SS ''Edward Luckenbach'' was the first of five new cargo ships to be built for the Luckenbach Steamship Company by

Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation Fore River Shipyard was a shipyard owned by General Dynamics Corporation located on Weymouth Fore River in Braintree and Quincy, Massachusetts. It began operations in 1883 in Braintree, and moved to its final location on Quincy Point in 1901. In ...

. The ship was launched in September 1916, delivered in November and briefly operated as such before being requisitioned for World War I service. The ship was one of the cargo vessels in the first large convoy transporting U.S. Army forces to France. After that convoy the ship served as a U.S. Army Chartered Transport (USACT) until converted by the Army to a troop ship and turned over to the Navy a few months before the war's end. The Navy commissioned the ship as USS ''Edward Luckenbach'' assigning the miscellaneous identification number ID-1662 in August 1918. The transport made one wartime voyage with continued voyages returning the Army to the U.S. until August 1919. ''Edward Luckenbach'' was returned to the company before mid September, 1919, resuming commercial service, mainly between New York and San Francisco. The ship sank 1 July 1942 after mistakenly enterering a defensive minefield north of Key West,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and striking two mines.

Construction and acquisition

''Edward Luckenbach'', the first of five steam turbine driven cargo ships, was built as hull 248 and launched 14 September 1916 by Fore River Shipbuilding Corporation at Quincy, Massachusetts for Luckenbach Steamship Company of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

.The five ships in order with Fore River hull number were ''Edward Luckenbach'' (248), (251), (264), (265) and (267). The ship had a central deck house and bridge with a single stack with two masts and eight king posts was "novel" at the time. Three single ended, oil fired, boilers each with four corrugated furnaces and a total heating area of provided steam for a single geared turbine with a high and low speed reduction gear designed for 4,000 shaft horsepower at 90 revolutions. At maximum 93 revolutions the shaft horsepower was rated at 4,500. The propeller was in diameter with an adjustable pitch between and set at . ''Edward Luckenbach'' was registered with U.S. Official Number 214560, signal LGMP at New York, New York, as a three deck ship, , , registry length, beam and depth.

Service history

''Edward Luckenbach'' was delivered to the Luckenbach Steamship Company on 28 November 1916 for commercial cargo operation. By early May of the next year a decision was made to send an Army to France with orders to sail by June 1917. The interned ships of Germany and her allies had been seized, but many were damaged by the interned crews with major repairs needed. The only choice was to requisition U.S. merchant vessels for Army charter use. ''Edward Luckenbach'' was among the fourteen vessels selected by industry experts after a survey of the U.S. registry with sufficient bunker capacity and speed for the service and which were quickly available. The ship was discharging cargo at Philadelphia and arrived at New York 31 May 1917 to be placed under Army charter. On 17 July 1917 ''Edward Luckenbach'' departed New York in the fourth element, which had been delayed awaiting last minute dispatches and stores, of the first large convoys transporting the

American Expeditionary Forces The American Expeditionary Forces (A. E. F.) was a formation of the United States Army on the Western Front of World War I. The A. E. F. was established on July 5, 1917, in France under the command of General John J. Pershing. It fought along ...

(A.E.F.) to France.Table showing ships by group
After the initial convoy the ship served as the United States Army Chartered Transport USACT ''Edward Luckenbach'' until the just before the

Armistice An armistice is a formal agreement of warring parties to stop fighting. It is not necessarily the end of a war, as it may constitute only a cessation of hostilities while an attempt is made to negotiate a lasting peace. It is derived from the ...

after which she was transferred by the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

to the Navy. During that time a ship's cook deserted in New York and appealed his trial by court martial for desertion. The appeal was rejected as he was determined to be "a person serving with the Armies of the United States in the field" and subject to trial by military authorities.

