View source for SS Caserta

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2016}}
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{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=[[Italy]]
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|Kingdom of Italy|civil}}
|Ship name=*1904: SS ''Maritzburg''
*1905: SS ''Mendoza''
*1914: SS ''Caserta''
*1923: SS ''Venezuela''
|Ship namesake=*1904: [[Maritzburg]]
*1905: [[Mendoza Province]], [[Argentina]]
*1914: [[Caserta]], [[Campania]]
*1923: [[Venezuela]]
|Ship owner=*1904: [[Bucknall Line]]
*1905: [[Lloyd Italiano]]
*1918: [[Navigazione Generale Italiana]]
*1923: [[La Veloce]]
*1924: Navigazione Generale Italiana
|Ship operator=
|Ship registry=1905: [[Genoa]]
|Ship builder=*[[Armstrong Whitworth|Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Company]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/M-Ships/mendoza1904.html|title=SS Mendoza (1904)|publisher=www.tynebuiltships.co.uk|accessdate=16 Mar 2017}}</ref>
*[[Newcastle upon Tyne]], [[England]]
|Ship yard number = 739
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=16 August 1904
|Ship fate=Scrapped, March 1928
}}
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|Ship tonnage={{GRT|6,847}}
|Ship length={{convert|420|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=ISI>{{cite web | url = http://www.fortunecity.com/littleitaly/amalfi/13/shipc.htm | title = Immigrant Ship Information - C | accessdate = 24 June 2008 }}</ref>
|Ship beam={{convert|51|ft|m|abbr=on}}<ref name=ISI />
|Ship draft=
|Ship propulsion=*two [[triple expansion steam engine|triple-expansion]] [[steam engine]]s
*twin [[screw propeller]]s<ref name=ISI />
|Ship speed={{convert|14|knots|km/h|lk=in}}<ref name=ISI />
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|Ship notes=one [[steamship funnel|funnel]] and two [[mast (sailing)|mast]]s<ref name=ISI />
}}
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'''SS ''Caserta''''' was an Italian [[ocean liner]] named for the city of [[Caserta]] in the [[Campania]] region of Italy. She was previously known as '''SS ''Maritzburg''''' and '''SS ''Mendoza''''', and was later renamed '''SS ''Venezuela'''''. Launched in 1904 as ''Maritzburg'' for the [[Bucknall Line]], the ship was sold to [[Lloyd Italiano]] in 1905 and renamed ''Mendoza''. Renamed ''Caserta'' in 1914, she was placed under the [[Navigazione Generale Italiana]] banner in 1918. During [[World War I]] she was employed as a [[troopship]] carrying United States troops to France as part of the [[United States Navy]] [[Cruiser and Transport Force]]. In 1923, she was renamed ''Venezuela'' and transferred to [[La Veloce]] for [[South America]]n service, but reverted to NGI control in 1924. She was scrapped in 1928.

==Early career==
SS ''Maritzburg'', an [[ocean liner]] with a {{GRT|6847|disp=long}},<ref name=TSL-LI>{{cite web | url = http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/lloydital.html | title = Lloyd Italiano Line | access-date = 24 June 2008 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080516033439/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/lloydital.html | archive-date = 16 May 2008 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> was built in 1904 by [[Armstrong Whitworth|Sir W. G. Armstrong, Whitworth and Company]] of [[Newcastle upon Tyne]], [[England]].<ref name=ISI /> Sailing for the [[Bucknall Line]] during her first year of operation, the liner was sold in 1905 to [[Lloyd Italiano]] and renamed SS ''Mendoza''.<ref name=TSL-LI />

''Mendoza'' completed one trip to New York in January 1908, and two trips in September and October 1909.<ref>Immigration Information Bureau, pp. 130, 138.</ref> For the next two years, she began service to New York in May and continued through December. Beginning in May 1912, ''Mendoza'' began year-round service on the New York route, sailing opposite {{SS|Taormina|1908|2}}.<ref>Immigration Information Bureau, pp. 146, 161, 170</ref> In 1914, the ship was renamed SS ''Caserta'' after the city of [[Caserta]], [[Italy]],<ref name=TSL-LI /> and continued New York service opposite ''Taormina''.<ref>Immigration Information Bureau, p. 179.</ref>

In May 1915, Italy declared war on [[Austria-Hungary]], and ships from New York to Italy often carried Italian immigrants returning to fight for their homeland. One voyage of ''Caserta'' was typical; she sailed from New York on 1 November carrying some 1,200 men, nearly all of whom were, according to an article in ''[[The New York Times]]'', reservists of the [[Italian Army]].<ref>{{cite news | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/11/11/105046857.pdf | title = New Yorkers were on Ancona | work = [[The New York Times]] | date = 11 November 1915 | accessdate = 25 June 2008 | page = 2 }}</ref>

