Minnehaha (ship, 1900)
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The Minnehaha was a passenger ship put into service in 1900 by the US shipping company Atlantic Transport Line , which was built for transatlantic passenger traffic and transported passengers and cargo between London and New York . She made a total of 133 Atlantic crossings until she was sunk by a German submarine on September 7, 1917 on the southern Irish coast .
The ship
The steel-built 13,443 GRT steamship Minnehaha was built at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland, and was launched there on March 13, 1900. It was the second in a quartet of sister ships, all of which were built by Harland & Wolff and measured around 13,000 GRT. The others were the Minneapolis (1900), the Minnetonka (I) (1902) and the Minnewaska (II) (1903).
The American shipping magnate Bernard N. Baker, the founder of the Atlantic Transport Line, wanted to use these new ships to benefit from the North Atlantic trade, which was expanding steadily at the end of the 19th century. The four ships were among the most popular of the shipping company. A pamphlet published by the Atlantic Transport Line in 1923 claimed that "hardly any other ship had a more loyal following" and in 1947 the New York Times described them as "possibly the most popular ships in Atlantic shipping history."
The 183 meter long and 19.93 meter wide Minnehaha had a chimney, two masts and was powered by two four-cylinder quadruple expansion steam engines that ran on two propellers and made 1,227 nominal horsepower. She was designed as a passenger and cargo ship with space for 250 first class passengers. It had four decks and was equipped with electricity and refrigeration for carrying perishable food. In terms of monetary value at the time, it cost £ 292,000 or US $ 1,419,120 to build. The Minnehaha and her sister ships had a number of private luxury suites, each with a personal steward. These suites were so popular that two more were added to each ship in 1907.
history
On July 7, 1900, she ran from Belfast on her maiden voyage to London and New York . On August 11, 1900, she left for York for the first time in London. Her first captain was John Robinson from 1900 to 1907. He was followed by Sydney Layland. When she entered New York Harbor on September 18, 1900 , she collided in the North River with the tug American of the New York Harbor Towing Company. The American sank and two of its crew members perished. In October 1900, Mark Twain traveled to New York aboard the Minnehaha . In April 1902 a radio system was installed and the Minnehaha was given the nickname MMA. She and her sister ships were among the first ships to be equipped with wireless radio. In 1903 the American marine painter Antonio Jacobsen made an oil painting of the ship.
On December 27, 1904, while lying at anchor in Gravesend , she was rammed at the stern by the steamer John Sanderson and in October 1906 she collided with the RMS Etruria of the Cunard Line in the fog in New York Harbor . The Etruria had a larger hole on the port side, but it was above the waterline. Several of the Minnehaha lifeboats were launched to help, but were quickly ordered back when it became clear that neither ship was sinking. In January 1907, she lost one of her propellers and had to continue her journey with only one. On April 17, 1909, she ran aground on the Gedney Channel off New York and was released the following day.
On April 18, 1910, the Minnehaha ran aground off the island of Bryher ( Isles of Scilly ) in thick fog with 235 people and 8,000 tons of cargo on board. It was almost the same location that another ship called the Minnehaha crashed at in January 1874 . She could not be pulled from the rocks by two tugs until May 13th and was repaired in Southampton . She was back on duty on October 27, 1910.
In 1915 new boilers were installed. After the outbreak of the First World War , the steamer, unlike its sister ships, was not used as a troop transport, but remained in regular passenger traffic on the London – New York route under the command of Captain Frank H. Claret. However, the number of passengers fell sharply. During the war, the ship transported weapons, ammunition, vehicles, dynamite and other explosive goods intended for use in Europe. In July 1915, a few days after leaving New York, a bomb exploded in storage room No. 3 on the Orlopdeck. Only ordinary cargo was stowed in the storage room, so the explosion did not ignite the dynamite it was carrying. There was no personal injury, but the fire that had started could only be extinguished after two days. It was assumed that the German-American Erich Münter was behind the act.
On September 19, 1915, the Minnehaha, under the command of Captain Claret, was among the ships that came to the aid of the Greek passenger steamer Athinai, which had gone up in flames in the North Atlantic , and helped to rescue the passengers.
Sinking
On September 7, 1917, the Minnehaha was with 153 crew members on another voyage from London to New York. Passengers were not on board on this trip. The ship was in a convoy . The cargo on this trip consisted entirely of sheep, canaries, and horses, including the English racehorse Maiden Ehrlergh, which had recently been sold to an American in the horse racing town of Newmarket and was valued at $ 80,000.
Twelve nautical miles southeast of the Fastnet rock on the south coast of Ireland, the German submarine U 48 under the command of Lieutenant Karl Edeling shot three torpedoes at the convoy and hit three different ships, including the Minnehaha . The ship sank in four minutes. In the short time, no lifeboats could be launched and the emergency call that the radio operator wanted to make broke off in the middle when the radio room got under water.
43 crew members were killed, including twelve officers. Captain Claret survived and was particularly praised by the crew for his work to rescue his crew. He had jumped into the water several times to help injured or weakened crew members and to get them onto one of the rafts. The Minnehaha was the largest ship sunk by U 48 and the 110 survivors were the 100th crew to land in Bantry Bay during World War I. Frank Claret was awarded the Order of the British Empire on June 7, 1918 for his service .
The wreck the Minnehaha is twelve nautical miles south-east of Fastnet Rock and ten nautical miles south of the beacon Baltimore Beacon in position 51 ° 17 '49 " N , 9 ° 17' 53" W at a depth of 80 to 90 meters. It lies on a level keel and is still largely intact.