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SS Kronprinz Wilhelm

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Image:KronprinzWilhelmPostcard.jpg
Career
Shipyard:AG Vulcan, Stettin, Germany
Launched:March 30, 1901
Maiden voyage:September 17, 1901
Names:Kronprinz Wilhelm
Von Steuben
Baron Von Steuben
Flags: Image:Germany-Jack-1903.svg Germany 1901-1917 (North German Lloyd firm)
Image:US Naval Jack 48 stars.svg United States 1917-1923
Fate: scrapped in 1923
General Characteristics
Length:663 feet (202 m)
Beam:66 feet (20 m)
Draught:28 feet (8 m)
Tonnage:23,500
Propulsion:2 4-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engines, generating 33,000 hp
Speed:23.09 knots (1902 record for crossing the North Atlantic)
Complement:Passenger liner, crew of 520, with 301 passengers
Auxiliary cruiser, crew of 420
Troopship, once carried 1223 passengers, and once carried 2000+ in an emergency
Armament (German auxiliary cruiser):2 × 88 mm guns
1 × machinegun
2 × 120 mm guns
Armament (American troopship):8 × 5 in
4 × 3 in
2 × 3 in AA guns
4 × 1-pdrs
8 × machineguns

The German ship Kronprinz Wilhelm was built by the AG Vulcan shipyard in Stettin, Germany in 1901. She took her name from Crown Prince Wilhelm, the son of the German Emperor Kaiser Wilhelm II, and was a sister ship of the same class as the SS Kaiser Wilhelm der Große.

She had a varied career, starting off as a world-record-holding German passenger liner, then becoming a temporary warship from 1914-1915 for the Imperial German Navy, sailing as a commerce raider for a year, and then surrendering to the United States when she ran out of supplies. She then served as a US Navy troop transport until she was decommissioned and turned over to the United States Shipping Board, where she remained in service until she was scrapped in 1923.

Contents

[edit] 1901-1914 German passenger liner

Launched on March 30, 1901, her maiden voyage was on September 17, 1901, Bremerhaven-Southampton-Cherbourg-New York, and she stayed on that run until 1914.

She had the reputation as one of the fastest passenger liners on the North Atlantic. In September 1902, captained by Kurt Grahn, she won the Blue Riband for the fastest crossing yet from Cherbourg to New York in a time of 5 days, 11 hours, 57 minutes, with an average speed of 23.09 knots.

On July 28, 1912 she had an unusual association with the history of swimming. A pier in Binz on the island of Rügen, Germany collapsed under the weight of 1,000 people who were waiting for the arrival of the Kronprinz William, dumping many of them into the water. Sailors of the German navy were able to save most of them, but 17 people drowned because they could not swim, including seven children. This catastrophe led to the founding of the DLRG (Deutsche Lebens-Rettungs-Gesellschaft), the German lifesaving organization, in Leipzig in 1913.

[edit] 1914-1915 German auxiliary cruiser

In 1914 when Germany entered World War I, the Kronprinz Wilhelm was on the western side of the Atlantic. She was commissioned into the Imperial German Navy, and ordered to rendezvous with the SMS Karlsruhe, where she took on two 88 mm rapid fire guns, 290 rounds of 88 mm ammunition, a machine gun, and 36 rifles as well as one officer, two non-commissioned officers, and 13 ratings and became an auxiliary cruiser warship.[1] Lieutenant Commander (Kapitanleutnant) Paul Thierfelder— formerly Karlsruhe's navigation officer —became her wartime commander, and Grahn was made 1st Officer.

