Rudy,

Here is information I was able to find about the ship SS EXETER, her voyage from Lisbon to New York in November (not October) 1940, her captain and other information that may be of interest to you.

EXETER was built as a passenger/cargo ship by New York Shipbuilding, Camden, New Jersey, for American Export Lines in 1929-1931. See http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/1major/inactive/newyorkship.htm and scroll down to hull number 396. See also http://excambion.org/the_ships/exeter1.htm for additional information and a photograph. This page notes that she made many round trips between Lisbon and New York.

In 1942, EXETER was acquired by the U.S. Navy, converted to a troop ship, and renamed USS EDWARD RUTLEDGE. She was sunk in the Mediterranean off Casablanca, Morocco, on November 12, 1942, by German submarine U-130, with the loss of 15 men.

See http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/2416.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Edward_Rutledge_%28AP-52%29

Much of the following information comes from the subscription website Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com), which is more commonly used for genealogical research. Ancestry.com also had information on passengers and crewmen who arrived by ship at various U.S. ports of entry from the early 1800s through 1957; there is extensive information on arrivals in New York in particular.

According to the Ancestry.com record, EXETER sailed from Lisbon on November 3, 1940, and arrived in New York, via Bermuda, on November 11. Aboard the ship were about 180 passengers and about 120 crew members. Among the passengers were your father, Louis Kohler, your mother, Catherine, and yourself. Your father was age 37, your mother was 36, and you were three months old. You and your father were both U.S. citizens (your father was naturalized) while your mother was a German citizen. Your parents had left the U.S. in 1939 (to visit or work in Europe?) so you must have been born abroad but were a U.S. citizen by virtue of your father’s citizenship. Your mother had been in the U.S. since 1923; her father was V. Hoffman of Markslengart (probably a misspelling), Germany. Both parents were described as 5'6" tall, with light complexions, brown hair and brown eyes. The three of you were on your way to this address: 15 Nelson Road, Scarsdale, New York.

The passengers included about 80 U.S. citizens and about 100 non-citizens. In addition to the U.S., the passengers came from a great number of countries: Britain, Poland, Germany, Portugal, France, Switzerland, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, Denmark, Hungary, Italy, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina. Among the passengers were several diplomats from South American countries.

The master (captain) of EXETER was Stanley Forrest Ransone (not Ramone), who was then 41 years old. He was born September 23, 1899, and was 5'9" and 190 lbs. He had been at sea since about 1914 and had been a captain of various ships since at least 1927, when he would have been just 28.

Ancestry.com has records of Stanley F. Ransone arriving in New York at the end of at least 64 voyages aboard various ships between 1923 and 1946, plus one arrival in San Francisco in 1945. He was the master of EXETER on at least 14 arrivals in New York between November 1936 and May 1941.

Stanley Ransone registered for the military draft in 1918, at which time he already listed himself as a sailor, employed by a shipping company in Norfolk, Virginia.

According to the 1920 census, Stanley Ransone lived in Mathews County, Virginia, with his parents, Malcome, a farmer, and Madeline Ransone, and his brothers Ford (or Welford), two years older; John, three years younger; and Jack, eleven years younger. Stanley is again listed as a sailor.

Stanley Ransone appears in the 1930 census living in Queens, New York, with his wife Catherine, age 30; they had been married about two years at the time. He is described as a sea captain. I could not find any information on whether the couple later had children.

According to the Social Security Death Index (http://ssdi.rootsweb.ancestry.com/), Stanley F. Ransone died in April 1968, while living in Mays Landing, New Jersey.

I hope this information is useful.

Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard website
www.armed-guard.com