Kanawha (1899)

''Kanawha'' was a steam yacht that was built in 1899. She was built for a member of the New York Yacht Club (NYYC), to replace a previous yacht of the same name. Henry Huttleston Rogers of Standard Oil bought her in 1901, and owned her until his death in 1909. The United States Navy used her as a patrol vessel in the First World War from 1917 to 1919. Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line acquired her in 1919 and renamed her ''Antonio Maceo''.

Building

John Paterson Duncan was a grocery wholesaler and member of the NYYC. He ordered ''Kanawha'' from the Gas Engine & Power Company and Charles L Seabury and Company of Morris Heights in the Bronx. She was to replace an 1896 yacht of the same name, which the US Government had requisitioned from Duncan for the US Navy to use in the Spanish–American War. The Government paid Duncan $50,000 for the first ''Kanawha''. He paid Seabury's $250,000 for the second one.

The new ''Kanawha'' was launched on May 27, 1899. Her registered length was , her beam was , and her depth was . Her tonnages were and . She had twin screws, each driven by a three-cylinder triple-expansion engine. The combined power of her twin engines was rated at 172 NHP or 3,200 ihp, and gave her a speed of . In 1902, one newspaper compared her with Cornelius Vanderbilt III's yacht ''North Star''.

Duncan had specified to Seabury that ''Kanawha'' must be swift enough to beat the New Jersey Central Railroad passenger steamer ''Monmouth'', which ran across New York Bay between New York and Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey. ''Kanawha''s sea trials included an impromptu race against ''Monmouth'' on July 31, 1899. ''Kanawha'' won the race, despite one of her propellers being damaged, and Duncan accepted ''Kanawha'' from Seabury. He registered her at New York. Her US official number was 161123, and her code letters were KPDW.

Private yacht

Duncan died on April 7, 1901. By 17 April ''Kanawha'' had been sold, and by 24 April Henry H Rogers was revealed to be the buyer. Rogers happened to be a major developer of coal and railroads in West Virginia along the Kanawha River. Under Rogers' ownership, ''Kanawha'' raced ''Sandy Hook'', which was another of the New Jersey Central Railroad's steamers. On September 11, 1901, ''Sandy Hook'' beat ''Kanawha'' across New York Bay. The next day the two steamers raced again, and ''Kanawha'' won.

In March 1902, Rogers took guests including the humorist Mark Twain, essayist Laurence Hutton, and former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Thomas B Reed aboard ''Kanawha'' on a visit to Santiago de Cuba and Newport News, Virginia. On another occasion, Rogers hosted the African American educator Booker T. Washington aboard ''Kanawha''.

In July 1903 ''Kanawha'' took part in the NYYC's annual cruise to Newport, Rhode Island, where she won the annual Lysistrata Cup race. On August 25, 1903 she won a race across New York Bay against steam yachts including , , and . The NYYC chartered ''Kanawha''s old adversary ''Monmouth'' to carry about 700 guests as spectators.

On June 18, 1904, ''Kanawha'' again won the Lysistrata Cup. This year the race was over a 60-mile course off the Sandy Hook Lightship, and competitors included the steam yacht '' Hauoli''. The Navy had loaned the destroyer to the Regatta Committee, and allegedly she was unable to keep up with ''Kanawha''. The cup came with a $2,500 cash prize from James Gordon Bennett Jr., a former Commodore of the NYYC.

In 1907 Twain was again Rogers' guest aboard ''Kanawha'', this time to visit Norfolk, VA for the Jamestown Exposition. On July 9, she raced another New Jersey Central Railroad steamer, , across New York Bay. ''The New York Times'' reported that the race was so close that neither steamer could claim victory. In September 1907 Twain again on ''Kanawha'' from New York to Norfolk for a commemoration of Robert Fulton at the Jamestown Exposition. This time, Twain sailed as ''Kanawha''s commander, rather than as a guest. ''Kanawha'' sailed in company with Vanderbilt's ''North Star''.

Rogers died in 1909, and ''Kanawha'' passed through the hands of his executors. Her next owner was Abram Baudouine, one of the sons of Charles Baudouine. He spent about $100,000 on having her interior refitted. In May 1915 the financier Morton F Plant bought the yacht. By September or October 1915 John Borden had acquired her, and by 1916 he had registered her in Chicago.

United States Navy

In April 1917 the US Navy requisitioned ''Kanawha'' for conversion into a patrol vessel. On April 28 the Navy commissioned her as USS ''Kanawha II'', with the "II" probably to reduce confusion with the oiler . She spent most of the war based at Brest, France, and operating in the Bay of Biscay. By 1918 she was equipped with wireless telegraphy. Her call sign was NND. On March 1, 1918 the Navy renamed her ''Piqua'', perhaps because ''Kanawha II'' had not been enough to prevent confusing two US Navy ships of the same name. In 1919 she returned to New York, where she was decommissioned on July 1, 1919.

Black Star Line

The yacht seems to have passed to the United States Shipping Board (USSB) rather than back to her owner, as in 1920 Marcus Garvey's Black Star Line was reported to have bought her from the USSB. Black Star is said to have renamed her ''Antonio Maceo'', but this name may not have been registered, as news reports continued to call her ''Kanawha''. By now she was no longer in good condition. On 26 August she left Norfolk, VA for Havana on her first voyage for Black Star. She carried no passengers, but a crew of 39 and a cargo of onions. Three days later, one of her boilers exploded, killing one of her crew. The explosion left her adrift without power off Beaufort, North Carolina. She sent wireless distress signals; the cutters and were sent to rescue her; and she returned to Newport News "in distress" on September 1. Black Star ceased trading in February 1922.

References

Bibliography

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*{{cite book , author=United States Department of Commerce , year=1916 , title=Forty-Eighth Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States , place=Washington, DC , publisher= Government Printing Office , via=HathiTrust , url= https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=nyp.33433023734001&seq=578&q1=Kanawha

1899 ships
Maritime incidents in 1920
Merchant ships of the United States
Ships of the Black Star Line
Ships built in Morris Heights, Bronx
Steam yachts