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USS ''Pequot'' (ID-2998) was a Cargo ship, cargo steamship that was built in 1910 for DDG Hansa of German Empire, Germany as ''Ockenfels''. She was the second of three DDG Hansa ships to be named after Ockenfels in the Rhineland-Palatinate.
The Federal government of the United States, US Government seized her in 1917, and renamed her ''Pequot'' in 1918. She served in the United States Navy for nine months from 1918 to 1919. She was the second ship to be named USS ''Pequot''. The first was a gunboat in the American Civil War.
The United States Shipping Board (USSB) tried to sell ''Pequot'' in 1920, but the buyer went into receivership. The USSB succeeded in selling her in 1923, to a US company. DDG Hansa, her original owner, almost immediately Chartering (shipping), chartered her, and then bought her back.
By then DDG Hansa already had a new ''Ockenfels'', so it gave ''Pequot'' the name ''Argenfels''. She was the second DDG Hansa ship to be named after :de:Schloss Arenfels, Schloss Arenfels in the Rhineland-Palatinate. The first ''Argenfels'' had been built in 1901, seized by the French Third Republic, French government in 1914, and had been renamed. The second ''Argenfels'' was scrapped in Weimar Republic, Germany in 1932.
By June 1918 ''Ockenfels'' had been renamed ''Pequot''. On 24 June she left New York for France, but early in July she ran aground at Prospect, Nova Scotia, southwest of Port of Halifax, Halifax. She was refloated and safely brought into port, and returned to New York for repairs.
On 28 October 1918 ''Pequot'' was Ship commissioning, commissioned into the US Navy on a bareboat charter. Her Naval Registry Identification Number was ID-2998. Her commander was Lieutenant commander (United States), Lt Cdr John Decry, United States Navy Reserve, USNR. In Navy service her armament was one 5-inch/40-caliber gun and one 3-inch/50-caliber gun. She served in the Military Sealift Command, Naval Overseas Transport Service on both the United States Army and USSB accounts. She was in Port of Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 23 February 1919, where a group photograph of her crew was taken. On 11 July 1919 she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register, Navy List and returned to the USSB.
After the First World War the USSB tried to sell its surplus ships. On 3 February 1920 it announced that it was selling ''Pequot'' to "Wymans Steamship Company" for $1,335,000. This may refer to the Atlantic-Adriatic Steamship Corporation, whose president was Benjamin Wyman Morse. Atlantic-Adriatic bought seven other ships from the USSB on what was called the "charter purchase plan". As well as ''Piquot'' it bought ''Andalusia'', ''Arcadia'', ''Englewood'', ''Galesburg'', ''Pawnee'', and . Each ship was owned by a different one-ship company, and Atlantic-Adriatic Ship management, managed them. Atlantic-Adriatic was to pay the USSB for the ships in instalments of ten percent.
However, there was too little demand for transatlantic freight, and this caused rates to fall from $19 per ton to $16 per ton. Marsh McLennan, Marsh & McLennan sued Atlantic-Adriatic for $27,325 owed on shipping insurance, and on 17 November 1920 Atlantic-Adriatic went into receivership with debts estimated at $1.5 million. BW Morse was one of the sons of fraudster Charles W. Morse. However, the USSB stated that "there is no criticism of B.W. Morse's administration of this company, so far as the facts are now developed".
In 1923 the California Steamship Company bought ''Pequot'', registered her in Panama, and almost immediately chartered her to DDG Hansa.
Building
''Ockenfels'' was one of a ship class, class of eight sister ships built for DDG Hansa. The others were ''Birkenfels'' and ''Freienfels'', launched in 1910; ''Kandelfels'', ''Sturmfels'' and ''Huberfels'', launched in 1912; and ''Lauterfels'' and ''Spitzfels'', launched in 1913. Joh. C. Tecklenborg in :de:Geestemünde, Geestemünde, Bremerhaven, built the ship as yard number 235. She was launched on 9 April 1910, and completed on 28 May. She had a four-cylinder Marine steam engine#Triple or multiple expansion, quadruple-expansion engine that was rated at 517 Horsepower#Nominal horsepower, NHP and gave her a speed of . For handling cargo she had one 25-ton derrick, eight five-ton derricks and three three-ton derricks.''Ockenfels'' with DDG Hansa
DDG Hansa Ship registration, registered ''Ockenfels'' at Ports of Bremen, Bremen. Her code letters were QJTH. By 1914 she was equipped with wireless telegraphy. Her Maritime call sign, call sign was DOC. ''Ockenfels'' sailed to ports including Port of Hamburg, Hamburg, Newcastle upon Tyne, Port of New York and New Jersey, New York, and Port of Durban, Durban in 1910; and Port of Melbourne, Melbourne, Fremantle Harbour, Fremantle, Port of Cape Town, Cape Town, and New York in 1912. In August 1913 ''Ockenfels'' cargo included a collection of camels, donkeys, horses, and an elephant, all of which ran wild during a storm. The elephant died, reportedly of Hypothermia, exposure. The ship arrived in Port of Boston, Boston on 21 August. In February 1914 ''Ockenfels'' brought a cargo of iron ore from Narvik in Norway to Port of Philadelphia, Philadelphia. Off the Grand Banks of Newfoundland she encountered snow, ice, and intense cold. Her crew of 58 lascars were reported to have deserted their posts, taken refuge in her engine room, and refused to emerge for four days. The ship's German officers kept her running with the help of the Seafarer's professions and ranks#Steward's department, cooks and mess attendants. She reached Philadelphia on 27 February. At the start of August 1914, the German government ordered all of its merchant ships to take refuge in the nearest German or Neutral country, neutral port. On 5 August ''Ockenfels'' reached Boston. She was joined by the Hamburg America Liners ''USS