View source for USS West Carnifax

{{Short description|Cargo ship in United states navy}}
{{use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
|+USS ''West Carnifax'' (ID-3812)
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=[[File:SS West Carnifax in port.jpg|300px|''West Carnifax'' in port after [[World War I]]]]
|Ship caption=''West Carnifax'' in port after [[World War I]]
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1919}}
|Ship name=*1919–1929: ''West Carnifax''
*1928–1933: ''Exford''
*1933–1943: ''Pan Royal''
|Ship owner=*1919–c. 1928: [[United States Shipping Board|US Shipping Board]]
*1928–1933: [[Export Steamship Corporation|Export Steamship Corp.]]
*1933–1943: [[Pan Atlantic Steamship Company|Pan Atlantic Steamship Co.]]
|Ship operator=*1925–1927: [[American Republics Line]]
*1928–1933: [[American Export Lines]]
*1933: [[Shepard Line]]
*1934–1943: [[Pan Atlantic Steamship Company|Pan Atlantic Steamship Co.]]

|Ship builder=*[[Southwestern Shipbuilding]]
*[[San Pedro, California]]
|Ship yard number=1<ref name=Colton>{{cite web |last=Colton |first=Tim |url=http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/bethsanpedro.htm |title=Bethlehem Steel Company, San Pedro CA |website=Shipbuilding History |publisher=The Colton Company |access-date=2008-09-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080922162859/http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/bethsanpedro.htm |archive-date=22 September 2008}} [[Bethlehem Steel]] purchased [[Southwestern Shipbuilding]] in 1925.</ref>
|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=19 October 1918<ref name=Miramar>{{csr |id=2217373 |shipname=West Carnifax |register=MSI |access-date=2008-09-08}}</ref>
|Ship sponsor=Miss Marcoreta Hellman<ref name=LAT-four_world>{{cite news |title=Four world's records broken |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=20 October 1918 |page=II-1}}</ref>
|Ship completed=January 1919<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship acquired=January 1919<ref name=DANFS>{{cite DANFS |title=West Carnifax |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/w/west-carnifax.html}}</ref>
|Ship commissioned=31 December 1918<ref name=DANFS />
|Ship identification=[[Official Number]]: 217373<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship fate=Sunk in collision, 9 February 1943
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Ship type=[[Cargo ship]]
|Ship tonnage=*{{GRT|5,799}}<ref name=Miramar />
*{{DWT|8,594|unit=long}}<ref name=LAT-shipping_board>{{cite news |title=Shipping Board approves sale |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=27 March 1929 |page=13}}</ref>
|Ship displacement=12,200 t<ref name=DANFS />
|Ship length=*{{convert|410|ft|5|in|m|abbr=on}} ([[length between perpendiculars|LPP]])<ref name=Miramar />
*{{convert|427|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} ([[length overall|LOA]])<ref name=DANFS />
|Ship beam={{convert|54|ft|6|in|m|0|abbr=on}}<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship hold depth=
|Ship draft={{convert|24|ft|1|in|m|abbr=on}} ([[mean]])<ref name=DANFS />
|Ship propulsion=1 × [[triple-expansion steam engine]]<ref name=Miramar />
|Ship speed={{convert|10.5|kn}}<ref name=DANFS />
|Ship capacity=
|Ship complement=83 (as USS ''West Carnifax'')<ref name=DANFS />
|Ship crew=
|Ship armament=None<ref name=DANFS />
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''West Carnifax'' (ID-3812)''' was a [[cargo ship]] in the [[United States Navy]] shortly after [[World War I]]. After she was decommissioned from the Navy, the ship was known as '''SS ''West Carnifax''''', '''SS ''Exford''''', and '''SS ''Pan Royal''''' (or sometimes '''''Pan-Royal''''') in civilian service under American [[ship registry|registry]].

''West Carnifax'' was one of the ''West'' boats, a series of steel-[[hull (watercraft)|hull]]ed cargo ships built for the [[United States Shipping Board]] (USSB) on the [[West Coast of the United States]]. The ship was the first ship built at [[Southwestern Shipbuilding]] in [[San Pedro, California]], and was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] in October 1918 and delivered to the US Navy upon completion in late December. After commissioning, ''West Carnifax'' sailed from California with a load of [[wheat flour]] for the [[East Coast of the United States]] and, from there, to Europe. When she docked at [[Hamburg]], [[Germany]], in March 1919, she became the first American ship to dock at Hamburg since before the start of World War I. At the conclusion of her trip to Germany she was decommissioned and returned to the USSB.

