SS Hewitt
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: |
|
| Owner: |
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| Port of registry: |
 New York City, United States |
| Builder: | Fore River Shipbuilding Co |
| Launched: | 1914 |
| Completed: | September 1914 |
| Out of service: | January 1921 |
| Identification: |
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| Fate: | Unknown |
| Status: | Missing |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 5,399 GRT, 3,395 NRT |
| Length: | 420 ft (128 m) |
| Beam: | 60 ft (18 m) |
| Depth: | 38 ft (12 m) |
| Installed power: | Triple expansion steam engine, 2,000 ihp |
| Propulsion: | Single screw propeller |
| Speed: | 12 knots (22 km/h) |
| Crew: | 42 |
The SS Hewitt was a steel hulled bulk freighter built for the J. S. Emery Steamship Co. of Boston, Massachusetts, as the Pacific. (She had one sister ship named Atlantic.) She was sold to the Berwind White Coal Co. and became a collier.
The ship was 387 feet 7 inches (118.14 m) long, with a beam of 54 feet 3 inches (16.54 m) and a depth of 27 feet 7 inches (8.41 m). She was propelled by a triple expansion steam engine which had cylinders of 25 inches (64 cm), 41 inches (100 cm) and 68 inches (170 cm) diameter by 48 inches (120 cm) stroke. The engine was rated at 2,000 ihp. Steam was produced by three boilers, 13 feet 9 inches (4.19 m) diameter by 11 feet 11 inches (3.63 m) length, working at a pressure of 190 lb/in2. The engine drove a single screw propeller, it could propel the ship at 12 knots (22 km/h). She was assessed at 5,399 GRT, 3,395 NRT.
Pacific was built by the Fore River Shipbuilding Co. of Quincy, Massachusetts for the J. S. Emery Steamship Co. Her port of registry was Boston, Massachusetts. She was delivered in September 1914.Pacific was purchased by the Union Sulphur Co. in 1915. After a refit, she was renamed Hewitt. The American Official Number 212560 was allocated. Her port of registry was changed to New York City. She was later allocated the Code Letters LDPG. Exactly what modifications, if any, Union Sulphur Co. made are unknown, but she probably remained mostly as she was built. The ship was described as "one of the largest bulk cargo carriers constructed in the United States."
Hewitt plied the route along the American east coast. During World War I she delivered sulfur to ammunition and chemical industries. Beginning on 9 August 1917, when the Navy requisitioned the ship in Newport News, Virginia, and continuing until the end of the war, she shipped war materials to various French Atlantic ports. During this time, she became the first U.S. merchant marine vessel fitted with a six-inch gun, designed for defense against German U-boats. Apparently, no war-related incidents were reported. After the war, she remained with Union Sulphur Co., returning to the company in Norfolk, Virginia on 26 February 1919.
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