USS ''Merak'' (AF-21), the second Navy ship of the name, was the
United Fruit Company cargo and passenger liner ''Veragua'' that served as a
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
''Veragua'' was built for United Fruit's subsidiary United Mail Steamship Company by
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, Fore River Plant, Quincy, Massachusetts. The ship was one of six nearly identical ships with three each built by
Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company
Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS), a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, is the largest industrial employer in Virginia, and sole designer, builder and refueler of United States Navy aircraft carriers and one of two providers of U.S. Navy ...
and Bethlehem Shipbuilding.
The ships were designed to take advantage of U.S. subsidies, including mail contracts, and designated by the line as its "Mail class" vessels to meet the company's primary purpose of refrigerated banana transport with passenger and mail being important sources of revenue. ''Veragua'', launched 23 April 1932 and delivered 5 August was one of three ships assigned to the company's Atlantic routes to Panama allowing an intercoastal connection with the three ships assigned to the Pacific.
''Veragua'' was delivered to the
War Shipping Administration
The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...
(WSA) in March 1942 for wartime operation under
bareboat charter
A bareboat charter or demise charter is an arrangement for the chartering or hiring of a ship or boat, whereby no crew or provisions are included as part of the agreement; instead, the people who rent the vessel from the owner are responsible f ...
. The Navy acquired the ship from WSA under sub bareboat charter at the same time, commissioning the ship 8 May 1942 as ''Merak'' designated AF-21 after modifications were made for wartime naval service. The ship served in the Atlantic throughout the war. After decommissioning of ''Merak'' in June 1946 ''Veragua'' was reconverted to commercial operations and then returned to the company for resumption of service on a similar route as before the war. The ship, with two sister ships, was transferred to its British subsidiary
Elders and Fyffes to be renamed ''Sinaloa'' operating until 1965 when the ship was scrapped.
Construction
''Veragua'', named for a mountain range in Panama, was the last of six nearly identical ships, the first being , launched for the United Mail Steamship Company, a United Fruit Company subsidiary.
[The last ship delivered was ''Peten'' due to it burning during final fitting out under its original name, ''Segovia''. The ship was rebuilt as a different yard hull number and renamed with delivery on 24 February 1933.] The six ships were built to a common design by two builders, Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company and Bethlehem Shipbuilding. Newport News Shipbuilding built ''Talamanca'', and . The other Bethlehem ships were and .
United Fruit's primary business was transport of bananas from Central and South America with passengers, mail and general cargo as important components. The design was thus driven by the special requirements of a refrigerated fruit carrier, in effect an enhanced
"banana boat", in which refrigeration and banana handling capability was incorporated in the basic design. An expensive feature, required by the government for loans, was the "two compartment" rule requiring the ship to stay afloat with any two compartments flooded. The ships were subdivided into nine compartments by eight watertight bulkheads. As a result of shorter compartments more refrigeration equipment was required driving costs and requiring larger ships than the former "banana boats" for the same amount of fruit cargo. Sixteen refrigerated cargo compartments were located in two cork insulated holds forward and two aft of the central superstructure with York Ice Machinery Corporation refrigeration units located below the
orlop deck
The orlop is the lowest deck in a ship (except for very old ships). It is the deck or part of a deck where the cables are stowed, usually below the water line.
According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', the word descends from Dutch
Dut ...
aft.
[ The company designated the ships as its "Mail class" due to their design to meet requirements for mail carriage subsidies.]
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Quincy, Massachusetts
Quincy ( ) is a coastal U.S. city in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest city in the county and a part of Greater Boston, Metropolitan Boston as one of Boston's immediate southern suburbs. Its population in 2020 was 1 ...
built the ship as yard hull 1446 with launch on 23 April 1932 and delivery in August 1932. Design was based on ''Antigua'', the first of the ships from Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation, with slight variance from the Newport News implementation. Specifications were , length between perpendiculars of and on designed waterline. Beam of with a design draft, molded of and depth, molded to upper deck of . Displacement tonnage to the designed waterline was 10,928, gross 7,035.12 and net 3,523 with cargo capacities of 240,070 cubic feet refrigerated space in two holds forward, two aft and two special low temperature holds aft with 5,370 cubic feet of mail and baggage storage. Normal service speed of 17.5 knots was achieved by two turbo-electric transmission
A turbo-electric transmission uses electric generators to convert the mechanical energy of a turbine (steam or gas) into electric energy, which then powers electric motors and converts back into mechanical energy that power the driveshafts.
Tur ...
with of 10,500 normal shaft horsepower and some of the ships reached 19 knots during trials.[
''Veragua'' was registered with U.S. Official Number 231755, signal KDCT at , , registry length of , beam, depth, 10,500 horsepower, 103 crew with home port of New York and owner as United Mail Steamship Company.]
