Posted by Paula Jordan on November 5, 2016, 2:48 pm
Hello,
I am awaiting my father's military records. His name was Paul Dane Drury & he served on the S.S. Charles M. Hall with Tom Bowerman on that ship. Tom contacted my mother many years ago, I believe in 1999. He talked to her several times on the phone regarding my dad. He sent her his autobiography and a picture of my dad. We were thrilled to see the picture, because none of us had seen it before. Tom was saddened to hear my father had passed away. We were happy to hear a few stories that Tom had about dad & to read Tom's life story. I came across what I believe to be certificates where the S.S. Charles M. Hall and S.S. Utahan crossed the international time line. The Hall passed it on 11/18/1942 and the Utahan on 07/08/1945. I am having problems finding anything about the Utahan. Do you all have any information on this ship?
Thank you kindly,
Paula Jordan
Re: S.S. Utahan
Posted by Ron Carlson on November 7, 2016, 9:29 am, in reply to "S.S. Utahan"
Paula,
UTAHAN was built by Skinner & Eddy Corp. in Seattle, Washington, and completed in December 1919; her original name was CROSSKEYS. Her original owner was the U.S. Shipping Board, a federal agency that commissioned ships for World War I service and later for an anticipated postwar shipping boom. The Oceanic & Oriental Navigation Co. purchased her in 1928 and renamed her GOLDEN PEAK. In 1937, she was renamed UTAHAN. In 1951, she was purchased by East & West Shipping Company and renamed FUTURA. She was broken up at Karachi, Pakistan, in October 1960. (Extracted from several sources, including http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/skinnereddy.htm; see hull number 72, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinner_%26_Eddy, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_%26_West_Steamship_Company.)
Most of UTAHAN’s commercial service prior to World War II was in shipping between the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, India and as far as Bahrain. Most of her World War II service was in the Atlantic and Caribbean. However, I did find a record for the voyage that doubtlessly included the crossing of the International Date Line in July 1945. On this voyage, UTAHAN departed San Francisco on or about June 20, 1945. She reached Noumea, New Caledonia, which is west of the International Date Line, on August 16, 1945. She arrived in Honolulu, Hawaii, on September 4, 1945. These dates and locations agree with your information that she crossed the International Date Line on July 8.
A series of photographs of shipboard scenes aboard SS UTAHAN are found at http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/ship,utahan/, apparently on a voyage to Africa sometime in 1945. On this voyage her cargo included horses, as seen in one photograph. I have not found additional detail about this voyage, including dates. This photographs incorrectly identifies her as “USS” UTAHAN. USS means United States Ship and is reserved for commissioned warships in the U.S. Navy. Her correct designation was SS UTAHAN, SS meaning steam ship.
I hope this is useful.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website www.armed-guard.com
Re: S.S. Utahan
Posted by Paula Jordan on December 13, 2016, 3:03 pm, in reply to "Re: S.S. Utahan"
Ron,
Thank you so much for all this wonderful information! It exceeded my expectations!!! I truly appreciate the time and effort in researching the history of S.S. Utahan!