SS El Sol SS " El Sol was a cargo ship built in 1910 for the Morgan Line , a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Company . During World War I , she was known as USAT " El Sol in service with the United States Army and as USS " El Sol " ( ID - 4505 ) in service with the United States Navy . At the end of war , she reverted to her original name of SS " El Sol " . SS " El Sol " was one of four sister ships that carried cargo and a limited number of passengers for the Morgan Line . She was acquired by the U . S . Army after the United States entered World War I in April 1917 , and converted to carry horses and mules to France . In August 1918 , the ship was transferred to the U . S . Navy and continued transporting animals through the end of the war . " El Sol " returned to the Morgan Line in 1919 and sailed with them until March 1927 , when she sank in New York Harbor after colliding with " Sac City " of the American Diamond Line . A portion of the ship ' s cargo was salvaged but the ship was scrapped later in the year . Early career . SS " El Sol " was a cargo and passenger steamship launched on 11 May 1910 by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co . of Newport News , Virginia ( yard no . 130 ) , and delivered to the Atlantic division of the Morgan Line on 20 August 1910 . She was the first of four sister ships ; the other three being " El Mundo " , , and . " El Sol " was , was long by abeam , and made . The vessel sailed for the Morgan Line , the brand name of the Southern Pacific Steamship Company ( a subsidiary of the Southern Pacific Railroad ) , which employed her to carry cargo and a limited number of passengers between New York ; New Orleans , the eastern terminus of the Southern Pacific line ; and Galveston , Texas . World War I . After the United States declared war on Germany in April 1917 , " El Sol " was requisitioned by the United States Shipping Board ( USSB ) on behalf of the United States Army , who designated her as an animal transport ship . Although there is no information about the specific conversion of " El Sol " , for other ships this typically meant that any second - or third - class passenger accommodations had to be ripped out and replaced with ramps and stalls for the horses and mules carried . Sources do not reveal all of " El Sol " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s movements , but it is known that she departed on her second trip to France from Newport News on 10 February 1918 . Carrying 650 animals , " El Sol " headed to New York to join in a convoy with fellow Army transport , and U . S . Navy troop transports , , , , , and . The convoy was escorted by when it departed from New York on 18 February , and arrived at Saint - Nazaire on 4 March . Ten animals on board " El Sol " died or were destroyed during the crossing . The next recorded activity of " El Sol " was on 3 August , when she was transferred from the Army to the U . S . Navy and commissioned the same day with Lieutenant Commander G . Anderson , USNRF , in command . " El Sol " was assigned to the Naval Overseas Transportation Service ( ) and continued to carry animals and supplies for the U . S . Army . By August , each animal transport ship had a transport veterinarian and a permanent veterinary detachment to care for the animals while on board the ship . " El Sol " had also been joined by two of her sister ships , and in animal transport duty . She next departed Newport News on 23 August 1918 with 520 horses and mules on board . Upon arrival at Saint - Nazaire on 19 September , " El Sol " delivered her complete load of animals ; none had died during the passage . After returning to the U . S . , " El Sol " departed again on 30 October with another 620 animals on board . Docking in Bordeaux on 13 November — two days after the Armistice — she again delivered her full load of animals . " El Sol " made two more roundtrips for the over the next five months . While returning to the United States from her last sailing in late March 1919 , " El Sol " responded to distress calls from , a Navy troop transport which had a damaged rudder and was disabled . " El Sol " came to the aid of the stricken ship , which was east of New York , to attempt to take her 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 , killing three men . Ultimately , " El Sol " stood by " Scranton " for over 40 hours until minesweeper arrived and took " Scranton " under tow . At the conclusion of her last voyage on 3 April , " El Sol " was converted to a troop transport and assigned to the Navy ' s Cruiser and Transport Force on 15 April . " El Sol " returned 2 , 714 healthy and wounded American servicemen from France in two voyages . Decommissioned on 18 September , " El Sol " was returned to the Morgan Line soon after . Postwar civilian service . " El Sol " resumed cargo service with the Morgan Line , where she had 8 years of uneventful operation . On 11 March 1927 , however , " El Sol " was inbound to New York with a $ 1 , 000 , 000 cargo of pig iron , copper , and bales of cotton . When a heavy fog settled over New York Harbor , Captain Charles H . Knowles ordered his ship to anchor until the fog cleared . As " El Sol " was being maneuvered into position at about 07 : 45 , the American Diamond Line ship " Sac City " hit a glancing blow to " El Sol " , bounced off and then struck " El Sol " a second time , ripping through " El Sol " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s plating . " Sac City " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s bow had some slight damage , but " El Sol " sank quickly in about of water about a half - mile ( 800 m ) south of the Statue of Liberty . Out of " El Sol " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s crew of 45 men , 44 were rescued ; the ship ' s carpenter , who could not swim , was last seen clutching the ship ' s rail as it went below the surface . " El Sol " settled on the bottom at a 45° angle with only the tops of her masts protruding above the surface ; the Morgan Line house flag — a blue house flag with a red " M " inside a white star — still fluttered in the breeze . Even though the sunken vessel was not considered a hazard to navigation , in another fog two days later a Staten Island Ferry boat nearly hit " El Sol " < nowiki > ' < / nowiki > s wreck . In a hearings before the United States Steamboat Inspection Service , Captain Knowles of " El Sol " and the captain of " Sac City " were both cleared of wrongdoing in the collision , and the blame was laid on the heavy fog . On 31 July , " The New York Times " reported on the cargo salvage operations still underway on the wreck of " El Sol " . In three months of continuous operations , the salvage company reported that about 35 % of the sunken ship ' s cargo had been recovered . The hulk of " El Sol " was scrapped later in 1927 .