SS Ohioan ( 1914 ) SS " Ohioan " was a cargo ship built in 1914 for the American - Hawaiian Steamship Company . During World War I , she was taken over by the United States Navy and commissioned as USS " Ohioan " ( ID - 3280 ) . " Ohioan " was built by the Maryland Steel Company as one of eight sister ships ordered by the American - Hawaiian Steamship Company for inter - coastal service cargo via the Panama Canal . When the canal was temporarily closed by landslides in late 1915 , " Ohioan " sailed via the Straits of Magellan until the canal reopened in mid 1916 . During World War I , USS " Ohioan " carried cargo , animals , and a limited number of passengers to France , and returned over 8 , 000 American troops after the Armistice , including the highly decorated American soldier Alvin York . After " Ohioan " s naval service ended in 1919 , she was returned to her original owners . " Ohioan " s post - war career was relatively uneventful until 8 October 1936 , when she ran aground near Seal Rock at the Golden Gate , the entrance to San Francisco Bay . Attempts to free the ship were unsuccessful and , because of the close proximity of the wreck to San Francisco , the grounded " Ohioan " drew large crowds to watch salvage operations . Angelo J . Rossi , the mayor of San Francisco , toured the wreck on 19 October . " Ohioan " s hulk caught fire in March 1937 , and the wreck broke into two pieces in a storm in December . As late as 1939 , some of " Ohioan " s rusty steel beams were still visible on the rocks . Design and construction . In May 1912 , the American - Hawaiian Steamship Company placed an order with the Maryland Steel Company of Sparrows Point , Maryland , for two new cargo ships — and " Ohioan " . The contract cost of the ships was set at the construction cost plus an 8 % profit for Maryland Steel , but with a maximum price of $ 640 , 000 per ship . Maryland Steel financed the construction with a credit plan which called for a 5 % down payment in cash followed by nine monthly installments for the balance . The deal allowed for some of the nine installments to be converted into longer - term notes or mortgages . The final cost of " Ohioan " , including financing costs , was $ 73 . 58 per deadweight ton , which came out to just under $ 730 , 000 . " Ohioan " ( Maryland Steel yard no . 133 ) was the second ship built under the contract . She was launched on 24 January 1914 , and delivered to American - Hawaiian on 30 June . The ship was , and was in length ( between perpendiculars ) and abeam . She had a deadweight tonnage of , and her cargo holds , which had a storage capacity of , were outfitted with a complete refrigeration plant so that she could carry perishable products from the West Coast — such as fresh produce from Southern California farms — to the East Coast . " Ohioan " had a single steam engine powered by oil - fired boilers that drove a single screw propeller at a speed of . Early career . When " Ohioan " began sailing for American - Hawaiian , the company shipped cargo from East Coast ports via the Straits of Magellan to West Coast ports and Hawaii , and vice versa . Eastbound shipments were primarily sugar and pineapple from Hawaii , but westbound cargoes were more general in nature . Following the opening of the Panama Canal on 15 August 1914 , American - Hawaiian ships switched to take that route . As World War I continued in Europe and increased the demand for defense - related shipping , American - Hawaiian stopped its sugar service . " Ohioan " s specific activities during this time are not known . She may have been in the half of the American - Hawaiian fleet that was chartered for transatlantic service , or she may 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 manganese ore . World War I . Unlike her surviving sister ships , there is no evidence that " Ohioan " was ever chartered by the United States Army ; " Ohioan " s activities between the United States ' declaration of war on Germany in April 1917 , and her acquisition by the United States Navy on 5 August 1918 , are unknown . She was commissioned into the two days later , under a loan charter . After a refit and taking on a load of cargo , " Ohioan " sailed for Saint - Nazaire , France , where she arrived on 29 August . Dividing the next month between that port and Brest , " Ohioan " sailed for New York on 1 October . Fitted there with horse stalls , she loaded 60 officers and men , and equestrian and general cargo , before sailing on 1 November for La Pallice . With the signing of the Armistice on 11 November the fighting came to an end , and the task of bringing home American soldiers began almost immediately . Upon her return to the United States on 5 December , " Ohioan " was selected to become a troop transport and transferred from the to the Cruiser and Transport Force . Before she could begin returning troops , " Ohioan " had to be converted from a cargo and animal ship . Although sources do not indicate the specific modifications " Ohioan " underwent , typical conversions for other ships included the installation of berths , and adding greatly expanded cooking and toilet facilities to handle the large numbers of men aboard . Similar modifications on " Ohioan " s sister ship took three months , but it is not known how long " Ohioan " s refit took . In March , " Ohioan " returned 1 , 627 men to New York , mostly from the 348th Infantry Regiment of the U . S . 