Building Dollar Lines ordered both ships on 26 October 1929. They were the largest merchant ships built in the United States up to that time. Each ship had
turbo-electric transmission, with a pair of steam
turbo generators generating current that powered propulsion motors on the
propeller shafts.
Westinghouse built the turbo generators and propulsion motors for
President Coolidge but
General Electric built the turbo generators and propulsion motors for
President Hoover. Only the boiler feed and main lubricating pumps, driven directly from the steam turbines, were not electrical. Those included everything from cargo winches and other ship's auxiliary machinery to 365 Westinghouse stateroom fans. The 180 ship's auxiliary motors ranged from a tenth horsepower to the 13,250 horsepower main motors. The ship had refrigerated cargo space.
President Coolidge was initially designed for 350 first class, 150 "special" or intermediate class passengers with space for 1,260 passengers of all classes and a crew of 300.
World War II As relations between Japan and Britain deteriorated in 1940,
President Coolidge helped to evacuate US citizens from
Hong Kong. As Japanese aggression expanded,
President Coolidge took part in evacuations from other parts of east Asia. In 1941 the threat of war increased and the
US War Department began to use
President Coolidge for occasional voyages to
Honolulu and Manila. In June 1941
President Coolidge became a troopship, reinforcing garrisons in the Pacific. On December 7, 1941, Japan
attacked Pearl Harbor and on December 19
President Coolidge evacuated 125 critically injured naval patients from Hawaii, cared for by three hastily assigned Navy nurses and two Navy doctors from the Philippines that were already among passengers being evacuated from the war zone that had now reached Hawaii. The ship reached San Francisco on 25 December. On 12 January 1942 the first large convoy, including the large former ocean liners
President Coolidge and , to Australia after Pearl Harbor departed the United States carrying troops, supplies, ammunition and weapons, including
P-40 fighters intended for the Philippines and Java with fifty of the planes carried by
President Coolidge and
Mariposa. Arriving Melbourne on 1 February in
President Coolidge, along with supplies and munitions not intended for transshipment beyond Australia, were the officers, known as the "Remember Pearl Harbor" (RPH) Group, selected to form the staff of the US Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA) as the command structure for what was to be the
Southwest Pacific Area was evolving. Guns were mounted on her, she was painted haze gray and the
War Shipping Administration assigned her to the
US Navy. After her conversion,
President Coolidge resumed service in the
South West Pacific theatre. In the spring of 1942, escorted by the cruiser , she took
Manuel Quezon, President of the Philippines from Melbourne to San Francisco. In her first few months of service
President Coolidges ports of call included
Melbourne,
Wellington,
Auckland,
Bora Bora, and Suva. On October 6, she left homeport of San Francisco for
New Caledonia and the New Hebrides. Embarked were the 172nd Infantry Regiment, 43rd Division, and a harbor defense unit intended to protect the airfield at Espiritu Santo that was providing bomber support for forces at
Guadalcanal.
Loss A large military base and harbor had been established on Espiritu Santo and the harbor was heavily protected by
mines. Information about safe entry into the harbor had been accidentally omitted from the
President Coolidges sailing orders and, on her approach to Santo on 26 October 1942, Captain Henry Nelson, fearing Japanese submarines and unaware of the mine fields, tried to enter the harbor through the largest and most obvious channel. The ship struck a mine, which exploded near the engine room and, moments later, hit a second mine near her stern. Knowing that he was going to lose the ship, Nelson ran her aground and ordered the troops to abandon ship. Not believing it would sink, troops were told to leave all of their belongings behind, under the impression that they could conduct salvage operations over the next few days. Over the next 90 minutes, 5,340 men from the ship got safely ashore. There was no panic as they disembarked, and many even walked ashore. However, the captain's attempts to beach the ship were thwarted by a
coral reef. The
President Coolidge listed heavily on her side, sank stern first, and slid down a slope into the channel. There were only two casualties in the sinking. The first was Fireman Robert Reid, who was working in the engine room and was killed by the first mine blast. The second, Captain Elwood Joseph Euart,
103rd Field Artillery Regiment, had safely left
President Coolidge when he heard that there were still men in the infirmary who could not get out. He returned through one of the sea doors and successfully rescued the men, but was then unable to escape himself and went down with the ship. He was awarded the
Distinguished Service Cross for his heroic actions. A memorial to Euart is situated on the shore near the access points to the
Coolidge. In 2013, Euart's body was reportedly located by a local dive guide. A message was sent to the Australian High Commission, which passed it on to US authorities in Hawaii. An American recovery team arrived in February 2014 and, working with local operators, they found Euart's remains after 73 years, still with his dog tags and personal items, lying in deep silt in the bottom of the wreck. Subsequent DNA testing of the remains matched with Euart's relatives. His family was advised that the US military would perform a full military funeral service and that he would be buried with his parents. The loss of critical equipment being carried by the
President Coolidge forced the redistribution of scarce local stores and, combined with loss of the ship when transport was critically short, delayed the deployment of the
25th Division from Hawaii to the
war theater, complicating logistics during the crisis at
Guadalcanal.
Official inquiries There were three official inquiries surrounding the cause of the sinking. The first preliminary Court of Inquiry convened 12 November 1942 aboard the
destroyer tender on the orders of
Admiral Halsey. The Court of Inquiry recommended additional charges be laid against Captain Nelson. The matter was referred to a military commission which convened in
Nouméa, New Caledonia on 8 December 1942. This commission acquitted Captain Nelson of guilt. From the Commission of Inquiry it emerged that
Merchant Marine vessels were not given all available tactical information, most notably regarding the placement of mines. This would have prevented the sinking. This outcome displeased the
Navy Department, so Nelson was referred to a
US Coast Guard Investigation Board on his return to the United States on 6 February 1943. However, this Investigation Board took no further action.
Salvage After the war, items such as the propeller blades, bunker oil, brass casings of shells, electric motors, junction boxes and copper tubing were salvaged from the ship. Earthquakes have since collapsed some sections of the wreck, which now rests on her port side with her bow at a depth of and her stern at .
Protected wreck and dive site In 1980
Vanuatu won independence from France and Britain, and on 18 November 1983, the government of the new republic declared that no salvage or recovery of any artifact would be allowed from
President Coolidge. Since then the ship has been used for
recreational diving. Divers see a largely intact luxury cruise liner and a military ship. They can swim through numerous holds and decks. There are guns, cannons, Jeeps, helmets, trucks and personal supplies, a beautiful statue of "The Lady" (a porcelain relief of a lady riding a unicorn) chandeliers, and a mosaic tile fountain. Coral grows around, with many creatures such as reef fish, barracuda, lionfish, sea turtles and moray eels.
President Coolidge is a somewhat accessible shipwreck due to the relatively shallow site, easy beach access, and visibility. The depths involved mean that, with care and
decompression stops, recreational divers can explore large parts of the wreck without specialized equipment. The massive size of the wreck, combined with the gradual downward slope, mean that care must be taken monitoring depth, as the diver's horizontal frame of reference may be skewed, preventing awareness of the continual gradual descent. ==References==