SS President Wilson
 Passenger ship S.S. President Wilson
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | SS President Wilson |
| Namesake | Woodrow Wilson |
| Operator |
|
| Route | Trans-Pacific |
| Builder | Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co, Alameda, California |
| Yard number | 9510 |
| Laid down | November 27, 1944 |
| Launched | November 24, 1947 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. E. Russell Lutz |
| Completed | April 27, 1948 |
| In service | until 1961 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Scrapped, 1984 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | 23,504 long tons (23,881 t) |
| Length | |
| Beam | 75 ft 6 in (23.01 m) |
| Draft | 30 ft 2 in (9.19 m) |
| Installed power | 20,000 hp (14,914 kW) |
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Notes | sister ship: SS President Cleveland |
SS President Wilson was an American passenger ship originally ordered by the Maritime Commission (MC hull 687) during World War II, as one of the Admiral W. S. Benson-class Type P2-SE2-R1 transport ships, and intended to be named USS Admiral F.B. Upham (AP-128), but she was launched just after the war ended. in 1948, The ship was put into service for the American President Lines. The ship remained in service for the shipping company until 1973.[2] She was sold to Oceanic Cruise Development before eventually, scrapped at Kaohsiung.
Background
The President Wilson and her sister ship the SS President Cleveland, was originally planned to be commissioned by the United States Maritime Commission in a series of eight troop carriers and supply ships of the type P2-SE2-R1 (Admirals) class ships. All ships of this class were designed to be used as a Passenger ship which could be readily converted into a troop transport ships during wartime service.[2]
History
The ship was laid down on November 27, 1944 at the Bethlehem Steel shipyard in Alameda, California, but was cancelled on December 16,1944.[3] The ship was finally launched on November 24,1947,[4] completed and delivered to the Maritime Commission on April 27, 1948.[3] Under the name SS President Wilson, she was bareboat chartered by the Maritime Commission to American President Lines. The ship remained in service until 1960 without major incidents. It was then modernized in San Francisco. In 1962 President Wilson moved from San Francisco to Yokohama. In 1970 the ship was decommissioned and sold due to falling passenger numbers.[5]
She was sold to Oceanic Cruise Development, Inc. (C.Y. Tung Group) on April 27, 1973, and renamed Oriental Empress. Laid up at Hong Kong, the ship was eventually scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1984.[1]
References
- ^ a b "APL: History - 1944-52 SS President Wilson". apl.com. 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
- ^ a b "SS PRESIDENT WILSON - MARAD - Maritime Administration". United States Department of Transportation.
- ^ a b "Admiral F. B. Upham". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
- ^ "Bethlehem Launches the President Wilson" (PDF). Pacific Marine Review. San Francisco, California: Pacific American Steamship Association: 33–37. January 1947. Retrieved October 19, 2012.
- ^ "Proposed Work on the S.S. President Cleveland and S.S. President Wilson" (PDF). General Accounting Office. October 20, 1952. Retrieved 19 October 2012.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
