SS Graf Waldersee

Graf Waldersee was the third of HAPAG's four P-class ocean liners, which were built in the 1890s. Harland and Wolff launched the first of them, , in 1896. Blohm & Voss launched in 1897 and AG Vulcan Stettin launched in 1899. , after whom the ship was named Blohm & Voss also built Graf Waldersee. She was launched on 10 December 1898 and completed on 18 March 1899. She was laid down as Pavia, but was launched as Graf Waldersee to honour Alfred, Graf von Waldersee, who until 1891 had been Chief of the German General Staff and who in 1898 had been made Inspector-General of the German Third Army. Graf Waldersees registered length was , her beam was and her depth was . As built, her tonnages were and . She had berths for 162 passengers in first class, 184 in second class and 2,200 in third class. Graf Waldersee had twin propellers, each driven by a four-cylinder quadruple-expansion steam engine. Between them her twin engines were rated at 714 NHP and gave her a speed of . HAPAG registered Graf Waldersee in Hamburg. Her code letters were RLGB. ==German service==

on deck In March 1899 HAPAG announced that the regular route for Graf Waldersee and her three sisters would be Hamburg – Cherbourg – Plymouth – New York. HAPAG also announced a reduction in its transatlantic fares. On Graf Waldersee and her sisters the rate for a first class cabin was reduced from $65 to $50, and that for a second class cabin was reduced from $47.50 to $38. On 2 April 1899 Graf Waldersee left Hamburg on her maiden voyage via Boulogne to New York. In early 1907 the Graf Waldersee shipped the Freer Manuscripts I-IV to New York on route to Michigan. They would eventually be donated to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. On a westbound crossing in 1908 smallpox broke out among Graf Waldersees third class passengers. When she reached New York on 14 March, 197 of her 400 third class passengers were quarantined on Hoffman Island. In 1910 Graf Waldersee was refitted as a two-class ship. First class was abolished, second class was increased to 408 berths and third class to 2,310 berths. The refit increased her tonnage to . By 1913 Graf Waldersee was equipped for wireless telegraphy. Her call sign was DDW. On the night of 23–24 September 1913 Graf Waldersee collided with the Norwegian steamship Norge in the Elbe. Graf Waldersee was undamaged, but Norge was holed below the waterline and had to be towed to a dock for repair. ==US service==

On 23 March 1919 HAPAG surrendered Graf Waldersee to the US Government. On 3 April her German crew was relieved by a United States Navy Reserve crew at Spithead in England. The US Navy commissioned her as USS Graf Waldersee with the pennant number ID-4040 and made Cdr Lemuel L Stevens her commander. Graf Waldersee was assigned to the Cruiser and Transport Division of the US Atlantic Fleet. On 7 April she left Brest, France for New York carrying either 1,526 and Redondo shipped water in her forward hold. Redondo stood by ready to assist until Graf Waldersees sister ship Patricia arrived. (shown here) rescued her passengers and towed her to safety. Patricia took off Graf Waldersees passengers and half of her crew and then took the damaged liner in tow. Late on the morning of 12 June Graf Waldersees crew beached her on a sandbar on Long Island. Three tugs came to assist, using their pumps to reduce the level of water in Graf Waldersees engine room. She was refloated on the afternoon of 14 June and four tugs towed her to Brooklyn Navy Yard. From 7 to 30 August Graf Waldersee made another voyage between Brest and New York to repatriate US personnel. On 25 November 1919 at Stapleton, Staten Island the US Navy decommissioned Graf Waldersee and returned her to the US Shipping Board. ==UK service==

Graf Waldersee was one of eight ships that the US government had seized from Germany but which the UK government also claimed. The others were , , Kaiserin Auguste Victoria, Mobile, Pretoria, and . In the latter part of 1919 the British Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, under contract to the UK Shipping Controller, sent 1,100 officers and men to the US to take over Graf Waldersee, Imperator and Kaiserin Auguste Victoria. They included 35 Goanese lascars who travelled as passengers aboard the White Star Liner Belgic to be cooks and stewards on Graf Waldersee. However, when Belgic reached New York on 17 October, the US Bureau of Immigration detained the lascars on Ellis Island. On 26 December 1919 President Wilson surrendered seven former German ships, including Graf Waldersee, to the UK in settlement of the dispute between the two allies. The 35 Goanese cooks and stewards who had been detained on Ellis Island since 17 October were finally released to become part of Graf Waldersees crew. with two ships and a hulk, including Hain Steamship Co's Tregantle, shown here. On 4 December 1920 Graf Waldersee broke adrift when under tow in the River Thames. On 6 December she again broke adrift when under tow in the Thames. On this occasion she collided with the cargo ships Tregantle and and hulk Sumatra, causing Fairfield to capsize. Graf Waldersee eventually grounded off Gravesend. In 1921 the Shipping Controller auctioned Graf Waldersee for scrap. Thos. W. Ward bought her and sold her on to Kohlbrandwerft in Hamburg, who scrapped her in 1922. ==References==