TThhee SSoouutthh PPaacciiffiicc’’ss GGrreeaatteesstt SShhiippwwrreecckk -- SSSS PPrreessiiddeenntt CCoooolliiddggee Michael McFadyen A Short History of the SS President Coolidge This edition: First Edition – November 2003 Copyright Michael McFadyen 46 Gannon Street TEMPE NSW 2044 AUSTRALIA Internet Web Site: members.ozemail.com.au/~diving Email Address: [email protected] Comments, corrections and suggestions welcome! Cover Photo: MV Malabar aground on Long Bay, 1931 TThhee SSoouutthh PPaacciiffiicc’’ss GGrreeaatteesstt SShhiippwwrreecckk -- SSSS PPrreessiiddeenntt CCoooolliiddggee A short history of the Dollar Steamship Line, Newport News Shipbuilding Drydock Company, American President Line and the SS President Coolidge. Michael McFadyen A Short History of the SS President Coolidge Page i Foreword For more than 15 years I have dived a considerable number of the shipwrecks of the Pacific Ocean. Apart from the shipwrecks in my home State of New South Wales, the first wreck that I dived in the Pacific was the SS President Coolidge. My interest in this ship led me to find out more about its history and how it came to be sunk. A lot of the information that was available in dive publications and on film was, I soon discovered, incorrect. After amassing a great deal of information, I decided to share my knowledge, so I wrote articles for DIVE Log Australasia about the ship. In the mid-1990s, with the expansion of the use of the World Wide Web, I set up my own Web Site (Michael McFadyen’s Scuba Diving – members.ozemail.com.au/~diving) and published the articles there. Since my first visit to dive the Coolidge in 1991, I have returned to Espiritu Santo in 1995, 1999, 2000, and 2002 and have done in excess of 60 dives there. This book is a consolidation of all the articles I have written about the SS President Coolidge over the years, together with a very comprehensive index. I have more information about the Coolidge (and more photos) but space limitations on my web site and in this book limit me providing it all. I would like to thank a number of people who have helped me. First, thanks to Kevn Green and his wife Mayumi who have taken me diving on the Coolidge for every one of my dives and who have given me great freedom to dive the Coolidge on my own. Secondly, thanks to my main buddies while diving the wreck, Eddy Labour, Daryl Gibbs, Andreas Thimm and Heinz Bendinger. It is amazing what difference diving with a great diver makes when diving a deep and potentially dangerous shipwreck makes. Thirdly, thanks to Frances Prentice of the National Maritime Museum Library who has been of great assistance in permitting me to use the resources of the Library and who has sent me information that she has found, even when I have not asked for it. Finally, to Barry Andrewartha and Belinda Barnes of Mountain Ocean and Travel Publications, heaps of thanks for encouraging me to write for their publications, DIVE Log Australasia and Sportdiving. This is not meant to be a definitive book on the SS President Coolidge, as that has been written by Peter Stone (The Lady and the President). I accept that there are errors in this book as some things included have not been able to be confirmed as correct. My intention is only to publish a few copies for my friends and a couple of libraries. I welcome comments, suggestions and corrections which can be sent to me as per the inside cover. Michael McFadyen Sydney, Australia 16 November 2003 Page ii A Short History of the SS President Coolidge Contents FOREWORD .......................................................................................................................... I CONTENTS .......................................................................................................................... II ROBERT DOLLAR AND THE DOLLAR STEAMSHIP LINE ...................................... 1 NEWPORT NEWS SHIPBUILDING DRYDOCK COMPANY ...................................... 4 THE SS PRESIDENT COOLIDGE ...................................................................................... 5 THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT LINES ............................................................................ 6 SS PRESIDENT COOLIDGE - THE SHIP ......................................................................... 8 SS PRESIDENT COOLIDGE - A SHORT HISTORY ..................................................... 13 THE LAST CROSSING OF THE PACIFIC .................................................................... 22 THE LAST VOYAGE AND SINKING ............................................................................. 27 SALVAGE WORKS ............................................................................................................ 