SS St . Louis ( 1894 ) SS " St . Louis , was a transatlantic passenger liner built by the William Cramp & Sons Building & Engine Company , Philadelphia and was launched on 12 November 1894 ; sponsored by Mrs . Grover Cleveland , wife of the President of the United States ; and entered merchant service in 1895 , under United States registry for the International Navigation Co . , of New York with her maiden voyage between New York and Southampton , England . She was acquired by the United States Navy during the Spanish – American War and commissioned under the name USS " St . Louis in 1898 , and again during World War I under the name USS " Louisville " ( ID - 1644 ) from 1918 to 1919 . After she reverted to her original name in 1919 , she burned in 1920 while undergoing a refit . " St . Louis " was scrapped in 1924 in Genoa . Service history . Spanish - American War . On a later voyage following the outbreak of the Spanish - American War , " St . Louis " was chartered for Naval service while at Southampton and returned to New York on 22 April 1898 . Armed with four 5 - inch rapid fire guns and eight 6 - pounders , she was commissioned as an auxiliary cruiser in the United States Navy on 24 April , Capt . Caspar F . Goodrich in command . Manned by 27 officers and 350 men , she put to sea on 30 April for the Caribbean . " St . Louis " was specially outfitted with heavy drag lines in order to destroy undersea cable communications in the West Indies and to the mainland of South America . On 13 May , she severed the cable between St . Thomas and San Juan ; and five days later exchanged fire with the Morro Castle batteries at Santiago de Cuba as she cut the cable between that port and Holland ' s Bay , Jamaica . When Admiral Pascual Cervera ' s fleet sailed into Santiago Harbor , the Spanish warships found themselves cut off from direct communications with Spain . " St . Louis " next severed the cable between Guantanamo Bay and Haiti ; then cut the cable off Cienfuegos to isolate Cuba from outside communications . She joined in the bombardment of fortifications at Caimanera in Guantanamo Bay on 3 June ; captured a Spanish merchant ship on the 10th ; intercepted two British ships bound for Cuba - the " Twickenham " on 10 June and " Wary " on 1 July ; and was present at the Battle of Santiago de Cuba on 3 July when the Spanish Fleet was destroyed while trying to force its way to sea . " St . Louis " received many prisoners of war , including Admiral Cervera , for internment in the United States and landed them at Portsmouth , N . H . , on 11 July . She steamed south from Norfolk on the 28th to cruise among ports of Puerto Rico and Cuba until 10 August ; then sailed for New York where she arrived on the 14th . She shifted to Philadelphia on 24 August to enter the Cramp shipyard for preparation for return to her owners . " St . Louis " was decommissioned on 2 September and was turned over to Mr . J . Parker , a representative of the American Lines . World War I . For many years , SS " St . Louis " was prominent as a passenger liner between New York and Liverpool . On 17 March 1917 , she was furnished an armed guard of 26 United States Navy sailors and armed with three 6 - inch guns , to protect her from enemy attack as she continued her New York - to - Liverpool service . On 30 May , while proceeding up the Irish Sea and skirting the coast of England , she responded rapidly to the orders , " Hard Starboard , " at the sighting of a periscope , and succeeded in dodging a torpedo while apparently striking the submarine which fired it . Later dry - dock examination revealed that 18 feet of her keel rubbing strake had been torn away . On 25 July , her gunners exchanged fire with a surfaced U - boat , some three miles away , and sighted many near misses . On 17 April 1918 , " St . Louis " was delivered to the Navy at New York to be wholly manned and operated by the Navy as a troop transport . She was renamed " Louisville " ( SP - 1644 ) , as a cruiser named " St . Louis " was already in service in the Navy . " Louisville " was commissioned on 24 April . " Louisville " first put to sea on 12 October bound for Portland and Southampton , England , and returned to New York on 7 January 1919 . From then until 19 August of that year , she made six voyages from New York to Liverpool or to Brest , France , to return American soldiers from the Great War . On 20 August , she shifted to Norfolk and was decommissioned there on 9 September 1919 . She was returned to her owner on the 11th and resumed her original name , " St . Louis " . Destruction . To be reconditioned as a passenger liner , " St . Louis " entered a shipyard at Hoboken , N . J . , where early in January 1920 , a workman ' s blow torch set her afire . After control of the fire was lost , she was scuttled alongside the dock and allowed to burn out . She was later refloated and taken over by insurance underwriters . Over the next five years , under ownership of various investors , she lay at docks in different parts of New York Harbor . Finally , she was sold in 1925 ; and two Dutch tugs towed her to Italy where she was scrapped by an Italian salvage company .