The Ships They Came On

Migration

Joseph Herpak departed Bremen, arrived probably New York in 1903. I never bothered to look up the ship's records, but will do so in the future. Arrival date is from the 1910 census.

Joseph Oravetz sailed on the S.S. Ultonia (Cunard Line) from Fiume, Austro-Hungary (present-day Rijeka, Croatia), exact date unknown, arrived New York on Saturday, January 5, 1907.

Mary (Lelak) Oravetz sailed on the S.S. Friedrich der Grosse (North German Lloyd Line) from Bremen on Saturday, October 3, 1908, and arrived New York on Wednesday, October 14, 1908.

Pepi and Margaret sailed on the S.S. Friedrich der Grosse (North German Lloyd Line) from Bremen, Saturday, October 11, 1913, arrived New York on Wednesday, October 22, 1913.

Joseph Kovachik sailed on the S.S. New York (American Line) from Southhampton, England, on Saturday, September 27, 1913, arrived New York Wednesday, October 15, 1913.

Note that Joe Kovachik and his future wife, Margaret Lelak, arrived in New York a week apart, and actually could have met on Ellis Island or New York City, although the story I heard is that they met in Braddock, or some place, near Pittsburgh.

    The following information was taken from Immigrant Ships: A Reference Site for Genealogists, Louis S. Alfano.

    The "Ultonia" was built by C.S.Swan & Hunter, Wallsend-on-Tyne (engines by Sir C.Furness, Westgarth & Co, Middlesborough) as a cargo ship for the Cunard Steamship Co. This was a 8,845 gross ton ship, length 500ft x beam 57.4ft, one funnel, four masts, twin screw and a speed of 13 knots. Launched on 4th Jun.1898 she sailed between the Tyne and Boston as a cargo steamer. In 1899 she was fitted with accommodation for 675-3rd class passengers and started her first passenger voyage between Liverpool - Queenstown (Cobh) - Boston on 28th Feb.1899. Her last sailing on this service started 9th Feb.1904 and she was then rebuilt to 10,402 gross tons with capacity for 120-2nd and 2,100-3rd class passengers. On 29th Apr.1904 she commenced her first Trieste - Fiume - Naples - New York voyage and started her last voyage on this route on 31st Oct.1911. On 23rd Apr.1912 she transferred to Southampton - Quebec - Montreal voyages, making her last on 5th Nov.1912. Sailed New York for Trieste on 7th Dec.1912 and commenced her last Trieste - Fiume - Naples - New York sailing on 28th Jun.1914. Between 1915-1916 she made several New York - St Nazaire crossings and on 27th Jun.1917 was torpedoed and sunk by the German submarine U.53 while 190 miles from Fastnet, with the loss of one life. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P. Bonsor, vol.1, p.155] - [Posted to TheShipsList by Ted Finch - 31 October 1998]

