SS Cuba in Panama Canal
As SS Cuba in the Panama Canal, 1923
History
Kaiserliche Marine JackGerman Empire
NameSS Coblenz
NamesakeKoblenz
OwnerNorth German Lloyd
Builder
Yard number215771
Launched18 March 1897
Acquired5 May 1897
Out of service1917
Captured
  • interned in Manila, August 1914
  • seized by U.S., 6 April 1917
United States
NameSS Sachem
OwnerUnited States Shipping Board
In service1917
Out of service1920
FateSold, 1920
United States
NameSS Cuba
NamesakeCuba
OwnerPacific Mail Steamship Company
Cost$400,000
Acquired2 February 1920
In service1920
Out of service1923
FateWrecked 7 September 1923
General characteristics
Tonnage3169[1]
Length93.78 m (307 ft 8 in)
Beam12.86 m (42 ft 2 in)
Depth of hold7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
Decks2
Propulsion2 Triple expansion steam engines, twin screws, 1,500 hp (1,100 kW)
Speed11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity;as SS Coblenz:
20 second-class passengers
232 third-class passengers
Crew;as SS Coblenz:
54

The Cuba was a steamship owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. Originally launched in 1897 as the German SS Coblenz, she was seized by the United States in 1917, and named SS Sachem, until Pacific Mail purchased her from the Shipping Board on February 6, 1920, for US$400,000 and renamed SS Cuba.[2]

Pacific Mail first used the Cuba to carry passengers and cargo between San Francisco, California, and Havana, Cuba, then shifted to a San Francisco-to-Cristobal route.

On the morning of September 8, 1923, The ship's radio was out. She had been navigating through a dense fog for several days. Cuba struck a reef just off San Miguel Island in the Santa Barbara Channel off Point Arguello of Santa Barbara County, California.[2] All aboard survived and were rescued by USS Reno, a Clemson class destroyer that was accompanying the ships that were later involved in the Honda Point Disaster of the same day.[3] 71 people were saved at 4:30am in fog. The Cuba was a total loss. The wreck is located at approximately 34°01′55″N 120°27′14″W / 34.032°N 120.454°W / 34.032; -120.454.

References

  1. ↑ Drechsel 1994, p. 172.
  2. 1 2 CINMS (NOAA) 2011.
  3. ↑ Trudeau, Noah Andre (February 2010). "A Naval Tragedy's Chain of Errors". Naval History Magazine. 24 (1).

Sources


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