SS Comol Cuba
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 | |
|---|---|
 (1919–1939)  (1939–1948) | |
| Name | Red Jacket (1919) Inspector (1919–1927) Dora (1927–1938) Comol Cuba (1938–1948) |
| Owner | United States Shipping Board (1919–1921) Dunbar Molasses Company (1921–1927) U.S. Tank Ship Corporation (1927–1928) Steamship Dora Corporation (1928–1938) Commercial Molasses Corporation (1938–1948) |
| Builder | American International Shipbuilding Corporation, Philadelphia |
| Yard number | 1482 |
| Launched | 18 September 1919 |
| Completed | 31 October 1919 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Broken up, 1948 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Design 1022 cargo ship |
| Tonnage | 7,500 dwt |
| Length | 390 ft (120 m) |
| Beam | 54 ft (16 m) |
| Draft | 27 ft 5 in (8.36 m) |
| Installed power | Oil-fired steam turbines |
| Propulsion | Single screw |
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
- Fifty Second Annual List of Merchant Vessels of the United States - Seagoing vessels, Arranged in Order of Signal Letters. 1923. p. 44.
- Colton, Tim (March 13, 2016). "American International Shipbuilding (AISC) Hog Island Shipyard, Philadelphia PA". shipbuildinghistory.com.
- McKellar, p. Part II, 588.
- McKellar, p. Part II, 586.
- 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.
- "1930-1931 Dora" (PDF). Lloyd's Register of Ships. 1930.
- Marine Review 1920, p. 108.
- "T/T Comol Cuba". krigsseilerregisteret.no.
- Hague, Arnold. "Ship Movements - COMOL CUBA (Pan) 5,036 tons, built 1919". convoyweb.org.uk.
- "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
- McKellar, Norman L. "Steel Shipbuilding under the U.S. Shipping Board, 1917–1921, Part II, Contract Steel Ships, p. 588" (PDF). Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921. ShipScribe. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- Marine Review (1920). "1919 Construction Record of U.S. Yards". The Marine Review. New York. 50 (February): 97. Retrieved 27 March 2021.