U.S. Navy service, May 1918 – September 1919

USS Radnor departing with troops aboard, 1919, probably from American Bassens, France

Radnor was acquired by the U.S. Navy on 11 April 1918 and commissioned at Philadelphia on 13 May. Assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service, Radnor was utilized by the Navy as a cargo ship for the remainder of the war.^[8]

Radnor's service began 31 May 1918 when the ship departed Philadelphia "with a full army cargo" bound for Cristóbal, Canal Zone, before proceeding via Callao, Peru, to Antofagasta, Chile, arriving 28 June. Later, Radnor joined two convoys to France, the first arriving at Marseilles 19 September and the second reaching Quiberon 4 January 1919.^[8]

With the war over, the foreign contingent of the American Cruiser and Transport Force withdrew, leaving the U.S. government short of the transport capacity needed to quickly repatriate the hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops stationed in France. Radnor consequently became one of 56 ships selected for conversion to troop transports,^[9] and was transferred to the Cruiser and Transport Force on 7 March.^[8] Radnor was converted to a troop transport by W. & A. Fletcher Co. at Hoboken, New Jersey, between 22 March and 22 April 1919, at a cost of $122,488, after which she had a troop-carrying capacity of 37 officers and 1,900 enlisted men,^[10] and a crew complement of 21 officers and 168 enlisted men.^[6]

Radnor made four round trips to France, repatriating a total of 5,876 troops including fifteen sick or wounded, the last of these voyages ending 23 September.^[11] With this final naval assignment complete, Radnor was detached from the Cruiser and Transport Force on 24 or 25 September,^[11] and returned to control of the United States Shipping Board 24 October.^[8]

Merchant service, interwar period

After decommissioning from the Navy, Radnor operated for a succession of private companies, under charter from the USSB, as the cargo ship SS Radnor. The first company to charter the vessel appears to have been Sigsbee, Humphrey & Co., which contracted with the USSB in late 1919 or early 1920.^[12] Radnor is known to have made at least one voyage for this company, from Danzig, Germany, to New York in April 1921,^[13] but by late 1921 the company's contract with the USSB had been terminated.^[12] After this, Radnor spent the next seven or eight years operating as a cargo ship between a variety of ports in the United States, including New York,^[14] New Orleans^[15] and San Pedro, California,^{[16][17][18][19]} and various destinations in the Pacific and Far East including Honolulu, Hawaii;^{[14][15][20][21]} Cebu and Manila, Philippines;^{[16][17][22][23]} Singapore;^[22][24][25] Hong Kong;^[23] and Shanghai, China.^[20]

In October 1922, Radnor transported the "unusually heavy" cargo of 10,500 tons of coal from Immingham, England, to Camden, Delaware, reportedly resulting in the ship's deck being "two feet under water for two days in stormy weather" during the voyage.^[22] Just prior to this trip, Radnor had employed an American youth in the East Indies who became deranged and attempted to attack the ship's captain, L. C. Howard. Placed in irons, the youth managed to escape before being handed over to the American consulate in London.^[22]

On 31 March 1925, Radnor was grounded off Beagle Island, Philippines while en route to Europe with a cargo of hemp. The ship was successfully refloated, but found to be leaking from a tank and was forced to return to Hong Kong for repairs.^[26] In June, the vessel arrived at New York via Philadelphia while under charter to American Pioneer Lines, with a scheduled return to the Far East via San Pedro.^[27]

USCGC Perseus (WPC-114) was sent to Jacob Luckenbach's aid after the freighter broke a propeller shaft off San Pedro, CA, in November 1936

By 1926, Radnor had been chartered to the Barber Steamship Line. On 24 August, shortly after arriving at Brooklyn, a thorough search of the ship conducted by customs officials revealed contraband items including nine Chinese rugs worth $10,000 and 48 bottles of whisky and cordials worth an estimated $500. After Radnor's officers and crew denied all knowledge of the contraband goods, the shipping line was fined $5 per whisky bottle and warned that the ship was subject to libel over the rugs.^[28]

On 23 January 1930, Radnor was sold by the USSB to the Luckenbach Steamship Company for the sum of $201,000.^[29] Renamed SS Jacob Luckenbach,^[4][30][31] the ship along with two others was used to expand the Luckenbach Line's intercoastal service from five ships to eight, enabling the Line to increase its schedule from one voyage every sixteen days to one in ten. The ships in this service carried miscellaneous cargoes, including steel, sugar and lumber.^[32] Homeported at New Orleans,^[32] Jacob Luckenbach was to remain in this service for about a decade, operating between various ports on the East and West coasts of the United States, via the Panama Canal, until the nation's entry into World War II in December 1941.^{[32][33][34][35]}

