SS Comol Cuba (ex-Dora, ex-Inspector, ex-Red Jacket) was a Design 1022 cargo ship built for the United States Shipping Board immediately after World War I. Converted to a tanker, she spent most of her career transporting molasses, a byproduct of sugar refining, to the United States. During World War II, she transported petroleum before returning to the private sector.

History

She was laid down as Red Jacket,[2] yard number 1482 at the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania shipyard of the American International Shipbuilding Corporation, one of 110 Design 1022 cargo ships built for the United States Shipping Board.[3] She was launched as the Inspector on 18 September 2019 and completed on 31 October 1919.[4] In 1921, she was purchased by the Dunbar Molasses Company[4] and converted into a tanker with a 344,963 gallon capacity.[5] In 1927, she was purchased by the U.S. Tank Ship Corporation and renamed Dora.[4] In 1928, she was purchased by private investors via the Steamship Dora Corporation, a New York incorporated special-purpose entity established specifically for her purchase, with U.S. Tank Ship Corporation as ship manager.[4][6] In 1938, she was purchased by the Commercial Molasses Corporation and renamed Comol Cuba.[4][7] In 1939, her registration was changed to Panama.[8] During World War II, she operated mostly in the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.[9] In January 1943, she was part of convoy PK-135, the last Pilottown, Louisiana to Key West, Florida convoy.[10]

In the fourth quarter of 1948, she was broken up in New Orleans by the Southern Scrap Materials Company.[4][8]

Citations

  1. ^ Fifty Second Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States - Seagoing vessels, Arranged in Order of Signal Letters. 1923. p. 44.
  2. ^ Colton, Tim (March 13, 2016). "American International Shipbuilding (AISC) Hog Island Shipyard, Philadelphia PA". shipbuildinghistory.com.
  3. ^ McKellar, p. Part II, 588.
  4. ^ a b c d e f McKellar, p. Part II, 586.
  5. ^ Fifty Second Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States -American Merchant Vessels Of 500 Gross Tons and Over Equipped for Carrying Petroleum in Bulk. 1923. p. 485.
  6. ^ "1930-1931 Dora" (PDF). Lloyd's Register of Ships. 1930.
  7. ^ Marine Review 1920, p. 108.
  8. ^ a b "T/T Comol Cuba". krigsseilerregisteret.no.
  9. ^ Hague, Arnold. "Ship Movements - COMOL CUBA (Pan) 5,036 tons, built 1919". convoyweb.org.uk.
  10. ^ "Operation PK". codenames.info. ...and ended with the PK.135 convoy of 19/22 January 1943 with the 5,036-ton Panamanian Comol Cuba, 1,975-ton British Coteaudoc, 3,362-ton Honduran Gatun, 3,332-ton Honduran Granada, 4,548-ton US Henry D. Whiton, US King, 4,538-ton US Turrialba, 4,078-ton US Unaco, 6,901-ton US Vermont II, and 1,889-ton US commissioned cargo ship Pegasus

General bibliography

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