USS Princess Matoika

USS Princess Matoika (ID-2290) under way in 1919
History
German Empire
Name
  • 1900: SS Kiautschou
  • 1904: SS Princess Alice
Namesake
Owner
Port of registry
Route
  • 1900: Hamburg–Far East
  • 1904: Bremen–New York
  • 1905–05: Bremen–Suez Canal–Far East
  • 1905–10: Bremen–Cherbourg–New York
  • 1910–1914: Bremen–Suez Canal–Far East
Builder
Launched14 September 1900
Maiden voyageHamburg–Far East, 25 December 1900
FateInterned at Cebu, Philippines, 1914; seized by United States, April 1917
United States
Name
  • 1918: USS Princess Matoika (ID-2290)
  • 1919: USAT Princess Matoika
NamesakePrincess Matoika (variant spelling of given name of Pocahontas)
Owner
Operator
Acquiredseized by United States, April 1917
In service19 September 1919
Out of serviceAfter September 1920
FateTransferred to United States Shipping Board
United States
Name
  • 1921: SS Princess Matoika
  • 1922: SS President Arthur
  • 1926: SS City of Honolulu
Namesake
Owner
Operator
Route
  • January 1921: New York–Naples–Genoa
  • May 1921: New York–Bremen
  • 1923: (laid up)
  • 1925: New York–Naples–Haifa
  • 1927: Los Angeles–Hawaii
  • 1930: (laid up)
FateBurned, 1930; sold for scrap, 1934
General characteristics
Class and typeBarbarossa-class ocean liner[1]
Tonnage
Displacement20,500 t[5]
Length
  • 1900: 159.55 m (523 ft 5 in)[2]
  • 1904: 166.10 m (544 ft 11 in)[6]
Beam18.32 m (60 ft 1 in)[2] 1918: 61 ft (19 m)[5]
Draft1918: 29 ft 6 in (8.99 m)[5]
Propulsion
Speed
  • 1900: 15 knots (28 km/h)[2]
  • 1904: 15.5 knots (28.7 km/h)[6]
  • 1918: 16 knots (30 km/h)[5]
  • 1925: 19.7 knots (36.5 km/h), maximum[7]
  • 1926: 16 knots (30 km/h)[4]
Capacity
  • Passengers (as built):[6]
    • 327 first class
    • 103 second class
    • 80 third class
    • 1,700 steerage
  • 1904:[6]
    • 255 first class
    • 115 second class
    • 1,666 steerage
  • 1921:[3]
    • 350 cabin class
    • 500 third class
  • 1925:[8]
    • 675 passengers
  • 1927:[4]
    • 450 first class
    • 50 third class
  • Cargo:
    • 4,000 short tons (3,600 t)[8]
Troops1918:[9]
3,500
3,900 after Armistice
Complement1918: 449[5]
Crew
  • 1904: 207–248[6]
  • 1921: 260[3]
Armament1918: 4 × 6-inch (150 mm) guns[5]

USS Princess Matoika (ID-2290) was a transport ship for the United States Navy during World War I. Before the war, she was a Barbarossa-class ocean liner that sailed as SS Kiautschou for the Hamburg America Line and as SS Princess Alice (sometimes spelled Prinzess Alice) for North German Lloyd. After the war she served as the United States Army transport ship USAT Princess Matoika. In post-war civilian service she was SS Princess Matoika until 1922, SS President Arthur until 1927, and SS City of Honolulu until she was scrapped in 1933.

Built in 1900 for the German Far East mail routes, SS Kiautschou traveled between Hamburg and Far East ports for most of her Hamburg America Line career. In 1904, she was traded to competitor North German Lloyd for five freighters, and renamed SS Princess Alice. She sailed both transatlantic and Far East mail routes until the outbreak of World War I, when she was interned in the neutral port of Cebu in the Philippines. Seized by the U.S. in 1917, the newly renamed USS Princess Matoika carried thousands of U.S. troops to and from France in U.S. Navy service from 1918 to 1919. As an Army transport after that, she continued to return troops and repatriated the remains of Americans killed overseas in the war. In July 1920 she was a last-minute substitute to carry a large portion of the United States team to the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. From the perspective of the Olympic team, the trip was disastrous and a majority of the team members published a list of grievances and demands of the American Olympic Committee in an action known today as the Mutiny of the Matoika.

After her Army career ended, Princess Matoika was transferred to the United States Mail Steamship Line for European passenger service in early 1921. After that company's financial troubles resulted in her seizure, Princess Matoika was assigned to the newly formed United States Lines and resumed passenger service. In 1922 the ship was renamed SS President Arthur, in honor of the 21st U.S. President, Chester A. Arthur. When changes in U.S. laws severely curtailed the number of immigrants that could enter the country in the early 1920s, the ship was laid up in Baltimore in late 1923.

President Arthur was purchased in October 1924 by the Jewish-owned American Palestine Line to begin regular service between New York, Naples, and Palestine. On her maiden voyage to Palestine she reportedly became the first ocean liner to fly the Zionist flag at sea and the first ocean liner ever to have female officers. Financial difficulties for American Palestine ended the service after three roundtrips, and the liner was sold to the Los Angeles Steamship Company for Los Angeles–Honolulu service. Following three years of carrying tourists and freight, the liner burned in Honolulu Harbor in 1930. She was deemed too expensive to repair and was eventually scrapped in Japan in 1933.

  1. ^ Putnam, p. 145.
  2. ^ a b c d e Bonsor, Vol. 2, p. 566.
  3. ^ a b c Bonsor, Vol. 2, p. 567.
  4. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Drechsel-v1-339 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Princess Matoika". DANFS.
  6. ^ a b c d e Drechsel, Vol. 1, p. 338.
  7. ^ "Palestine liner tested". The New York Times. 8 March 1925. p. 5.
  8. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NYT-1924-10-10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  9. ^ Gleaves, p. 248