USS Felix Taussig
{{short description|Cargo ship of the United States Navy}}
{{for|ships with similar names|USS Taussig|USS Joseph K. Taussig}}
{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:USS Felix Taussig (ID-2282).jpg |Ship caption=USS Felix Taussig {{nowrap|(Id. No. 2282)}} at anchor in 1918 or 1919, dressed overall and painted in pattern camouflage. }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|1912}} |Ship name=Felix Taussig |Ship namesake= |Ship owner=Crowell & Thurlow Steamship Company |Ship operator= |Ship registry= |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship awarded= |Ship builder=Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, {{nowrap|Newport News, Virginia}} |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched=1917 |Ship sponsor= |Ship christened= |Ship completed=1917 |Ship acquired= |Ship commissioned= |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned= |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification=Official number 214726[https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/7982 MARAD Vessel History FELIX TAUSSIG Accessed 29 March 2023] |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=*Requisitioned by Emergency Fleet Corporation
|Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United States|naval-1912}} |Ship name=Felix Taussig |Ship namesake=Previous name retained |Ship acquired=29 August 1918 |Ship commissioned=31 August 1918 |Ship recommissioned= |Ship decommissioned=26 April 1919 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification=Hull number: ID-2282 |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=*Transferred to United States Shipping Board 26 April 1919
|Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=Italy |Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Italy|civil}} |Ship name=Ata |Ship namesake= |Ship acquired=1948 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honors= |Ship captured= |Ship fate=Scrapped 1953 |Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type=Cargo ship |Ship tonnage=*5,965 gross register tons
|Ship displacement={{convert|12,925|LT|t}} (normal) |Ship length={{convert|410|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam={{convert|55|ft|1|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draft={{convert|27|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship decks= |Ship deck clearance= |Ship ramps= |Ship ice class= |Ship power= |Ship propulsion=One {{convert|2,200|ihp|kW|abbr=on|lk=in}} vertical triple expansion steam engine, three single-ended boilers, one shaft |Ship sail plan= |Ship speed={{convert|11|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range= |Ship endurance= |Ship test depth= |Ship boats= |Ship capacity={{convert|406,600|sqft|abbr=on}} (cargo) |Ship troops= |Ship complement=62 |Ship crew= |Ship time to activate= |Ship sensors= |Ship EW= |Ship armament=*1 × 4-inch (102 mm)/50 gun (aft)
|Ship armour= |Ship armor= |Ship aircraft= |Ship aircraft facilities= |Ship notes= }} |
USS Felix Taussig (ID-2282) was a cargo ship in commission in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919. She saw service during World War I. Prior to her U.S. Navy service, she operated as the American commercial cargo ship SS Felix Taussig under charter to the United States Army. During this service she mistakenly sank the U.S. Navy submarine chaser {{USS|SC-209}} in the deadliest friendly fire incident involving the U.S. Navy of World War I. Felix Taussig returned to commercial service after World War I, first as SS Felix Taussig from 1919 to 1948, then from 1948 until 1953 under the Italian flag as SS Ata.
Construction and early service
SS Felix Taussig was constructed in 1917 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Newport News, Virginia, as a commercial cargo ship for the Crowell & Thurlow Steamship Company of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/photography/numerical-list-of-images/nhhc-series/nh-series/NH-65000/NH-65093-A.html Naval History and Heritage Command NH 65093-A S.S. Felix Taussig Accessed 28 March 2023] The Emergency Fleet Corporation requisitioned her for World War I service, and she was chartered by the United States Army. She was armed for war service and began hauling cargo from the United States to Europe.
