If you think about it…post cards are the
‘text messages’ or even ‘tweets’ of the first half of the 20th
Century. I’ve included the messages sent
via these postcards in the text below as well as any history I could discover
regarding the ships themselves.
This postcard showing the passenger liner
Kaiser Wilhelm II was printed in 1904 and mailed to Carl Hauser in Lacrosse
Wisconsin in 1906. It’s from ‘Papa’,
postmarked New York City, and the only message is the one shown above in the
side margin. “Papa sailing on the
Oceanic 3:30 pm today. 7/18/06. Love from Papa.”
This is the second SS Kaiser Wilhelm
II. She was completed in Stettin Germany
in the spring of 1903. This ship had a
reputation as a high class, high speed trans-Atlantic liner. The ship was 706 feet long and could reach a
speed of 27.0 miles per hour. (23 knots) Her
passengers ranged from the extremely luxurious first class cabins down to
‘steerage’.
This famous photo by Alfred
Stieglitz…called “The Steerage” provides a stark visual of what sailing was for
the common folk. Steerage passage was
very profitable for the shipping lines in the early part of the 20th
Century. Artisans and craftsmen with
their families traveled from the USA back to Europe when their skills were no
longer needed for construction of homes and buildings…and of course, immigrants
to the USA traveled on the westbound ships.
The Kaiser Wilhelm was westbound to the
USA when war began with Britain on August 4, 1914. She eluded British warships and reached the
safety of New York’s harbor. She sat in
the harbor for almost 3 years before the USA declared war on Germany…and then
our government seized the ship.
She was renamed the USS Agamemnon. She served as a troop transport for the
balance of the war...transporting 38,000 troops to Europe. After the end of the war, she made 9 trips
between France and the USA, bringing almost 42,000 service personnel home. The USS Agamemnon was decommissioned in late
1919 and was turned over to the War Department for use as a US Army
Transport. She was renamed the USS
Monticello in 1927, but saw no further active service. The ship was too old for use in WWII and she
was sold for scrapping in 1940.
This 3-masted schooner is a British ship,
the Bramloch, loading wheat in Everett Washington. The postcard was sent in 1908 from Oscar ‘Lossum’
or ‘Fossum’ in Everett to Charles Bell in Santa Clara Province, Cuba. The message on the back is “Please exchange
cards.”
I couldn’t find any further information
on the Bramloch…but it is interesting that a 3-masted sailing ship was still
being used to ship grain overseas in the early part of the 20th
Century.
In 1906, ‘Janet’ sent this postcard
showing the steamer Cabrillo leaving the town of Avalon on Catalina Island en
route to Los Angeles. The card went to
Miss Olga Zuehlke in Saginaw Michigan. “This
is the boat we came over on. Janet”
The SS Cabrillo was launched in February
of 1904. It was owned by the Wilmington
Transportation Company…and the Banning brothers. They actually bought Catalina Island in
1891. This was one of the two steam
ships they designed to ferry passengers back and forth to the island. The Cabrillo had a luxurious interior, a
social hall, 10 staterooms and food service on the main deck. She could accommodate up to 1,200 passengers…
With WWI and a fire that destroyed more
than half of Avalon, the Banning’s were forced to sell…and William Wrigley Jr.,
the inventor of chewing gum. He eventually bought the entire island...and the Chicago Cubs baseball team! By the mid-20’s, the Cabrillo had been
replaced by larger and faster ships and it was only used for local service
around the island.
During WWII, the Cabrillo was taken over
by the military and she was used to serve as a troop transport in the San
Francisco Bay area. Then the US Army
operated her until 1947 when she was permanently moored in Napa
California. All that remains today is
her hull…
This postcard of the Steamer Sagamore on
Lake George in New York is dated 1906 and it was mailed by Gertrude in Wallkill
New York to Miss Alice Eames in Lyons Falls New York. This is the message on the back of the card:
“Dear Alice, I received your letter yesterday and was so glad to hear from
you. We are having fine weather
here. The bathing suit is just OK. Haven’t thought much about coming home. Love to your mother and a good share for
yourself. Hastily, Gertrude”
The Sagamore was launched in April of
1902. She was the first steel hulled
ship on Lake George. The ship was
initially 203 feet long, but at the end of her first season, it was determined
that she was top heavy, so she was cut in two and another 20 feet was added in
the middle. She could carry 1,500
passengers at speeds up to 20 miles per hour. (17 knots)
The ships saloon was finished in hazel with cherry trimming, corridors
were paneled with mirrors and her furnishings were plush. Of course the difference in those days is
that the ships customers were not mere tourists as we are today, they were
passengers bound for one of the great hotels on the lake… A young Franklin D. Roosevelt was one of those
passengers in the early days.
In July of 1927, the Sagamore rammed a
rocky reef in the fog and began to sink.
The captain stuffed the hole with mattresses and he sailed the
passengers to safety. He then beached
her in a cove as shown in the photo above.
She was repaired at a great cost and sailed for another 5 years. With the onset of the Depression and mounting
financial deficits, in 1933 she was withdrawn from service. The Sagamore was finally scrapped in 1937…
She was stripped of anything of value, with her upholstered armchairs selling for
$5.00 each.
For a look at the many ships and the long history of the Lake George Steamboat Company, you can click on the following: http://lakegeorgesteamboat.com/about/boats/previousboathistory/.
Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…
Thanks for stopping by and sharing a bit of maritime history with me!
Take Care, Big Daddy Dave
Sorry for the big space at the bottom of this edition of my blog... I couldn't make it go away!
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