''West Carnifax'' sailed to European ports for a time and in [[South America]]n service for the [[American Republics Line]] while under USSB ownership. After her sale for operation by the [[American Export Lines]] in 1928, she began sailing in Mediterranean service. After a rename to SS ''Exford'' later in 1928, she was used on a cargo service to [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Black Sea]] ports, and became the first American ship to dock in the Soviet Union since World War I. After a brief stint in intercoastal service, the ship was renamed ''Pan Royal'' in 1933 for service with a subsidiary of the [[Waterman Steamship Company]]. In convoy sailing during [[World War II]], ''Pan Royal'' made two roundtrips between the United States and the [[United Kingdom]], and one roundtrip to [[North Africa]]. At the beginning of her second voyage to Africa in February 1943, ''Pan Royal'' was accidentally rammed by two other convoy ships and sunk. Eight crewmen died in the accident.

== Design and construction ==
The ''West'' ships were [[cargo ship]]s of similar size and design built by several shipyards on the [[West Coast of the United States]] for the USSB for emergency use during [[World War I]]. All were given names that began with the word ''West'', like ''West Carnifax'',<ref name=CW-358>Crowell and Wilson, pp. 358–59.</ref> the first of some 18 ''West'' ships built by Southwestern Shipbuilding.<ref name=Colton />

''West Carnifax'' (Southwestern Shipbuilding No. 1)<ref name=Colton /> was [[keel laying|laid down]] on 17 July as the first ship of the new Southwestern Shipbuilding shipyard. She was [[ship naming and launching|launched]] at 09:30 on 19 October 1918 by sponsor Marcoreta Hellman, the six-year-old daughter of yard superintendent Marco Hellman.<ref name=LAT-four_world /><ref group=Note>''West Carnifax''{{'}}s [[ship naming and launching|launching ceremony]] had been delayed by seven days by the [[Emergency Fleet Corporation]] for public health considerations: public gatherings had been banned in order to combat the spread of [[Spanish flu]]. When the ceremony did take place, it was before a private crowd; the invitations of guests had all been withdrawn.</ref> When ''West Carnifax'' was delivered to the [[United States Navy]] upon completion in late December,<ref name=DANFS /> the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' heralded the 134-workday completion time as a "world record" for the completion of a new ship in a new shipyard.<ref name=LAT-four_world />

''West Carnifax'' was {{GRT|5,799|disp=long}},<ref name=Miramar /> and was {{convert|410|ft|5|in|m}} long ([[length between perpendiculars|between perpendiculars]]) and {{convert|54|ft|6|in|m}} [[beam (nautical)|abeam]]. ''West Carnifax'' had a steel [[hull (watercraft)|hull]], a [[mean]] [[draft (hull)|draft]] of {{convert|24|ft|1|in|m}},<ref name=DANFS /> and a [[displacement (ship)|displacement]] of 12,211 t. The ship had a single [[triple-expansion steam engine]] that drove a single [[screw propeller]], and moved the ship at up to {{convert|10.5|kn}}.<ref name=Miramar />

== Military career ==
USS ''West Carnifax'' (ID-3812) was [[ship commissioning|commissioned]] into the [[Naval Overseas Transportation Service]] (NOTS) at San Pedro, California, on 31 December 1918. ''West Carnifax'' sailed from San Pedro on 4 January 1919 for [[San Francisco, California|San Francisco]],<ref>{{cite news |title=West Carnifax in commission |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=5 January 1919 |pages=1–11}}</ref> where she took on an initial load of flour.{{#tag:ref|Many ''West'' ships, to avoid sailing empty to the [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]], loaded grain products intended for the United Kingdom, France, and Italy and sailed to Europe without unloading or transferring their cargo. This avoided extra handling of the cargo and the [[United States Shipping Board]], by prior arrangement, then received an equivalent amount of cargo space in foreign ships for other American cargos.<ref name=CW-358 />|group=Note}} She sailed for [[Norfolk, Virginia]], on 31 January, and arrived at [[Hampton Roads, Virginia|Hampton Roads]] on 15 March.<ref name=DANFS />

