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USS Princess Matoika
USS Princess Matoika (ID-2290) was a transport ship for the United States Navy during World War I. Before the war, she was a Barbarossa-class ocean liner that sailed as SS Kiautschou for the Hamburg America Line and as SS Princess Alice (sometimes spelled Prinzess Alice) for North German Lloyd. After the war she served as the United States Army transport ship USAT Princess Matoika. In post-war civilian service she was SS Princess Matoika until 1922, SS President Arthur until 1927, and SS City of Honolulu until she was scrapped in 1933.
Built in 1900 for the German Far East mail routes, SS Kiautschou traveled between Hamburg and Far East ports for most of her Hamburg America Line career. In 1904, she was traded to competitor North German Lloyd for five freighters, and renamed SS Princess Alice. She sailed both transatlantic and Far East mail routes until the outbreak of World War I, when she was interned in the neutral port of Cebu in the Philippines. Seized by the U.S. in 1917, the newly renamed USS Princess Matoika carried thousands of U.S. troops to and from France in U.S. Navy service from 1918 to 1919. As an Army transport after that, she continued to return troops and repatriated the remains of Americans killed overseas in the war. In July 1920 she was a last-minute substitute to carry a large portion of the United States team to the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. From the perspective of the Olympic team, the trip was disastrous and a majority of the team members published a list of grievances and demands of the American Olympic Committee in an action known today as the Mutiny of the Matoika.
After her Army career ended, Princess Matoika was transferred to the United States Mail Steamship Line for European passenger service in early 1921. After that company's financial troubles resulted in her seizure, Princess Matoika was assigned to the newly formed United States Lines and resumed passenger service. In 1922 the ship was renamed SS President Arthur, in honor of the 21st U.S. President, Chester A. Arthur. When changes in U.S. laws severely curtailed the number of immigrants that could enter the country in the early 1920s, the ship was laid up in Baltimore in late 1923.
President Arthur was purchased in October 1924 by the Jewish-owned American Palestine Line to begin regular service between New York, Naples, and Palestine. On her maiden voyage to Palestine she reportedly became the first ocean liner to fly the Zionist flag at sea and the first ocean liner ever to have female officers. Financial difficulties for American Palestine ended the service after three roundtrips, and the liner was sold to the Los Angeles Steamship Company for Los Angeles–Honolulu service. Following three years of carrying tourists and freight, the liner burned in Honolulu Harbor in 1930. She was deemed too expensive to repair and was eventually scrapped in Japan in 1933.
In March 1900 the Hamburg America Line (German: Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft or HAPAG) announced the plans for 22 new ships totaling 150,000 gross register tons (GRT) at a cost of $11 million. One of the two largest ships announced was SS Kiautschou at an announced 10,200 GRT. The ship was laid down at AG Vulcan Stettin in Stettin, Germany (present-day Szczecin, Poland). During her construction, HAPAG renamed the ship twice before finally settling on Kiautschou, the German colony in China, as her namesake. Built, along with sister ship Hamburg, for HAPAG's entry into the Deutsche Reichspost's Far East routes, Kiautschou was launched on 14 September 1900, and sailed on her maiden voyage from Hamburg to the Far East on 22 December 1900.
The ship was 525 feet (160 m) long and featured twin screws powered by two quadruple expansion steam engines that generated 9,000 horsepower (6,700 kW). The liner also featured bilge keels that helped stabilize her ride. Kiautschou's first-class staterooms were described as "light and large" and located in the center of the ship. She had two large promenade decks, a music room, and a library. Her smoking room was at the rear of the upper promenade deck, and her large dining room featured a balcony where the ship's orchestra could serenade diners.
Kiautschou sailed on the Hamburg–Far East route until May 1902. For one round trip that month, Kiautschou replaced fellow HAPAG steamer Deutschland on Hamburg–New York service, calling at Southampton and Cherbourg on her eastbound trip, and at Cherbourg and Plymouth on her westbound return. After this one transatlantic excursion, Kiautschou was returned to Hamburg–Far East service. On 20 February 1904, in exchange for abandoning the mail routes shared with North German Lloyd, HAPAG traded Kiautschou for Lloyd freighters Bamberg, Königsberg, Nürnberg, Stolberg, and Strassburg.
North German Lloyd renamed the newly acquired ship Princess Alice, though the German spelling Prinzess Alice was widely used in contemporary press coverage and, often, by the Lloyd themselves. There is some confusion as to who exactly was the namesake of the ship. Edwin Drechsel, in his two-volume work Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen, 1857–1970, reports that the ship was named equally for Princess Alice of Albany and Alice Roosevelt. Princess Alice of Albany was a granddaughter of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, and the new bride of Prince Alexander of Teck in Württemberg. Alice Roosevelt, daughter of the then-current U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, was nicknamed "Princess Alice" by the press, and had launched the racing yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Meteor, at Staten Island two years before. William Lowell Putnam gives the namesake as Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the daughter of Queen Victoria.
