SS ''Maverick'' was an

oil tanker An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined c ...

built in 1890 for the

Standard Oil of New York Mobil is a petroleum brand owned and operated by American oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil. The brand was formerly owned and operated by an oil and gas corporation of the same name, which itself merged with Exxon to form ExxonMobil in 1999. ...

, later Mobil Oil. After the ship had changed hands sometime between 1910 and 1915, it was used during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

as part of the

Hindu–German Conspiracy The Indo–German Conspiracy#Note on the name, (Note on the name) was a series of attempts between 1914 and 1917 by Indian nationalist movement, Indian nationalist groups to create a Pan-Indian rebellion against the British Empire during Wor ...

to foment rebellion in

India India, officially the Republic of India ( Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the ...

and overthrow the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi language, Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Q ...

. According to one source, the ship sank in 1917.

History

SS ''Maverick'' was laid down at the Columbian Iron Works in

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

as a tanker for

, and delivered in May 1890. On 17 July 1899, ''Maverick'' caught fire while unloading a cargo of oil at

Halifax Halifax commonly refers to: *Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada * Halifax, West Yorkshire, England *Halifax (bank), a British bank Halifax may also refer to: Places Australia *Halifax, Queensland, a coastal town in the Shire of Hinchinbrook *Halifax ...

. A subsequent explosion ripped a hole in the side of the steam tanker, which sank at its pier. By 1907 the ship had been repaired and was back in service, and by 1910 had been equipped with a 2½ kW radio with a range of . At some point between 1910 and 1915, the ship was sold to the Maverick Steamship Company. According to one period source, in April 1915 the ship had been chartered to one F. Jebsen, who was an officer in the

Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...

. Jebsen was also the master of , a ship that had been suspected of secretly resupplying the German

light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to thi ...

SMS ''Leipzig'' in August 1914. On 20 April 1915 rumors that ''Maverick'' was loading ammunition at Los Angeles reached a

United States Customs Service The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected borde ...

agent, who ordered an inspection. By the time the order was issued, however, ''Maverick'' had weighed anchor and sailed to

Long Beach Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California. Incorporated ...

and entered a

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, ...

there. On 22 April 1915, she sailed under a Captain Starr-Hunt from

San Pedro, California San Pedro ( ; Spanish: "St. Peter") is a neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles, California. Formerly a separate city, it consolidated with Los Angeles in 1909. The Port of Los Angeles, a major international seaport, is partially located wi ...

with a crew of 25 plus five so-called "

Persia Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...

ns". However these were in fact Indians and included Hari Singh who carried with him quantities of

Ghadar Party The Ghadar Movement was an early 20th century, international political movement founded by expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India. The early movement was created by conspirators who lived and worked on the West Coast of the United ...

literature. The ship was to rendezvous with the

schooner A schooner () is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: fore-and-aft rigged on all of two or more masts and, in the case of a two-masted schooner, the foremast generally being shorter than the mainmast. A common variant, the topsail schoo ...

Annie Larsen The ''Annie Larsen'' was a three-masted schooner that was involved in arms shipment in the so-called "Hindu German Conspiracy" during World War I. ''Annie Larsen'' was built by the Hall Brothers in 1881. She was owned by James Tufts, of San Fran ...

'' at the island of Socorro, with the intention of transferring a quantity of arms to the ''Maverick''. However, when the ''Annie Larsen'' failed to appear, the ''Maverick'' continued to

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mo ...

via

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the islan ...

. The ''Annie Larsen'' eventually appeared in

Hoquiam, Washington Hoquiam ( ) is a city in Grays Harbor County, Washington, United States. It borders the city of Aberdeen at Myrtle Street, with Hoquiam to the west. The two cities share a common economic history in lumbering and exporting, but Hoquiam has mainta ...

, where United States authorities seized its cargo. The ''Maverick'' continued to Jakarta, arriving there towards the end of August. She attracted attention, on account of the five

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism (Sikhi), a monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ' ...

s she had on board. The ''Maverick'' remained in Jakarta until the end of the war. According to one source, the tanker sank in 1917.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maverick Hindu–German Conspiracy Indian independence movement Indian-American history Revolutionary movement for Indian independence Tankers of the United States Ghadar Party 1890 ships Ships built in Baltimore Oil tankers Ships of ExxonMobil