View source for City of Washington (ship)

{{Short description|American merchant steamship}}
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|Ship name=''City of Washington''
|Ship namesake=[[Washington, D.C.]]
|Ship owner=[[Ward Line]]
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|Ship fate=Wrecked off [[Key Largo]], 10 July 1917
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'''''City of Washington''''' was an American merchant [[steamship]] that aided in rescuing the crew of {{USS|Maine|ACR-1|6}} when it exploded in the harbor of [[Havana, Cuba|Havana]], [[Cuba]], in 1898.

==Construction and merchant service==
Built at [[John Roach & Sons]] shipyard for Alexandre & Sons, ''City of Washington'' was a 2,600-ton iron ship both equipped with a compound surface condensing engine and rigged as a [[hermaphrodite brig]]. She was launched on August 30, 1877 in [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]. Later acquired by the [[New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company]], ''City of Washington'' was refitted in 1889 with a [[triple expansion]] [[marine steam engine|steam engine]].  ''City of Washington'' operated under the [[Ward Line]] and was assigned to passenger and trade routes between [[New York City]], [[Havana]], and [[Mexico|Mexican]] gulf ports such as [[Campeche, Campeche|Campeche]] and [[Progreso, Yucatán|Progreso]].

==USS ''Maine'' and the Spanish–American War==
[[File:Deeds of valor - how America&#039;s heroes won the medal of honor - personal reminiscences and records of officers and enlisted men who were awarded the congressional medal of honor for most conspicuous (14791330003).jpg|thumb|A lifeboat from the ''City of Washington'' takes off survivors from the USS ''Maine'')]]
On the night of February 15, 1898, ''City of Washington'' was moored in [[Havana]] harbor near {{USS|Maine|ACR-1|6}} when ''Maine'' exploded in the incident that precipitated the [[Spanish–American War]]. ''City of Washington'' suffered minor damage in the explosion, but assisted in the rescue of ''Maine''{{'}}s crew by sending out lifeboats and providing her dining salon for use as a makeshift hospital. The efforts of ''City of Washington'' and the {{ship|Spanish cruiser|Alfonso XII}} resulted in the rescue of approximately 100 crew members from ''Maine''.

Captain Frank Stevens and other crew members of ''City of Washington'' provided eyewitness testimony on the ''Maine'' disaster in Naval Court of Inquiry hearings which ended on March 21, 1898.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/messagefrompres00maingoog/page/n220 <!-- pg=218 quote="city of washington" maine ship. --> THE REPORT OF THE NAVAL COURT OF INQUIRY UPON THE DESTRUCTION OF THE UNITED STATES BATTLE SHIP MAINE IN HAVANA HARBOR, FEBRUARY 15, 1898, TOGETHER WITH THE TESTIMONY TAKEN BEFORE THE COURT.] Washington: Government Printing Office, 1898</ref> The Court of Inquiry concluded that ''Maine'' was destroyed by the explosion of a submarine mine. While the Court did not place responsibility for the explosion, media and popular opinion overwhelmingly attributed it to [[Spain]]'s forces in Cuba. Shortly thereafter, [[United States Congress|Congress]] declared a state of War with Spain, effective April 20, 1898.

In April 1898, ''City of Washington'' was one of many civilian steamships chartered by the [[United States Army Quartermaster Corps|US Army Quartermaster Department]] for use as a transport ship for the invasion of Cuba. She was chartered as Transport #16 at the rate of [[USD]] $450 per day through September 1898.<ref>[http://www.spanamwar.com/transports.htm Transports<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==Return to merchant service==
In late 1898, ''City of Washington'' returned to her prior civilian duties, ferrying passengers from New York to Cuba until 1908 when the ship was retired and laid up at [[Brooklyn, New York]]. In 1911 she was purchased by Luckenbach Steamship Company of New York. Her superstructure and machinery were removed, and she went into operation as a coal barge.

==Wreck==
On July 10, 1917, ''City of Washington'' and another barge, ''Seneca'', were under tow by the tugboat ''Luckenbach 4'' when all three vessels ran aground on a shallow reef near [[Key Largo]] in the [[Florida Keys]].<ref name=CityWashington>{{cite web |author=Barnette, Michael C |title=City of Washington |publisher=Association of Underwater Explorers |url=http://uwex.us/cityofwashington.htm |accessdate=2009-06-06 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080606071507/http://uwex.us/cityofwashington.htm |archivedate=2008-06-06 }}</ref> The other two vessels were refloated on July 15, but ''City of Washington'' broke up immediately and was not recoverable.<ref name=Barnette03>{{cite book |author=Barnette, Michael C. |title=Shipwrecks of the sunshine state: Florida's submerged history |year=2003 |publisher=Association of Underwater Explorers |isbn=0-9743036-0-7 |authorlink=Michael C. Barnette}}</ref> Now a popular dive site, the ''City of Washington'' wreck has been designated part of the [[Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary]]'s Shipwreck Trail.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Shipwreck Trail {{!}} National Marine Sanctuaries |url=https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/shipwrecktrail/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://floridakeys.noaa.gov/shipwrecktrail/cityofwashington.html |archive-date=May 21, 2024 |access-date=2024-05-21 |website=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
* Emmons, Frederick E. (1985). ''American Passenger Ships: The Ocean Lines and Liners, 1873-1983''. Newark:University of Delaware Press. {{ISBN|0-87413-248-7}}
* [http://www.indiana.edu/~r317doc/trail/cow.html Comprehensive report on the wreck of the ''City of Washington'', Indiana University Underwater Science Program]
* [http://floridakeys.noaa.gov/shipwrecktrail/welcome.html Florida Keys Shipwreck Trail]

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{{July 1917 shipwrecks}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:City Of Washington (Ship)}}
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Spanish–American War ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Shipwrecks of the Florida Keys]]
[[Category:Ships of the Ward Line]]
[[Category:1877 ships]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1917]]