[[File:West Carnifax in European port.jpg|thumb|right|''West Carnifax'' docked at a [[Europe]]an port, c. 1919]]
Setting out four days later, ''West Carnifax'' was slated to sail to [[Danzig]] via [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]] and the [[Hook of Holland]], but was diverted en route.<ref name=DANFS /> When she arrived at her new destination of [[Hamburg]] on 25 March,<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |title=American Ship with Food for Germans at Hamburg |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=27 March 1919 |page=2}}</ref> she became the first American ship to dock in that city since before [[World War I]] had begun over {{frac|4|1|2}} years before.<ref>{{cite news |title=First ship in Hun port |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=4 May 1919 |page=II-1}}</ref> When she had completed unloading her cargo of flour, noted as the "choicest California flour" by onlookers,<ref>{{cite news |title=Wheat from America curiosity to Huns |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=3 April 1919 |page=I-5}}</ref> she sailed for [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]] by way of [[Plymouth]] on 2 April. On 9 May, four days after her arrival at New Orleans, ''West Carnifax'' was decommissioned and returned to the USSB.<ref name=DANFS />

== Interwar years ==
Incomplete information is available regarding ''West Carnifax''{{'}}s activities after her return to the USSB in 1919. One incident of note was reported in ''[[The New York Times]]'' in February 1922. The news item reported that ''West Carnifax'', while heading from [[Rotterdam]] to [[Galveston, Texas]], ran short of provisions and fuel and had to be towed into [[New York City|New York]] by [[United States Coast Guard]] cutter {{USCGC|Tampa|WPG-48}}.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1922/02/19/103580100.pdf|title=Towing West Carnifax to New York |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=19 February 1922 |page=6}}</ref> By late 1923, ''West Carnifax'' had been laid up at [[Norfolk, Virginia]], but was reactivated and reconditioned in February 1924.<ref>{{cite news |title=Additional freighters for Pacific |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=27 February 1924 |page=A10}}</ref> In early 1925, ''West Carnifax'' had begun sailing for [[American Republics Lines]],<ref>{{cite news |title=Shipping and Mails |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=24 October 1926 |page = 27}}</ref> a USSB-owned line that sailed in [[South American]] service.<ref>{{cite web |title=American Republic Lines |url=http://www.moore-mccormack.com/The-Company/American-Republics-Line-Service.htm |website=Moore-McCormack |access-date=2008-09-08}}</ref><ref group=Note>[[American Republics Lines]] later became a subsidiary of [[Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc.]]</ref> ''West Carnifax'' sailed in this service into 1927 and called at ports like [[Buenos Aires]] and [[Santos (São Paulo)|Santos]].<!-- Buenos Aires --><ref>{{cite news |title=Shipping and Mails |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=9 February 1925 |page=35}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Shipping and Mails |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=21 February 1927 |page=35}}</ref><!-- Santos, 1927 -->

In early 1928, ''West Carnifax'' was sold to the Export Steamship Corporation for operation under their [[American Export Lines]] brand.<ref name=DANFS /> In the first half of that year, ''West Carnifax'' was sailing in New York – [[Mediterranean]] service.<ref>{{cite news |title=Shipping and Mails |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=17 July 1928 |page=42}}</ref> While near the [[Azores]] sailing from [[Alexandria]], [[Egypt]], to [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] in October, ''West Carnifax'' responded to an [[SOS]] from the American [[Tanker (ship)|tanker]] {{SS|David C. Reid||2}} which reported being in trouble during a storm. According to a report in the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'', when the cargo ship arrived at the specified location after steaming overnight, no trace of the crew was found; only oil slicks and a floating vegetable box were found on the surface.<ref>{{cite news |title=Clews hint tanker and crew sank |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=25 October 1928 |page=1}}</ref> In October the following year, under her new name of SS ''Exford'',<ref name=Miramar /> the ship docked at the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[Black Sea]] port of [[Novorossiysk]] to deliver a cargo of machinery and became the first American ship to dock at a Soviet port since the end of World War I.<ref name=AC-UScargo>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |title=U. S. Cargo Ship Reaches Russia with Machinery |newspaper=[[The Atlanta Constitution]] |date=10 October 1929 |page=12}}</ref> ''Exford'' remained in Black Sea service into 1931.<ref>{{cite news |title=4 full Cargoes go to Russia in Month |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/01/03/archives/4-full-cargoes-go-to-russia-in-month-export-lines-soviet-contract.html |url-access=subscription |date=3 January 1931 |page=36}}</ref>

