 SS Friedrich der Grosse in port.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
.svg){kind=small} German Empire | |
| Name |
|
| Namesake | Frederick the Great |
| Owner | Norddeutscher Lloyd |
| Builder | |
| Launched | 1 August 1896 |
| Fate | Interned by the United States, 1914; seized, 1917 |
 United States | |
| Name | USS Fredrick Der Grosse |
| Acquired | seized by U.S., 6 April 1917 |
| Commissioned | 25 July 1917 |
| Decommissioned | 2 September 1919 |
| Renamed | 1 September 1917, Huron |
| Fate | Transferred to USSB |
 United States | |
| Name | SS Huron |
| Namesake | Lake Huron |
| Owner | USSB |
| Operator | United States Mail Steamship Company |
| Route | South American routes[1] |
| Acquired | 1919 |
| In service | 1919 |
| Out of service | May 1922 |
| Fate | Assigned to Los Angeles Steamship Co. |
| United States | |
| Name | SS City of Honolulu |
| Owner | USSB |
| Operator |  Los Angeles Steamship Co. |
| Route | Los Angeles–Honolulu |
| Acquired | May 1922 |
| Maiden voyage | October 1922, sailed from Los Angeles for Honolulu |
| Out of service | 12 October 1922 |
| Fate | Fire on maiden voyage, 12 October 1922; sunk by gunfire 17 October 1922[2] |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 10,568 GRT |
| Length | 523 ft (159 m) |
| Beam | 60 ft (18 m) |
| Draft | 34 ft (10 m) |
| Speed | 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h) |
| Troops | 3,400 maximum[3] |
| Complement | 446 |
SS Friedrich der Grosse (or Friedrich der Große) was a Norddeutscher Lloyd liner built in 1896 which sailed Atlantic routes from Germany and sometimes Italy to the United States and on the post run to Australia. At the outset of World War I the ship was interned by the U.S. and, when that country entered the conflict in 1917, was seized and converted to a troop transport, becoming USS Huron (ID-1408).
Originally commissioned as USS Fredrick Der Grosse, the ship was renamed Huron – after Lake Huron, the center lake of the Great Lakes – while undergoing repairs and conversion at a U.S. Navy yard. The ship carried almost 21,000 men to France during the hostilities, and returned over 22,000 healthy and wounded men after the Armistice.[3][4]
After decommissioning by the U.S. Navy, the ship was turned over to the United States Shipping Board and was later transferred to the United States Mail Steamship Company, for whom she sailed in the Atlantic as SS Huron. In May 1922 the ship was allocated to the Los Angeles Steamship Co. and renamed SS City of Honolulu. The ship caught fire on 12 October 1922 during her maiden voyage, and sank with no loss of life.
- ^ "Shipping and Los Angeles Harbor News". Los Angeles Times. 11 May 1922. p. I7.
- ^ Thompson, G. E. (18 October 1922). "SINK HONOLULU WITH GUNFIRE". Los Angeles Times. p. II1.
- ^ a b Gleaves, p. 246.
- ^ Gleaves, p. 247