Before her 1 February 1916 arrival in New York, ''Caserta'' had been armed with two {{convert|3|in|mm|adj=on}} guns mounted on her [[aft]]er deckhouse, and manned by two gunners mates and two assistants. ''Caserta'' had been escorted by [[Regia Marina|Italian Navy]] [[torpedo boat]]s until she reached [[Gibraltar]]. The gunners practiced from Gibraltar to the [[Azores]] by shooting at [[submarine]]-like targets—butter barrels, which had been equipped with a stick, painted gray, and tossed from the bow of the ship.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1916/02/02/100188226.pdf | title = Liner Caserta armed | work = The New York Times | date = 2 February 1916 | accessdate = 25 June 2008 | page = 2 }}</ref> ''Caserta'', by this time the only Lloyd Italiano ship sailing to New York, completed two more roundtrips to New York before Italy joined the war against [[German Empire|Germany]] in August 1916. ''Caserta'' completed two more New York roundtrips before the end of the year.<ref>Immigration Information Bureau, p. 189.</ref> Germany [[U-boat Campaign (World War I)#1917: Resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare|resumed unrestricted submarine warfare]] on 1 February 1917. Lloyd Italiano did not have any U.S. passenger service that year, and ''Caserta''{{'}}s activities in 1917 are unknown.<ref>Immigration Information Bureau, pp. 191–92.</ref>

== U.S. Troopship service ==
Beginning in May 1918, ''Caserta'' was [[ship chartering|chartered]] as a [[United States]] troop transport and attached to the [[United States Navy]] [[Cruiser and Transport Force]].<ref>Gleaves, p. 240. (Page 240 shows the date as "July 1, 1916", but is wrong. See p. 102 for a description of the appendices with the correct date of "July 1, 1918" listed.)</ref>

''Caserta'' departed New York 10 May 1918 on the first of five convoy voyages to Europe before the war's end—carrying elements of the U.S. [[4th Infantry Division (United States)|4th Infantry Division's]] [[47th Infantry Regiment (United States)|47th Infantry Regiment]], who called her a "cattle boat"—and accompanied by U.S. Navy transports {{USS|President Lincoln|1907|2}}, {{USS|Covington|ID-1409|2}}, {{USS|Rijndam|ID-2505|2}}, UK troopship {{SS|Dwinsk||2}}, and Italian steamship {{SS|Dante Alighieri||2}}. This group rendezvoused with a similar group that left [[Newport News, Virginia|Newport News]], [[Virginia]], the same day, consisting of American transports {{USS|Lenape|ID-2700|2}}, {{USS|Pastores|ID-4540|2}}, {{USS|Wilhelmina|ID-2168|2}}, {{USS|Princess Matoika|ID-2290|2}}, {{USS|Antigone|ID-3007|2}}, and {{USS|Susquehanna|ID-3016|2}}, the UK steamship ''[[SS Polonia (1910)|Kursk]]'', and the Italian {{SS|Duca d'Aosta||2}}.<ref>Names of ships: Crowell and Wilson, p. 609. Nationalities of the ships: Gleaves, p. 202. "Cattle boat": Pollard, p. 26.</ref> American [[cruiser]] {{USS|Frederick|CA-8|2}} served as escort for the assembled ships, which were the 35th U.S. convoy of the war.<ref name=C&W-609>Crowell and Wilson, p. 609.</ref> On 20 May, the convoy sighted and fired on a "submarine" that turned out to be a bucket; the next day escort ''Frederick'' left the convoy after being relieved by nine destroyers. Three days later the convoy sighted land at 06:30 and anchored at [[Brest, France|Brest]] that afternoon.<ref name=Pollard-27>Pollard, p. 27.</ref>

''Caserta''{{'}}s next convoy left [[Newport News]] on 23 June and consisted of the Italian steamship ''Duca d'Aosta'', {{SS|Re d'Italia||2}}, the French {{SS|Patria||2}}, and American transports {{USS|Pocahontas|ID-3044|2}} and ''Susquehanna''. Accompanied by {{USS|Montana|ACR-13|2}}, {{USS|South Dakota|ACR-9|2}}, {{USS|Huntington|CA-5|2}}, {{USS|Gregory|DD-82|2}}, and {{USS|Fairfax|DD-93|2}}, the convoy reached France on 5 July. ''Caserta'' returned to Virginia on 21 July with ''Re d'Italia''.<ref>Crowell and Wilson, p. 611.</ref>