[[File:1939 USSR Pavilion.png|thumb|left|upright|"Big Joe", the figure with the red star ''(center)'' in front of the Soviet Pavilion at the [[1939 New York World's Fair|New York World's Fair]], was returned to the [[Soviet Union]] by ''Pan Royal''.]]
In August 1933, the ''Los Angeles Times'' reported that the [[Shepard Line]] had secured a year-long [[ship chartering|charter]] of ''Exford'' for their expanded intercoastal service between North Atlantic ports and the Pacific ports of Los Angeles; San Francisco; [[Portland, Oregon]]; and [[Seattle, Washington|Seattle]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Drake |first=Waldo |title=Shipping news and activities at Los Angeles Harbor |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=15 August 1933 |page=A11}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Drake |first=Waldo |title=Shipping news and activities at Los Angeles Harbor |newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=30 August 1933 |page=11}}</ref> Later in 1933, the ship was renamed ''Pan Royal'' to reflect the naming style of her new owners, the Pan-Atlantic Steamship Company, a subsidiary of [[Waterman Steamship Company]].<!--date, new name --><ref name=Miramar /><ref name=NYT-steamers>{{cite news |title=Steamers crash in fog off Cape |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/09/25/archives/steamers-crash-in-fog-off-cape-liner-laconia-rips-hole-in-side-of.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=25 September 1934 |page=45 |url-access=subscription }}</ref><!-- owners --> The Pan-Atlantic Line sailed in coastal service along the [[Atlantic]] and [[Gulf Coast of the United States|Gulf]] coasts, and it is likely that ''Pan Royal'' called at typical Pan-Atlantic ports such as [[Baltimore, Maryland|Baltimore]], [[Miami, Florida|Miami]], [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]], [[New Orleans, Louisiana|New Orleans]], [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]], New York, and [[Boston, Massachusetts|Boston]] from this time.<ref>de la Pedraja Tomán, p. 564.</ref>

At 03:50 on 24 September 1934, [[Cunard Line|Cunard-White Star]] ocean liner {{RMS|Laconia|1921|6}} collided with ''Pan Royal'' in a thick fog off the tip of [[Cape Cod]].<ref group=Note>US Navy submarine {{USS|S-4|SS-109|2}} had sunk in almost the exact spot in 1927.</ref> ''Pan Royal'' developed a leak and had to return to Boston, from which she had left for [[Galveston, Texas]], the previous day. ''Laconia'', leaving Boston after debarking 225 passengers, also had damage but proceeded to her destination of New York under her own power. No one was injured on either ship.<ref name=NYT-steamers /> Elvar R. Callaway, [[master mariner|master]] of ''Pan Royal'', claimed that ''Laconia'' could have avoided the collision by proper steering; ''Laconia''{{'}}s master, B. B. Orum, contended that the collision was unavoidable because of the "impenetrable haze".<ref>{{cite news |agency=[[Associated Press]] |title=Skippers differ on Laconia crash |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1934/09/26/archives/skippers-differ-on-laconia-crash-pan-royal-captain-testifies-at.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 September 1934 |page=43 |url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In November 1939, ''Pan Royal'' was one of 21 ships that had been idled because of a [[strike action|strike]] by 5,000 [[longshoremen]] in New York.<ref>{{cite news |title=5,000 pier strikers back on their jobs |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/11/21/archives/5000-pier-strikers-back-on-their-jobs-two-of-twentyone-idle-ships.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=21 November 1939 |page=47 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> In June the following year, ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' reported that ''Pan Royal'' had been engaged to return "Big Joe" to the Soviet Union. "Big Joe" was a nickname given to the {{convert|79|ft|m|adj=mid|tall}} Soviet worker holding a red star in his up-stretched hand. The statue had graced the column in front of the Soviet Socialist Republics Building at the [[1939 New York World's Fair|New York World's Fair]] during the 1939 fair season.<ref name=CSM-big_joe>{{cite news |title='Big Joe' wins 'moral embargo' case, Russia retrieves him from Hoboken |newspaper=[[The Christian Science Monitor]] |date=7 June 1940 |page=1}}</ref> The Soviet pavilion was dismantled prior to the 1940 fair season after popular American opinion turned against the Soviet Union because of its November 1939 [[Winter War|invasion of Finland]].<ref>Swift, pp. 378–79.</ref> As part of the dismantling, "Big Joe" had been warehoused in [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], but prevented from export by a [[United States Maritime Commission]] ruling enforcing a "moral embargo" that prohibited the charter of American ships on behalf of the Soviet Union.<ref name=CSM-big_joe />

