Ocean liner SS CZAR was launched on 23 March 1912 by Barclay, Curle & Company of Glasgow, Scotland, for the Russian American Line, a subsidiary of the Danish East Asiatic Company. CZAR had a GRT of 6,503 tons and NRT 3812. Dimensions 440 X 53 x 29.4 feet and had two funnels and two masts. She was driven by twin screw, 2 x quad exp engines built by the builders at 15 knots. CZAR had accommodations for 30 passengers in first class, 260 in second class, and 1,086 in third class and steerage.
CZAR sailed on her maiden voyage on 30 May 1912 from Libau (present-day Liepâja, Latvia) to Copenhagen and New York, arriving in the latter city on 13 June.
On her October 1913 eastbound crossing, CZAR responded to the distress calls of the Uranium Line steamer Volturno on fire in the middle of the Atlantic. The liner joined nine other ships that came to the aid of the stricken ship. Amidst stormy seas, CZAR's crew rescued 102 passengers from Volturno, more than any other of the rescue ships. In March 1914, King George V of the United Kingdom, on recommendation of the Board of Trade, awarded 19 of CZAR's crew the Silver Sea Gallantry Medal, along with a £3 award each.
After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, CZAR switched to service from Archangel to New York, but ran only sporadically to 1916. After the Russian Revolution, the East Asiatic Company suspended service on the Russian American Line, and transferred several ships, including CZAR, to British registry. The British shipping controller initially placed the liner under the management of John Ellerman's Wilson Line, but CZAR was transferred to the Cunard Line management by the end of 1917.
Known by this time as HMT CZAR, the ship, along with former Russian American Line ships Czaritza, Kursk, and Dwinsk, was attached to the Cruiser and Transport Force of the United States Navy, and made three trips carrying American troops to France. CZAR sailed on her first voyage with American troops on 16 April 1918, when she departed from Hoboken, New Jersey, with U.S. Navy transports Maui, Calamares, Pocahontas, El Oriente, and British troopship HMT Czaritza. The convoy was joined by transport Mount Vernon and was escorted by American cruiser Seattle. The convoy arrived safely in France on 28 April. Sources do not report when CZAR returned to the United States, but she had done so by early June.
CZAR loaded troops at Newport News, Virginia, and set out on her second U.S. convoy crossing on 14 June, sailing with American transports Princess Matoika, Wilhelmina, Pastores, and Lenape. On the morning of 16 June, lookouts on Princess Matoika spotted a submarine and, soon after, a torpedo missed that ship by a few yards. Later that morning, the Newport News ships met up with the New York portion of the convoy—which included DeKalb, Finland, Kroonland, George Washington, Covington, Rijndam, Italian steamer Dante Alighieri, and British steamer Vauben—and set out for France. The convoy was escorted by American cruisers North Carolina and Frederick, and destroyers Stevens and Fairfax; battleship Texas and several other destroyers joined in escort duties for the group for a time. The convoy had a false alarm when a floating barrel was mistaken for a submarine, but otherwise uneventfully arrived at Brest on the afternoon of 27 June.
When she departed Newport News on 7 October, CZAR began her last voyage ferrying American troops to France. Sailing in company with U.S. Navy transports Tenadores, Susquehanna, and America, she rendezvoused with American transport Kroonland, Italian steamer Caserta, and British steamer Euripides out of New York. The convoy ships were escorted by cruisers Seattle and Rochester, and destroyers Murray and Fairfax. The ships arrived safely in France on 20 October.
Throughout 1919 and into 1920, HMT CZAR continued transporting Commonwealth troops under Cunard management. The troopship primarily sailed between British ports and Mediterranean ports such as Trieste, Malta, Alexandria, and Constantinople. One typical voyage from Alexandria returned 1,600 officers and men—who had been serving in Palestine, Syria, and Egypt—to Plymouth in January 1920. CZAR also played a role in the North Russia Campaign of the Allied intervention in the Russian Civil War when the liner departed Hull for North Russia on 28 August 1919.
By late 1920, CZAR had been returned to the East Asiatic Company, which placed her in service for the Baltic American Line under the new name of ESTONIA. For her first Baltic American trip she sailed from Glasgow on 11 January 1921 for New York, Danzig, and Libau, arriving at the latter by mid-February. Departing from Libau on 23 February, she began a regular Libau – Danzig – Boston – New York service, sailing opposite Lituania and Polonia.
In February 1925, ESTONIA was reconditioned and outfitted with accommodations for 290 cabin-class and 500 third-class passengers. The following March, her accommodations were altered for 110 cabin-class, 180 tourist-class, and 500 third-class passengers. Her last voyage for the Baltic American Line began on 31 January 1930 when she sailed from Danzig to Copenhagen, Halifax, and New York. Sold to the Polish-owned Gdynia America Line, she sailed 13 March for one more trip on the Danzig – New York route under the name ESTONIA. Before her next voyage on 25 April, she was renamed , PULASKI, after Polish soldier and American Revolutionary War general Kazimierz Puùaski. PULASKI continued sailing the same route untill August 1935, when she was moved to Gdynia – Buenos Aires service. She began her last voyage on this route on 21 April 1939.
With the signing of the Anglo-Polish military alliance impending, PULASKI sailed from Gdynia to Falmouth on 24 August 1939. On 26 September, the ship left Dartmouth for Gibraltar (calling there on 2 October) and Piraeus, where she arrived on 13 October. Picking up Polish soldiers there, she sailed five days later for Marseille, where she eventually arrived on 2 December. Until March 1940, PULASKI underwent a refit in Marseille after which she sailed under charter to the French Fabre Line. At the end of the 1930s, the Fabre Line sailed ships on a Marseille–Dakar route with intermediate stops in other African ports.
