SSCoast Trader
 SSCoast Farmer,the SSCoast Tradersister ship
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Port of registry | New York, New York( United States) |
| Builder | Submarine Boat Corporation,Newark |
| Yard number | 108 |
| Laid down | 30 September 1919 |
| Launched | January 1920 |
| Completed | May 1920 |
| Identification | US Official Number 219588 |
| Fate | Sunk byI-26in 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | EFC Design 1023, postwar commercial completion |
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | 7,615 tons |
| Length |
|
| Beam | 46 ft (14.0 m) |
| Draft | 23 ft (7.0 m) |
| Depth | 28 ft 6 in (8.7 m) molded |
| Installed power | 2 Babcock & Wilcox water tube boilers, 1,500hp(1,100kW) |
| Propulsion | Westinghouse steam turbine, one quadruple-blade propeller |
| Speed | 10.5knots(19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph) |
| Crew | 57 |
SSCoast Traderwas built as thecargo shipSSHolyoke Bridgein 1920 by theSubmarine Boat CompanyinNewark, New Jersey.TheCoast Traderwas torpedoed and sank 35 nautical miles (65 km; 40 mi) southwest ofCape Flattery,off theStrait of Juan de FucainU.S. stateofWashingtonby theJapanese submarineI-26.Survivors were rescued by schoonerVirginia IandHMCSEdmundston.She rests on theocean floorat (48°19′N125°40′W/ 48.317°N 125.667°W).[1]
Construction
[edit]The SSHolyoke Bridgewas built on thedesign 1023 shipplan. The 1023 ship plan was approved for mass production by theUnited States Shipping Board's (USSB)Emergency Fleet Corporation(EFC) forWorld War Isupport.Holyoke Bridgeis one of the 118 identical ships built to offset the losses from the war. TheHolyoke Bridgewas original planned as the SSYashi,but was renamed before the ship waslaunched.The ships were powered byWestinghousesteam enginesand two boilers. The ship was: 3,658GRT,2,214NRT,length of 324.0 ft (98.8 m), abeamof 46.2 ft (14.1 m), adraftof 25 m (82 ft) and top speed of 10.5knots(19.4 km/h; 12.1 mph). The ship's hullyard numberwas 108, ship ID 842 and she was delivered for service in May 1920.[2][3][4]
History
[edit]While built to support World War I, she was complete in May 1920, too late to support the war effort. She did help in the support of the post war supply movement. SSHolyoke Bridgewas owned and operated by the United States Shipping Board from 1920 until she was sold in 1926. TheHolyoke Bridgewas sold toSwayne & Hoyt Lines,that operated the Gulf Pacific Mail Line Ltd., ofSan Francisco,California. Swayne & Hoyt renamed herPoint Reyesin 1926.Point Reyeswas sold to theCoastwise Line Steamship Company,associatedPacific Far East Lines,of San Francisco and renamed theCoast Traderin 1937.Coast Traderhomeport wasPortland, Oregon.In 1941 theCoast Traderbegan operation as a contract cargo ship for theU.S. ArmyforWorld War IIby theWar Shipping Administrationon December 22, 1941.[5]
World War II
[edit]After theAttack on Pearl Harboron December 7, 1941, theImperial Japanese Navysent fivesubmarines—I-17,I-19,I-23,I-25,andI-26— to attack ships offWest Coast of the United States.In early June 1942,I-26took part in the opening stages of theAleutian Islands campaign.I-26then sailed off Washington state.[6]
Sinking
[edit]On June 7, 1942 theCoast TraderdepartedPort Angeles, Washingtonfor San Francisco with a cargo of blanknewsprint.TheCoast Traderhad just passed through theStrait of Juan de Fucaat 2:10 pm, when she was found andtorpedoedbyI-26.TheCoast Tradersank in just 40 minutes.Coast Traderhad lookouts watching for Japanese submarines, butI-26,had been following the ship for 4 miles (6.4 km), sinceNeah Bay, Washington,atperiscopedepth. The torpedo put a six-foot (1.8 m) hole in the starboard side of the ship just belowcargo hatch#4 in the stern, allowing water to rush in. The torpedo explosion tossed cargo hatch #4's cover, as well as part the 2,000 pounds (910 kg) of rolls of newsprint stowed in hold #4, into the air. The engine room flooded and the engines stopped. Captain Lyle G. Havens gave crew the order to abandon ship. The crew disembarked the sinking vessel in alifeboatand twolife rafts.The radio was damaged and theradio operatordid not get out anSOS.All the crew made it safely into the lifeboat and rafts, but one crew member died of exposure. The lifeboat tried to row to land with the rafts in tow, but in the night a storm came in with 60-knot (110 km/h; 69 mph) winds and heavy seas. The raft's rope line came off in the night. In the morning the lifeboat raised her sail and continued, not able to find the rafts. Two days later at 4:00 pm, the lifeboat crew was rescued after being spotted by theVirginia Ia fishing vessel from San Francisco.Virginia Icalled in an SOS, and aUnited States Coast Guardaircraft found the rafts from a flare they put up. The aircraft sentHMCSEdmundston,a Canadiancorvette,that found the two rafts on June 9, 1942. The raft crews were cold and wet after spending 40 hours on the rafts. TheCoast Traderhad a crew of 56: nine officers, 28 seamen and 19United States Armyarmed guards that manned thedeck guns.The crewmen that were suffering from injuries and exposure were hospitalized at Port Angeles. TheCoast Traderwas the first American vessel the Imperial Japanese Navy sank off the coast of Washington State during World War II.
