# SS Samoa

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**SS *Samoa*** was a [cargo](/source/Cargo_ship) [steamship](/source/Steamship) that escaped an attack off the coast of [California](/source/California) soon after the US entered [World War II](/source/World_War_II). She was built under a [United States Shipping Board](/source/United_States_Shipping_Board) (USSB) contract in 1918 as ***Muerthe***, but was [launched](/source/Ceremonial_ship_launching) as **USS *Lake Pepin***, named after [Lake Pepin](/source/Lake_Pepin), by the [McDougall Duluth Shipbuilding Company](/source/McDougall_Duluth_Shipbuilding_Company) of [Duluth, Minnesota](/source/Duluth,_Minnesota), measured at 3,600 tons [deadweight](/source/Deadweight_tonnage). She had a [triple expansion engine](/source/Triple_expansion_engine) [steam engine](/source/Steam_engine) with 1,250 horsepower (930 kW), a 251-foot (77-metre) length, 43.5-foot (13.3-metre) [beam](/source/Beam_(nautical)), a [draft](/source/Draft_(hull)) of 17 feet 8+1⁄2 inches (5.40 m), a top speed of 9.25 knots (17.13 km/h; 10.64 mph). The vessel had a crew of 52, with the hull # 9 and O.N.ID # 21699. USS *Lake Pepin* (ID # 4215) was owned and operated by the [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy), commissioned at [Montreal, Quebec](/source/Montreal,_Quebec), Canada on 4 September 1918. For [World War I](/source/World_War_I) she was fitted with one [3"/50 caliber gun](/source/3%22/50_caliber_gun). The Navy put her in [Naval Overseas Transportation Service](/source/Naval_Overseas_Transportation_Service) as a [coal carrier](/source/Collier_(ship)) traveling between the [United Kingdom](/source/United_Kingdom) and [France](/source/France) as a United States Navy Temporary [auxiliary ship](/source/Auxiliary_ship). Her coal service ended in May 1919. In June 1919 she returned to the US with a cargo of World War I vehicles and weapons and unused ammunition. The US Navy decommissioned the *Lake Pepin* on 18 June 1919.[1] In 1923 she was, renamed *Samoa* purchased and operated by the [Hammond Lumber Company](/source/Hammond_Lumber_Company). In 1936 she was sold to the Wheeler Logging Company of Portland, Oregon. In February of 1941 she was sold to W. A. Schaefer Company.

