SS Vigilancia
Vigilancia in Ward Line colors | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| United States | |
| Name | Vigilancia |
| Namesake | Spanish for "vigilance" |
| Owner |
|
| Operator | 1894: Ward Line |
| Port of registry |
|
| Route |
|
| Builder | Delaware River Co, Chester, PA |
| Cost | between $400,000 and $450,000 |
| Yard number | 259 |
| Launched | 17 September 1890 |
| Completed | 1890 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | sunk by torpedo, 1917 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type |
|
| Tonnage | 4,115 GRT, 2,934 NRT |
| Length | 321.3 ft (97.9 m) |
| Beam | 45.3 ft (13.8 m) |
| Depth | 27.3 ft (8.3 m) |
| Decks | 3 |
| Installed power | 339 NHP; 2,900 ihp |
| Propulsion |
|
| Sail plan | barquentine |
| Speed | 13.89 knots (25.7 km/h) maximum |
| Capacity |
|
| Troops | 1898: 45 officers + 800 enlisted |
| Crew |
|
| Notes | sister ship: Seguranca |
SS Vigilancia was a merchant steamship that was built in Pennsylvania in 1890. It sailed between New York and Brazil via the West Indies until 1893, when its original owners went bankrupt. The New York and Cuba Mail Steamship Company, commonly known as Ward Line, owned her from 1894 until 1914, and ran it between New York and Mexico via Cuba. In 1898 it was a troopship in the Spanish–American War.
Vigilancia was a passenger and cargo ship until 1915, when it was bought by a company in Georgia to export US cotton to Germany. In 1916 it was bought by a new company that exported US trucks to the Entente Powers. In March 1917 a U-boat sank it in the North Atlantic, killing 15 of its crew, including six US citizens. This is one of several German attacks on US merchant ships that helped to provoke the US to declare war on Germany.