America (ID-3006), Amerika'' and ''USS Covington (ID-1409), Cincinnati''; Norddeutscher Lloyd liner and cargo liners ''USS Amphion (ID-1888), Köln'', , and ''USS Freedom (ID-3024), Wittekind''; and Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian steamship ''Erny''. In order to save on port dues, the Central Powers ships moved to Anchorage (maritime), anchorages after discharging their cargo. They moved back into Boston Harbor for the winter of 1914–15, and then returned to their anchorages near Boston's quarantine station at the end of March 1915. The United States Navy, US Navy positioned the cruiser to keep all of the anchored ships under constant surveillance. In 1915, events such as the Thrasher incident at the end of March and the Sinking of the RMS Lusitania, Sinking of RMS ''Lusitania'' early in May increased tension between the US and Germany. At the end of May, US armed forces were ordered to fire upon any German or Austro-Hungarian ship that tried to leave a US port, and to sink her if she did not heave to.''Ockenfels'' with the USSB
On 1 February 1917 Germany resumed unrestricted submarine warfare against the Entente Powers. On 3 February the US Government seized ', and on 4 February the US government ordered that the crews of all other Central Powers ships in US-controlled ports be confined to their ships. On 6 April 1917 the USA declared war on Germany, and seized German ships in US ports. An hour and a half after war was declared, Edmund Billings, Collector of the Port of Boston, used a force of 250 men from Boston Navy Yard, the United States Customs Service, and local police to take over the German ships in his port. Their German crews did not resist, and were removed to the immigration station. ''Amerika'', ''Cincinnati'', ', and ' were in East Boston at the time. ''Ockenfels'' was on her own at a wharf in North End, Boston, with a skeleton crew of only 12 men, who were removed by a small detachment of US Navy men. Federal officers found every German ship in Boston to have been sabotaged by its crew. "Aboard the Ockenfels, the gear leading to the propellers [sic], had been ripped up and every bit of machinery put out of commission". The damage included smashing a large hole in one cylinder of her engine. Repairs to ''Ockenfels'' machinery were completed on 20 May, at a cost estimated at $50,000. A sea trial was scheduled for the next day. However, on 24 May fire broke out on the ship, and a timekeeper who was sleeping aboard suffered burns as he tried to fight the fire. By 20 June 1917 ''Ockenfels'' had been defensively armed. It was reported that two 3-inch/50-caliber gun, 3-inch guns were fitted: one on her bow, and the other on her Poop deck, poop. She was fitted out at Chelsea, Massachusetts, and then loaded a cargo of iron and wheat to take to Europe. On 30 June President Woodrow Wilson issued an executive order authorising the USSB to take possession and title of 87 German ships, including ''Ockenfels''. She was registered in New York. Her US official number was 215126 and her code letters were LHFG. On 31 July 1917 ''Ockenfels'' was reported to have "reached a French port in safety".''Pequot''
By June 1918 ''Ockenfels'' had been renamed ''Pequot''. On 24 June she left New York for France, but early in July she ran aground at Prospect, Nova Scotia, southwest of Port of Halifax, Halifax. She was refloated and safely brought into port, and returned to New York for repairs.
On 28 October 1918 ''Pequot'' was Ship commissioning, commissioned into the US Navy on a bareboat charter. Her Naval Registry Identification Number was ID-2998. Her commander was Lieutenant commander (United States), Lt Cdr John Decry, United States Navy Reserve, USNR. In Navy service her armament was one 5-inch/40-caliber gun and one 3-inch/50-caliber gun. She served in the Military Sealift Command, Naval Overseas Transport Service on both the United States Army and USSB accounts. She was in Port of Rotterdam, Rotterdam, the Netherlands, on 23 February 1919, where a group photograph of her crew was taken. On 11 July 1919 she was struck from the Naval Vessel Register, Navy List and returned to the USSB.
After the First World War the USSB tried to sell its surplus ships. On 3 February 1920 it announced that it was selling ''Pequot'' to "Wymans Steamship Company" for $1,335,000. This may refer to the Atlantic-Adriatic Steamship Corporation, whose president was Benjamin Wyman Morse. Atlantic-Adriatic bought seven other ships from the USSB on what was called the "charter purchase plan". As well as ''Piquot'' it bought ''Andalusia'', ''Arcadia'', ''Englewood'', ''Galesburg'', ''Pawnee'', and . Each ship was owned by a different one-ship company, and Atlantic-Adriatic Ship management, managed them. Atlantic-Adriatic was to pay the USSB for the ships in instalments of ten percent.
However, there was too little demand for transatlantic freight, and this caused rates to fall from $19 per ton to $16 per ton. Marsh McLennan, Marsh & McLennan sued Atlantic-Adriatic for $27,325 owed on shipping insurance, and on 17 November 1920 Atlantic-Adriatic went into receivership with debts estimated at $1.5 million. BW Morse was one of the sons of fraudster Charles W. Morse. However, the USSB stated that "there is no criticism of B.W. Morse's administration of this company, so far as the facts are now developed".
In 1923 the California Steamship Company bought ''Pequot'', registered her in Panama, and almost immediately chartered her to DDG Hansa.
''Argenfels''
On 28 June 1923 ''Pequot'' was in Cardiff Docks, Cardiff, Wales when DDG Hansa bought her back. By then DDG Hansa had a new ''Ockenfels'', which had been built in 1921, so ''Pequot'' was renamed ''Argenfels''. DDG Hansa registered her in Hamburg. Her code letters were QLSW. Blohm+Voss in Hamburg scrapped her in December 1932.References
Bibliography
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