Cherokee (ship)
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The Cherokee (II) was a 1925 commissioned passenger ship of the US shipping company Clyde Line , which was used in regular passenger traffic from New York City to South Carolina and Florida . From 1932 the ship belonged to the Clyde-Mallory Line . On June 16, 1942, the Cherokee was sunk northeast of Cape Cod by a German submarine , killing 86 of the 169 people on board.
details
The shipping company
The Clyde Steamship Company existed in Philadelphia from 1844 and moved to New York in 1872. It has belonged to Consolidated Steamship Lines since 1907 and was sold to Atlantic, Gulf & West Indies Steamship Lines (AGWI) three years after its bankruptcy in 1908, which continued to operate the Clyde Line as an independent company until 1932. In 1932, AGWI merged the Clyde Line and its subsidiary Mallory Line, which also belonged to it, to form the Clyde-Mallory Line. The Mallory Line went back to the CH Mallory & Company, founded in New York in 1886, and the New York & Texas Steamship Company. Later the Mallory Steamship Company emerged, which was also initially taken over by the Consolidated Steamship Lines and later by the Atlantic, Gulf & West Indies Steamship Lines. In 1949 the Clyde-Mallory Line was sold to the Bull Line and ceased to exist as a separate shipping company.
The ship
The 5,896 GRT steamship Cherokee was built at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News , Virginia , and was launched on February 10, 1925. The hull was 122.6 meters long, 16.6 meters wide and had a draft of 6.1 meters. She was powered by two steam turbines that developed 981 nominal horsepower and allowed a top speed of 16 knots. The ship had two propellers , two masts and a funnel. After the Cherokee (2,557 GRT) put into service in 1896, she was the shipping company's second ship with this name.
The Cherokee was the first of four new, identical sister ships that the Clyde Line put into service in 1925/26 for regular services from New York to South Carolina and Florida. The other three were the Seminole (II) (1925), the Mohawk (II) (1926), and the Algonquin (II) (1926). The ships' home port was New York. All four steamers were built at Newport News Shipbuilding, were constructed of steel and had double bottoms and ballast tanks. The passenger accommodations, which were designed for a total of 446 travelers, were spread over three decks .
The Cherokee , which entered service in the summer of 1925, had lifeboats with space for 585 people, Welin brand davits (like the Titanic ), fire alarms, and ventilation, heating and cooling systems. The passengers had a lounge, a smoking room, glazed promenade decks, a sun deck, a tea room, a music room, a library and a dining room with tables for two, four and six people. A few suites had private bathrooms.
On January 17, 1936, in fog and darkness on the St. Johns River in Florida, a collision occurred between the Cherokee and the cargo steamer Welcombe of the Pyman Brothers Ltd. shipping company. The Welcombe was anchored in the middle of the river while the Cherokee was sailing at about 14 knots. The Welcombe went under and the Cherokee ran aground. There was no personal injury. A court equally blamed both ships for the accident.
Sinking
On Sunday, June 14, 1942, the Cherokee ran under the command of Captain Twiggs E. Brown in Halifax for a crossing to Boston . She sailed as part of the eight-ship Convoy XB-25, which was escorted by two escort ships. On board were nine officers, 103 other crew members, eleven artillerymen and 46 members of the US Army as passengers (a total of 169 people). Arrival in Boston was scheduled for June 16.
On the night of June 15-16, the convoy approached Boston in a storm. The ships were sighted by the German submarine U 87 under the command of Kapitänleutnant Joachim Berger. Shortly after 4 a.m., Berger shot several torpedoes on the convoy. To 04:21 he let two torpedoes at the Cherokee post, one of which is on the port side below the bridge struck. The explosion lifted the ship and destroyed the house of cards . Einbrechendes seawater let the ship quickly a strong list accept to port. The speed was immediately reduced and the rudder turned hard to port, but 90 seconds after the first hit a second torpedo struck port. The Cherokee sank ( location ) in six minutes with a list of 60 degrees.
86 people were killed in the sinking, including three officers, 62 crew members, an artilleryman and 20 passengers. 83 people survived. 44 of them were recovered from the merchant ship Norlago and brought ashore in Provincetown that same day . The remaining 39 survivors were taken aboard the Escanaba , a US Coast Guard ship, and brought to Boston.
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