SS Pennsylvania (1896)

The SS "Pennsylvania" was a combination ocean liner and merchant ship built by Harland & Wolff, Belfastcite web
url = http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/descriptions/ShipsP-Q.html
title = Ship Descriptions: P-Q
work = The Ships List
author = Swiggum, S.
accessdate = 2007-11-06] and launched in 1896 for the German Hamburg America Line for the transatlantic trade, particularly German emigration to the United States. She took refuge in the United States upon the outbreak of the First World War and upon the U.S. joining hostilities was seized and renamed the SS "Nansemond". She was briefly commissioned as USS "Nansemond" in 1919,cite web
url = http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-civil/civsh-n/nansemnd.htm
title = Nansemond (American Passenger-Cargo Ship). Formerly the German steamship Pennsylvania, 1896.
author = Department of the Navy - Navy Historical Center
accessdate = 2007-11-06] following which she was laid up in the Hudson River before scrapping in 1924.

"Pennsylvania" was the first in a four-ship "P class" built for the Hamburg America Line; the other ships were SS "Pretoria", SS "Graf Waldersee", and SS "Patricia".

History

Rescue and accident

The "Pennsylvania" rescued the 13-man crew of the sinking barque "Bothnia" on September 24, 1902, while on March 8, 1910, near the mouth of the Elbe river, SS "Pennsylvania" rammed and sank the Hamburg-registered schooner "Gertrud", with the loss of five of the schooner's crew of six. [cite web
title = SS Pennsylvania
url = http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.com/~koby/images/sspennsylvania.html
work = RootsWeb
accessdate = 2007-11-06]

Rebuild

U.S. Navy service

SS "Nansemond" was commissioned on January 20, 1919 as USS "Nansemond", ID # 1395. She made several voyages to Europe as a cargo carrier and troop transport, returning many servicemen to U.S. soil. The ship was decommissioned on September 16, 1919 and returned to the U.S. Shipping Board.

Laid up and scrapped

Following its service, the SS "Nansemond" was laid up in the lower Hudson River along with many other vessels of the U.S. Shipping Board; over 250 ships were laid up in Eastern estuary waters. Many of these ships were found to have been extensively vandalized during this period. The vessel was broken up in 1924, having seen no further service. [cite book
title = The Kaiser's Merchant Ships in World War I
author = Putnam, William Lowell
publisher = McFarland & Company
year = 2001
accessdate = 2007-11-06]

References