Harland and Wolff
Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the ...
in
Belfast
Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...
, which entered service in 1895. the ''American'' was a combined
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 tran ...
White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between ...
and was renamed Cufic, the name she retained until she was sold to Italian ownership in 1924, after which she became known as Antartico then Maria Guilia until being scrapped in 1932.
Design and construction
The ''American'' was launched at Belfast on 8 August 1895, and delivered to the West India and Pacific Steamship Company on 8 October. She was principally a cargo ship, but also had accommodation for 60 steerage passengers. She was powered by two triple-expansion steam engines which could propel the ship to a maximum service speed of .
Career
The ''American'' started her maiden voyage from
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor p ...
. In 1898, she was chartered by the
Atlantic Transport Line
The Atlantic Transport Line was an American passenger shipping line based in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1901 the company was folded into the International Mercantile Marine Company (IMM).
History
The line developed with railroad support as an offs ...
and placed on their New Orleans to
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
cargo service. This lasted until 1900, when the entire 20 ship fleet of the West India and Pacific Steamship Company was bought by the
Leyland Line
The Leyland Line was a British shipping transport line founded in 1873 by Frederick Richards Leyland after his apprenticeship in the firm of John Bibby, Sons & Co. After Frederick Leyland's death, the company was taken over by Sir John Ellerma ...
. The same year ''American'' was requisitioned as a war transport for the
Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the Sout ...
.
In 1902 the Leyland Line and the
White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between ...
were taken over by the
International Mercantile Marine Co.
The International Mercantile Marine Company, originally the International Navigation Company, was a trust formed in the early twentieth century as an attempt by J.P. Morgan to monopolize the shipping trade.
IMM was founded by shipping magnate ...
(IMMCo) which set about transferring ships between its subsidiary companies in order to increase efficiency. In 1903 the ''American'' was deployed on the White Star Line's Liverpool to New York service, and the following year she was sold internally within the IMMCo group to White Star Line, and renamed ''Cufic'', making her the second White Star ship to bear that name. Her sister ship the ''European'' was also sold to White Star and renamed ''Tropic''.
''Cufic'' and ''Tropic'' were then deployed on the White Star's Australian service from Liverpool to Sydney, principally for cargo, but also with some berths for steerage passengers. In this role they supplemented White Star's five Jubilee Class ships on the Australian service.
After the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
in 1914 ''Cufic'' was commandeered as a war transport and fitted with two 4.7 inch guns. In March 1917, she was taken up under the Liner Requisition Scheme, but was released back into commercial service in September 1919, following which she returned to the Australian service, however a decline in trade on this route in the early 1920s, meant that ''Cufic'' was withdrawn from service and laid up at Liverpool on 24 August 1923. Later that year she was sold for scrapping to G.B.A Lombardo of
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of t ...
,
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and in December she set sail for that port. On her arrival on 24 January 1924, she was sold again to Soc. Anon. Ligure di Nav, A Vapore of Genoa who returned her to service and renamed her ''Antartico''. In 1927 she was sold again within Italy to E. Bozzo & L. Mortola and again renamed ''Maria Guilia''. They operated her until 2 April 1930, when she was laid up for disposal. In November 1932 she was scrapped at Genoa.