USS ''Majaba'' (AG-43/IX-102) was the Design 1049 cargo ship ''Meriden'' built in 1919 by the
Albina Engine & Machine Works,
Portland, Oregon
Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...
. All the ships were requisitioned by the
United States Shipping Board
The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was a corporation 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 ...
(USSB) for World War I service. The ship was bought by the E. K. Wood Lumber Co., of
San Francisco, California
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
in 1923 and renamed ''El Capitan''. The ship was chartered by the
U.S. Navy through 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) in April 1942 and commissioned as ''Majaba''.
''Majaba'' was assigned to operations in the South Pacific Ocean and at
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal (; indigenous name: ''Isatabu'') is the principal island in Guadalcanal Province of Solomon Islands, located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, northeast of Australia. It is the largest island in the Solomons by area and the second- ...
she was struck by a
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
and beached. After salvage, towing, removal of engines and repair at
Tulagi
Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1896 t ...
the ship served as a
barracks
Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...
, storage ship and repair ship until the end of the war. In October 1945 WSA requisitioned the title from the owner. ''Majaba'' continued service at Tulagi until she was towed to the Philippines in 1945. The ship was redelivered to WSA on 14 March 1946, placed in the reserve fleet at Subic Bay and declared a loss. On 14 July 1946 the hull sank at the pier and declared not salvageable.
Construction
''Meriden'' was built in 1919 by Albina Engine & Machine Works, Portland, Oregon. The designation
Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) Design 1049 "Albinia Type" ship was applied to an existing Albina design after the United States Shipping Board (USSB) requisitioned the ships. The hull was Albina's yard hull number 16, USSB/EFC hull number 2249. ''Meriden'', with U.S. Official Number 218284, signal LRPB, home port of San Francisco with registered crew size of 32.
The type was , , , in
registry length, beam and draft. The ship was oil fired with triple expansion steam engines.
[
]
Commercial operation
The vessel was delivered to USSB operations 22 July 1919 and operated as a USSB vessel until 1920. General Steamship Corporation purchased the ship, originally costing $821,751.56, for $717,800 in a combination of cash and mortgage taking delivery on 28 May 1920. In 1923 the ship was acquired by E. K. Wood Lumber Co., of San Francisco, California
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and renamed ''El Capitan''.[ As ''El Capitan'' the ship is shown with signal KILP.
General Steamship Corporation operated ''Meriden'' as a general cargo vessel between the Pacific Northwest states and California. As ''El Capitan'' the ship was engaged in the West Coast lumber trade on the same route. An example of the cargo was a load destined for ]San Pedro, California
San Pedro ( ; ) is a neighborhood located within the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor region of the city of Los Angeles, California, United States. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los ...
of 2,100,000 feet of lumber.
U.S. Navy operation
''El Capitan'' 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) on 14 March 1942 at Alameda, California
Alameda ( ; ; Spanish for "Avenue (landscape), tree-lined path") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States, located in the East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), East Bay region of the Bay Area. The city is built on an informal archipe ...
to operate under an Army Transportation Corps agreement. The nature of the charter from E. K. Wood Lumber Co., of San Francisco, California
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
was changed to bareboat on 23 April 1942 at Honolulu, Hawaii
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
. The Navy acquired the vessel under a sub-bareboat charter at the same time. The ship was immediately commissioned as ''Majaba'' designated AG-43.[
]
World War II service
''Majaba'' completed conversion to a miscellaneous auxiliary
The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) use a hull classification symbol (sometimes called hull code or hull number) to identify their ships by type and by in ...
14 May 1942 and subsequently steamed to the Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, extending some from the Hawaii (island), island of Hawaii in the south to nort ...
for cargo runs to islands of Polynesia
Polynesia ( , ) is a subregion of Oceania, made up of more than 1,000 islands scattered over the central and southern Pacific Ocean. The indigenous people who inhabit the islands of Polynesia are called Polynesians. They have many things in ...
and the South Pacific Ocean.[
Departing ]Honolulu
Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...