On 10 March, PULASKI departed Marseille on the first of three voyages from that port. She sailed to Algiers and from there to Dakar on 13 March PULASKI left Dakar for Freetown, Sierra Leone, and Konakry, French Guinea, returning to Dakar in early April. Sailing for Marseille on 5 April, the ship returned on 13 April as a part of convoy DF 29. Leaving again about two weeks later, she repeated the trip and returned to Marseille on 29 May as a part of convoy DF 41. By the time of her return, the German invasion of France had been underway for nearly three weeks.
PULASKI sailed on her third and final French voyage on 6 June. The liner arrived at Dakar on 15 June, and sailed the next day for Freetown, where she arrived on 18 June. Likely because of the confusion surrounding the French surrender on 22 June, PULASKI 's movements over the next days are unrecorded, but she was detained at Konakry on 8 July by Vichy authorities. That evening, PULASKI 's crew raised steam and sailed the ship out of the harbour in defiance of the detainment. After taking fire from shore batteries at Konakry, the ship arrived back at Freetown on 9 July.
On 14 August, PULASKI, Koúciuszko (the latest name of the former Czaritza), and Batory were chartered by the Ministry of War Transport for trooping duties and placed under the management of Lamport & Holt of Liverpool. All three ships retained their Polish crews but also carried a Lamport & Holt liaison officer aboard. Four days later, PULASKI joined convoy SL 44, the 44th wartime convoy from Sierra Leone to Liverpool, with nearly 30 other ships and 10 escorts. PULASKI and about half of the ships departed the convoy at Liverpool on 7 September, while the other half continued on for Methil.
PULASKI next made her way to the Clyde in late October. Between 10 May and 12 June 1941, she sailed on three roundtrip trooping runs between Clyde and Iceland. In late June, PULASKI, loaded with 2,047 troops, sailed from Clyde to join convoy WS 9B headed for Freetown. The convoy arrived at its destination on 13 July. After three days, PULASKI and four other ships sailed on to Cape Town, arriving on 27 July. Leaving behind one ship at Cape Town, PULASKI and the others sailed on 30 July to their final destination of Aden, where they arrived in mid August.
Over the next seven months, PULASKI operated in the Indian Ocean, primarily sailing between Middle Eastern and East African ports. Beginning in late August, PULASKI sailed between Aden and ports of Suez, Durban, Berbera, Mombasa, Massawa, Port Sudan, and Kilindini. From Kilindini, in March 1942, the liner sailed to Colombo and back to Durban on 8 April. While at Durban, a fire gutted the bridge in what may have been sabotage.
The damaged PULASKI made her way to East London in South Africa on 11 April where she remained under repair until June. Departing East London on 25 June, she resumed her Middle Eastern and African runs between Aden, Suez, and Durban. In November, the transport departed Aden and called at Basra, Bandar Abbas, and Karachi, before returning to Durban in early December. After nearly a two-month stay at Durban, PULASKI returned to her trooping duties in the Indian Ocean on 1 February 1943. She made her first visits to Diego Suarez, Zanzibar, and Tamatave in March, and Djibouti in April.
After a return to East London from Durban on 30 May, the ship put in for another extended stay, this time for four months. Resuming her trooping runs on 29 September, PULASKI began a year of almost continuous sailing. During this span, which lasted until mid-September 1944, the ship called at Bombay twice in addition to numerous stops in Aden, Suez, Durban, and Kilindini. Putting in at Durban on 15 September, PULASKI had a general refit over the next four months.
PULASKI resumed her Indian Ocean service when she left Durban on 21 January 1945, headed for Kilindini. She visited Dar es Salaam for the first time in April, and departed from her first visit to Madras on Victory in Europe Day, 8 May 1945. Headed to Akyab, Burma, she started the first of five India–Burma roundtrips until July. Over the next months, she shuttled between Rangoon, Calcutta (where she was docked on Victory over Japan Day), Chittagong, Madras, and Colombo, arriving at the latter port for the final time on 12 September. From Colombo she sailed into the Western Pacific for Singapore where she arrived for the first of several visits on 14 September, two days after the Japanese garrison there surrendered. Until the end of 1945, PULASKI continued sailing between Singapore and India, making additional stops at Port Swettenham, Chittagong, Sourabaya, and Batavia.
PULASKI arrived at Calcutta on 23 December 1945. After this time, the ship continued to sail in trooping duties in the Indian Ocean, though her specific movements are not known. In March 1946, PULASKI was purchased by the Ministry of War Transport for £100,000. It was around this time the Polish crews of PULASKI and Koúciuszko refused to be repatriated to Soviet-occupied Poland. The crew members all signed British articles. On 16 April 1946, PULASKI was formally handed over to British authorities, who renamed the vessel EMPIRE PENRYN: Empire to match the naming convention for miscellaneous British auxiliary ships; Penryn for the port of Penryn, Cornwall. Remaining under Lamport & Holt management, EMPIRE PENRYN performed trooping duties in the Mediterranean. The ship was taken out of service in 1948, and was scrapped at Blyth, Northumberland (north east England) in 1949.
Sources:
North Atlantic Seaway Vol 3 (Russian American Line) by N R P Bonsor
North Atlantic Seaway Vol 4 (Baltic American Line) by N R P Bonsor
Merchant Fleets No 43 Danish East Asiatic Company by N Middlemiss
Various Internet sites and Wikipedia.
Peter Crichton