SS Minnesotan

SS Minnesotan
History
Name	SS Minnesotan
Owner	American-Hawaiian Steamship Company
Ordered	September 1911[4]
Builder	Maryland Steel Sparrows Point, Maryland
Cost	$668,000[5]
Yard number	124[2]
Launched	8 June 1912[3]
Sponsored by	Lubelle Shepard[3]
Completed	September 1912[2]
Identification	U.S. official number: 210534[1]
Fate	Expropriated by U.S. Army, 1 June 1917
United States
Name	USAT Minnesotan
Acquired	11 September 1917[6]
Fate	Transferred to U.S. Navy, 23 August 1918[6]
United States
Name	USS Minnesotan (ID-4545)
Acquired	23 August 1918
Commissioned	23 August 1918
Decommissioned	21 August 1919
Fate	Returned to American-Hawaiian
Name	1919–49: SS Minnesotan 1949–52: SS Maria Luisa R.
Owner	1919–49: American-Hawaiian Steamship Co. 1949–52: S.A.R.G.A. SpA [1]
Port of registry	1919–49: New York 1949–52: Genoa
Fate	Scrapped at Bari, 1952
General characteristics
Type	Cargo ship
Tonnage	6,617 GRT[5] 10,175 LT DWT[5]
Length	407 ft 7 in (124.23 m) (LPP)[1] 429 ft 9 in (130.99 m) (overall)[6]
Beam	53 ft 6 in (16.31 m)[6]
Draft	28 ft 1 in (8.56 m)[6]
Depth of hold	39 ft 6 in (12.04 m)[8]
Propulsion	oil-fired boilers[7] 1 × quadruple-expansion steam engine[1] 1 × screw propeller[7]
Speed	14.85 knots (27.50 km/h)[6]
Capacity	Cargo: 490,838 cubic feet (13,899.0 m3)[5]
Crew	18 officers, 40 crewmen
Notes	Sister ships: Dakotan, Montanan, Pennsylvanian, Panaman, Washingtonian, Iowan, Ohioan[2]
General characteristics (as USS Minnesotan)
Complement	88[6]
Armament	1 × 4-inch (100 mm) gun 1 × 3-inch (76 mm) gun[6]

SS Minnesotan was a cargo ship built in 1912 for the American-Hawaiian Steamship Company. During World War I she was known as USAT Minnesotan in service for the United States Army and USS Minnesotan (ID-4545) in service for the United States Navy. She ended her career as the SS Maria Luisa R. under Italian ownership. She was built by the Maryland Steel Company as one of eight sister ships for American-Hawaiian, and was employed in inter-coastal service via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Panama Canal after it opened.

In World War I, USAT Minnesotan carried cargo and animals to France under charter to the U.S. Army from September 1917. When she was transferred to the U.S. Navy in August 1918, USS Minnesotan continued to undertake the same duties; after the Armistice she was converted to a troop transport and returned over 8,000 American troops from France. Returned to American-Hawaiian in 1919, Minnesotan resumed inter-coastal cargo service, and, at least twice, carried racing yachts from the U.S. East Coast to California.

During World War II, Minnesotan was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration and initially sailed between both New York and Caribbean ports. In the later half of 1943, Minnesotan sailed between Indian Ocean ports. The following year, the cargo ship sailed between New York and ports in the United Kingdom, before eventually returning to the Caribbean. In July 1949, American-Hawaiian sold Minnesotan to Italian owners who renamed her Maria Luisa R.; she was scrapped in 1952 at Bari.