SS Montanan

SS "Montanan" was a cargo ship built in 1912 for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. During World War I service for the United States Army she was known as USAT "Montanan". "Montanan" 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.

In World War I, USAT "Montanan" carried cargo and animals to France, and was in the first American convoy to sail to France after the United States entered the war in April 1917. While in another eastbound convoy in August 1918, USAT "Montanan" was torpedoed and sunk by "U-90" some .Maryland Steel had built three ships—, , and was s exact movements from this time through early 1917 are unclear. She may have been in the half of the American-Hawaiian fleet that was chartered for transatlantic service. She may also have been in the group of American-Hawaiian ships chartered for service to South America, delivering coal, gasoline, and steel in exchange for coffee, nitrates, cocoa, rubber, and manganese ore.Cochran and Ginger, p. 362.]

U.S. Army service

After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917, the United States Army, needing transports to get its men and materiel to France, had a select committee of shipping executives pore over registries of American shipping. The committee selected "Montanan", her sister ship "Dakotan", and twelve other American-flagged ships that were sufficiently fast, could carry enough fuel in their s for transatlantic crossings, and, most importantly, were in port or not far at sea. [Sharpe, p. 359.] [Crowell and Wilson, pp. 313–14.] After "Montanan" discharged her last load of cargo, she was officially handed over to the Army on 29 May.

Before troop transportation began, all of the ships were hastily refitted. Of the fourteen ships, four, including "Montanan" and "Dakotan", were designated to carry animals and cargo; the other ten were designated to carry human passengers. The four ships designated to carry animals had ramps and stalls built. Gun platforms were installed on each ship before docking at the Brooklyn Navy Yard to have the guns themselves installed. [Crowell and Wilson, p. 316.] The only exception was for , U.S. Navy transport , and cruiser USS|Seattle|ACR-11|2, the flagship of Rear Admiral Albert Gleaves, the head of the Navy's Cruiser and Transport Force. [Gleaves, p. 54.]

Sources do not reveal "Montanan"'s movements over the next months, but on 1 August 1918, "Montanan" sailed in Convoy HB-8 with U.S. Navy cargo ships USS|West Alsek|ID-3119|2, USS|West Bridge|ID-2888|2, and 13 others for France.cite DANFS | author = Naval Historical Center | title = West Alsek | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w5/west_alsek.htm | short = on ] cite DANFS | author = Naval Historical Center | title = West Bridge | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w5/west_bridge.htm | short = on ] Escorted by armed yacht USS|Noma|SP-131|2, destroyers USS|Burrows|DD-29|2 and USS|Smith|DD-17|2, and French cruiser "Marseillaise",cite DANFS | last = Mann | title = Burrows | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/b11/burrows-ii.htm | short = on ] the convoy was some convert|500|nmi|km|-2 west of its destination of Le Verdon-sur-Mer by the end of the day on 15 August. At sundown, shortly before 18:00, German submarine "U-90" launched three torpedoes at "Montanan". Crowell and Wilson, pp. 529–30.] "U-90" had also sunk Navy transport USS|President Lincoln|1907|6 in late May. ] The first two, spotted by lookouts aboard "Montanan", missed, but a third, unseen torpedo struck "Montanan" amidships on her port side, opening a large hole. "Montanan" began to settle and was abandoned quickly. Two of "Montanan"'s Naval Armed Guardsmen drowned when their lifeboat capsized in the heavy seas; three of her civilian crewmen also died in the attack. "Montanan"'s 81 survivors were rescued by convoy escort "Noma". Shortly after "Montanan" was attacked, "West Bridge", which had previously developed engine trouble and was drifting, was torpedoed by "U-107" and abandoned. By the morning of 16 August both "Montanan" and "West Bridge", with decks awash, were still afloat some convert|4|nmi|km apart. "Montanan"'s captain and several officers re-boarded the ship the next morning for an attempt to get her under tow, but despite their efforts, the ship sank later that morning. [cite news | title = Dodged 2 of 3 torpedoes | work = The Washington Post | date = 13 September 1918 | page = 5 ] In contrast, a work party from destroyer "Smith" was able to stabilize "West Bridge", and four tugs dispatched from Brest towed that ship safely into port. See: cite DANFS | author = Naval Historical Center | title = West Bridge | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w5/west_bridge.htm | short = on ]

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