36 INVESTIGATION INTO SINKING ................................................................................. 40 DIVING THE SS PRESIDENT COOLIDGE .................................................................... 45 APPENDIX 1 THE LAST DAY AS RECORDED BY LT CRAIG HOSMER .......... 53 APPENDIX 2 THE HEROS ............................................................................................ 58 APPENDIX 3 SOME MEMORIES ................................................................................ 60 APPENDIX 4 STATEMENT OF THE ACCUSED: HENRY NELSON CAPTAIN OF THE SS PRESIDENT COOLIDGE .............................................................................................. 63 APPENDIX 5 STATEMENTS BY SURVIVORS ......................................................... 64 APPENDIX 6 LETTER FROM HENRY NELSON ..................................................... 66 APPENDIX 7 MILITARY COMMISSION CLOSING STATEMENT ..................... 67 APPENDIX 8 REFERENCES ........................................................................................ 68 INDEX .................................................................................................................................. 71 A Short History of the SS President Coolidge Page 1 Robert Dollar and the Dollar Steamship Line The story of the SS President Coolidge really begans in the 19th Century. Robert Dollar was born in 1844 in Falkirk, Scotland (not Dalkirk as one source states). He moved to Canada in 1857. It is also reported that by the time he was 11 he was a shore boy in a lumber camp where he endured many hardships. Perhaps this was back in Scotland. Dollar's difficult childhood likely shaped his stringent attitude toward life and work. In the years to come, Dollar developed a set of rules to which he adhered all his life: 1. Do not cheat. 2. Do not be lazy. 3. Do not abuse. 4. Do not drink. In 1893 Dollar purchased a sawmill on the Pacific coast of the United States, and his lumber business grew. He had a son, Stanley Dollar who left school at 13 and worked in his father's lumber office. In 1893 or 1895 Figure 1 - Robert Dollar at Xmas 1928 he acquired his first vessel, a single steam schooner called Newsboy from the recently bankrupt Navarro Mill, to move his lumber from the Pacific northwest to markets down the coast and in the process they established the Dollar Steamship Company. The new company had a fleet of schooners, presumably moving lumber from the owners' interests to the markets. In 1902, Dollar Steamship Company moved into international shipping running a chartered voyage to Yokohama and the Philippines. In 1906-7, Dollar purchased a property at San Rafael, California which he renamed Falkirk. He lived here for the rest of his life and today the house is the Falkirk Muesum. In 1916 he purchased 100 acres in Canada at Roche Point and built a timber mill as well as a town. The town still exists today, Dollarton. In 1923 he purchased seven ex World War 1 "502 President type" liners from the US Shipping Board. In March 1925 Dollar took over an additional five "535 President type" liners from the Shipping Board (apparently they were owned by the Shipping Board but managed by Pacific Mail Steamship Company in Trans Pacific work). The cost was $5,625,000. Even though this bid was a million dollars lower than Pacific Mail's bid, it was 100% cash whereas the latter's was cash and stock. It was decided that the Pacific Mail bid did not meet the terms of the tender and thus, Dollar Steamship Company gained itself $30 million worth of ships and was now able to start a westbound around the world service. The ships Figure 2 - Rear: (Robert) Stanley and Mrs continued to be used on the Trans Pacific Dollar, Robert Stanley Dollar Jr, J. service. Harold and Mrs Dollar Front: Robert and Mrs Dollar, Diana Dollar Page 2 A Short History of the SS President Coolidge As would be expected, this hit the Pacific Mail Steamship Co bad and soon it was taken over by Dollar. In addition, the Admiral Oriental Line went bust and it was also now part of the Dollar Steamship Company. The Dollar Steamship Co was now one of the most profitable shipping companies in the world but the approaching depression was to be affected. The name of the company changed in 1929 to Dollar Steamship Line Inc. Ltd. In 1929 two more ships were purchased as round the world liners and in a huge expansion, a decision was taken to build two identical passenger liners. They were not to be used to go around the world, but they were to be the Trans Pacific sector ships. The Dollar Line was loaned more than $5,000,000 by the US Government for this construction (the boats were to be used to carry mail and the US Government had a long history of subsidising ships that were used for this purpose). On 6 Figure 3 - It is 1928 and Robert Dollar December