## World War II

After the [attack on Pearl Harbor](/source/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor) on 7 December 1941, the [United States](/source/United_States) entered World War II. The [Imperial Japanese Navy](/source/Imperial_Japanese_Navy) sent [submarines](/source/Submarine) to attack ships off [Coastal California](/source/Coastal_California). On 18 December 1941 at about 5 am the *Samoa* was 15 miles (24 km) off [Cape Mendocino](/source/Cape_Mendocino), [Humboldt County, California](/source/Humboldt_County,_California) near [Humboldt Bay](/source/Humboldt_Bay), near the town of [Petrolia](/source/Petrolia,_California), when fired 83-pound (38-kilogram) [artillery shells](/source/Artillery_shell) at her from her single [14 cm (5.5 in) naval gun](/source/14_cm/40_11th_Year_Type_naval_gun). The *Samoa* was en route to [San Diego](/source/San_Diego) with a load of lumber.*I-17*, far from home, was ordered to conserve [torpedoes](/source/Torpedo), so Commander Nishino Kozo opened the attack with artillery fire. *Samoa* the sub was spotted just before it fired on the ship. The [captain](/source/Sea_captain) of *Samoa*, Nels Sinnes, gave the order for the crew to report to their [lifeboat](/source/Lifeboat_(shipboard)) stations and prepare the lifeboat. *I-17* fired five shells at *Samoa*, none hit the ship, but shell fragments fell to the deck's stern. Ocean [swells](/source/Swell_(ocean)) prevented *I-17* from getting a direct hit. Nishino had orders to use only one torpedo on a merchant ship and then only if necessary. The swells and pitching deck made Nishino decided a torpedo was necessary. *I-17* fired a torpedo while 70 yards (64 m) from *Samoa*. The *Samoa* watched as the torpedo's wake approached them [amidships](/source/Amidships). They watched as the torpedo passed under the ship, continued and after passing the ship exploded. The explosion gave off smoke and flames, with torpedo fragments falling on *Samoa**s deck. It was very dark and foggy that early morning and Nishino was unsure of the damage he had done to the*****Samoa*. So he moved in closer to inspect the ship. At 40 feet (12 m) away from the ship the*Samoa**s crew heard a *Hi ya*! from the sub. Captain Sinnes replied *What do you want of us?*, but there was no answer. Then the sub departed in the darkness. Sinnes then realized that the sub had inspected the side of the ship that had a damaged lifeboat form a previous storm and that the sub came close enough to see that the *Samoa* was listing, as the ship's engineers had been shifting water in the [ballast tanks](/source/Ballast_tank). Parts of the damaged lifeboat were hanging on the [davit](/source/Davit) and it look like an explosion could have done the damage. Later Captain Sinnes thoughts on the sub's departure were confirmed. Captain Nishino sent a radio message to , that was near [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco), that he had sunk an American merchant ship. At 7 am daybreak *Samoa* departed at full speed towards San Diego and arrived at port two days later. *Samoa* was [scrapped](/source/Ship_breaking) in 1947 at [Pittsburgh](/source/Pittsburgh), [Pennsylvania](/source/Pennsylvania).[2][3][4][5][6][7][8] *I-17* was sunk on 19 August 1943 by the New Zealand [HMNZS *Tui*](/source/HMNZS_Tui_(T234)) and [United States Navy](/source/United_States_Navy) [Kingfisher](/source/OS2U_Kingfisher) [floatplanes](/source/Floatplane), off [Noumea](/source/Noumea).[9]

## Sister ships

USS *Lake Pepin* / *Samoa* had eight sister ships built as [Lake freighters](/source/Lake_freighter). All nine were built in 1918 by McDougall-Duluth Company of Duluth, Minnesota with a 3,600 ton deadweight. The nine ships were built under United States Shipping Board (USSB) contract # 1320.[10]

- USS *Lakemoor* or USS *Lake Moor* (Hull # 2 ID-215770) was torpedoed and sank on 11 April 1918, on maiden voyage as Navy coal ship (ID 2180), during World War I by the U-boat in the [Irish Sea](/source/Irish_Sea), off [Corsewall Lighthouse](/source/Corsewall_Lighthouse), [Scotland](/source/Scotland). Lost were 46 crew members. The ship was named after [Lakemoor, Illinois](/source/Lakemoor,_Illinois).[11][12]
- USS *Lake Portage* (Hull# 4) (216409) was torpedoed and sank on 3 August 1918, during World War I by just south of [Audierne](/source/Audierne), [France](/source/France). Lost were three crew members and six survived with burns.[13][14]
- USS *Lake Indian* (ID-4215-A) (216990), no Navy service, took on water and sank on 25 January 1927, near [Sand Key Light](/source/Sand_Key_Light), [Florida](/source/Florida).[15][16]
- USS *Lake Traverse* (ID-2782) (Hull #3) (21615), Navy coal ship 1918–1919, In 1925 operated as private ship, took on water due steel plate failure and sank near [Tortuga Island](/source/Tortuga_(Haiti)), [Haiti](/source/Haiti) in the [Caribbean](/source/Caribbean) on 6 July 1955. Ordered as *War Centaur*, name changed before delivery in April 1918. Named after [Lake Traverse](/source/Lake_Traverse).[17][18][19][20]
- *Lake Markham* (Hull # 5 ID 216587, ID-4215-C) ordered as *Allette*, no Navy service, *Chicago* in 1927, scrapped in 1937.[21]
- [*Lake Geneva*](/source/USS_Aries_(AK-51)) (Hull # 7 ID 216827), renamed *John J. O'Hagan* in 1925, *Manomet* (AG-37) in 1941, *Aries* (AK-51) for World War II in 1942, *John J. O'Hagan* in 1946, *Adelanto* in 1947 and scrapped in 1952.[22]

