Chippewa was a steam cargo ship built in 1905 by William Cramp & Sons of Philadelphia for Clyde Steamship Company with intention of operating on their East Coast and West Indies routes.
Design and construction
In 1904 Clyde Steamship & Co. following an increase in their freight business placed an order for two steamers of approximately to serve on their East coast route between Boston and southern ports. Chippewa was the first of these ships, and was laid down at the William Cramp & Sons' Kensington Yard in Philadelphia (yard number 330) and launched on 8 April 1905, with Mrs. Harry W. Hand, wife of the general manager of Cramp Shipbuilding Company being the sponsor. The ship was of the three-deck type, and had all the modern machinery fitted for quick loading and unloading of the cargo, including a large number of derricks.
Following an inspection on May 4 and the successful completion of sea trials, the steamer was transferred to her owners and departed for New York on May 20.
As built, the ship was long (between perpendiculars) and abeam, a depth of . Chippewa was assessed at and and had deadweight of approximately 4,000. The vessel had a steel hull, and a single 131 nhp triple-expansion steam engine, with cylinders of , and diameter with a stroke, that drove a single screw propeller, and moved the ship at up to .
Operational history
Upon delivery Chippewa sailed from Philadelphia for New York on May 20, 1905. After loading, she departed on her maiden voyage on May 24, arriving at Charleston on May 27. The vessel then continued down to Jacksonville to take on more cargo, and left it on May 30 for her return trip. After stops at Brunswick and Charleston, she arrived at Boston on June 5, thus ending her maiden voyage.
Chippewa continued serving the same route for the rest of her career, connecting Charleston, Brunswick and Jacksonville with Boston, with occasional stops at Georgetown and Baltimore. The steamer carried a variety of general cargo from the southern ports, mostly lumber, cotton, naval stores and fruit. For example, on January 19, 1907 the ship brought to Boston over 1,200 bales of cotton, nearly 450,000 feet of yellow pine lumber, 2,500 barrels of rosin in addition to other general cargo.
On May 30, 1906 while sailing from Jacksonville to Boston, Chippewa encountered schooner Edward P. Avery about forty miles off Winter Quarter Shoal, floating helplessly with both of her main and mizzenmast broken after she was run down by another schooner, George May. Chippewa took Edward P. Avery in tow and brought her into New York harbor on June 1. Chippewa again came to the rescue, when she picked up six men crew of schooner J.W. Balano, wrecked about forty miles off Frying Pan lightship, and safely brought them to Boston on September 21, 1906.
On March 3, 1908 the steamer arrived at Jacksonville, and after loading sailed for her return trip to Boston. Shortly after leaving the port, Chippewa lost her propeller and tail-shaft and had to be towed back into port by her sister-ship Onondaga. She was towed from Jacksonville by another Clyde steamer, Apache, on March 10 but only went as far as Brunswick due to Apache being heavily laden. Chippewa was instead taken in tow by steamer Katahdin, also of Clyde Line, which called at Brunswick on her way up north, and brought her to New York for repairs on March 18. After finalizing her repairs the vessel arrived at Boston on April 3 to resume her regular service.