The close proximity of the British cruiser HMS Suffolk abbreviated the rendezvous forcing the two German warships to cast off hastily and speed away in different directions. Kronprinz Wilhelm headed north for a time, then steered west and southwest, and she finally steadied up on a course generally east toward the Azores. She reached her destination on August 17 and rendezvoused with the German steamer SS Walhalla off São Miguel Island. During the following four days, she coaled from Walhalla during the days; and the two ships steamed on a southerly course during the nights. After completing the coaling and provisioning operation, the newly commissioned commerce raider learned from German representatives at Las Palmas in the Canary Islands that no further coal would be available in the neighborhood of the Azores and the Canaries. Consequently, her commanding officer decided to head for the Brazilian coast where he hoped to find sources of coal more friendly to Germany or at least a greater choice of neutral ports in which to intern his ship if she should find herself unable to replenish her supplies from captured ships.

During the voyage to the Azores and thence to the South American coast, Kronprinz Wilhelm had to avoid contact with all shipping since she was not ready to embark upon her mission raiding Allied commerce. The guns had to be emplaced and a target for gunnery practice constructed. The crew, mostly reservists and civilians, received a crash course in their duties in a warship and in general naval discipline. A prize crew was selected and trained in the techniques of boarding prizes, inspecting cargo and ship's papers, and in using explosive charges to sink captured ships. Finally, all members of the crew were outfitted in some semblance of a naval uniform.

The crew worked at a feverish pace in order to be ready; and, by the time Kronprinz Wilhelm met Karlsruhe's tender SS Asuncion near Rocas Reef north of Cape San Roque on September 3, preparations were nearly complete. And none too soon either for, at 2030 the following evening, the auxiliary cruiser encountered the British steamer SS Indian Prince. The merchantman stopped without the raider's firing a shot. Heavy seas, however, postponed the boarding until shortly after 0600 the following morning. The prize crew found a cargo composed largely of contraband; but, before sinking the ship, Thierfelder wanted to salvage as much of her supplies and fuel as he could—principally the latter. Continued heavy seas precluded the transfer until the afternoon of September 8. Indian Prince's crew and passengers were brought over to Kronprinz Wilhelm at around 1400, and the two ships moved alongside each other immediately thereafter. Coaling started and continued throughout the night of 8 and September 9. The following morning, the German prize crew detonated three explosive charges which sank Indian Prince. Kronprinz Wilhelm then headed south to rendezvous with several German supply ships.

Coal, more than any other factor, proved to be the key to the success of Kronprinz Wilhelm's cruise. The hope of finding that commodity had brought her to the coast of South America, and her success in locating sources of it kept her there. Initially, she replenished from German steamers sent out of South American ports specifically for that purpose. In fact, she spent the next month coaling from four such auxiliaries before she even contacted her next victim. That event occurred on October 7, when she hailed the British steamer SS La Correntina well off the Brazilian coast in about the same latitude as Rio de Janeiro. The next day, the raider went alongside the captured ship to seize the prize's coal and cargo of frozen meat before sinking her. During the operation, she also improved her martial appearance—though not her actual military capability—when she took La Correntina's two ammunitionless 120 mm guns and their splinter shields. Later, the raider mounted the additional guns aft and they were used for gun drills and to fire warning shots with modified, blank salute cartridges. She continued coaling and provisioning operations from La Correntina until October 11 when bad weather forced a postponement. On the 14th, she resumed the transfer of fuel but broke off again when she intercepted a wireless message indicating that her captive's sister ship SS La Rosarina had departed Montevideo two days earlier and would soon pass nearby. The prize crew placed the usual three explosive charges, and La Correntina sank that same day.

During the ensuing five months, Kronprinz Wilhelm cruised the waters off the coast of Brazil and Argentina. Allied newspapers often reported that the Kronprinz Wilhelm had been sunk, torpedoed, or interned, but between September 4, 1914 and March 28, 1915, she was responsible for the capture (and often sinking) of fifteen ships – 10 British, four French, and one Norwegian – off the east coast of South America. Of that number, she sank 13 for sure; another she damaged severely by ramming, and it probably sank later. The remaining ship served as transportation into port for what had become an unbearable number of detainees on board after her 12th capture.

