Kanawha (1899) facts for kids
The Kanawha was a large, fancy steam-powered yacht. It was built in 1899 for a very rich businessman named Henry Huttleston Rogers (1840–1909). Rogers was a key person in the Standard Oil company. He was one of the powerful business leaders from a time of great wealth in the United States, known as the Gilded Age.
Rogers owned many coal mines and railroads in West Virginia, especially near the Kanawha River. He often invited famous friends onto the Kanawha. These guests included the writer Mark Twain and the educator Booker T. Washington.
After Rogers passed away in 1909, the Kanawha was used by the U.S. Navy during World War I. After the war, it was sold to the Black Star Line, a shipping company started by Marcus Garvey. The yacht was renamed the S.S. Antonio Maceo. Sadly, the ship was not in good shape by then. A boiler, which makes steam to power the ship, exploded. This happened off the coast of Virginia during its first trip from New York to Cuba. A crew member was killed in the accident.
Building a Luxury Yacht
The Kanawha was built in 1899 by Consolidated Shipbuilding. This company was famous for making luxury yachts. The shipyard was located in the Morris Heights area of New York City. After World War II, the shipyard moved. The land where it once stood is now part of Roberto Clemente State Park.
The Kanawha weighed 471 tons and was about 200 feet (61 m) long. It needed a crew of 39 people to operate. Newspapers at the time often compared the Kanawha to the North Star. That yacht belonged to a member of the rich Vanderbilt family. Even among the large ships at the New York Yacht Club, the Kanawha was considered huge. It cost $350,000 to build and could travel very fast, reaching a speed of 22.2 knots.
Why the Name Kanawha?
The original owner, Henry Huttleston Rogers, likely chose the name Kanawha. Rogers was very involved in developing coal mines and railroads in West Virginia. This was in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Many of his projects were in the area around the Kanawha River.
For example, he helped create the Kanawha and Pocahontas Railroad Company in 1898. Its tracks ran 15 miles (24 km) from the Kanawha River up a smaller stream called Paint Creek. Rogers later arranged for this railroad to be leased and then sold to the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway.
Around the same time, Rogers also invested with William Nelson Page. They built the Deepwater Railway. This railway went south from Deepwater in Fayette County, which is also on the Kanawha River. This new railway helped reach more coal lands.
Serving in World War I
In April 1917, the U.S. Navy bought the Kanawha from its owner, John Borden. It was then named USS Kanawha II (SP–130). John Borden himself became its commander. The ship was used to protect Allied convoys. These convoys were groups of ships traveling together across the dangerous North Atlantic Ocean. Later, the ship was renamed Piqua. It even attacked a German U-boat (submarine) off the coast of France and forced it to leave. After the war ended, the ship was returned to John Borden in July 1919.
The Black Star Line
The final part of the Kanawha's story was quite unusual. The Black Star Line was a shipping company started by Marcus Garvey. He also founded the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Garvey named his shipping line after the successful White Star Line. He hoped to achieve similar success with his Back-to-Africa movement.
Unfortunately, the ships Garvey bought starting in 1919 were often too expensive and in poor condition. One of these ships was the Kanawha, which had once been a grand and well-kept yacht. It was noted that Booker T. Washington, the famous educator, had been an honored guest on this very ship years before. The Black Star Line renamed it the S.S. Antonio Maceo. After needing unexpected repairs in Norfolk, the ship had a serious accident. A boiler exploded off the Virginia coast during its first trip from New York to Cuba. A man was killed, and the ship had to be towed back to New York. The Black Star Line stopped sailing in February 1922 and soon went out of business.
