SS Arosa Kulm was a passenger ship which was launched at Hog Island, Pennsylvania in 1919 and completed in 1920 as a troopship, before being resold to American Merchant Lines in 1923 as a passenger ship. An Hog Islander, she served as a transport ship during World War II, afterwards returning to service as a passenger liner. She was scrapped in 1959 in Bruges, Belgium.
 Arosa Kulm as USAT Cantigny on her delivery voyage, 1920 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USAT Cantigny |
| Launched | 27 October 1919 |
| Commissioned | 1920 |
| Fate | Sold in 1923/1924 for commercial service |
| Name |
|
| Fate | Broken up at Bruges, 1959 |
| General characteristics as troopship | |
| Tonnage | 7,555 GRT |
| Speed | 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
History
editArosa Kulm started as the US Army Transport Cantigny, a 7,555-gross register ton troopship with a speed of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)[1][2] and was sold in 1923/1924 to a commercial transatlantic freight and passenger transport company, American Merchant Lines, as American Banker. In 1940, the ship was transferred[3] to a Belgian shipping company as SS Ville d'Anvers, together with seven other American ships from American Merchant Lines. After the war, she was resold multiple times until ending with the name Arosa Kulm in 1952 after being bought by the Arosa Line. She would remain with Arosa Line until her scrapping in 1959 after the company went bankrupt.[4]
World War II
editIn 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, through the Neutrality Acts laws, forbade American ships to operate in belligerent waters, after the rising conflicts in Europe. To circumvent this ruling, a company, S.A. Maritime Anversoise, was formed in Antwerp, Belgium. Eight ships owned by the American Merchant Lines (AML), including the other four ships of the line that carried the name Banker, were transferred to the new company, while still remaining property of AML.[5] They, instead of carrying the American flag, used the flag of Belgium as a flag of convenience instead, and were renamed. American Banker, which was also transferred with the rest of the Banker ships from AML, was given the name Ville d'Anvers.[4]
For most of WWII, the captain of Ville d'Anvers was John Francis Spears. She mainly participated in convoys. [4] Apparently, the captain had an tendency to use a coin flip to decide which way he'd sail; heads for north, and tails for south. During one of these flips, the coin landed on its edge between the deck planks, causing the captain to not set sail, with her cargo being taken by another ship instead. Due to that decision, she avoided the German battleship Tirpitz, which was threatening the routes to the north-Russian ports.[4]
Ville d'Anvers was part of Convoy PQ 1 and Convoy QP 2, and additionally participated in Convoy HX 233. She was the only one of the eight ships to survive World War II to re-enter passenger service in 1946, as the seven other ships from the American Merchant Lines that were transferred to S.A. Maritime Anversoise had been sunk by April 1941.[4]
Post-war
editIn 1946, she re-entered passenger service with 200 berths as City of Athens.[5]
In 1947, she was bought by Panamanian Lines, renamed Protea and refitted extensively, adjusting her accommodations to be able to carry 965 passengers.[6][5] The accommodations consisted mainly of bunk beds, and apparently were considered to be poor.[7]
In 1952, the accommodations were adjusted down to fit 900 passengers, and she was renamed Arosa Kulm after being sold to Panama's Arosa Line. The ship made four visits in total to Australia while under this name.[8] In addition to serving immigrants, Arosa Kulm was also chartered by American Field Service, an exchange organization bringing numerous exchange students between Europe and the US The ship was scrapped at Bruges, Belgium in 1959.[citation needed]
See also
editReferences
edit- ↑ The Ships List Archived 2009-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Naval Historical Center
- ↑ "Arosa Kulm History". Archived from the original on 2011-09-28. Retrieved 2011-05-18.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "BBC - WW2 People's War - Old Lady of the Atlantic". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2026-05-30.
- 1 2 3 "American Merchant Lines and their Five Banker Class Ships". ssmaritime.com. Retrieved 2026-05-31.
- ↑ The Ship List Archived 2009-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Naval Historical Center
- ↑ Australian Migrant Ships 1946-1977 by Peter Plowman, Chiswick Publications 2006, ISBN 1-877058-40-8