SS Stepas Darius
SS Stepas Darius was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Steponas Darius, a Lithuanian American pilot, who died in a non-stop flight attempt with Lituanica from New York City to Kaunas, Lithuania, in 1933.
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name: | Stepas Darius |
Namesake: | Steponas Darius |
Owner: | War Shipping Administration (WSA) |
Operator: | William J. Rountree & Company |
Ordered: | as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 2320 |
Builder: | J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida |
Cost: | $989,881[1] |
Yard number: | 61 |
Way number: | 6 |
Laid down: | 14 August 1944 |
Launched: | 25 Septembert 1944 |
Sponsored by: | Mrs. Harley Ferguson |
Completed: | 10 October 1944 |
Identification: | |
Fate: | Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, 27 June 1946 |
Status: | Sold for commercial use, 10 January 1947, withdrawn from fleet, 24 January 1947 |
Panama | |
Name: | MANDO |
Owner: | Compania de Navegacion Phoceana de Panama |
Status: | Grounded, 21 January 1955 |
General characteristics [2] | |
Class and type: |
|
Tonnage: | |
Displacement: | |
Length: | |
Beam: | 57 feet (17 m) |
Draft: | 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m) |
Installed power: |
|
Propulsion: |
|
Speed: | 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
Capacity: |
|
Complement: | |
Armament: |
|
Construction
Stepas Darius was laid down on 14 August 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2320, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida; sponsored by Mrs. Harley Ferguson, wife of assistant general manager JAJCC; and launched on 25 September 1944.[3][1]
History
She was allocated to William J. Rountree & Company, 9 October 1944. On 27 June 1946, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia.[4]
She was sold, on 10 January 1947, to Compania de Navegacion Phocena de Panama, for $562,854.89 and commercial use, she was renamed Mando. She was withdrawn from the fleet on 15 January 1947.[4]
On 21 January 1955, while sailing from Hampton Roads to Rotterdam, with 9,000 st (130,000 lb; 57,000 kg) of coal, she ran aground off the Round Island, Scilly Islands, when her engines failed. She was declared a total loss.[5]
Wreck located at: 49.5827°N 06.2015°W
References
- MARCOM.
- Davies 2004, p. 23.
- J.A. Panama City 2010.
- MARAD.
- Historic England. "MANDO (1519482)". PastScape. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
Bibliography
- "Jones Construction, Panama City FL". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2019.
- Maritime Administration. "Stepas Darius". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 9 December 2019. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 9 December 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
- "SS Stepas Darius". Retrieved 9 December 2019.