SS Washingtonian (1913)

SS Washingtonian (1913)

6,649 GRTSS Washingtonian was a cargo ship launched in 1913 by the Maryland Steel Company of Sparrows Point, Maryland, near Baltimore. She was one of eight sister ships for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. Washingtonian collided with the schooner Elizabeth Palmer off the Delaware coast and sank in ten minutes with the loss of her USD 1,000,000 cargo of raw Hawaiian sugar.

About SS Washingtonian (1913) in brief

Summary SS Washingtonian (1913)6,649 GRTSS Washingtonian was a cargo ship launched in 1913 by the Maryland Steel Company of Sparrows Point, Maryland, near Baltimore. She was one of eight sister ships for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. At the time of her launch, she was the largest cargo ship under American registry. In January 1915, after a little more than one year of service, Washingtonian collided with the schooner Elizabeth Palmer off the Delaware coast and sank in ten minutes with the loss of her USD 1,000,000 cargo of raw Hawaiian sugar. Washingtonian’s wreck is one of the most popular recreational dive sites on the eastern seaboard. During the U.S. occupation of Veracruz in April 1914, the ship was chartered by the United States Department of the Navy for service as a non-commissioned refrigerated supply ship for the fleet stationed off the Mexican coast.

She sailed in a rotation with the Army and Navy ships USS Washington, USS Culgoa, and USS Washingtonian, sailing opposite vessels Mexican, Honolan and Washingtonian. In late 1914, American- Hawaiian ships switched to taking the San Francisco – Panama Canal route, sailing from Los Angeles to San Francisco with a load of California products. The ship ended her charter by early October 1915. She is buried under approximately 100 feet of water, and her wreck is a popular dive site for recreational divers on the east coast of the United S.C. and the East Coast of North America. The wreck of Washingtonian can be found at the bottom of the Delaware Inlet.