SS Cleveland

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Career (US)
Name:	Mobile (ID 4030) ex-Cleveland
Operator:	Hamburg America Line
Builder:	Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany
Completed:	1908
Fate:	Scrapped 1933
General characteristics
Displacement:	16,960 gross tons
Length:	588 ft (179 m)
Beam:	65 ft (20 m)
Draught:	17 ft 5 in (5.31 m)
Propulsion:	twin-screw propellers and quadruple-expansion steam engines
Speed:	16 knots
Capacity:	239 first-class, 224 second-class, 496 third-class, and 1,882 steerage

The SS Cleveland was a steam-powered ship that ran in the early 1900s. It was operated by the Hamburg America Line as a cargo and passenger ship between the United States and Germany, and brought many immigrants to the US from Germany during that time.

The SS Cleveland was built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg, Germany in 1908, being 588 feet long, 65 feet wide, and measuring 16,960 gross tons [another source states 607 ft long (185 m), 63 ft wide (19 m)]. She was the sister ship to the SS Cincinnati. With twin-screw propellers and quadruple-expansion steam engines, the maximum speed was 16 knots. The passenger capacity was 239 first-class, 224 second-class, 496 third-class, and 1,882 steerage. Her maiden voyage was in 1909, leaving from Hamburg, Germany on 26 March and arriving in the port of New York City on 8 April.

The Cleveland was involved in a collision on 12 January 1912 with the SS Colorado which was moored in Honolulu, Hawaii. As the Cleveland was being moved, harbor pilot Milton P. Sanders suddenly dropped dead. Control of the Cleveland was not maintained, resulting in collision with and moderate damage to the Colorado.

Service was suspended during World War I, during which Cleveland was kept at Hamburg. After that, the Cleveland was seized by the United States Government under Germany's reparations for the war, and in 1919 it was renamed USS Mobile (ID-4030).

In 1920 the ship was purchased by the Byron Steamship company based in London, England for use in cruises between New York and the Mediterranean. The name was changed a second time to King Alexander. The ship was sold again in 1923 to United States Lines, again being renamed back to the original Cleveland and used for passage between Hamburg and New York.

Finally, the Cleveland was purchased back by the Hamburg America Line in 1926; its use continued until she was retired in 1931, and later disassembled for scrap in 1933 in Hamburg.

References

• USS Mobile (ID # 4043) at Naval Historical Center

See also

• List of ocean liners
• Images of SS Cleveland
• Photo gallery at navsource.org