2022 |ref={{sfnref|DANFS}}}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caesar}}

Category:1896 ships

Category:Colliers of the United States Navy

Category:Merchant ships of Canada

Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom

Category:Ships built on the River Tees

Category:Steamships of Canada

Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom

Category:Steamships of the United States

Category:World War I auxiliary ships of the United States