SS Carolina

SS Carolina
History
Name	SS Carolina
Owner	Plant Investment Co.
Builder	The Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Cost	US$500,000
Yard number	15
Christened	30 January 1896 as as La Grande Duchesse
Acquired	9 April 1899
Maiden voyage	7 September 1907
In service	1896-1918
Out of service	N/A
Fate	Torpedoed by German U-boat SM U-151 on Sunday June 2, 1918. Wreck lies in approximately 240 feet (73 m) of water, roughly 65 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey.
Status	Sunk
General characteristics
Tonnage	5017
Length	380 feet
Beam	47 feet
Draft	33 feet

The SS Carolina was a 380-foot-long (120 m) passenger liner; it was one of six vessels sunk on a single day during World War I by the German submarine, U-151 on "Black Sunday". The wreck was rediscovered in 1995 by wreck divers John Chatterton and John Yurga.

History

The Plant Investment Co. originally contracted for the building of the vessel in 1895 with The Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company. The original contract was for $500,000, but the vessel ended up being delivered 3 years late and costing $536,000 over budget, and represented the greatest loss (in percentage terms) of any ship built by The Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company.

After such an inconspicuous start, things scarcely improved for the vessel. She was christened on 30 January 1896 as La Grande Duchesse, and following her sea trials was delivered to The Plant Investment Co in November 1896. She was refused because of boiler and propeller problems, after which she was subjected to a refit, but was refused again in September 1897, and further modifications were made.

She successfully completed further sea trials in June 1898. She was finally accepted by The Plant Investment Co. on 9 April 1899 and the US government chartered her for a transport in the Spanish-American War.

In November 1901 she was passed to the Ocean Steamship Co. (and renamed City of Savannah), for whom she ran a service between New York City and Charleston, South Carolina.

She was then sold to the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Co. in January 1906, and renamed the Carolina.

Throughout her working life, she had continual problems with her machinery. She seemed to suffer from vibration problems, and the twin-screw design of the stern causing steering and handling problems. She was further damaged by a far on 21 November 1907 which in drydock.

In 1913, she had a considerable refit which resolved many of her mechanical problems. Ironically, the work was done by her original building yard, Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co. However, less than two months later she collided with the liner Cleveland in New York harbor.

Sinking

Eventually however her run of bad luck came to an end on 2 June 1918 when she was sunk by the U-151 on what became known as "Black Sunday" when the German submarine sank 6 vessels on the same day. Thirteen men lost their lives on the Carolina.

Rediscovery

The wreck was rediscovered by divers John Chatterton and John Yurga. Chatterton lodged a salvage claim in the New Jersey Federal district court, arresting the ship. The salvage case was heard by Federal District Court Judge Joseph Rodriguez, whose father, ironically, had been a passenger on the Carolina. However, Chatterton subsequently wrote an open letter to the diving community saying they were free to take items off the ship, he was simply protecting his position from insurance companies.

In the event, Chatteron would eventually salvage the purser's safe from the Carolina with renowned wreck diver Gary Gentile, which was found to contain gold coin and jewelry. After relations between the two men broke down, Gentile would later write in his book, Shadow Divers Exposed, that despite the assistance he lent to Chatterton, Chatteron only gave him a token share of the salvage claim.

Sources

• Videotaped Interview with Judge Joseph Rodriguez
• "Black Sunday" - Victims of U-151
• DeepImage.co.uk - SS Carolina
• 2000 SS Carolina Seeker expedition
• 2007 SS Carolina trip report