Jacob Luckenbach suffered a number of accidents while in intercoastal service. The first occurred on 5 November 1936, when the ship broke her propeller shaft 130 miles from San Pedro en route from the Gulf of Mexico. The Coast Guard cutter USCGC Perseus (WPC-114) was despatched to her aid, along with a tug sent to tow the vessel to San Pedro.^[33] On 4 August 1937, a fire broke out in one of Jacob Luckenbach's holds while the ship was berthed at Grove Street, Oakland. Firefighters wearing gas masks were able to extinguish the flames after about two hours, with damage to the ship and cargo estimated at $2000.^[34] The most serious accident to Jacob Luckenbach occurred on 1 March 1940, when the ship ran aground at the entrance of the southwest pass of the Mississippi River while en route to Los Angeles. Two Coast Guard cutters and a third vessel were despatched to stand by the stricken vessel. She was eventually refloated a week later on 8 March with the assistance of tugboats, after which she was anchored at the site pending inspection.^[35]

World War II

Jacob Luckenbach remained active throughout World War II, initially ranging far and wide as an independent cargo carrier following America's entry into the war, and from June 1943 to June 1944, participating in several convoys delivering vital supplies from the United States to Great Britain. After June 1944, the vessel returned to mostly independent voyages, operating between the United States and various Central and South American destinations.^[36]

Shortly after America's entry into the war on 7 December 1941, Jacob Luckenbach departed New Orleans 21 December bound for Australasia via the Panama Canal, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Departing San Francisco 19 February 1942, the ship arrived at Wellington, New Zealand on 18 March, before continuing on to Sydney and Brisbane, Australia, arriving 4 and 12 April respectively, before returning to Sydney on the 14th. On the 23rd, Jacob Luckenbach departed Sydney for Mobile, Alabama via the Panama Canal, arriving 1 June. From here, the ship visited Havana, Cuba, before returning to New York via Key West, Florida and Hampton Roads, Virginia, arriving 1 July.^[36]

Jacob Luckenbach departed New York on her second major voyage of the war on 27 September 1942, first visiting Guantanamo, Cuba before proceeding to Cape Town, South Africa via the Panama Canal, arriving 12 November. From there, the ship continued on to Khorramshahr and Abadan, Iran, then to Bahrain before returning to Bandar Abbas, Iran, arriving at the latter 18 February 1943. From Bandar Abbas, the ship visited several ports in India and Sri Lanka including Mumbai, Colombo, Visakhapatnam and Kolkata before steaming to Fremantle, Australia, arriving 10 April. Departing Fremantle on the 13th, Jacob Luckenbach made for the United States via the Panama Canal, returning to New York via Key West on 9 June.^[36]

Jacob Luckenbach departed on her first voyage in convoy to the United Kingdom, carrying general supplies, with convoy HX250 from New York on 30 July. Arriving at Loch Ewe, Scotland, 12 August, the ship continued on to Methil and Immingham before returning to Loch Ewe via Methil to join convoy ON201 returning to New York, arriving 24 September. The ship's second wartime voyage to the U.K., this time carrying general supplies and explosives, was made with convoy HX262, which departed New York 18 October, arriving at Loch Ewe 2 November, after which Jacob Luckenbach continued on to Swansea and Milford Haven, England, before returning to New York 14 December with convoy ON213. From there, the ship moved North to Halifax, Nova Scotia via Boston, Massachusetts, where, with a cargo of general supplies and explosives, she departed 30 January 1944 with convoy HX277 to Newport, Wales, arriving 26 February. The vessel then continued on independently to Milford Haven, where she joined convoy ON226 for the return trip to Boston, arriving 14 March. Jacob Luckenbach's final wartime voyage to the UK, with a cargo of general supplies and barges, was made with convoy HX286, which departed New York 5 April and arrived at Cardiff, Scotland, 21 April. Departing Cardiff 3 May, the steamer made for Belfast Lough, where she joined convoy ON236 for the voyage back to New York, arriving 27 May 1944.^[36]

For the remainder of the war, Jacob Luckenbach returned once more to mostly independent operation, making several round trips between New York and San Juan, Puerto Rico, as well as other Central and South American ports including Mayaguez, Puerto Rico; Guantanamo, Santiago and Jucaro in Cuba; Curacao; and Puerto Cabello and Puerto La Cruz, Venezuela.^[36]

Shortly after the end of hostilities, Jacob Luckenbach departed New York 15 November 1945, arriving Terneuzen, Netherlands, 29 November.^[36] In a reprise of her role after World War I, the ship then made a minor contribution to Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating 31 soldiers from Antwerp, Belgium, to New York, where she arrived 4 January 1946.^[37]

First Chinese ship to South America, 1948

In 1947, Jacob Luckenbach was sold to C. Y. Tung's fledgling Chinese Maritime Trust, which would later become one of the largest shipping lines in the world.^{[lower-alpha 1]} After the sale, the ship was renamed SS Tung Ping.^[30][38]

In 1948, Tung Ping reportedly became the first Chinese-owned, Chinese-flagged, Chinese-crewed ship to visit Central and South America.^[39] Later that year, she reportedly became the first such ship to visit New Orleans.^[41]

Later history

In 1950, Tung Ping was sold to Pacific Union Marine Corp. of Panama and renamed SS Pacific Dragon. In 1955, Pacific Dragon was sold to Pacific Bulk Carrier Inc. of Panama and renamed SS Oceanic Justice.^[30][38]

Oceanic Justice was scrapped at Tokyo, Japan, on 12 July 1959.^[30][4]

Bibliography