== World War II ==
[[File:Atlantic convoy, 1942.jpg|thumb|right|SS ''Pan Royal'' sailed in 4 transatlantic convoys like this typical one, seen in 1942.]]
In June 1942, seven months after the United States had entered [[World War II]], ''Pan Royal'' made two roundtrips in transatlantic convoys between Boston and the [[United Kingdom]] via [[City of Halifax|Halifax]]. While in the UK during her second visit, the ship had called at [[Belfast Lough]], [[Barry, Vale of Glamorgan|Barry]], and [[Milford Haven]] before returning to New York in October. In mid November, ''Pan Royal'' sailed from Hampton Roads, Virginia, to [[Casablanca]], and returned in mid-January 1943.<ref name=CPDB>{{cite web |title=Port Arrivals/Departures |url=http://convoyweb.org.uk/ports/index.html?search.php?vessel=PAN+ROYAL~armain |author=Arnold Hague Ports Database |website=Convoy Web |access-date=2008-09-08}}</ref>

On 7 February 1943, ''Pan Royal'' departed Hampton Roads in Convoy UGS-5 for [[North Africa]].<ref>{{cite AHCD |convoytype=UGS |convoynumber=5 |access-date=2008-09-08}}</ref> Two days out, ''Pan Royal'' was accidentally rammed by both the [[Norway|Norwegian]] cargo ship ''Evita'' and the American [[Liberty ship]] {{SS|George Davis||2}}. ''Pan Royal'' sank at position {{coord|36|40|N|67|20|W|display=inline,title}} with the loss of eight men. Her 54 survivors were rescued by US Navy destroyer {{USS|Boyle|DD-600}}.<ref>Cressman, p. 146.</ref>

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=Note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Bibliography ==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book | last = Cressman | first = Robert | url = https://archive.org/details/TheOfficialChronologyOfTheUSNavyInWorldWarII | title = The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II | chapter = Chapter V: 1943 | chapter-url = http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-1943.html | location = Annapolis, Maryland | publisher = Naval Institute Press | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-1-55750-149-3 | oclc = 41977179 | url-access = registration }}
* {{cite book | last = Crowell | first = Benedict | author-link = 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 }}
* {{cite book | last = de la Pedraja Tomán | first = René | title = A Historical Dictionary of the U.S. Merchant Marine and Shipping Industry: Since the Introduction of Steam | chapter = Waterman Steamship Corporation | location = [[Westport, Connecticut]] | publisher = [[Greenwood Press]] | year = 1994 | isbn = 978-0-313-27225-7 | oclc = 29311518 }}
* {{cite DANFS | author = Naval Historical Center | author-link = Naval Historical Center | title = West Carnifax | url = http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/w5/west_bridge.htm | access-date = 2008-09-08 }}
* {{cite book| last = Stringer | first = Harry R. | title = The Navy Book of Distinguished Service | url = https://archive.org/details/navybookdisting00strigoog | location = Washington, D.C. | publisher = Fassett Pub. Co | year = 1921 | oclc = 2654351}}
* {{cite journal | last = Swift | first = Anthony | title = The Soviet World of Tomorrow at the New York World's Fair, 1939 | journal = [[The Russian Review]] | volume = 57 | issue = 3 |date=July 1998 | pages = 364–379 | publisher = Blackwell Publishing | doi = 10.1111/1467-9434.00029 | oclc = 207428826 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
* {{navsource|12/173812|West Carnifax}}

{{Design 1019 ships}}
{{February 1943 shipwrecks}}
{{good article}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:West Carnifax}}
[[Category:Design 1019 ships]]
[[Category:Design 1019 ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:1918 ships]]
[[Category:World War I merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War I auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in February 1943]]