24 June 1942, she operated during the next several months out of Honolulu and completed supply missions to Palmyra Island, Christmas Island
Christmas Island, officially the Territory of Christmas Island, is an States and territories of Australia#External territories, Australian external territory in the Indian Ocean comprising the island of the same name. It is about south o ...
, and Canton Island
Canton Island (also known as Kanton or Abariringa), previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and , the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It i ...
.[ In July ''Majaba'' was waiting at Palmyra for escort to the Southwest Pacific operations areas joining a convoy stopping at ]Fanning Island
Tabuaeran, also known as Fanning Island, is an atoll that is part of the Line Islands of the central Pacific Ocean and part of the island nation of Kiribati. The land area is , and the population in 2015 was 2,315. The maximum elevation is abou ...
, Suva
Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...
arriving at Auckland
Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...
on 18 August 1942. Eventually she reached Efate
Efate (), also known as Île Vate (), is an island in the Pacific Ocean which is part of the Shefa Province in Vanuatu.
Geography
It is the most populous (approx. 66,000) island in Vanuatu. Efate's land area of makes it Vanuatu's third larg ...
, New Hebrides
New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium () and named after the Hebrides in Scotland, was the colonial name for the island group in the South Pacific Ocean that is now Vanuatu. Native people had inhabited the islands for three th ...
, to bolster the vital ocean supply line to American forces engaged in the bitter struggle for control of Guadalcanal.[
''Majaba'' departed the New Hebrides 26 October 1942 and steamed to meet two supply ]convoy
A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
s bound for the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
. However, heavy weather prevented the rendezvous, and she returned to Espiritu Santo
Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census.
Geography
The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...
29 October. Later that day she sailed once again for Guadalcanal where she arrived 2 November 1942. Screened by , she crossed Ironbottom Sound
"Ironbottom Sound" (alternatively Iron Bottom Sound or Ironbottomed Sound or Iron Bottom Bay) is the name given by Allied sailors to the stretch of water at the southern end of The Slot between Guadalcanal, Savo Island, and Florida Island o ...
and unloaded cargo at Tulagi
Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1896 t ...
that same day.[
]
Guadalcanal operations
Despite Japanese naval forces active in the area, ''Majaba'' shuttled cargo between Tulagi
Tulagi, less commonly known as Tulaghi, is a small island in Solomon Islands, just off the south coast of Ngella Sule. The town of the same name on the island (pop. 1,750) was the capital of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate from 1896 t ...
and Guadalcanal during the next few days.[ She arrived east of Lunga Point, Guadalcanal, early 7 November 1942.][Date Guadalcanal time, a day ahead of Washington, D.C. time with the enrty in Nimitz "Gray Book" for 6 November on page 1156.] While her escort, , patrolled for enemy submarine
A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...
s off Lunga Point, she began final unloading operations prior to her planned departure for Espiritu Santo. Shortly before 0930 7 November 1942[ lookouts in , anchored near ''Majaba'', spotted a ]periscope
A periscope is an instrument for observation over, around or through an object, obstacle or condition that prevents direct line-of-sight observation from an observer's current position.
In its simplest form, it consists of an outer case with ...
of what postwar records indicate was followed by two torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, such ...
wakes. One torpedo, which apparently passed under ''Lansdowne'', hit the beach but failed to explode.[ That torpedo came ashore about from a party of ]Seabees
United States Naval Construction Battalions, better known as the Navy Seabees, form the U.S. Naval Construction Forces (NCF). The Seabee nickname is a heterograph of the initial letters "CB" from the words "Construction Battalion". Dependi ...
constructing a new pier and unloading lighters on the beach. The other curved toward ''Majaba'' and exploded against her starboard
Port and starboard are Glossary of nautical terms (M-Z), nautical terms for watercraft and spacecraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the Bow (watercraft), bow (front).
