SS Manhattan was a ocean liner built for the United States Lines, named after the Manhattan borough of New York City. On 15 June 1941 Manhattan was commissioned as USS Wakefield (AP-21) and became the largest ship ever operated by the US Coast Guard. In 1942 the ship caught fire and afterwards was rebuilt as a troop ship. Post-war, the liner was moored in New York in May, before decommissioning in June 1946. She was laid up in reserve at Jones Point, New York. Manhattan never returned to commercial service; in 1965, the ship was sold for scrapping.
Construction When they were built, Manhattan and her sister ship , also built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation, were the largest liners ever built in the United States, and Manhattan was the first large liner built in the US since 1905. Manhattan and Washington were two of the few passenger liners built by New York Shipbuilding, which had previously built a large number of cargo liners. United States Lines signed contracts in 1931 for the two ships at a cost of about $21 million (equivalent to $ million in ) each. This was considered an extreme cost in the Depression, and a gamble."Uncle Sam Enters The Atlantic Race", February 1931, Popular Mechanics article on the new construction in the 1930s
The ship's keel was laid as New York Shipbuilding's hull 405 on 6 December 1930 with launch on 5 December 1931 and delivery to the owners on 27 July 1932. Former First Lady Edith Roosevelt christened the ship with speakers representing shipping lines joining interest into the new United States Lines. Those lines were International Mercantile Marine Company, Roosevelt Lines, and the Dollar Lines.
The ship was length overall, length between perpendiculars and on water line. Eleven water tight bulkheads created twelve water tight compartments. Manhattan had nine decks: sun, boat, promenade, and decks A through F. Her tonnages were and , her registered length was , her US official number was 231779 and until 1933, her code letters were MJSG. In 1934 these were superseded by call sign WIEA. She carried a crew of 481.
Manhattan was designed to carry 1,239 passengers in 582 cabin, 461 tourist, and 196 third class rooms. The main cabin class public rooms, including a grand salon, library, palm court, verandah café, and open recreation or dance space aft, were on the promenade deck. Cabin class state rooms were forward on A deck with tourist class game space aft. B deck had tourist class public rooms. Cabin class entrance foyer, state rooms, and dining were forward on C deck with tourist class entrance foyer, state rooms, and dining aft. Third class lounge and an open promenade were aft of the tourist class spaces on C deck. D deck contained some cabin class state rooms, a swimming pool, and gymnasium, with tourist class state rooms aft. Crew quarters and a mess hall/station were on E deck with the third class dining room and state rooms aft.
The ship had general cargo capacity of , refrigerated cargo space, and for cold storage.
Prior to commercial passenger operation, the ship made a special twenty-four-hour cruise off New York with over seven hundred passenger agents representing companies and offices from across the nation. The guests were entertained with the full services passengers could expect, including dancing and viewing a new movie in the ship's theater.
Commercial career
Beginning in August 1932 Manhattan operated the New York – Hamburg route, one she would continue to serve with only one short break until December 1939, when President Roosevelt invoked the Neutrality Act against Germany. In July 1936, the ship carried the US Olympic team to the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin. In 1938 she carried some of the Kennedy family to the UK when Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. was appointed as ambassador.
Travel writer Douglas Ward claims in his book Berlitz Guide to Cruising that the alcoholic cocktail "Manhattan" was named after the ship; however, there is little evidence for confirmation. In the 1930s a one-way trip, off-season, in the cheapest cabin available cost the equivalent of roughly US$1,800 in 2019.
Kindertransport On 22 March 1939 passengers embarking on Manhattan in Hamburg included 88 unaccompanied children who were Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. The 24-hour journey from Hamburg to Southampton was part of the Kindertransport, as it later came to be known, between December 1938 and the outbreak of war in September 1939.
70% of the children (62 individuals) had been born in Berlin.
Early WWII In October 1939 Manhattan carried passengers, mostly Americans, from England (then at war with Germany) to New York. On 4 February 1940, the ship was seized by British forces in Gibraltar and released after 390 sacks of mail bound for Germany were confiscated. From January 1940 until Italy's entry into World War II in June 1940 she sailed between New York and Genoa. On 12 July 1940, she transported passengers fleeing Europe from Lisbon to New York City; among them was Eugene Bullard, African-American combat pilot in World War I.Keith, Phil. All Blood Runs Red: The Legendary Life of Eugene Bullard - Boxer, Pilot, Soldier, Spy. Toronto: Harlequin, 2019. p 213 On 12 January 1941, while in coastal service on the Atlantic seaboard, Manhattan ran aground north of Palm Beach and was re-floated 22 days later with help from tugs after the ship was lightened. On 6 March 1941, the commander of the marine inspection bureau suspended the master and first officer after finding them guilty of negligence in the grounding. The master received an eight-month suspension while the first officer was suspended for one month.Associated Press, "2 are suspended in grounding of S.S. Manhattan", Chicago Daily Tribune, Friday 7 March 1941, Volume C, Number 57, p.3.