''Caserta'' sailed again for France on 26 July with ''Pocahontas'', ''Susquehanna'', and ''Duca d'Aosta'' from Newport News, and met up with U.S. Navy transports {{USS|Finland|ID-4543|2}}, and {{USS|Kroonland|ID-1541|2}}, and steamship ''Taormina''—''Caserta''{{'}}s old Lloyd Italiano line mate—that had sailed the same day from New York.<ref name=C&W-614>Crowell and Wilson, p. 614.</ref> Cruisers {{USS|Pueblo|ACR-7|2}} and {{USS|Huntington|CA-5|2}}, and destroyers {{USS|Rathburne|DD-113|2}} and {{USS|Colhoun|DD-85|2}} ushered the transports to France, where they arrived on 7 August.<ref name=CW-Colhoun>Crowell and Wilson (p. 614) list the destroyer as "''Calhoun''". The only {{USS|Calhoun|1851|6}} ever was a former [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] steamship captured during the [[American Civil War]].</ref> ''Caserta'' arrived back in the United States in late August.<ref name=C&W-614 />

The Italian liner began her next crossing on 30 August when she sailed from Newport News with {{USS|America|ID-3006|6}} and ''Duca d'Aosta'' to join the New York contingent of ''Kroonland'' ''Susquehanna'', {{USS|Harrisburg|ID-1663|2}} and {{USS|Plattsburg|ID-1645|2}}. ''Caserta''{{'}}s convoy was escorted by ''Frederick'' and ''Colhoun''.<ref name=CW-Colhoun /><ref name=CW-616>Crowell and Wilson, p. 616.</ref>

At 20:00 on 7 October, ''Caserta'' departed New York on her fifth Navy voyage with 1,577&nbsp;men—including parts of the Twenty-ninth Engineers—and joined ''Kroonland'' and UK steamship ''Euripides'' in rendezvousing with {{USS|Tenadores|1913|2}}, ''Susquehanna'', ''America'', and UK troopship {{SS|Czar||2}} from Newport News.<ref>29th Engineers: Black, p. 118. Time, date, ships: Crowell and Wilson, p. 618. Date, number of men: Crowell and Wilson, p. 561.</ref> Cruisers {{USS|Seattle|ACR-11|2}} and {{USS|Rochester|ACR-2|2}}, and destroyers {{USS|Murray|DD-97|2}} and ''Fairfax'' served as convoy escorts for the group, which arrived in France on 20 October. ''Caserta'' headed back to New York, arriving there on 9 November.<ref>Crowell and Wilson, p. 618.</ref>

After the [[Armistice with Germany|Armistice]], ''Caserta'' was employed to return troops to the United States. In February 1919, she carried home 1,500 American troops, including the entire 63rd Artillery, Coastal Artillery Corps.<ref>{{cite news | title = 13,000 soldiers are coming home on eight vessels | work = [[Chicago Tribune|Chicago Daily Tribune]] | date = 9 February 1919 | page = 6 }}</ref> John Brown, a [[private (United States)|private]] in the 63rd Artillery kept a diary in which he described his journey home aboard ''Caserta'' in February 1919. Departing from [[Marseille]] in the evening of 6 February, the transport arrived at [[Gibraltar]] three days later, where she anchored to wait for a load of coal for the journey home. After four days, the ship was underway, but again delayed near the [[Azores]] by storms in the Atlantic. Meals on board ''Caserta'' during the trip were not necessarily to the liking of the troops. Twice-a-day servings of "spaghetti, macaroni, or noodles" were interrupted only occasionally by non-pasta meals, such as chicken in honor of [[Washington's Birthday]], on 22 February. The liner, nicknamed the "Macaroni Barge" by the American troops, eventually reached New York on 27 February.<ref>Brown, entries for 6–27 February.</ref> Also on board ''Caserta'' was 60-year-old Private [[Robert W. Louden]] of [[Albuquerque, New Mexico|Albuquerque]], [[New Mexico]]. Louden, a veteran of the [[Spanish–American War]] and the [[Pancho Villa Expedition|Mexican Expedition]], was wounded twice in fighting in France. Contemporary news accounts called him the "oldest American to go through the war".<ref>{{cite news | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/02/28/118144150.pdf | title = Three transports buffeted by gale | work = The New York Times | date = 28 February 1919 | accessdate = 26 June 2008 | page = 8 }}</ref> Another passenger on board was Sultan, a former German messenger dog adopted by two U.S. Army [[captain (United States O-3)|captains]] when they found him in an abandoned German trench near [[Verdun]].<ref>{{cite news | title = Some dogs of war | work = Chicago Daily Tribune | date = 1 March 1919 | page = 7 }}</ref> ''Caserta'' sailed for Gibraltar and Italy on 6 March.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1919/03/06/97080633.pdf | title = Foreign Ports | work = The New York Times | date = 6 March 1919 | accessdate = 26 June 2008 | page = 13 }}</ref>