- *Lake Helen* (Hull # 8 ID 216892) ordered as, before delivery *Macon*. Renamed *York* in 1926, *Skogak* in 1929, *Kama* in 1933, and scrapped in 1970 [23]
- [*Lake Orange*](/source/USS_Menemsha_(AG-39)) (Hull # 10 ID 217151) ordered as, before delivery *Zenith City*. Renamed *John Gehm* in 1923, *Menemsha* (AG-39) in 1941 for World War II, WAG 274, *John Gehm* in 1946, and scrapped in 1950.[24]

## See also

- [Attack on Pearl Harbor](/source/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor)
- [SS *Dorothy Phillips*](/source/SS_Dorothy_Phillips)
- [California during World War II](/source/California_during_World_War_II)
- [SS *Agwiworld*](/source/SS_Agwiworld)
- [SS *Barbara Olson*](/source/SS_Barbara_Olson)
- [SS *Samoa* (1943)](/source/SS_Samoa_(1943)), a [Liberty ship](/source/Liberty_ship) built in 1943 and scrapped in 1971.[25]

## References

1. ["Lake Pepin (ID 4215)"](http://www.navsource.net/archives/12/174215.htm). *NavSource*. Retrieved 19 December 2021.

1. World War II Magazine, West Coast War Zone, July 1998, by Donald J. Young

1. [militarymuseum.org *Samoa*](http://www.militarymuseum.org/Samoa.html)

1. [mobileranger.com The Impact of WWII on the California Coast](http://www.mobileranger.com/blog/the-impact-of-wwii-on-the-california-coast/)

1. Merchant Vessels of the United States, June 1923, page 121

1. The Des Moines Register from Des Moines, Iowa, 23 December 1941, Page 11

1. [The MARINE DIGEST, 12 February 1941, Steel Steam Schooners of Pacific Coast, page 2](https://archive.org/stream/LymanSteelSteamSchPacCoast/safr_Lyman_SteelSteamSchOfPacCoast_111107_djvu.txt), By John Lyman with Maritime Research Society of San Diego

1. [hyperwar, SS Lake Pepin](https://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/OnlineLibrary/photos/sh-civil/civsh-l/lk-pepin.htm)

1. Waters, Sydney David (1956) *The Royal New Zealand Navy*, [Page 327-328](https://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy-c21.html#n327), Official History.

1. [shipbuildinghistory.com, McDougall-Duluth Company](http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/large/butlerduluth.htm)

1. [wrecksite.eu *Lakemoor*](https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?30969)

1. [NavSource, USS *Lake Moor*](http://www.navsource.net/archives/12/172180.htm)

1. [wrecksite.eu, *Lake Portage*](https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?85742)

1. [US Navy, WW1 loses](https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/a/american-ship-casualties-world-war.html)

1. [Great Lakers, USS *Lake Indian*](https://greatlakes.bgsu.edu/item/436570)

1. [wrecksite.eu Lake Indian](https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?232408)

1. [wrecksite.eu Lake Traverse](https://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?162001)

1. [shipscribe.com *Lake Traverse*](https://shipscribe.com/usnaux/ww1/ships/lk-travr.htm)

1. [NavSource, USS *Lake Traverse*](http://www.navsource.net/archives/12/172782.htm)

1. [nemoha.org *Lake Traverse*](https://www.nemoha.org/details.asp?ID=3690776)

1. [nemoha.org *Lake Markham*](https://www.nemoha.org/details.asp?ID=3689860)

1. [NavSource USS Aries (AK-51)](http://www.navsource.net/archives/09/49/49037.htm)

1. [NavSource *Lake Helen*](http://www.navsource.net/archives/12/174215e.htm)

1. [NavSource USS Menemsha (AG-39)](http://www.navsource.net/archives/09/49/49039.htm)

1. [mariners.com, S Liberty ship](http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibShipsS.html)

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [SS Samoa](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Samoa) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Samoa?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.