MONGOLIA TT 1615

Ship Name and Designation History

This section lists the names and designations that the ship had during its lifetime. The list is in chronological order.

Transport
Keel Laid June 7 1902
Launched July 25 1903 by the New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, NJ


1. SS MONGOLIA (Passenger-Cargo Ship)
Owned and operated by Pacific Mail Steamship Company
Sold to Atlantic Transport Line in August 1915
Chartered as an Army transport in March 1917
Acquired by the U.S. Navy April 27 1918


2. USS MONGOLIA ID-1615
Commissioned May 8 1918 - Decommissioned September 11 1919


3. SS MONGOLIA (Passenger-Cargo Ship)
Returned to her owner in 1919 and then chartered by the American Line 1920 - 1924
Transferred to The Panama Pacific Lines 1925


4. SS PRESIDENT FILLMORE (Passenger-Cargo Ship)
Transferred December 7 1929 to the Dollar Steam Ship Lines and renamed
Operated until 1931 and was then laid up in New York


5. PANAMANIAN (Commercial Service)
Sold in 1940 to Cia Transatlantica Centroamericano of Panama (part of Arnold Bernstein Shipping Co.) and renamed
Sold in 1941 to Asia Navigation Company Ltd (pat of Wallem & Co.)

Scrapped in Hong Kong 1947-1948

 

Conflicting History Data

NavSource and Wikipedia both give a scrapping date of May 20, 1946 but that is contradicted by the Report of Survey for Repairs, &c, of Engines & Boilers for Panamanian, 24th October 1946. The survey was dated October 1946 in Singapore which is after the May 1946 scrapping date. It also shows the owner as "Wallem & Co." and the ship build location and date match the SS Panamanian's known history so there is reasonable confidence that the survey is not referring to some other ship.

In addition, the book "The Atlantic Transport Line, 1881-1931: A History with Details on All Ships" (Google Books) says "...she was scrapped at Hong Kong in 1947-1948".

Just to throw in more conflict: APL History (pp77-78) says: "Laid up in 1931 and transferred to APL in 1938. Sold to Wallem & Co. in February 1940, transferred to Panamanian flag and renamed PANAMANIAN. Sold for scrap and broken up at Shanghai in 1947."

 

Naval Covers

This section lists active links to the pages displaying covers associated with the ship. There should be a separate set of pages for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Covers should be presented in chronological order (or as best as can be determined).

Since a ship may have many covers, they may be split among many pages so it doesn't take forever for the pages to load. Each page link should be accompanied by a date range for covers on that page.

1. Covers Page 1    (1905-19)

 

Postmarks

This section lists examples of the postmarks used by the ship. There should be a separate set of postmarks for each incarnation of the ship (ie, for each entry in the "Ship Name and Designation History" section). Within each set, the postmarks should be listed in order of their classification type. If more than one postmark has the same classification, then they should be further sorted by date of earliest known usage.

A postmark should not be included unless accompanied by a close-up image and/or an image of a cover showing that postmark. Date ranges MUST be based ONLY ON COVERS IN THE MUSEUM and are expected to change as more covers are added.
 
>>> If you have a better example for any of the postmarks, please feel free to replace the existing example.

 

Postmark Type --- Killer Bar Text	Date From to Date To	Thumbnail Link To Postmark Image	Thumbnail Link To Cover Image

 

Honolulu HI Duplex

1905-06-04 to 1905-07-14

As S.S. MONGOLIA

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Post Office Established May 14 1918 - Disestablished January 3 1919

 

NO POSTMARKS REPORTED

POSTMARK DATE

Note:

 

Other Information

On April 1917, SS MONGOLIA was attacked by a German submarine. SS MONGOLIA fired on the submarine, wrecking her periscope and conning tower, then pursued, forcing the submarine to submerge, the first encounter of an American ship with a U‑boat.

 

Additional Naming History Sources

USS Mongolia - The First to Americans to Draw Blood with the Germans in WWI
"...in 1940 sold to Cia Transatlantica Centroamericana, Panama, a company owned by a German man named Arnold Bernstein and was renamed Panamanian. She kept this name until she was scrapped in Hong Kong.... Panamanian was badly damaged by fire while loading flour at the north wharf at Fremantle, Australia in January of 1945. Although Panamanian was repaired after the fire she was scrapped at Hong Kong in 1947-48."

The Master Mariner - May 2018 issue
From the article Playing Battleships – Direct Hits and Near Misses for Aussie Mariners, pp14-15
"17th January 1945, Fremantle port....an ancient large general cargo ship owned by Shanghai interests named Panamanian was berthed at No 8 berth North Wharf loading 12,000 tons of bagged flour.
In 1946 the owners Asia Navigation Company Ltd (Wallems & Co)...
In 1940, having been sold to Arnold Bernstein Shipping Co, she caught fire and sank at Baltimore eventually raised and towed to Newport News for repair.
Sold in March 1941 to Asia Navigation Company and renamed Panamanian with a Panama flag, she was chartered by the Ministry of War Transport (UK) in August 1941.
Following the Fremantle incident, she resumed service in March 1946 following repairs.
After a minor fire in Sydney in May 1946 she managed to make Hong Kong where she was eventually scrapped in January 1947."

Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1941 Steamers
Has an entry for Panamanian showing owner as Cia. Transatlantica Centroamericana S.A. and registered Panamanian

Lloyd's Register of Shipping 1942 Steamers
Has an entry for Panamanian showing owner as Wallem & Co and registered Panamanian

Lloyd’s Register of Shipping 1947 Steamers
Has an entry for Panamanian showing owner as Wallem & Co and registered Panamanian. Has notation: "LAID UP PENDING SURVEY"

Lloyd’s Register of Shipping 1948 Steamers
Has an entry for Panamanian showing owner as Wallem & Co and registered Panamanian. Has notation: "To be broken up"

 

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