Commercial service
''Veragua'' was delivered 5 August 1932 and made her maiden voyage on 11 August to Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. , Kingston
Kingston may refer to:
Places
* List of places called Kingston, including the five most populated:
** Kingston, Jamaica
** Kingston upon Hull, England
** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia
** Kingston, Ontario, Canada
** Kingston upon Thames, ...
, Cristobal and Limón. Scheduled sailings for January through March 1933 show ''Veragua'' along with ''Quirigua'' and ''Peten'' operating on a New York, Havana, Kingston, Cristobal, Limón and return to New York omitting Kingston as a port of call. The other three, ''Antigua'', ''Talamanca'' and ''Chiriqui'' meanwhile operated on a San Francisco to Balboa route with return to San Francisco via Puerto Armuelles
Puerto Armuelles is a city and Corregimientos of Panama, corregimiento on Panama's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast in western Chiriquí Province adjacent to Costa Rica. It is the seat of the Barú District, Chiriquí, Barú District and the second-l ...
and Los Angeles. An intercoastal service for passengers and cargo was formed by the ships connecting in Panama. That schedule remained through 1936. In January 1939 all the ships operated on the New York to Panama route.
On 2 February 1940 naval historian Samuel E. Morison
Samuel Eliot Morison (July 9, 1887 – May 15, 1976) was an American historian noted for his works of maritime history and American history that were both authoritative and popular. He received his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1912, and tau ...
and his Harvard Columbus Expedition returned to New York aboard ''Veragua'' after retracing the voyages of Christopher Columbus since the previous August.
US Navy service
On 20 March 1942 United Fruit delivered ''Veragua'' to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) at New Orleans under bareboat charter. Simultaneously the Navy acquired the ship under sub bareboat charter.[ The ship was converted to naval use by ]Todd Pacific Shipyards
Vigor Shipyards is the current entity operating the former Todd Shipyards after its acquisition in 2011. Todd Shipyards was founded in 1916, which owned and operated shipyards on the West Coast of the United States, East Coast of the United St ...
of Galveston, Texas
Galveston ( ) is a coastal resort city and port off the Southeast Texas coast on Galveston Island and Pelican Island in the U.S. state of Texas. The community of , with a population of 47,743 in 2010, is the county seat of surrounding Galvesto ...
and commissioned ''Merak'', designated AF-21, on 8 May 1942, commanded by Cmdr L.E. Divoll.
shakedown
Shakedown may refer to:
* Shakedown (continuum mechanics), a type of plastic deformation
* Shakedown (testing) or a shakedown cruise, a period of testing undergone by a ship, airplane or other craft before being declared operational
* Extortion, ...
training began on her maiden Navy voyage to Charleston, South Carolina
Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
. By 20 March 1943 she completed 10 voyages in convoy from east coast ports to Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
islands. She then made one supply voyage to Reykjavík, Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, arriving on 10 April. She then made two short deliveries to Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
before making her first transatlantic
Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to:
Film
* Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950
* Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s
* ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film), ...
crossing in July, delivering men, mail, and stores in Algeria
)
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, relig ...
, North Africa. Between further Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
trips, ''Merak'' voyaged to both Sicily
(man) it, Siciliana (woman)
, population_note =
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and Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
before the end of 1943.[
She continued Caribbean sailings and transatlantic voyages until February 1945, including four crossings from ]Bayonne, New Jersey
Bayonne ( ) is a city in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. Located in the Gateway Region, Bayonne is situated on a peninsula located between Newark Bay to the west, the Kill Van Kull to the south, and New York Bay to the east. As of ...
, to Italian ports. After a brief drydock
A dry dock (sometimes drydock or dry-dock) is a narrow basin or vessel that can be flooded to allow a load to be floated in, then drained to allow that load to come to rest on a dry platform. Dry docks are used for the construction, maintenance, ...
ing she supplied ships and bases from Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
to Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
. On her last voyage to Reykjavík, on 14 July 1946 a blizzard blew her ashore while anchored at Argentia, Newfoundland
Argentia ( ) is a Canadian commercial seaport and industrial park located in the Town of Placentia, Newfoundland and Labrador. It is situated on the southwest coast of the Avalon Peninsula and defined by a triangular shaped headland which re ...
. She was freed by tugs and completed her voyage. She then made two more trips to San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan (, , ; Spanish for "Saint John") is the capital city and most populous municipality in the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2020 census, it is the 57th-largest city under the jur ...
, and Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
before being released by the Navy.[
''Merak''’s crew were awarded the following medals: American Campaign Medal, Europe-Africa-Middle East Campaign Medal and World War II Victory Medal.]
Post-war commercial service
On 21 June 1946 ''Merak'' was decommissioned at New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
and returned the ship to WSA. ''Veragua'' was then operated by United Fruit as WSA's agent under a General Agency Agreement to be converted back to commercial service and then returned to the company on 8 January 1948.[ The April to December 1950 schedule shows the ship on a New Orleans, Havana, Puerto Barrios and direct return to New Orleans with 1952 showing New Orleans, Cristobal, Tela and direct return to New Orleans.][
]
Sale
In December 1958 United Fruit transferred ''Veragua'' and her sisters ''Quirigua'' and ''Talamanca'' to its British subsidiary Elders and Fyffes, which changed ''Veragua''s name to SS ''Sinaloa''. She was scrapped in Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
, Belgium in 1965.[
]
Footnotes
References
*
External links
NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive - AF-21 Merak
{{DEFAULTSORT:Merak (AF-21), USS
1932 ships
Ships built in Quincy, Massachusetts
Ships of the United Fruit Company
Mizar-class stores ships