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USS Princess Matoika AI simulator
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USS Princess Matoika
USS Princess Matoika (ID-2290) was a transport ship for the United States Navy during World War I. Before the war, she was a Barbarossa-class ocean liner that sailed as SS Kiautschou for the Hamburg America Line and as SS Princess Alice (sometimes spelled Prinzess Alice) for North German Lloyd. After the war she served as the United States Army transport ship USAT Princess Matoika. In post-war civilian service she was SS Princess Matoika until 1922, SS President Arthur until 1927, and SS City of Honolulu until she was scrapped in 1933.
Built in 1900 for the German Far East mail routes, SS Kiautschou traveled between Hamburg and Far East ports for most of her Hamburg America Line career. In 1904, she was traded to competitor North German Lloyd for five freighters, and renamed SS Princess Alice. She sailed both transatlantic and Far East mail routes until the outbreak of World War I, when she was interned in the neutral port of Cebu in the Philippines. Seized by the U.S. in 1917, the newly renamed USS Princess Matoika carried thousands of U.S. troops to and from France in U.S. Navy service from 1918 to 1919. As an Army transport after that, she continued to return troops and repatriated the remains of Americans killed overseas in the war. In July 1920 she was a last-minute substitute to carry a large portion of the United States team to the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp. From the perspective of the Olympic team, the trip was disastrous and a majority of the team members published a list of grievances and demands of the American Olympic Committee in an action known today as the Mutiny of the Matoika.
After her Army career ended, Princess Matoika was transferred to the United States Mail Steamship Line for European passenger service in early 1921. After that company's financial troubles resulted in her seizure, Princess Matoika was assigned to the newly formed United States Lines and resumed passenger service. In 1922 the ship was renamed SS President Arthur, in honor of the 21st U.S. President, Chester A. Arthur. When changes in U.S. laws severely curtailed the number of immigrants that could enter the country in the early 1920s, the ship was laid up in Baltimore in late 1923.
President Arthur was purchased in October 1924 by the Jewish-owned American Palestine Line to begin regular service between New York, Naples, and Palestine. On her maiden voyage to Palestine she reportedly became the first ocean liner to fly the Zionist flag at sea and the first ocean liner ever to have female officers. Financial difficulties for American Palestine ended the service after three roundtrips, and the liner was sold to the Los Angeles Steamship Company for Los Angeles–Honolulu service. Following three years of carrying tourists and freight, the liner burned in Honolulu Harbor in 1930. She was deemed too expensive to repair and was eventually scrapped in Japan in 1933.
In March 1900 the Hamburg America Line (German: Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft or HAPAG) announced the plans for 22 new ships totaling 150,000 gross register tons (GRT) at a cost of $11 million. One of the two largest ships announced was SS Kiautschou at an announced 10,200 GRT. The ship was laid down at AG Vulcan Stettin in Stettin, Germany (present-day Szczecin, Poland). During her construction, HAPAG renamed the ship twice before finally settling on Kiautschou, the German colony in China, as her namesake. Built, along with sister ship Hamburg, for HAPAG's entry into the Deutsche Reichspost's Far East routes, Kiautschou was launched on 14 September 1900, and sailed on her maiden voyage from Hamburg to the Far East on 22 December 1900.
The ship was 525 feet (160 m) long and featured twin screws powered by two quadruple expansion steam engines that generated 9,000 horsepower (6,700 kW). The liner also featured bilge keels that helped stabilize her ride. Kiautschou's first-class staterooms were described as "light and large" and located in the center of the ship. She had two large promenade decks, a music room, and a library. Her smoking room was at the rear of the upper promenade deck, and her large dining room featured a balcony where the ship's orchestra could serenade diners.
Kiautschou sailed on the Hamburg–Far East route until May 1902. For one round trip that month, Kiautschou replaced fellow HAPAG steamer Deutschland on Hamburg–New York service, calling at Southampton and Cherbourg on her eastbound trip, and at Cherbourg and Plymouth on her westbound return. After this one transatlantic excursion, Kiautschou was returned to Hamburg–Far East service. On 20 February 1904, in exchange for abandoning the mail routes shared with North German Lloyd, HAPAG traded Kiautschou for Lloyd freighters Bamberg, Königsberg, Nürnberg, Stolberg, and Strassburg.
North German Lloyd renamed the newly acquired ship Princess Alice, though the German spelling Prinzess Alice was widely used in contemporary press coverage and, often, by the Lloyd themselves. There is some confusion as to who exactly was the namesake of the ship. Edwin Drechsel, in his two-volume work Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen, 1857–1970, reports that the ship was named equally for Princess Alice of Albany and Alice Roosevelt. Princess Alice of Albany was a granddaughter of Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom, and the new bride of Prince Alexander of Teck in Württemberg. Alice Roosevelt, daughter of the then-current U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, was nicknamed "Princess Alice" by the press, and had launched the racing yacht of Kaiser Wilhelm II, Meteor, at Staten Island two years before. William Lowell Putnam gives the namesake as Princess Alice of the United Kingdom, the daughter of Queen Victoria.
