SS Pennsylvanian

SS Pennsylvanian, seen here as USS Scranton (ID-3511) in 1919
SS Pennsylvanian, seen here as USS Scranton (ID-3511) in 1919
History
NameSS Pennsylvanian
OwnerAmerican-Hawaiian Steamship Company
Port of registryUnited States New York
OrderedSeptember 1911[1]
Builder
Cost$715,000[2]
Yard number127[3]
Launched29 March 1913[4]
CompletedJune 1913[3]
Identification
  • US Official number: 211297[5]
  • Code Letters LDBH[5]
FateExpropriated by U.S. Navy
History
United States
NameUSS Pennsylvanian (ID-3511)[6]
Acquired13 September 1918
Commissioned13 September 1918
RenamedUSS Scranton (ID-3511), November 1918[6]
NamesakeScranton, Pennsylvania[7]
Decommissioned16 July 1919
FateReturned to American-Hawaiian Steamship Co., 16 July 1919
History
NameSS Pennsylvanian
OwnerAmerican-Hawaiian Steamship Company
Port of registryUnited States New York
Identification
  • US Official number: 211297[5]
  • Code Letters LDBH (1919–34)[5]
  • Code Letters WACT (1934–44)[8]
FateExpropriated by U.S. Navy; sunk as part of Mulberry Harbor off Normandy, 16 July 1944
General characteristics
TypeCargo ship
Tonnage6,547 GRT[2] 10,175 LT DWT[2] 4,068 NRT[5]
Length
Beam53 ft 6 in (16.31 m)[7]
Draft29 ft 6 in (8.99 m)[7]
Propulsion
Speed15 knots (28 km/h)[7]
Capacity491,084 cubic feet (13,906.0 m3)[2]
NotesSister ships: Minnesotan, Dakotan, Montanan, Panaman, Washingtonian, Iowan, Ohioan[3]
General characteristics (as USS Scranton)
Displacement6,655 long tons (6,762 t)[7]
Troops1,840[10]
Complement94[7]
Armament7 × .50 cal (12.7 mm) machine guns[7]

SS Pennsylvanian was a cargo ship built in 1913 for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. During World War I she was requisitioned by the United States Navy and commissioned as USS Pennsylvanian (ID-3511) in September 1918, and renamed two months later to USS Scranton. After her naval service, her original name of Pennsylvanian was restored.

Pennsylvanian was built by the Maryland Steel Company as one of eight sister ships for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company, and was employed in inter-coastal service via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Panama Canal after it opened. Pennsylvanian was one of the first two steamships to travel eastbound through the canal when it opened in August 1914. During World War I, as both SS Pennsylvanian and USS Scranton, the ship carried cargo and animals to France, and returned American troops after the Armistice in 1918.

After her naval service ended in 1919, she was returned to her original owners and resumed relatively uneventful cargo service over the next twenty years. Early in World War II, the ship was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration, and shipped cargo on New York – Caribbean routes and transatlantic routes. In mid-July 1944, Pennsylvanian was scuttled as part of the breakwater for one of the Mulberry artificial harbors built to support the Normandy Invasion.

  1. ^ Cochran and Ginger, p. 358.
  2. ^ a b c d Cochran and Ginger, p. 365.
  3. ^ a b c Colton, Tim. "Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point MD". Shipbuildinghistory.com. The Colton Company. Archived from the original on 8 October 2008. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  4. ^ a b c "Pennsylvanian (2211297)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 15 April 2009.
  5. ^ a b c d e "LLOYD'S REGISTER, STEAMERS & MOTORSHIPS" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Register. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-05. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  6. ^ a b "USS Scranton (ID # 3511), 1918-1919". Online Library of Selected Images: U.S. Navy Ships. Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. 2 May 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2008. Retrieved 16 April 2009.
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h Navy Department, Naval History & Heritage Command. "Scranton". DANFS. Retrieved 12 August 2008.
  8. ^ "LLOYD'S REGISTER, NAVIRES A VAPEUR ET A MOTEURS" (PDF). Plimsoll Ship Register. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-10-05. Retrieved 29 March 2014.
  9. ^ a b Cochran and Ginger, p. 357.
  10. ^ Crowell and Wilson, p. 572.