SS Contessa
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Contessa |
| Namesake: | Contessa Entellina, Sicily, birthplace of Vaccaro brothers |
| Owner: |
|
| Port of registry: |
 La Ceiba, Honduras |
| Builder: | Barclay, Curle & Co, Glasgow |
| Yard number: | 638, Clydeholm Yard |
| Launched: | 18 February 1930 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 5,512 GRT |
| Length: | 381 ft 5 in (116.3 m) |
| Beam: | 53 ft 7 in (16.3 m) |
| Draught: | 30 ft 6 in (9.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | 1-screw; steam, Q4Cyl. (25, 37, 54 & 78 - 48) inch. 260 lb (120 kg). 895 hp (667 kW), nominally. |
| Speed: | 16 knots (18 mph; 30 km/h) |
| Notes: | Refrigeration by Haslam & Newton, Ltd., cooling 285,000 cubic feet (8,100 m3) of cargo space delivering 6,840,000 cubic feet (194,000 m3) of chilled air per hour. |
Contessa was a refrigerated cargo and passenger ship of 5,512 GRT built by Barclay, Curle & Co., Glasgow for Vaccaro Brothers & Company launched 18 February 1930. The ship, along with sister ship Cefalu, served ports in the United States, New York and New Orleans and ports in Cuba, Central America and specifically La Ceiba, Honduras which is still a port for the fruit trade. The ship became part of the Standard Fruit Company, a company established by Vaccaro Brothers, and operated as a cargo passenger vessel until taken over at New Orleans by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 29 May 1942 with Standard Fruit Company remaining as the WSA operating agent. The ship was later bareboat sub chartered to the United States War Department 14 July 1943 and operated in the Army's Southwest Pacific Area local fleet under the local fleet number X-96 from 18 September 1943 into 1945 as a troop ship. The ship was returned to WSA with Standard Fruit again its agent on 28 May 1946 in Brooklyn until returned to the company for commercial operation at New Orleans on 20 August 1947.
Service began with sailings from New York at noon each Thursday by either Contessa or sister ship Cefalu for twelve day travel to the tropical waters and ports with advertisements emphasizing the fact all passenger accommodations were well ventilated "outside" staterooms. Features included hot and cold water in all rooms with either hot and cold salt water baths or freshwater showers and a saltwater swimming pool on the after deck. By 1934 the two ships were operating from the United States out of New Orleans rather than New York.
On 29 May 1942 Contessa was taken over by the War Shipping Administration (WSA) in New York with the Standard Fruit Company remaining as the WSA operating agent and the ship retaining its Honduran registry.
In October Contessa was chosen at the last minute to solve a problem facing Operation Torch planners in rapidly supplying the airfield to be captured at Port-Lyautey that lay up the Sebou River with aviation gasoline and munitions. The piers at the Port-Lyautey airfield lay in a "U" bend of the river approximately five miles from the landing beaches but nine miles up the shallow river with a maximum depth that even at the highest November tides limited access to ships drawing no more than 19 feet (5.8 m).Contessa arrived at Norfolk as the convoy was preparing to sail in a leaking condition with engine problems that required immediate dry docking expected to take several days. By extraordinary effort the ship was repaired early, but in the meantime much of the crew had left town in expectation of a longer stay. Three days late, with a crew filled out from seaman volunteers from a local Naval brig released from minor offenses, the ship got underway from the Hampton Roads Port of Embarkation in the early hours of 27 October in an unescorted dash across the Atlantic to join the convoy.Contessa, loaded with only 738 tons of gasoline and bombs, overtook the convoy on 7 November. At 1620 on 10 November the Contessa entered the Sebou River, led by USS Dallas with a U.S. Army Raider battalion embarked and followed by USS Barnegat, to deliver the aviation gasoline and munitions for the seventy-seven Army P-40 aircraft launched in the morning by the auxiliary aircraft carrier USS Chenango but ran aground when passing the Kasba and had to await a higher tide the morning of 11 November.
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