Kursk (ship)
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The Kursk ( Russian Курск ) was a 1910 transatlantic passenger steamer of the Russian shipping company Russian American Line , which was built for passenger traffic from Russia to New York. After the October Revolution of 1917, the Kursk was registered in Great Britain and renamed Polonia in 1921 . It sailed under the Polish flag from 1930 until it was scrapped in Italy in 1939 .
The ship
The 7,858 gross registered tons (GRT) steamship Kursk was built at the Barclay, Curle and Company shipyard in Glasgow and launched on July 7, 1910. The ship, 137.5 meters long and 17.2 meters wide, was propelled by two quadruple expansion steam engines that allowed a cruising speed of 15 knots. The passenger capacity was 120 passengers in the first, 178 in the second and 1,288 in the third class. The crew numbered 290 people.
The Kursk was managed by the Russian American Line, a branch of the Det Østasiatiske Kompagni ( East Asiatic Company ) founded in 1900 . She was built for passenger and freight traffic from Libau via Copenhagen to New York and ran out on November 2, 1910 on her maiden voyage on this route. The last departure on this route took place on July 7, 1914. On November 5, 1914, the Kursk steamed from Glasgow to New York and from November 20, 1914 she ran from Arkhangelsk to New York.
On December 13, 1916, the Kursk at position 56 ° 23 ' N , 7 ° 19' W was damaged by a mine belonging to the German submarine U 78 . The ship was then repaired.
After the October Revolution , the Kursk came under British registration in 1917 and under the management of the Cunard Line , which made it available to the United States Navy for their Cruiser and Transport Force. The same was done with other former ships of the Russian American Line, which disbanded in the wake of the Russian Revolution, such as the Czar or the Czaritza . In 1921 the steamer was assigned to the Baltic America Line , which, like the Russian American Line, was controlled by the East Asiatic Company. In this train the Kursk was given the new name Polonia .
On January 23, 1921, the Polonia set off on its first voyage with the new name from Libau via Danzig and Glasgow to New York. From March 8, 1921, it was used on the Libau – Danzig – Boston – New York route. In September of the same year the ship was overhauled and from then on it was designed for 300 cabin passengers and 500 third-class passengers. In October 1927 the number of passengers changed again to 120 in the cabin class, 180 in the tourist class and 500 in the third class. The last departure in the service of the Baltic America Line from Danzig via Copenhagen to Halifax and New York took place on October 31, 1929.
In 1930 the Polonia was acquired by the Polish shipping company Gdynia America Line and registered in Gdynia . For this shipping company she ran from April 11, 1930 the route Danzig – Copenhagen – Halifax – New York and from May 18, 1930 Gdynia – Copenhagen – Halifax – New York. The ship's captain at that time was Mamert Stankiewicz, who later commanded the Piłsudski . From 1933 the ship ran to Constanța and Haifa until it was decommissioned in 1939 and sold to Italy for scrapping. On March 5, 1939, the Polonia (ex Kursk ) arrived in Savona for demolition .