"St. Louis"

[ackimzey]

My great uncle mentions one more ship in his little notebook. He refers to it as "St. Louis". I received such good information about "Baltic" that I wanted to check on this one. Can anyone help with details, please. I've included the entry from his notebook below.

Thanks,

Ann

"Oct. 24, 1917 - Docked early in a.m. Breakfast at 5:45 Cabled Mother & Louise, also mailed letters. Went uptown, bought several things & had money changed. Rained all day. Very dirty place, streets narrow, stores small & poor. Some [or same?] time making change. Lunch & dinner limited to 15-???? No sugar or coffee. Got on boat about 8:10 p.m. Payed 6 s[hillings] to hire tug to bring us over. Saw Hadert(?) Soyne(?), had just got off the St. Louis. Trust is last night on boat for some time at least. London bound in a.m."

[Tim]

Ann,

I found a "St. Louis" which fits the time frame, but not much else I'm afraid!

ST. LOUIS / LOUISVILLE 1894

The ST.LOUIS was an 11,629 gross ton ship, built by W.Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia in 1894 for the American Line. Her sister ship was the ST.PAUL. Her details were - length 535.5ft x beam 63ft, straight stem, two funnels, two masts, twin screw and a speed of 19 knots. There was accommodation for 350-1st, 220-2nd and 800-3rd class passengers. Launched on 12/11/1894, she sailed from New York on her maiden voyage to Southampton on 5/6/1895. She started her last Southampton - New York crossing on 16/4/1898 before being used as an auxiliary cruiser for use in the Spanish-American war. On 12/10/1898 she resumed New York - Southampton sailings and in 1903 was fitted with new boilers and had her funnels heightened. In 1913 she was refitted to carry 2nd and 3rd class passengers only and on 15/7/1914 sailed on her last Southampton - Cherbourg - Queenstown - New York voyage. Transferred to the New York - Liverpool service on 31/7/1914 until April 1918 when she commenced her last Liverpool - New York crossing, she then became the US government ship LOUISVILLE. On 9/1/1920 she was damaged by fire while being refitted for the New York - Southampton service, and was sold as an exhibition ship but not used as such. On 20/5/1924 she left New York under tow for Genoa where she was scrapped. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.3,p.943]

There was also a USS St. Louis (C-20), a cruiser, but again, I'm not sure if it fits.

USS St. Louis (IV)

Launched: 6 May 1905

Commissioned: 18 August 1906

Decommissioned: 3 March 1922

Fate: Sold for scrap, 13 August 1930

Struck: 20 March 1930

Displacement: 9,700 tons

Length: 426,6 ft

Beam: 66 ft

Draught: 24,10 ft

Propulsion:

Speed: 22 k

Complement: 673 officers and enlisted

Armament: 14 6", 18 3", 12 3-pdrs., 8 1-pdrs., 4. 30 cal. mg.

The fourth USS St. Louis, Cruiser No. 20 (C-20), was the lead ship of her class of cruisers in the United States Navy.

St. Louis was launched on 6 May 1905 by Neafie & Levy Company, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; sponsored by Miss Gladys Bryant Smith; and commissioned on 18 August 1906, Captain Nathaniel R. Usher in command.

Assigned to the Pacific Fleet, St. Louis departed Tomkinsville, New York, on 15 May 1907 following completion of her trials along the Virginia coast. St. Louis called at Port Castries, Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Punta Arenas, Valparaíso, Callao, and Acapulco before arriving at San Diego on 31 August 1907. Operating off the west coast into the spring of 1908, she steamed from Puget Sound to Honolulu in June, then cruised in Central American waters from July to October. On 5 November 1909, St. Louis returned to Puget Sound and was placed in reserve on 14 November.

Decommissioned on 3 May 1910, St. Louis was recommissioned, in reserve, on 7 October 1911 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard. She departed Puget Sound on 13 July 1911 for San Francisco and brief service as receiving ship there. After undergoing repairs, 22 July 1911 to 28 February 1912, she joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet again on 12 March. From 14 July 1912 until 26 April 1913, she operated in support of the Oregon Naval Militia, then returned to the Puget Sound Navy Yard to be placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet for a year. She departed Puget Sound on 24 April 1914 and commenced her next assignment as receiving ship at San Francisco on the 27th. Returning north to Bremerton, St. Louis was again placed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet on 17 February 1916.

