USS Aeolus (ID-3005) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

USS Aeolus (ID-3005), sometimes also spelled Æolus, was a United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

transport ship during World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. She was formerly the North German Lloyd liner

Liner

Liner or LINER may refer to:In line drawing:* Eye liner, a type of makeup* Liner, a sable brush used by coach paintersIn linings:...

SS Grosser Kurfürst, also spelled Großer Kurfürst, launched in 1899 that sailed regularly between Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

and New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. At the outset of World War I the ship was interned by the United States and, when that country entered the conflict in 1917, was seized and converted to a troop transport.

Originally commissioned as USS Grosser Kurfürst, the ship was renamed Aeolus — after the god of wind in Greek

Ancient Greece

Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...

mythology

Greek mythology

Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...

— while undergoing repairs and conversion at a U.S. Navy yard. The ship carried almost 25,000 men to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

during the hostilities, and returned over 27,000 healthy and wounded men after the Armistice

Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)

The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...

.

After decommissioning by the U.S. Navy, the ship was turned over to the United States Shipping Board

United States Shipping Board

The United States Shipping Board was established as an emergency agency by the Shipping Act , 7 September 1916. It was formally organized 30 January 1917. It was sometimes referred to as the War Shipping Board.http://www.gwpda.org/wwi-www/Hurley/bridgeTC.htm | The Bridge To France by Edward N....

and underwent a $3,000,000 refit in Baltimore, Maryland, and was transferred to the Munson Steamship Company

Munson Line

The Munson Steamship Line, frequently shortened to the Munson Line, was an American steamship company that operated in the Atlantic Ocean primarily between U.S. ports and ports in the Caribbean and South America...

for whom she carried passengers and freight to and from South American ports as SS Aeolus. In 1922 the ship was assigned to the Los Angeles Steamship Co. and renamed SS City of Los Angeles and sailed to and from Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...

and Honolulu

Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. Honolulu is the southernmost major U.S. city. Although the name "Honolulu" refers to the urban area on the southeastern shore of the island of Oahu, the city and county government are consolidated as the City and...

. In 1937, the ship was sold for scrapping in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

SS Grosser Kurfürst

SS Grosser Kurfürst — a steel-hulled, twin-screw, passenger-and-cargo steamship launched on 2 December 1899 at Danzig, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

, (now Gdańsk

Gdansk

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

) by the shipbuilding firm of F. Schichau

Schichau Seebeckwerft

Schichau Seebeckwerft is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Bremerhaven. The name comes from the 1988 merger of Schichau with Seebeckwerft.-History:...

for the North German Lloyd — made her maiden voyage to Asiatic and Australian ports before commencing regularly scheduled voyages from spring 1900 between Bremen

Bremen

The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...

and New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

which continued until summer 1914. In winter seasons she did eight more tours to Australia on the German Empire mail route. Her last start to Australia was 7 January 1912. Over these years she was the biggest ship sailing to Australia. At this time she made some cruise tours for U.S. tourists.

Spangenberg

Spangenberg

- Geography :Spangenberg lies in the Schwalm-Eder district some 35 km southeast of Kassel, west of the Stölzinger Gebirge, a low mountain range. Spangenberg is the demographical centrepoint of Germany.- History :...

was her captain in 1913 when she rescued passengers from the burning SS Volturno

SS Volturno (1906)

SS Volturno was an ocean liner that burned and sank in the North Atlantic in October 1913. She was a Royal Line ship under charter to the Uranium Line at the time of her fire. After the ship issued SOS signals, eleven ships came to her aid and rescued 520 passengers and crewmen. About 130...

in the Atlantic.

When World War I

World War I

broke out in Europe, Grosser Kurfürst — a liner that boasted "enormous carrying capacity" and "excellent passenger accommodation" for all classes from first to steerage — was forced to seek shelter in American waters. The United States Government interned these ships wherever they had put into port, and upon the entrance of the United States into the hostilities on the side of the Allied and Associated Powers

Allies of World War I

The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...

— on 6 April 1917 — took them over for "safe keeping." U.S. Customs

U.S. Customs and Border Protection

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is a federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security charged with regulating and facilitating international trade, collecting import duties, and enforcing U.S. regulations, including trade, customs and immigration. CBP is the...

agents boarded Grosser Kurfürst in the port of New York, along with 30 other German

German Empire

The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...

and Austro-Hungarian

Austria-Hungary

Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...

vessels, and sent their crews to an internment camp on Ellis Island

Ellis Island

Ellis Island in New York Harbor was the gateway for millions of immigrants to the United States. It was the nation's busiest immigrant inspection station from 1892 until 1954. The island was greatly expanded with landfill between 1892 and 1934. Before that, the much smaller original island was the...

. However, before these sailors left their ships, they carried out a program of systematic destruction calculated to take the longest possible time to repair.

USS Aeolus

The United States Navy

United States Navy

inspected Grosser Kurfürst and designated her "Id. No. 3005" and earmarked her for service with the Cruiser and Transport Force

Cruiser and Transport Force

The Cruiser and Transport Service was a unit of the United States Navy's Atlantic Fleet during World War I that was responsible for transporting American men and materiel to France.- Composition :...

to carry troops to France. She commissioned as Grosser Kurfürst on 4 August 1917, at the New York Navy Yard

Brooklyn Navy Yard

The United States Navy Yard, New York–better known as the Brooklyn Navy Yard or the New York Naval Shipyard –was an American shipyard located in Brooklyn, northeast of the Battery on the East River in Wallabout Basin, a semicircular bend of the river across from Corlear's Hook in Manhattan...

, Comdr.

Commander (United States)

In the United States, commander is a military rank that is also sometimes used as a military title, depending on the branch of service. It is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the military, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Naval rank:In the United States...