Vessels with bil ...
side amidships, destroying her engine room and boilers.[ All ammunition had been unloaded.][ She settled and listed slightly but did not sink. While ''Lansdowne'' and ''Woodworth'' searched for the enemy sub, went to ''Majaba's'' aid. The tug towed the disabled ship east along the coast of Guadalcanal and beached her that afternoon off the month of the Tenaru River.][
On 8 January 1943][The referenced on line DANFS has 1948. Th]
print DANFS
shows this obvious typo to be 1943. and ''Bobolink'' freed ''Majaba'' from her beached position and towed her to Tulagi.[ Work had started on 1 January 1943 with salvage operations preparing the ship for towing and continued until the morning of 8 January when ''Navajo'' moored starboard side to port side of ''Majaba'' for the tow getting underway with assistance of ''Bobolink'' shortly after noon. At 1528 hours the ships arrived at Tulugi and beached the bow of ''Majaba'' in the mud of a river on Florida Island.][Malaili River is mentioned in the referenced log but its location is unknown.] Additional salvage work, including unloading bombs, began 9 January and continued through 16 January 1943.
The November 1943 deck log of anchored in Berth No. 10, Port Purvis Anchorage, Florida Island, Solomon Island Group, shows ''Majaba'' moored alongside at 1708 hours 18 November 1943, unloading ammunition, and departing to moor off at 1450 hours 20 November 1943.[While no mention is made of towing vessels or ''Majaba'' requiring assistance the destruction of boilers and engine room by the torpedo a year earlier would indicate the ship was not self propelled at this time.]
Her engine was removed and her hull repaired and she was reclassified ''IX-102'' and placed in an in-service status on 1 July 1943, she remained at Florida Island, Solomons, and during the remainder of World War II served as a floating quarters and material storage ship.[ The ]Office of Naval Intelligence
The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) is the military intelligence agency of the United States Navy. Established in 1882 primarily to advance the Navy's modernization efforts, it is the oldest member of the U.S. Intelligence Community and serv ...
list of vessels for 1945 notes the ship's function as "salvage and repair." As such the ship was assigned to Commander Service Force Pacific, Service Squadron Two. On 13 October 1945 ownership of the ship changed with the War Shipping Administration obtaining title requisitioned from E. K. Wood Lumber Company with ownership vested in the U.S. Maritime Commission.[The DANFS mention of "charter" with rename and commissioning thereafter indicates a WSA bareboat chater arrangement fairly typical for commercial type ship hulls taken into both Navy and Army service but not purchased. Also typical was WSA acquisition of title after severe damage settling all claims and making any further repair or disposal decisions purely internal to government agencies.]
Post-war inactivation
Following the end of the war, ''Majaba'' was towed to the Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
. She remained at San Pedro Bay, Leyte, until early in 1946 when she was towed to Subic Bay
Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...
, Luzon
Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...
. On 14 March 1946 the ship was placed out of service, redelivered to WSA and placed in the reserve fleet at Subic Bay. WSA declared the ship a loss on that date.[ Her name was struck from the Navy List 28 March 1946. The ship sank at her pier 14 July 1946 and, already declared a loss, was declared impossible to salvage.][ ''Majaba'' received one ]battle star
A service star is a miniature bronze or silver five-pointed star in diameter that is authorized to be worn by members of the eight uniformed services of the United States on medals and ribbons to denote an additional award or service period. T ...
for World War II service.[
]
Wreck
The remains of the ship are reportedly the most dived site in Subic Bay. The ship lies on its port side in about with the starboard side lying at to below the surface. The forward and aft cargo holds are open and the engine room and center hold can be reached by entering those. The wreck is sometimes used to train wreck divers.
Footnotes
References
*
External links
World Naval History - The most known World War II Shipwrecks - ''El Capitan'', in Subic Bay, Zambales
(Wreck photos)
''El Capitan'' (USS ''Majaba'') Dive Site
(Aerial view of wreck)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Majaba
1919 ships
Design 1049 ships of the United States Navy
Ships built in Portland, Oregon
World War II auxiliary ships of the United States
Cargo ships of the United States Navy
Unclassified miscellaneous vessels of the United States Navy
Maritime incidents in November 1942