Ships were usually captured either by the Kronprinz Wilhelm simply overtaking them with superior speed and size, ordering them to stop, and then sending over a boarding party; or by pretending to be a ship in distress (or of a friendly nationality), and luring unsuspecting prey to her in that way. The targeted ships were usually caught by surprise (some did not even yet know that war had been declared), and their captain had to make the quick decision of whether to run, fight, or surrender. Since the captured ships were no match in speed, and usually had little to no arms, the unpleasant but expedient choice was to surrender. The Kronprinz Wilhelm would send over a boarding party to search the captured vessel. If they appeared to have nothing of value or military significance, they were sometimes simply released and sent on their way. If they did have valuable (or contraband) cargo, or were warships, or ships that might someday be converted to military use, the crew of the Kronprinz Wilhelm would then systematically (and quite politely) transfer all of the crew, passengers, and their baggage and other valuable cargo from the captured ship to their own, including coal and other supplies. Then they would scuttle the captured vessel by opening up the seacocks (valves in the hull below the waterline), thereby causing the captured ship to fill with water after small charges were detonated, and sink. (Niezychowski, 1928)

Image:Lieutenant Alfred Niezychowski.jpg

In this way she took the following:

  • SS Highland Brae, United Kingdom
  • Schooner Wilfred M., United Kingdom
  • Barque Semantha, Norway
  • Barque Anne de Bretagne France
  • SS Guadeloupe, France
  • SS Tamar, United Kingdom
  • SS Coleby, United Kingdom
  • Schooner Pittan, Russia (released)
  • SS Chasehill, United Kingdom
  • SS Indian Prince, United Kingdom (sunk)
  • SS La Correntina, United Kingdom
  • Four-mast Barque Union, France
  • SS Bellevue, United Kingdom
  • SS Mont Agel, France
  • SS Hemisphere, United Kingdom
  • SS Potaro, United Kingdom

She also missed one other potential success, when on 14 September 1914 she came across the British armed merchant cruiser RMS Carmania, already badly crippled following an epic duel with the SMS Cap Trafalgar, which had sunk shortly before the Kronprinz Wilhelm's arrival. However, the Kronprinz Wilhelm's commander chose to be cautious, and, believing it to be a trap, shied away before striking the severely damaged ship, thus missing out on a potentially important prize.

Late in March of 1915, the auxiliary cruiser headed north to rendezvous with another German supply ship at the equator. She arrived at the meeting point on the morning of 28 March and cruised in the neighborhood all day. That evening, she sighted a steamer in company with two British warships 20 miles distant. Though Kronprinz Wilhelm did not know it at the time, she had just witnessed the capture of her supply ship, SS Macedonia, by two British cruisers. The raider steamed around in the general vicinity for several days, but the passage of each succeeding day further diminished her prospects of a successful rendezvous.

[edit] 1915-1917 Internment

Finally, a dwindling coal supply and an alarming increase in the sick list forced Kronprinz Wilhelm to make for the nearest neutral port. Early in the morning of April 11, she stopped off Cape Henry, VA, and took on a pilot. At 1012 that morning, she dropped anchor off Newport News, VA, and ended her cruise during which she steamed 37,666 miles and destroyed just under 56,000 tons of Allied shipping. She and her crew were interned, the ship was laid up at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, and her crew lived in a camp nearby, as "guests".

[edit] 1917-1919 USS Von Steuben

Image:Uss Von Steuben ID-3017.jpg

On April 6 1917, the United States declared war upon the German Empire. That same day, the Collector of the Port of Philadelphia seized the former German raider in the name of the United States. On May 22, President Woodrow Wilson issued the executive order which empowered the US Navy to take possession of the ship and to begin to repair her. On June 9 1917, Kronprinz Wilhelm was renamed Von Steuben (ID-3017) in honor of Baron Friedrich Wilhelm von Steuben, the German hero of the American Revolution, and commissioned in the United States Navy at Philadelphia, Lieutenant Charles H. Bullock in command.