Detached from the Reserve Fleet on 10 July 1916, St. Louis departed Puget Sound on 21 July for Honolulu. Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 29 July, she commenced her next duty assignment as tender, Submarine Division Three, Pacific Fleet, with additional duty as station ship, Pearl Harbor. When it became evident that the crew of the interned German sloop Geier intended to scuttle their ship, an armed party from St. Louis boarded the ship on 4 February 1917 and seized her. Geier subsequently served the United States as Schurz.

Placed in reduced commission on 6 April 1917, as the United States entered World War I, St. Louis departed Honolulu on 9 April to join the cruiser force engaged in escorting convoys bound for Europe. Calling first at San Diego, she took on board 517 National Naval Volunteers and apprentice seamen to bring her war complement to 823 officers and men; and, on 20 April, she was placed in full commission. A month later, she arrived in the Panama Canal Zone; embarked the 7th, 17th, 20th, 43d, 51st, and 55th companies of Marines; transported them to Santiago de Cuba; then sailed for Philadelphia, arriving on 29 May 1917.

St. Louiss' first convoy duty began on 17 June 1917 when she departed New York in escort of Group 4, American Expeditionary Force. Returning to Boston for repairs on 19 July 1917, she had completed six additional voyages, escorting convoys bound from New York for ports in Britain and France by the end of the war. After the Armistice, St. Louis was immediately pressed into service returning troops to the United States. She returned 8,437 troops to Hoboken, New Jersey, from Brest, France, in seven round-trip crossings between 17 December 1918 and 17 July 1919 when she arrived at the Philadelphia Navy Yard for repairs.

Designated CA-18 on 17 July 1920 and assigned to postwar duty with the European Squadron, St. Louis departed Philadelphia on 10 September 1920 for Sheerness, Cherbourg, and Constantinople. She disembarked military passengers at Sheerness on 26 September, then continued on to the Mediterranean and reported to the Commander, United States Naval Forces in Turkish Waters at Constantinople on 19 October. Standing up the Bosphorus from Constantinople on 13 November, St. Louis embarked refugees at Sevastopol and Yalta, returning them to Constantinople on 16 November. The following day, her crew formed boat landing parties to distribute food among refugees quartered aboard naval transports anchored in the Bosphorus. St. Louis continued her humanitarian duties at Constantinople and at Anatolian ports during the time of unrest caused by the Russian Civil War and the Turkish Revolution.

She departed Asia Minor for Naples on 19 September 1921. She next called at Gibraltar; and, on 11 November, arrived at Philadelphia where, on completion of pre-inactivation overhaul, she was decommissioned on 3 March 1922. In reserve until struck from the Navy list on 20 March 1930, St. Louiss' hulk was sold for scrapping on 13 August in accordance with the provisions of the London Treaty for the limitation and reduction of naval armament.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,

Tim

[bob lembke]

Hi;

Not an expert here, but I seem to recall a German ship called the St. Louis, a liner. Possibly interned in the US in 1914, and taken into US service in 1917??? Or was an interned and then taken-over German ship re-named the St. Louis?

I think some German ships aimed at the transport of immigrants to the US had US-oriented names. There was a tidal wave of Eastern Europeans crossing Europe to the German ports and sailing to the US and other places, like Eastern European Jews getting away from the good treatment by the Russians. I think St. Louis (the city) was a major destination for many immigrants.

Bob Lembke

[andigger]

Building on Bob's train of thought (or ship of thought as the case maybe), remember there was also the SS St Louis which gained great infamy here in the western hemisphere as it went from port to port loaded with Jewish refugees in the late 1930s (1938 I believe). Ultimate it returned to Germany fully loaded. Ironically the story did not turn out 'all bad' - be aware this is a relative term, as a good number of those particular refugees did eventually make it out of Germany before the war. My mom infact as a little girl knew another girl her age who was on the ship.

