SS Stepas Darius

SS Stepas Darius was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Steponas Darius, a Lithuanian American pilot, who died in a non-stop flight attempt with Lituanica from New York City to Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1933.

History
United States
Name: Stepas Darius
Namesake: Steponas Darius
Owner: War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator: William J. Rountree & Company
Ordered: as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 2320
Builder: J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida
Cost: $989,881[1]
Yard number: 61
Way number: 6
Laid down: 14 August 1944
Launched: 25 Septembert 1944
Sponsored by: Mrs. Harley Ferguson
Completed: 10 October 1944
Identification:
Fate: Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, 27 June 1946
Status: Sold for commercial use, 10 January 1947, withdrawn from fleet, 24 January 1947
 Panama
Name: MANDO
Owner: Compania de Navegacion Phoceana de Panama
Status: Grounded, 21 January 1955
General characteristics [2]
Class and type:
Tonnage:
Displacement:
Length:
  • 441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa
  • 416 feet (127 m) pp
  • 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam: 57 feet (17 m)
Draft: 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power:
  • 2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa)
  • 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion:
Speed: 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity:
  • 562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m3) (grain)
  • 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m3) (bale)
Complement:
Armament:

Construction

Stepas Darius was laid down on 14 August 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2320, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida; sponsored by Mrs. Harley Ferguson, wife of assistant general manager JAJCC; and launched on 25 September 1944.[3][1]

History

She was allocated to William J. Rountree & Company, 9 October 1944. On 27 June 1946, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia.[4]

She was sold, on 10 January 1947, to Compania de Navegacion Phocena de Panama, for $562,854.89 and commercial use, she was renamed Mando. She was withdrawn from the fleet on 15 January 1947.[4]

On 21 January 1955, while sailing from Hampton Roads to Rotterdam, with 9,000 st (130,000 lb; 57,000 kg) of coal, she ran aground off the Round Island, Scilly Islands, when her engines failed. She was declared a total loss.[5]

Wreck located at: 49.5827°N 06.2015°W / 49.5827; -06.2015

References
  1. MARCOM.
  2. Davies 2004, p. 23.
  3. J.A. Panama City 2010.
  4. MARAD.
  5. Historic England. "MANDO (1519482)". PastScape. Retrieved 9 December 2019.

Bibliography


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.