In 1918 the Germans renamed their battleship the SMS Kronprinz as Kronprinz Wilhelm but this ship was then scuttled in 1919 with the remainder of the High Seas Fleet at Scapa Flow.

Von Steuben began her Navy career as an auxiliary cruiser. Through the summer of 1917, her crew and workers at the Philadelphia Navy Yard prepared her to resume that role against her former masters. However, since the Allied and associated Powers already maintained virtual control of the seas, their need for that type of ship was minimal. Accordingly, on September 21, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations telegraphed an order to the Commandant, Philadelphia Navy Yard, to assign her to transport duty upon completion of repairs to meet a more pressing need—the transportation of troops and supplies to Europe. The ship completed preparations by September 29 and put to sea that same day for her first voyage. During the next four weeks, she remained close to American Eastern Seaboard, visiting Hampton Roads, VA and New York, NY in addition to Philadelphia.

On October 31, she stood out of New York for her first transatlantic voyage under the American flag with 1,223 troops and passengers bound for Brest, France. At about 0605 on the morning of November 9, Von Steuben received some damage when USS Agamemnon (another Stettin-built passenger liner that had been the Kaiser Wilhelm II when confiscated by the US), another troop ship, collided with her during a zigzag. Both ships lost men overboard, and a few received injuries. In addition, two of her 5-inch guns and one of her 3-inch guns were damaged. Though her bow was opened to the sea, Von Steuben maintained 12 knots while the damage control party made repairs. The ship continued on with the convoy and arrived in Brest three days later. She disembarked passengers and unloaded cargo between November 14 and 19; but she did not depart until November 28.

On her way back to the United States, Von Steuben had to stop over at Halifax, Nova Scotia. At about 0914 on the morning of December 6, she was about 40 miles from Halifax when lookouts spied a great flame and a high column of smoke in the direction of the port. Visual contact was followed rapidly by the concussion from the explosion of a French ammunition ship, Mont Blanc, in Halifax harbor. Von Steuben learned the facts when she entered the harbor at about 1430 that afternoon. A portion of the city had been devastated by the explosion and the tidal wave which followed causing the death of thousands in the horrific Halifax Explosion (the largest man-caused explosion until the 1945 nuclear tests). She responded to the emergency by landing officers and men to patrol the city and assist in rescue efforts. The transport remained at Halifax until December 10 and then continued her voyage back to Philadelphia where she arrived on the 13th.

After debarking her passengers, Von Steuben got underway from Philadelphia again on December 15. She coaled at Newport News on December 16 and remained there until 20 December when she returned to sea, bound for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where she disembarked marines. On December 27, she got underway for the Panama Canal Zone. The ship transited the canal on December 29 and entered the drydock at Balboa, Panama that afternoon. Over the next three weeks, she received repairs of the damage to her bow. On January 20 1918, the ship floated out of the dock and then retransited the canal. After coaling at Colón, Panama, she departed the Canal Zone and headed back to the east coast. From January 28 to January 31, Von Steuben stopped at Newport News where she took on two new 5-inch guns and a 3-inch gun to replace those damaged in the collision with Agamemnon. On February 1, she returned to Philadelphia to resume duty transporting troops to France.

On February 10, Von Steuben stood down the Delaware River with another convoy. She reached her destination, Brest, without incident on the 24th, unloaded her troops and cargo, and set out on the return voyage five days later. At about 1620 on March 5, a lookout spotted an object to port which resembled a submarine periscope. The alarm brought gun crews scurrying to their action stations, and they opened fire immediately. Before anyone realized that they were firing upon an innocuous piece of flotsam, a tragic accident occurred. The shell from one of her 5-inch guns exploded immediately upon leaving the barrel, and fragments struck three sailors. One died instantly, and the other two succumbed to their wounds later that night. Von Steuben coaled at Bermuda on March 12 and 13 and arrived at Norfolk on 16 March. After repairs and coaling, she moved on to Philadelphia to load troops and cargo for her third voyage to France.