    The steamship FRIEDRICH DER GROSSE was built for Norddeutscher Lloyd by AGVulcan, Stettin (ship #231), and launched on 1 August 1896. 10.531 tons (the first German vessel over 10,000 tons); 159,4 x 18,29 meters (length x breadth); 2 funnels, 2 masts; twin-screw propulsion, quadruple- expansion engines, service speed 14.5 knots; accommodation for 216 passengers in 1st class, 227 in 2nd class, and from 1,671 to 1,964 in steerage; crew of 175 to 222. 11 November 1896, maiden voyage, Bremen-Suez Canal-Australia. 4 April 1897, first voyage, Bremen-Falmouth (to take on passengers from the KONIGIN LUISE, whose rudder had broken)-New York. 1902, enclosed bridge added; 10,696 tons. 22 March 1903, first voyage, Naples-New York. 25 July 1912, last voyage, Genoa-Naples-New York (16 roundtrip voyages). 22 November 1913, last voyage, Bremen - New York. 21 January 1914, last voyage, Bremen-Australia (14 roundtrip voyages). 4 June 1914, first voyage, Bremen - Baltimore. 9 July 1914, last voyage, Bremen-Philadelphia- Baltimore. 3 August 1914, took refuge at the Norddeutscher Lloyd pier at Hoboken. 6 April 1917, seized by the U.S. Government; renamed HURON (transport). 1919, transferred to the U.S. Shipping Board; oil firing; chartered to the Munson Line, New York, for its New York-Buenos Aires service. 1 December 1921, leased to the Los Angeles Steamship Co; major rebuilding; renamed CITY OF HONOLULU. 23 September 1922, first voyage, Los Angeles-Honolulu. 12 October 1922, on return voyage, damaged by fire 575 miles from Los Angeles; all on board taken onto the U.S. Army Transport THOMAS, and the freighter WEST FARALLON. 17 October 1922, sunk by gunfire from the U.S. Coast Guard cutter SHAWNEE as a threat to navigation [Edwin Drechsel, Norddeutscher Lloyd Bremen, 1857-1970; History, Fleet, Ship Mails, vol. 1 (Vancouver: Cordillera Pub. Co., c1994), pp. 167-168, no. 96 (photographs); Arnold Kludas, Die grossen Passagierschiffe der Welt; eine Dokumentation, Bd. 1: 1858-1912 (2nd ed.; Oldenburg/Hamburg: Gerhard Stalling, c1972), pp. 18-19 (photographs); Noel Reginald Pixell Bonsor, North Atlantic Seaway; An Illustrated History of the Passenger Services Linking the Old World with the New (2nd ed.; Jersey, Channel Islands: Brookside Publications), vol. 2 (1978), p. 559]. Also pictured in Michael J. Anuta, Ships of Our Ancestors (Menominee, MI, 1983), p. 104, courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum, East India Square, Salem, Massachusetts 01970, - [Posted to the Emigration-Ships Mailing List by Michael Palmer - 17 April 1998]

    The "New York" of 1913 was built by J & G.Thomson, Glasgow in 1888 for the Inman line as the "City of New York". She was a 10,499 gross ton vessel with a clipper stem, length 527.6ft x beam 63.2ft, three funnels, three masts, twin screw and a speed of 20 knots. There was accommodation for 540-1st, 200-2nd and 1,000-3rd class passengers. Launched on 15/3/1888, she left Liverpool on her maiden voyage for Queenstown (Cobh) and New York on 1/8/1888. In August 1892 she made a record crossing between Sandy Hook and Queenstown and on 8/2/1893 commenced her last Liverpool - New York voyage. On 22/2/1893 she went to the American Line and was put under the US flag. She was then renamed "New York" and her accommodation altered to carry 290-1st, 250-2nd and 725-3rd class passengers. On 25/2/1893 she sailed from New York on her first voyage to Southampton and commenced her last voyage on this service on 16/4/1898. She then became the US Armed Cruiser "Harvard" until 11/1/1899 when she resumed the New York - Southampton service as the "New York". On 14/1/1899 her starboard engine broke down and was repaired at Southampton and she resumed service from Southampton - New York on 25/3/1899. On 20/4/1901 she left Southampton for her last voyage to Cherbourg and New York before being rebuilt with new triple expansion engines, number of funnels reduced to two, and her size increased to 10,798 tons. On 15/4/1903 she resumed the New York - Cherbourg - Southampton service and in 1913, her first class passenger accommodation was downgraded to second class. Commenced her last voyage Southampton - Cherbourg - New York on 1/8/1914 and was transferred to the New York - Liverpool run on 14/8/1914. In April 1918 she made her last run from Liverpool to New York and then became the US Transport "Plattsburg". On 19/2/1920 she resumed the New York - Plymouth - Southampton service as the "New York" and her masts were reduced to two. On 2/11/1920 she made her last run from Southampton to Cherbourg and New York and in 1921 was sold to the Polish Navigation Co. who retained her name and used her for one round voyage New York - Antwerp - Danzig - Southampton - Cherbourg - Brest - New York. She was then seized for debt and sold. In 1922 she went to the Irish American Line and later the same year to the United Transatlantic Line. On 10/6/1922 she left New York for the last time for the American Black Sea Line on a voyage to Naples and Constantinople where she was sold at auction by order of the US government, and was scrapped at Genoa in 1923. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.1, p.244] [Posted to The ShipsList by Ted Finch - 21 October 1997]