Andy

[bob lembke]

That must be it. I had this vague idea of a German liner named the St. Louis. I think that I am right in that it probably was aimed at the immigrant trade.

My serious interest in European history ends in 1926 when my father sailed to New York (Wait! It might have been on the St. Louis! Was it in service in late 1926? Dim memories from my family history.) I think that it is only in the last 20 years that we have been figuring out what happened in WW I. I think we will have to wait 150 years for WW II. But I am generally familiar with the tragic voyage of the St. Louis.

I will foolishly throw out one morsel of the hidden history of WW II and then in a craven fashion retreat from the field. In WW II the US not only interned many German-Americans and Italian-Americans (almost including my mother and myself), but also pressured Latin American countries to allow the US to scoop up recent immigrants to these countries and intern them in the US. One use that they were put to was to be traded for American civilians interned in Nazi Europe. Being non-predjudicial, they also sent German Jews who had escaped Europe and made it to Latin America back to the Nazis. A few years ago, there was some pressure from German ethnic organizations in the US to have Congress hold hearings on this, and the larger question of the suppressed history of the interment camps for the non-Japanese suspect people (like me, a 4-year old US citizen), but 9/11 occurred before the hearings were held, and of course the topic was swept off the table.

Bob Lembke

[ackimzey]

Thanks for all the responses. Tim, I appreciate all the details you provided. All the information will be part of the "appendex" that I will add to the actual transcription I've done.

Ann

[Tim]

Further to Andy and Bob's musings:

ST. LOUIS 1928

16,732 gross tons, length 543.8ft x beam 72.4ft, two funnels, two masts, twin screw, speed 16 knots, accommodation for 270-cabin, 287-tourist and 416-3rd class passengers. Launched by Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack on 2nd August 1928 for the Hamburg America Line, she left Hamburg on her maiden voyage to Boulogne, Southampton and New York on 29th March 1929. Her last voyage commenced 27th August 1939 when she left New York without passengers for Murmansk and Hamburg, arriving on 1st January 1940. In 1940 she became an accommodation ship at Kiel and was heavily damaged in an Allied air attack on 30th August 1944. Towed to Hamburg in 1946, she was used as a hostel and sold in 1950. Scrapped at Bremerhaven in 1952.[North Atlantic Seaway vol.1 by N.R.P.Bonsor]

Cheers,

Tim

[sotonmate]

Ann

Taking a periodic browse of the Forum and see something of interest !

I have recently been to the NA and have been nosing around quite a few Board of Trade folders for Inbound sailings into Liverpool. The liner ST LOUISs voyage your Great Uncle writes about was from New York to Liverpool,arriving on October 24th 1917. It carried US troops as well as civilian passengers. The Folder number at the NA for this voyage is BT26/638/17.should you wish to know that !

Best wishes

Sotonmate

[ackimzey]

Thank you so much for the additional information, Sotonmate. All these details just makes Grover's diary "come alive". How thoughtful of you to remember my post and take the time to search for the information.

Ann

[sirrom]

My great uncle mentions one more ship in his little notebook. He refers to it as "St. Louis". I received such good information about "Baltic" that I wanted to check on this one. Can anyone help with details, please. I've included the entry from his notebook below.

Thanks,

Ann

"Oct. 24, 1917 - Docked early in a.m. Breakfast at 5:45 Cabled Mother & Louise, also mailed letters. Went uptown, bought several things & had money changed. Rained all day. Very dirty place, streets narrow, stores small & poor. Some [or same?] time making change. Lunch & dinner limited to 15-???? No sugar or coffee. Got on boat about 8:10 p.m. Payed 6 s[hillings] to hire tug to bring us over. Saw Hadert(?) Soyne(?), had just got off the St. Louis. Trust is last night on boat for some time at least. London bound in a.m."

i can tell you that my grandmothers brother abraham press appears to have taken this ship from southampton to new york in 1905,from whence he joined the 38th 39 or 40th and proceeded to the middle east....if you look ellis island sailings you will find more info on this ship...

[ackimzey]

Thank you for the information, I really appreciate it.

Ann