SS Bulgaria was a passenger-cargo steamship built in 1898 for the Hamburg American Line ("Hapag"). During World War I, she operated as a United States Army animal and cargo ship under the names USAT Hercules and USAT Philippines, and after the war was converted into the troop transport USS Philippines (ID-1677).
In 1899, after only a few months in service, Bulgaria was caught in a severe hurricane and disabled in mid-ocean for some weeks, her captain and officers later being decorated for their conduct during the incident. After this, Bulgaria settled into regular service between Hamburg, Germany and various ports in the United States until 1913, when she was acquired by Unione Austriaca and renamed SS Canada. After making only two trips between Trieste and Canada with this company however, the ship returned to service with Hapag and reverted to her original name.
With the outbreak of World War I, Bulgaria was laid up in Baltimore until the entry of the United States into the war in 1917, when she was seized by the U.S. and used as the animal and general cargo transport USAT Hercules, later renamed USAT Philippines. In the postwar period, Philippines was transferred to the U.S. Navy, commissioned as USS Philippines (ID-1677), and used to help repatriate U.S. troops from France. After decommissioning in 1919, the ship was converted into the cargo-only merchant steamer SS Philippines, but made only a couple of voyages in this role before being laid up in 1921. Philippines was broken up at New Jersey in 1924.
Construction and design
thumb|left | Sketch of SS Bulgaria, ca. 1899
SS Bulgaria—a steel-hulled, twin-screw passenger-cargo steamer—was built by Blohm & Voss at Steinwerder, Germany, in 1898 for the Hamburg–America Line (Hapag). Her yard number was 125. She was launched on 5 February and completed 4 April 1898.
Bulgaria had a length of , a beam of , draft of and hold depth of . She had an original gross register tonnage of 10,237, net register tonnage of 7,305 and deadweight tonnage of . In addition to her cargo space, Bulgaria had accommodation for 300 2nd-class and 2,400 3rd-class passengers, and was manned by a crew of 89 including officers. The ship had ten watertight bulkheads, four decks, two masts and a single smokestack.
Bulgaria was powered by a pair of four-cylinder quadruple-expansion steam engines, with cylinders of respectively by stroke, driving her twin-screw propellers. Steam was supplied by two double-ended and two single Scotch boilers, with a working pressure of . The engines delivered a combined , giving the ship a service speed of .
Service history
Bulgaria entered service with Hapag on a route from Hamburg, Germany, to Halifax, Nova Scotia, and New York, her maiden voyage commencing 10 April 1898.
Hurricane ordeal, 1899
thumb | upright | left | Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany decorated Bulgaria captain for gallantry after the 1899 hurricane On 28 January 1899, Bulgaria departed New York bound for Bremen, carrying 130 persons including 89 crew and 41 mostly German steerage passengers including men, women and children, along with cargoes which included grain. In the evening of 1 February, the ship ran into a severe hurricane, forcing the captain to heave to. During the night, the ship's flying bridges were carried away, and the next morning a large stabilizing spring in the rudder broke, followed by the loss of the rudder itself together with much of the steering apparatus, leaving the ship "as a toy at the mercy of the wind and waves." Heavy seas carried away several of the hatches, allowing water into the holds. This was followed by a shifting of the ship's cargoes, causing the vessel to develop a heavy list to port, with the deck reportedly "level with the water on the port side." Exacerbating the problem, a herd of more than 100 horses in a pen on the foredeck stampeded, trampling one another to death, their bodies sliding to port and contributing to the ship's list. After an attempt by members of the crew to calm the surviving horses failed, the ship's butcher euthanased them by cutting their throats, though badly injured himself in the process.