The United States Navy did not, a first, want to acknowledge that Japanese submarines were active off the US West Coast due to theU-boat'sSecond Happy Time.Thus, they at first attributed the sinking ofCoast Traderto an internal explosion.[7][8]
The commander ofI-26,Minoru Yokota,reported torpedoing a merchant vessel on the date and at the location where theCoast Tradersank, when he returned toYokosuka, Japanon July 7, 1942. He also reported shellingEstevan Pointlighthouse on June 20, 1942 and sinking theSSCynthia Olsonon December 7, 1941.I-26was sunk byUSSRichard M. Rowell,adestroyer escort,during theBattle of Leyte Gulfon October 25, 1944.[9]
Wreck
[edit]SSCoast Traderwas later found resting on the sea bottom at a depth of 486 feet (148 m). In 2016 theEVNautilus,an American research vessel owned by the Ocean Exploration Trust, explored the wreck of theCoast Trader.EVNautilus'remotely operated underwater vehiclesHerculesandArgusfound theCoast Traderresting upright on the sea floor. The data is being studied byNational Oceanic and Atmospheric AdministrationmaritimearchaeologistDr.James P. Delgado.It is believed that theCoast Tradermay still have on board 8,088 barrels offuel oil,which is a concern. It was found that theCoast Traderhad become aartificial reef,as different types ofmarine lifehave made her home. The Inner Space Center, inNarragansett, Rhode Islandcontinued to study the drive's data.[10]
See also
[edit]- SSMopang,sister ship
- SSAdmiral Halstead,sister ship
- SSCoast Farmer,sister ship
References
[edit]- ^"Imperial Submarines".Combinedfleet.Retrieved17 October2022.
- ^Mercogliano, Salvatore R. (October 2016)."The Shipping Act of 1916 and Emergency Fleet Corporation: America Builds, Requisitions, and Seizes a Merchant Fleet Second to None"(PDF).The Northern Mariner/Le Marin du Nord.XXVI(4): 407–424.doi:10.25071/2561-5467.230.S2CID246796503.
- ^Fifty Second Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States, Year ended June 30, 1920.Washington, D.C.: Department of Commerce, Bureau of Navigation. 1920. p. 70.hdl:2027/nyp.33433023733920.Retrieved7 December2020.
- ^Submarine Boat Corporation (November 15, 1923)."Explaining the Names of Transmarine Steamers".Speed Up.Vol. 6, no. 11.Retrieved7 December2020.
- ^shipbuildinghistory, Submarine Boat Company, Newark NJ
- ^Morison, Samuel Eliot,History of United States Naval Operations in World War II, Volume IV: Coral Sea, Midway, and Submarine Actions, May 1942–August 1942,Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1988, p. 173.
- ^Webber, Bert,Retaliation: Japanese Attacks and Allied Countermeasures on the Pacific Coast in World War II,Oregon State University Press, 1975, pp. 18-19
- ^wrecksiteCoast Trader
- ^historylink.org SSCoast Trader
- ^nautiluslive.org, Rediscovering SS Coast Trader, by Amber Hale