Troopship Service Conversion
After repairs at New York the ship was delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 14 June 1941 which immediately delivered the ship to the Navy for operation under bareboat charter. The Navy renamed her Wakefield. Converted to a troop transport at Brooklyn, New York by the Robins Drydock Company, her costly furnishings and trappings of a luxury ocean liner were carefully removed and stored for future use. All of the ship's external surfaces were painted in Navy camouflage colors. On 15 June 1941, Wakefield was commissioned.
On 13 July 1941, Wakefield departed New York to participate in joint Navy – Marine – Army – Coast Guard amphibious training exercises at New River Inlet, North Carolina, in late July and early August.
Convoy WS-12X
The Atlantic Conference was held on August 9, 1941, in Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, between Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt. Besides the “official” agenda, Churchill hoped to obtain considerable assistance from the US, but the American President had his political hands tied. On 1 September 1941, Roosevelt received an urgent and most secret message asking for US Navy troopships manned by Navy crews and escorted by U.S.N. fighting ships to carry British troops for the purpose of reinforcing the Middle East. On 4 September the US destroyer, , came under an unsuccessful U-boat attack. Roosevelt gave authority to the US Navy to “shoot to kill”. On September 5 the President assured the British leader that six vessels would be provided to carry twenty thousand troops and would be escorted by the American Navy.
The chief of Naval Operations ordered troop ships divisions seventeen and nineteen, on 26 September 1941, to prepare their vessels for approximately six months at sea. These transports were to load to capacity with food, ammunition medical supplies, fuel and water and were to arrive at Halifax, NS on or about 6 November and after the arrival of a British convoy from the UK were to load twenty thousand troops. The Prime Minister mentioned in his letter that it would be for the President to say what would be required in replacement if any of these ships were to be sunk by enemy action. Agreements were worked out for the troops to be carried as supernumeraries and rations to be paid out of Lend Lease Funds and officer laundry bills were to be paid in cash. All replenishments of provisions, general stores, fuel and water would be provided by the UK. Fuel and water would be charged for the escorts to the UK in Trinidad and Cape Town only. The troops would conform to US Navy and ships regulation. Intoxicating liquors were prohibited. It was further agreed that the troops were to rig and man their own anti-aircraft guns to augment the ships batteries.
In early November, Wakefield proceeded to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to take on board British troops.
Wakefield, with 6,000 men embarked, and five other transports , , , and got underway as Convoy WS12-X on 10 November 1941. Escorted by a strong screen – which, as far as Trinidad, included – the convoy was destined for Basra, Iraq.
On 17 November 1941, the convoy reaches Trinidad. All ships were replenished, and the convoy departs Trinidad on 19 November 1941.On December 7 at 2000, the convoy receives a radio communication of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
On December 9, convoy WS12-X arrived in Cape Town, South Africa. At about 0800 on 13 December 1941, the troopships departed Cape Town headed for Bombay. At 650 on 21 December 1941, Mount Vernon and Orizaba detached from the convoy headed for Bombay, and are bound for Mombasa. The remainder of the convoy continued to Bombay under the escort of , arriving on 27 December 1941.
Convoy BM 11 Wakefield sailed for Singapore at 1300 on 9 January, in "15-knot" convoy BM11. In addition to the two American ships, Wakefield and West Point, three British transports – Duchess of Bedford, Empress of Japan, and Empire Star – made up the remainder of the convoy.
On 29 January 1942, Convoy BM 11 arrived at Singapore to disembark troops doomed later to capture by the Japanese upon the fall of the city in the following month.
Bombed at Keppel Harbor On 30 January 1942, Wakefield commenced fueling at Keppel Harbour for the return voyage and awaited the arrival of some 400 British women and children who were being evacuated to Ceylon. At 1100, lookouts spotted two formations of Japanese bombers – 27 planes in each – approaching the dock area at Keppel Harbor. Unhampered by anti-aircraft fire or British fighter planes, the enemy bombers droned overhead and released a brief rain of bombs on the waterfront. One bomb hit off Wakefield'''s port quarter, and another blew up in the dock area from the transport's bow before a third struck the ship's "B" deck and penetrated through to "C" deck where it exploded in the sick bay spaces. A fire broke out, but it was extinguished in less than one-half hour. The ship's official damage report notes that wood furniture and fittings contributed to the fires following such bomb hits, though in this case fires were brought under control quickly. The report noted that fire in a medical storeroom completely destroyed a wooden door allowing spread.U.S. Navy War Damage Reports contains numerous such reports for various ships. One of the features of the ship as the liner Manhattan had been the lavish use of rare hardwood panels, moldings and finishings in passenger spaces. Using oxygen masks, fire-fighting and damage control crew extricated five dead and nine wounded. Medical assistance soon came from West Point.
Completing her fueling, Wakefield embarked her passengers and got underway soon thereafter, burying her dead at sea at 2200 and pushing on for Ceylon. After disembarking her passengers at Colombo, the ship found that port authorities would not cooperate in arranging for repair of her damage. Wakefield, therefore, promptly sailed for Bombay, India, where she was able to effect temporary repairs and embark 336 American evacuees. Steaming home via Cape Town, the transport reached New York on 23 March and then proceeded to Philadelphia for permanent repairs.