U.S. Navy service

The Shipping Board transferred her to the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

service on 29 August 1918. Assigned Identification Number (Id. No.) 1662, she was commissioned the same day as USS ''Edward Luckenbach''. The ship was assigned to the

Naval Overseas Transportation Service Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

and departed New York City on 18 September 1918 for Marseilles, France, carrying

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

. By the time she returned to New York on 22 November 1918, the war had been over for eleven days, so it was her only wartime voyage as a U.S. Navy ship. The ship was converted by the Army to a troop transport. As a troop transport the ship was rated at for transport of 17 officers and 2,244 enlisted personnel. On 18 December 1918, ''Edward Luckenbach'' was transferred to the

Newport News Newport News () is an independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. At the 2020 census, the population was 186,247. Located in the Hampton Roads region, it is the 5th most populous city in Virginia and 140th most populous city in the Uni ...

Division of the

Cruiser and Transport Force The Cruiser and Transport Service was a unit of the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet during World War I that was responsible for transporting American men and materiel to France. Composition On 1 July 1918, the Cruiser and Transport Force was ...

for postwar use as a troop transport. After conversion into a transport, she made three voyages in 1919 from New York and Newport News,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

, with cargo for St. Nazaire, France, returning with patients, convalescents, troops, and casuals to the United States. ''Edward Luckenbach'' was unable to continue her fourth voyage to Europe – this time from Hampton Roads, Virginia – because of engine trouble. She was lying disabled in mid-ocean in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

on 15 July 1919 when troop transport – herself four days outbound on a voyage from

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, to St. Nazaire, France – encountered her. ''Arizonan'' towed her toward

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts. The

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mu ...

cutter joined the two troop transports on the afternoon of 17 July 1919. On the morning of 19 July 1919, ''Ossipee'' took over the towing duty from ''Arizonan'', freeing ''Arizonan'' to continue on her voyage to France. After arriving at Boston under tow, ''Edward Luckenbach'' was decommissioned on 6 August 1919 and delivered to the Shipping Board the same day for return to Luckenbach Steamship Company.

Later career

''Edward Luckenbach'' was among those released to owners in September 1919, to resume commercial service as a cargo ship. In 1921 the ship set a cargo ship record from New York to San Francisco with total elapsed time of 18 days with time in transit, excluding time in Los Angeles for cargo, of 15 days, 11 hours. She ran aground at Block Island,

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area and the seventh-least populous, with slightly fewer than 1.1 million residents as of 2020, but it ...

, on 10 January 1930, but was refloated on 5 March 1930 and returned to service. On 17 February 1937, she was beached after she collided with the

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...

cargo ship in the Columbia River at Rainier,

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...

. She eventually was refloated and again returned to service. ''Edward Luckenbach'' was delivered to the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

(WSA) for

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

operations on 3 March 1942 to be operated by Luckenbach as WSA's agent. On 1 July 1942 the ship mistakenly entered a defensive minefield five miles off Smith Shoal Light, about 11 miles (18 km) north-northwest of Key West, Florida, struck two mines and sank. One crew member was killed. The ship sank with the superstructure above water and the 41 surviving crew and 12 man Navy Armed Guard re-board the next day. They weare transported to Key West by patrol craft. One of the first major salvage operations for was recovery of cargo from the wreck. The operation, involving other salvage ships, lasted from 28 March to 8 December 1943. ''Harjurand'' transported some 4,500 tons of the recovered ore to Tampa, Florida to be used in the war effort.The ''Harjurand'' DANFS apparently mistakenly notes the cause of the sinking was "torpedo". The ship itself was declared a Constructive Total Loss (CTL). A large quantity of

tungsten Tungsten, or wolfram, is a chemical element with the symbol W and atomic number 74. Tungsten is a rare metal found naturally on Earth almost exclusively as compounds with other elements. It was identified as a new element in 1781 and first isol ...

was salvaged from the wreck, and the wreck was

surveyed Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the land, terrestrial Two-dimensional space#In geometry, two-dimensional or Three-dimensional space#In Euclidean geometry, three-dimensional positions of ...

using the wire-drag technique to prevent it from being a hazard to navigation. The wreck is scattered over a wide area in of water.

Footnotes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Edward Luckenbach (ID-1662) 1916 ships Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts World War I cargo ships of the United States Ships sunk by mines Cargo ships of the United States Navy Unique transports of the United States Navy Maritime incidents in 1919 Maritime incidents in 1930 Maritime incidents in 1937 Maritime incidents in July 1942