Her next two voyages to France and back were uneventful, as was the New York-to-Brest leg of the following one. However, on the return voyage, she encountered a U-boat. At about 1230 on the afternoon of June 18, one of her lookouts reported wreckage ahead. As she steamed closer, seven small boats under sail came into sight on the port bow about five miles away. Von Steuben began a zigzag approach to pick up what appeared to be boatloads of survivors from a sunken Allied ship. About 20 minutes later, her lookouts reported the wake of a torpedo approaching her bow from abaft the port beam. The gun crews manned their stations and began firing at the torpedo while the commanding officer ordered the wheel hard to starboard and all engines full astern in an effort to avoid the missile. Meanwhile, some of the gunners had shifted their attention to what they thought to be the periscope of U-151, the source of the torpedo bearing down upon Von Steuben. The ship's efforts to slow down and turn away from the torpedo were successful. It passed a few yards ahead of the ship, and Von Steuben delivered a depth-charge barrage which subjected the submarine to a severe shaking.

The real losers in that brief, but sharp, exchange were the survivors of the British steamer Dwinsk adrift in those seven small boats. U-151 had sunk their ship earlier and remained in the area to use them as decoys for other Allied ships such as Von Steuben. The possibility that they were simply decoys and that other submarines might be lurking about forced the ship to continue on without further investigation. That decision was further reinforced by the fact that the boats appeared empty. Credit for this must go to Dwinsk's, master who ordered his people to lie low in their craft so that other Allied ships would not be drawn into the waiting U-boat's trap. Fortunately, he and his men were saved eventually.

Von Steuben arrived in New York on June 20 and began preparations for another voyage to France. On 29 June, she embarked troops for passage to Europe; and the next day stood out of New York harbor and formed up with a convoy for the Atlantic crossing. At about noon on the third day out, a fire broke out in the forward cargo hold of the USS Henderson. As the blaze grew in intensity, the transfer of the troops embarked became a necessary precaution; and Von Steuben approached the burning ship. Silhouetted by the flames, she would have made a perfect target for any U-boat in the vicinity, but she worked throughout the night and, by morning, had succeeded in embarking Henderson's more than 2,000 troops. 'Henderson came about and made it safely back to the United States, while Von Steuben completed a somewhat cramped voyage at Brest on July 9. Three days later, she headed back across the Atlantic with civilians and wounded soldiers returning to the United States after service in Europe. After a peaceful voyage, the transport reached New York on July 21.

After a short repair period in late July and early August, the ship resumed duty transporting troops to Europe. Between late August and the Armistice on November 11, Von Steuben made three more round-trip voyages carrying troops to France and returning the sick and wounded to the United States. Though all three were peaceful passages by wartime standards, they were not uneventful. On the return voyage from the first of the three, she weathered a severe hurricane during which three of her complement were washed overboard and lost at sea, while several others received injuries. During the New York-to-Brest leg of the second, the influenza epidemic of 1918 struck the 2,700 troops she had embarked and resulted in 400 stretcher cases and 34 deaths.

Von Steuben returned to New York from her ninth wartime voyage on November 8. On 10 November, she began repairs at the Morse Dry Dock & Repair Co., Brooklyn, NY. The next day, Germany signed the armistice which ended hostilities. The former commerce raider completed repairs on March 2 1919 and put to sea to begin bringing troops home from France. She continued to serve the Navy until October 13 1919 when she was decommissioned and turned over to the United States Shipping Board (USSB).

[edit] 1919-1923 Commercial service

Although, her name was struck from the Navy list on October 14 1919; for almost five years the ship continued to serve the United States under the auspices of the USSB, first as Baron Von Steuben and, after 1921, simply as Von Steuben again. Her name disappeared from mercantile records after 1923 and she was scrapped by Boston Iron & Metals Co..

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

de:SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm

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