''Caserta'' made at least one more voyage with American troops when she sailed from Marseille to New York on 22 April.<ref>Morse, p. 82.</ref> Among the 1,500 troops on board when the liner docked in New York on 8 May, were nearly 550 men from the 7th, 50th ("Dutch Girl"), 650th and 658th Aero Squadrons; the [[50th Aero Squadron]] had located the "[[Lost Battalion (World War I)|Lost Battalion]]" in October 1918.<ref>Troops: {{cite news | title = Three transports dock at New York with 2,690 Yanks | work = Chicago Daily Tribune | date = 9 May 1919 | page = 6 }} 50th Aero Squadron: Morse, p. 9.</ref>

== Later career ==
When ''Caserta'' resumed regular passenger service in 1919, she began sailing under the [[Navigazione Generale Italiana]] (NGI) banner; NGI, which previously had a controlling interest in Lloyd Italiano, took over completely in 1918.<ref name=TSL-NGI>{{cite web | url = http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/ngi.html | title = Navigazione Generale Italiana Line | access-date = 24 June 2008 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090122233553/http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/ngi.html | archive-date = 22 January 2009 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> ''Caserta'' resumed New York service in July, which she continued, with occasional calls at [[Philadelphia]], through the end of 1921.<ref>Immigration Information Bureau, pp. 197, 200, 205.</ref>

In 1923, ''Caserta'' was renamed ''Venezuela'' and transferred to La Veloce Navigazione Italiana a Vapore, commonly known as [[La Veloce]], for service between Italy and South America. Transferred back to NGI in 1924, the liner was scrapped in 1928.<ref name=TSL-NGI />

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|2}}

== References ==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Black | first = William Murray | authorlink = William Murray Black | author2 = U.S. Army Engineer School | title = Pamphlet on the Evolution of the Art of Fortification | location = [[Washington, D.C.]] | publisher = [[United States Government Printing Office|Government Printing Office]] | year = 1919 | oclc = 6287280 }}
* {{cite book | last = Brown | first = John | url = http://freepages.military.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cacunithistories/63d_arty_cac.htm | format = convenience copy online | title = The Diary of a Buck: The Personal Record of Private John Brown, His Wanderings with the Sixty-third Artillery, C.A.C., A.E.F., 1918–1919, Including Names and Addresses of Officers and Enlisted Men | location = [[sine loco|s.l.]] | publisher = [[sine nomine|s.n.]] | year = c. 1920 | oclc = 6984135 | accessdate = 2008-06-25 }}
* {{cite book | last = Crowell | first = Benedict | authorlink = Benedict Crowell | author2 = Robert Forrest Wilson | title = The Road to France: The Transportation of Troops and Military Supplies, 1917–1918 | url = https://archive.org/details/roadtofrancetra04wilsgoog | series = How America Went to War: An Account From Official Sources of the Nation's War Activities, 1917–1920 | location = [[New Haven, Connecticut|New Haven]] | publisher = [[Yale University Press]] | year = 1921 | oclc = 18696066 }}
* {{Gleaves}}
* {{cite book | author = Immigration Information Bureau | title = Morton Allan directory of European passenger steamship arrivals for the years 1890 to 1930 at the Port of New York and for the years 1904 to 1926 at the ports of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Baltimore | location = [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]] | publisher = Genealogical Publishing Company | origyear = 1931 | year = 1987 | isbn = 978-0-8063-0830-2 | oclc = 16464579 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/mortonallandirec00balt }}
* {{cite book | last = Morse | first = Daniel Parmelee | title = The history of the 50th aero squadron | url = https://archive.org/details/historythaerosq00morsgoog | location = New York | publisher = Blanchard Press | year = 1920 | oclc = 2660896 }}
* {{cite book | last = Pollard | first = James E. | title = The Forty-Seventh Infantry: A History, 1917–1918, 1919 | location = [[Saginaw, Michigan]] | publisher = Press of Seeman & Peters | year = 1919 | oclc = 3067517 }}
{{Refend}}

* [https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/61174 National Archives and Records Administration.  U.S. Army Transport Service Arriving and Departing Passenger Lists, 1910-1939, Outgoing, Caserta, 16 Mar 1918-26 Jul 1918]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caserta}}
[[Category:Ocean liners]]
[[Category:Ships built on the River Tyne]]
[[Category:World War I passenger ships of Italy]]
[[Category:Troop ships of the United States]]
[[Category:1904 ships]]
[[Category:Ships built by Armstrong Whitworth]]