SS Pennsylvanian SS " Pennsylvanian was a cargo ship built in 1913 for the American - Hawaiian Steamship Company . During World War I she was requisitioned by the United States Navy and commissioned as USS " Pennsylvanian " ( ID - 3511 ) in September 1918 , but renamed two months later to USS " Scranton . After her Navy service , her original name of " Pennsylvanian " was restored . " Pennsylvanian " was built by the Maryland Steel Company as one of eight sister ships for the American - Hawaiian Steamship Company , and was employed in inter - coastal service via the Isthmus of Tehuantepec and the Panama Canal after it opened . " Pennsylvanian " was one of the first two steamships to travel eastbound through the canal when it opened in August 1914 . During World War I , as both USS " Pennsylvanian " and USS " Scranton " , the ship carried cargo and animals to France , and returned American troops after the Armistice in 1918 . After her Navy service ended in 1919 , she was returned to her original owners and resumed relatively uneventful cargo service over the next twenty years . Early in World War II , the ship was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration , and shipped cargo on New York – Caribbean routes and transatlantic routes . In mid - July 1944 , " Pennsylvanian " was scuttled as part of the breakwater for one of the Mulberry artificial harbors built to support the Normandy Invasion . Design and construction . In September 1911 , the American - Hawaiian Steamship Company placed an order with the Maryland Steel Company of Sparrows Point , Maryland , for four new cargo ships — , , , and " Pennsylvanian " . The contract cost of the ships was set at the construction cost plus an 8 % profit for Maryland Steel , but with a maximum cost of $ 640 , 000 each . The construction was financed by Maryland Steel with a credit plan that called for a 5 % down payment in cash with nine monthly installments for the balance . Provisions of the deal allowed that some of the nine installments could be converted into longer - term notes or mortgages . The final cost of " Pennsylvanian " , including financing costs , was $ 70 . 35 per deadweight ton , which came out to just under $ 716 , 000 . " Pennsylvanian " ( Maryland Steel yard no . 127 ) was the final ship built under the original contract . She was launched on 29 March 1913 , and delivered to American - Hawaiian in June . " Pennsylvanian " was , and was in length and abeam . She had a deadweight tonnage of and a storage capacity of . " Pennsylvanian " had a single steam engine powered by oil - fired boilers that drove a single screw propeller at a speed of . Early career . When " Pennsylvanian " began sailing for American - Hawaiian , the company shipped cargo from East Coast ports via the Tehuantepec Route to West Coast ports and Hawaii , and vice versa . Shipments on the Tehuantepec Route would arrive at Mexican ports — Salina Cruz , Oaxaca , for eastbound cargo , and Coatzacoalcos for westbound cargo — and would traverse the Isthmus of Tehuantepec on the Tehuantepec National Railway . Eastbound shipments were primarily sugar and pineapple from Hawaii , while westbound cargoes were more general in nature . " Pennsylvanian " sailed in this service on the west side of North America . After the United States occupation of Veracruz on 21 April 1914 ( which found six American - Hawaiian ships in Mexican ports ) , the Huerta - led Mexican government closed the Tehuantepec National Railway to American shipping . This loss of access , coupled with the fact that the Panama Canal was not yet open , caused American - Hawaii to return in late April to its historic route of sailing around South America via the Straits of Magellan . With the opening of the Panama Canal on 15 August , American - Hawaiian ships switched to taking that route . " Pennsylvanian " , on the west side of the canal when it opened , was one of the first two eastbound steamers to traverse the canal during her trip to New York . In late August , American - Hawaiian announced that " Pennsylvanian " would sail on a San Francisco – Panama Canal – Boston route , sailing opposite of , " Honolulan " , and sister ship " Washingtonian " . When landslides closed the canal in October 1915 , all American - Hawaiian ships , including " Pennsylvanian " , returned to the Straits of Magellan route again . " Pennsylvanian " s exact movements during 1916 and 1917 are unclear . She may have been in the half of the American - Hawaiian fleet that was chartered for transatlantic service . She may also have been in the group of American - Hawaiian ships chartered for service to South America , delivering coal , gasoline , and steel in exchange for coffee , nitrate s , cocoa , rubber , and managanese ore . However , when the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , the entire American - Hawaiian fleet , including " Pennsylvanian " , was requisitioned by the United States Shipping Board ( ) , which then returned the ships for operation by American - Hawaiian . U . S . Navy service . On 13 September 1918 , " Pennsylvanian " was transferred to the U . S . Navy at New York and commissioned USS " Pennsylvanian " ( ID - 3511 ) the same day . Assigned to the Navy ' s Naval Overseas Transportation Service ( ) , " Pennsylvanian " loaded a general cargo and sailed for Brest , France , on 30 September . She arrived there on 15 October and sailed for La Pallice the next day , where she unloaded her cargo before departing for New York on 5 November . Arriving at New York on 15 November , four days after the Armistice , " Pennsylvanian " was refitted as an animal transport ship , which , among other things , required the building of ramps and stalls for the animals . Sometime in November , probably during her refit , she was renamed USS " Scranton " , becoming the first U . S . Navy ship named in honor of the Pennsylvania town . " Scranton " sailed for France on 12 December , arriving at Saint - Nazaire on 29 December , and returning to New York on 29 January 1919 . On 5 February , " Scranton " was transferred from the to the Navy ' s Cruiser and Transport Force , and began conversion to a troop transport to carry American personnel home from France . While sailing to France to begin her first troop - carrying duties in late March , " Scranton " suffered damage to her rudder and was disabled east of New York . Navy transport responded to " Scranton " s distress call , and attempted to take " Scranton " under tow . During the day on 28 March , " Scranton " attempted to run a towline to " El Sol " by sending a launch in the rolling seas , but it capsized , drowning three men . " El Sol " stood by " Scranton " for over 40 hours until minesweeper arrived and took " Scranton " under tow . " Penguin " and " Scranton " arrived in New York on 3 April , where " Scranton " entered drydock to undergo repairs . After repairs , " Scranton " made three roundtrips to France and carried some 6 , 000 troops and passengers home to the United States before she was decommissioned on 19 July . The ship was handed over to the for return to American - Hawaiian , who restored her original name . Interwar years . " Pennsylvanian " resumed cargo service with American - Hawaiian after her return from World War I service . Though the company had abandoned its original Hawaiian sugar routes by this time , " Pennsylvanian " continued inter - coastal service through the Panama Canal in a relatively uneventful career . One incident of note occurred on 28 November 1930 , when " Pennsylvanian " hit a Southern Pacific ferry near Goat Island ( present - day Yerba Buena Island ) in a dense fog in San Francisco Bay . " Pennsylvanian " hit the stern of the ferry and caused damage to the ferry ' s superstructure and destroyed about of the ferry ' s railing . No one on either ship was injured . Other hints of " Pennsylvanian " s activities throughout the rest of her career can be found from contemporary newspaper reports . In October 1929 , the " Los Angeles Times " reported on a shipment that included 2 , 500 to 3 , 000 radio sets among " Pennsylvanian " s of cargo . In March 1938 , " The Christian Science Monitor " reported that " Pennsylvanian " s captain , C . M . Bamforth , had temporarily turned the deck of the cargo ship into a boatyard to build a catboat for his son in Swampscott , Massachusetts . Bamforth laid the keel while in San Francisco , bought copper rivets for the hull planking in Portland , Oregon , and began painting the boat after " Pennsylvanian " had traversed the Panama Canal . He expected to have the boat finished when " Pennsylvanian " arrived in Boston on 22 April . In October the same year , " Pennsylvanian " delivered of steel parts for the Hale Telescope then under construction at the Palomar Observatory outside of San Diego , California . The ship had picked up the $ 375 , 000 cargo in Philadelphia before sailing for San Diego . World War II . At some point after the United States entered World War II , " Pennsylvanian " was requisitioned by the War Shipping Administration ( WSA ) , but , as with her pre - U . S . Navy service in World War I , she continued to be operated by American - Hawaiian . From July to September 1942 , " Pennsylvanian " sailed between New York and Caribbean ports , calling at Trinidad , Key West , Hampton Roads , Guantánamo Bay , and Cristóbal . In January 1943 , " Pennsylvanian " called at Bandar Abbas , Iran , on the Persian Gulf , but had returned to Caribbean sailings again by March . Between May and September 1943 , " Pennsylvanian " made four transatlantic crossings between New York and Liverpool , making intermediate stops in Loch Ewe and Methil while in the United Kingdom . The cargo ship made two New York – Guantánamo Bay roundtrips between September and December before resuming transatlantic sailings . After two New York – Liverpool roundtrips between late December 1943 and April 1944 , " Pennsylvanian " left the United States for the final time on 19 May 1944 , arriving in Liverpool on 2 June . She called at the British ports of Methil , Loch Ewe , Clyde , and Milford Haven in late June and early July , and , sailing from Barry in mid July , " Pennsylvanian " arrived at Saint - Laurent - sur - Mer , France . There she was scuttled as part of the breakwater for the Mulberry artificial harbor built to support the Normandy Invasion . In March 1945 , the WSA offered a payment of $ 565 , 910 to American - Hawaiian for " Pennsylvanian " as part of a $ 7 . 2 million settlement for eleven requisitioned American - Hawaiian ships that had either been sunk , scuttled ( like " Pennsylvanian " ) , or were to be retained by the government .