On 12 May 1918, an Imperial German Navy submarine fired torpedoes at Felix Taussig. She took evasive action and avoided the torpedoes. She then sighted the submarine, and U.S. Navy gunners on board Felix Taussig fired four rounds at it, claiming a hit with their last shot. For the action, the commander of her gun crews, Chief Gunner's Mate Henry R. Chambers, received the Navy Cross.[https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/9237 militarytimes.com Henry R. Chambers]
During the predawn hours of 27 August 1918, Felix Taussig was in the Atlantic Ocean south of Long Island, New York, nearing the end of a voyage from Bordeaux, France, to New York City, while a U.S. Navy force consisting of the destroyer {{USS|Patterson|DD-36|6}} and 11 submarine chasers were patrolling the area in search of German submarines, with the submarine chasers proceeding in a scouting line. At 02:40, Felix Taussig sighted the submarine chaser {{nowrap|{{USS|SC-209}}}} on her port beam, headed in the same direction. SC-209 drew ahead of Felix Taussig and then crossed her bow. SC-209 was operating without running lights, and in the darkness Felix Taussig{{'}}s crew mistook her for a German submarine. Her {{convert|3|in|mm|1|adj=on}} forward gun fired four rounds, and her {{convert|4|in|mm|0|adj=on}} after gun fired one. After the third shot, SC-209 turned on her running lights to identify herself as friendly, but the last shots were fired before the gunners aboard Felix Taussig received the order to cease firing. The second and fourth 3-inch rounds struck SC-209, and SC-209 caught fire and sank in only three minutes at {{coord|40|08|N|073|12|W|name=USS SC-209}} with the loss of two officers and 16 enlisted men. The submarine chaser {{USS|SC-188}} rescued SC-209{{'}}s five survivors, four of whom were wounded. Patterson and two other submarine chasers searched the area but found no more survivors. Felix Taussig stood by to render assistance until Patterson directed her to continue her voyage to New York City. Patterson carried the wounded survivors into New York Harbor for transfer to the U.S. Navy hospital ship {{USS|Comfort|AH-3|6}}. The sinking of SC-209 was the U.S. Navy's largest loss of life in a single friendly fire incident during World War I.[https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/1934/december/mistaken-attacks-world-war Doughty, Leonard, Jr., Lieutenant Commander, "Mistaken Attacks in the World War," Proceedings, October 1934.][http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/150209.htm NavSource Online: Submarine Chaser Photo Archive SC-209 Accessed 28 March 2023][https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/p/patterson-i.html Naval History and Heritage Command Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships Patterson I (Destroyer No. 36) 1911-1934 Accessed 30 March 2023.
United States Navy service
File:SS FelixTaussig 20 October 1943.jpg
{{stack|File:SS Ata.jpg}}
The U.S. Navy acquired Felix Taussig on 29 August 1918, assigned her the identification number 2282, and commissioned her on 31 August 1918 as USS Felix Taussig.
Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service and using Philadelphia as her departure port, Felix Taussig made three voyages to France — two to Brest and one to Bordeaux and St. Nazaire — between 17 September 1918 and 1 April 1919. She carried provisions and general cargo for the U.S. Army to France and returned to Philadelphia {{nautical term|in ballast}}, although she did carry some passengers on her last voyage. At Philadelphia on 26 April 1919, she was decommissioned, transferred to the United States Shipping Board, and returned to the Crowell & Thurlow Steamship Company.
Later career
The ship returned to commercial service as SS Felix Taussig. During World War II, she was among 37 merchant ships escorted by eight warships in Convoy TAG 18,Rohwer & Hummelchen, pp.168 & 169 a TAG convoy operating in the Caribbean on the route Trinidad-Aruba-Guantanamo Bay.Hague, p. 113. During its 2-8 November 1942 transit, the convoy came under attack by the German submarines {{GS|U-129|1941|2}} and {{GS|U-160|1941|2}}, which sank six ships. Felix Taussig′s embarked United States Navy Armed Guard received the American Campaign Medal with a battle star for service during the convoy battle.[https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/navy-mc-awards-manual-rev1953/pt4-campaign-service-medals.html Naval History and Heritage Command Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual (Rev. 1953) Part 4 - Campaign and Service Medals Accessed 1 April 2023]
Felix Taussig remained in service under the American flag until 1948, when she was sold to Italian interests. Renamed Ata, she then operated under the Italian flag until she was scrapped in 1953.
Honors and awards
- 106px World War I Victory Medal with Armed Guard Clasp for the period 13 October 1917–29 August 1918
- {{ribbon devices|number=1|type=service-star|ribbon=American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg|width=106}} American Campaign Medal with one battle star for embarked United States Navy Armed Guard's service in Convoy TAG 18 for the period 1–6 November 1942
- 106px Merchant Marine World War II Victory Medal
References
=Footnotes=
{{reflist}}
=Bibliography=
- {{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/f/felix-taussig.html}}
- [https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-f/id2282.htm Department of the Navy: Naval Historical Center: Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. NAVY SHIPS -- USS Felix Taussig (ID # 2282), 1918-1919. Originally, and later, S.S. Felix Taussig (American Freighter, 1917). Later renamed Ata]
- {{cite book | last = Hague | first = Arnold | title = The Allied Convoy System 1939–1945 | year = 2000 | isbn = 1-86176-147-3 | ref = {{sfnRef|Hague}}}}
- {{cite book| title=Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945 |author1=Rohwer, J. |author2=Hummelchen, G. |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1992 |isbn=1-55750-105-X}}
{{August 1918 shipwrecks}}
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Category:Ships built in Newport News, Virginia
Category:Cargo ships of the United States Navy
Category:World War I cargo ships of the United States
Category:World War I merchant ships of the United States
Category:World War II merchant ships of the United States