Clarence S. Kempff in command. While the ship was undergoing the repairs and alterations necessitated by the German sabotage and in light of her expected role carrying troops across the Atlantic

Atlantic Ocean

The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...

, General Order No. 320 of 1 September 1917 changed her name to Aeolus.

On 26 November 1917, the erstwhile luxury steamship, now wearing warpaint, departed the Port of Embarkation

New York Port of Embarkation

The New York Port of Embarkation was established in 1917 as the United States entered into World War I. Using seized docking facilities of German passenger and freight steamship lines on the Hudson River, the U.S. Army began moving troops and material to France to fight in the war.Originally under...

at Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken, New Jersey

Hoboken is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population was 50,005. The city is part of the New York metropolitan area and contains Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub for the region...

, bound for Europe on the first of eight round-trip voyages during World War I, carrying troops to the Old World. She reached St. Nazaire, France

France

, on 10 December and spent Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

in that French port before she headed home on 28 December, bringing the voyage to a close when mooring at Newport News, Virginia

Newport News, Virginia

Newport News is an independent city located in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the north shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News...

, nine days into 1918. Shifting thence to Hoboken, Aeolus again sailed to France and returned from Brest

Brest, France

Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...

again to Hoboken

Two events highlighted the ship's wartime convoy experiences. The first occurred during the beginning of what was to be the ship's third voyage to France. Aeolus, in convoy, departed Hoboken on 23 April 1918. Two days out, a steering gear casualty in the transport forced that ship to leave her assigned place in the formation. Aeolus, to avoid collision with Siboney, altered course radically, and in so doing struck the transport at about 21:00 hours, 25 April. Fortunately, no lives were lost; but both transports were damaged which necessitated their turning back. Aeolus reached Hoboken on 28 April.

The second event occurred on 1 August 1918, while the ship was returning to the United States from Brest. At 06:05, lookouts spotted what looked to be the wake of a submarine periscope, some 6000 yards (5,486.4 m) distant. Changing course, Aeolus stood to general quarters and within a minute of the sighting, her number one and three guns commenced firing. For the next few minutes, her gunners fired at the diminishing target until it pulled out of range at 06:15.

While the signing of the armistice of 11 November 1918 signalled the end of hostilities — an occasion that found the ship en route from St. Nazaire to Newport News — it only meant the beginning of the task of returning American troops from "over there." During the war, Aeolus had transported 24,770 men to the European battlefront in her eight voyages. In the postwar months, Aeolus conducted a further seven turn-around voyages, bringing back some 22,080 healthy veterans, and some 5,018 wounded and sick. Commencing her last voyage from Brest on 26 August 1919, Aeolus reached New York City on 5 September and was immediately detached from the Cruiser and Transport Force.

Decommissioned at Newport News on 22 September 1919 and turned over to the United States Shipping Board

United States Shipping Board

, Aeolus was presumably struck simultaneously from the Navy list

Naval Vessel Register

The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...

Post-war civilian service

Early in 1920, the Shipping Board let what one contemporary marine engineering journal called "one of the most extensive ship repair contracts ever awarded" in the history of the United States, to the Baltimore Dry Dock and Ship Building Co., of Baltimore, Maryland, to renovate the ship. Over the next few months, Aeolus underwent massive alterations at a cost of nearly $3,000,000.

Remodelled quarters, an extensive refrigeration system to preserve cargoes of frozen meats as well as the food to be consumed during the voyage, and the conversion of the ship from coal to oil fuel, all helped to make Aeolus one of the best-equipped liners afloat. Resplendent in her new livery — a battle gray hull with a white superstructure — Aeolus departed Baltimore on 20 November 1920 and proceeded to New York City where, shortly thereafter, she was turned over to her operators, the Munson Steamship Company

Munson Line

Aeolus sailed under the Munson Line's house flag, carrying passengers and freight to and from South American ports until the summer of 1922. In August of that year, she came under the flag of the Los Angeles Steamship Company

Los Angeles Steamship Company

The Los Angeles Steamship Company or LASSCO was a passenger and freight shipping company based in Los Angeles, California. The company, formed in 1920, initially provided fast passenger service between Los Angeles and San Francisco...

and was renamed City of Los Angeles. After being thoroughly reconditioned for her new operators, the liner sailed on September 11, 1922 for her maiden voyage under her new name, bound for Honolulu, Hawaii

Honolulu, Hawaii

, in a new dazzling white paint scheme. In January, 1931, the handsome liner figured in an experimental shore-to-ship air mail flight. A Ford Trimotor

Ford Trimotor

The Ford Trimotor was an American three-engined transport plane that was first produced in 1925 by the companies of Henry Ford and that continued to be produced until June 7, 1933. Throughout its time in production, a total of 199 Ford Trimotors were produced...

— flying from the Grand Central Air Terminal at Glendale, California

Glendale, California

Glendale is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2010 Census, the city population is 191,719, down from 194,973 at the 2000 census. making it the third largest city in Los Angeles County and the 22nd largest city in the state of California...

— followed City of Los Angeles out to sea and, off the California coast, dropped a bag containing 12,527 envelopes onto the passenger liner's deck. The March 1931 issue of the Merchant Marine Bulletin speculated that this was probably the largest single consignment of airmail

Airmail

Airmail is mail that is transported by aircraft. It typically arrives more quickly than surface mail, and usually costs more to send...

ever to pass through the Honolulu Post Office.

City of Los Angeles plied the Pacific between Los Angeles

Los Angeles, California

and Honolulu until she was sold to Japanese interests in February 1937 and cut up for scrap.

External links

Photo gallery at Naval Historical Center

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