87th Infantry Division , followed by another 1 , 596 officers and men , and 1 , 000 homing pigeon s on 16 April . Among the pigeons were Cher Ami — the only bird sent out by the Lost Battalion that was able to get a message through — and 100 captured German pigeons . Cher Ami had received the French Croix de Guerre with Palm and had been recommended for the U . S . Army Distinguished Service Cross by General John J . Pershing . " Ohioan " docked at New York on 22 May on her next voyage with a portion of the 328th Infantry Regiment of the U . S . 82nd Infantry Division . One of the members of the unit was Sergeant Alvin C . York , who had led an attack on a German machine gun nest during the Meuse - Argonne Offensive and captured 132 German officers and men . York had been honored with the U . S . Medal of Honor and the French Croix de Guerre with Palm ( among other awards ) , both of which he wore on his coat on arrival at New York . After " Ohioan " docked , York held a well - attended press conference on board . On 20 June , " Ohioan " returned another load of troops that included Base Hospital 98 , and the 20th Engineers . By the time " Ohioan " had completed her sixth and final trooping voyage on 16 September 1919 , " Ohioan " had carried home 8 , 383 healthy and wounded men . USS " Ohioan " was decommissioned on 6 October 1919 , and returned to American - Hawaiian . Later career . " Ohioan " resumed cargo service with American - Hawaiian after her return from World War I service . Although the company had abandoned its original Hawaiian sugar routes by that time , " Ohioan " continued inter - coastal service through the Panama Canal relatively uneventfully for the next 17 years . On 23 November 1933 , " Ohioan " collided with in the Ambrose Channel . She was consequently beached near the West Bank Light . " Ohioan " was refloated on 26 November . In early morning hours of 8 October 1936 , however , " Ohioan " ran aground near Seal Rock on the south shore of the Golden Gate , just outside San Francisco Bay . The ship , sailing in a dense fog , strayed too close to shore and grounded on the rocks , sending a shower of sparks that lit up the night . When the fog cleared later in the morning , the ship was firmly seated on the rocks at the base of a cliff , and some from the mainland . Coast Guardsmen on shore attached three lines to the ship and set up a breeches buoy to take off the harbor pilot , but the crew stayed on board the ship in hopes that the high tide would free her from the rocky perch . As word of the shipwreck spread , spectators clambered over the cliff to get a view of the scene ; one man died from a heart attack and two women broke ankles in separate falls . Newsboys soon arrived on the scene , selling newspapers telling of " Ohioan " s woe within sight of the stranded ship . Policemen were called out to keep order as the crowd grew into the thousands . The next day , as the seas battered the ship and drove her farther on the rocks , two Coast Guard boats took 31 men from the ship . American - Hawaiian announced that a Los Angeles salvage firm had been hired to retrieve the cargo , which included explosives and oil . Two heavy - duty electric pumps were lowered to the ship via the breeches buoy , and plans were drawn up for connecting them to the San Francisco municipal electric system in order to pump out the ship . The crowds of onlookers continued to watch as salvage efforts progressed ; a 75 - year - old woman from Oakland fell down the embankment while watching the action on 13 October . The mayor of San Francisco , Angelo J . Rossi , rode the breeches buoy to the ship and toured it for 45 minutes on 19 October . On 22 October , the " Los Angeles Times " ran an Associated Press story saying that marine experts were considering the use of a method first patented by Abraham Lincoln in May 1849 in order to re - float the stranded ship . All efforts , however , were unsuccessful , and by 31 October , American - Hawaiian placed an advertisement in the " Los Angeles Times " requesting bids for the purchase of the ship and her cargo " as and where she now lies . . . on the rocks near Point Lobos , San Francisco " . E . J . Mitchell was the winning bidder , securing rights to the ship and its cargo for $ 2 , 800 . In March 1937 , five months after the wreck , the hulk of " Ohioan " — still aground near Seal Rock — caught fire when a watchman aboard the ship attempted to burn some meat in a refrigerator . The flames died out before reaching the explosives that remained aboard the wreck . A Pacific storm in December the same year caused the hulk of " Ohioan " to break in two . By 1939 , only remnants of some of " Ohioan " s rusty steel beams were still visible on the rocks . Author Mark Ellis Thomas suggests that English poet and novelist Malcolm Lowry may have been inspired by the wreck of " Ohioan " in his poem " In Tempest ' s Tavern " . One excerpt from the poem refers to " The " Ohio " smoking in Frisco on a sharp pen / Of rock " . At the time of " Ohioan " s grounding , Lowry was in San Diego , preparing to sail to Acapulco .