John W. Anderson
Encyclopedia
Commodore John W. Anderson was the longest serving captain of the , the fastest ocean liner
in history. In 1952, he relieved Commodore
Harry Manning as master of the superliner after the recordbreaking voyage on which she broke the translantic speed record previously held by the RMS Queen Mary
and captured the Blue Riband
for the United States
.
to parents of Norwegian and English
descent. His grandfather spent twenty-five years at sea in Norwegian sailing ships. He entered the New York Nautical School (which later became the SUNY Maritime College)in 1915, and served as a cadet aboard the schoolship Newport
, formerly a gunboat in the Spanish-American War
. After graduation he went to sea as a quartermaster
and junior officer on several famous old liners like the and . He later sailed to Australia
, India
and China
on freight ships and tankers as chief mate and obtained his first command in 1921. In 1934 he was appointed to command the American Importer, his first passenger ship for United States Lines
, sailing between New York
, Plymouth
, Cherbourg
, Le Havre
, Hamburg
and Liverpool
. One notable voyage took place in 1935, when he transported Colonel and Mrs. Charles A. Lindbergh and their son Jon to Liverpool
after the kidnapping of their younger child.
, the Swedish
motor liner Kungsholm
was seized at New York
, placed under the American flag and purchased by the U.S. government. The United States Lines were appointed agents by the War Shipping Administration
to run the ship as a troop transport and Anderson was selected to command her. The ship, renamed John Ericsson
, left New York at the end of January 1942 in convoy with a full complement of 6,000 U.S. soldiers for Australia and Noumea
. Their ultimate mission was to garrison the island of New Caledonia
. Returning to the Atlantic, the John Ericsson resumed her mission and by the close of the war had safely transported some 300,000 troops to various theaters of war, despite frequent attacks by enemy submarines and aircraft
.
In 1940 Anderson took command of the , the second largest U.S. passenger liner of the time, and in 1949 he was named master of the 34,000-ton luxury liner , then the nation's largest and finest passenger liner. While in command of the America, Anderson gained a reputation for outstanding seamanship, unfailing good nature and insistence on crew discipline and courteous service that helped dispel the myth that American passenger ships were inferior to European liners.
, was asked to design a supership of great size and speed that would not only be the finest luxury liner afloat, but would also be capable of carrying a full division of troops in wartime. The result was the 53,000-ton superliner United States, built in close cooperation with the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Navy. In September 1952, following the voyage on which she broke the speed record previously held by the Queen Mary
, crossing the Atlantic in just three days, ten hours and forty minutes at an average speed of nearly 36 knots, Anderson took over command of the United States from Harry Manning and one year later he was appointed Commodore of the entire United States Lines' fleet of 55 passenger and cargo vessels.
as "the loneliest merchant mariner in the port" that day, Commodore Anderson successfully docked the huge 990-foot, $78 million liner without tug assistance and without mishap, a navigational feat he would have to perform again on several occasions, including the final voyage before his retirement.
, and in 1958 he was cited by the Council of American Master Mariners for outstanding maritime achievement. Anderson died on February 15, 1976 and his uniform and other SS United States memorabilia are on display at the Maritime Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler.
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
in history. In 1952, he relieved Commodore
Commodore (USN)
Commodore was an early title and later a rank in the United States Navy and United States Coast Guard and a current honorary title in the U.S. Navy with an intricate history. Because the U.S. Congress was originally unwilling to authorize more than four ranks until 1862, considerable importance...
Harry Manning as master of the superliner after the recordbreaking voyage on which she broke the translantic speed record previously held by the RMS Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...
and captured the Blue Riband
Blue Riband
The Blue Riband is an unofficial accolade given to the passenger liner crossing the Atlantic Ocean in regular service with the record highest speed. The term was borrowed from horse racing and was not widely used until after 1910. Under the unwritten rules, the record is based on average speed...
for the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Early life and career
Anderson was born in 1899 in Jersey City, New JerseyNew Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
to parents of Norwegian and English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
descent. His grandfather spent twenty-five years at sea in Norwegian sailing ships. He entered the New York Nautical School (which later became the SUNY Maritime College)in 1915, and served as a cadet aboard the schoolship Newport
Newport
Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent...
, formerly a gunboat in the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. After graduation he went to sea as a quartermaster
Quartermaster
Quartermaster refers to two different military occupations depending on if the assigned unit is land based or naval.In land armies, especially US units, it is a term referring to either an individual soldier or a unit who specializes in distributing supplies and provisions to troops. The senior...
and junior officer on several famous old liners like the and . He later sailed to Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
on freight ships and tankers as chief mate and obtained his first command in 1921. In 1934 he was appointed to command the American Importer, his first passenger ship for United States Lines
United States Lines
United States Lines was a transatlantic shipping company that operated cargo services from 1921 to 1989, and ocean liners until 1969—most famously the SS United States.-1920s:...
, sailing between New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
, Cherbourg
Cherbourg-Octeville
-Main sights:* La Glacerie has a race track.* The Cité de la Mer is a large museum devoted to scientific and historical aspects of maritime subjects.* Cherbourg Basilica* Jardin botanique de la Roche Fauconnière, a private botanical garden.* Le Trident theatre...
, Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...
, Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
and Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
. One notable voyage took place in 1935, when he transported Colonel and Mrs. Charles A. Lindbergh and their son Jon to Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
after the kidnapping of their younger child.
World War II
Following the outbreak of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
motor liner Kungsholm
Kungsholm
Kungsholm may refer to any of these passenger ships:, an ocean liner operated by the Swedish American Line 1923—1924, an ocean liner operated by the Swedish American Line 1928—1942, a combined ocean liner/cruise ship operated by the Swedish American Line 1953—1965, a combined ocean liner/cruise...
was seized at New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, placed under the American flag and purchased by the U.S. government. The United States Lines were appointed agents by the War Shipping Administration
War Shipping Administration
The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....
to run the ship as a troop transport and Anderson was selected to command her. The ship, renamed John Ericsson
John Ericsson
John Ericsson was a Swedish-American inventor and mechanical engineer, as was his brother Nils Ericson. He was born at Långbanshyttan in Värmland, Sweden, but primarily came to be active in England and the United States...
, left New York at the end of January 1942 in convoy with a full complement of 6,000 U.S. soldiers for Australia and Noumea
Nouméa
Nouméa is the capital city of the French territory of New Caledonia. It is situated on a peninsula in the south of New Caledonia's main island, Grande Terre, and is home to the majority of the island's European, Polynesian , Indonesian, and Vietnamese populations, as well as many Melanesians,...
. Their ultimate mission was to garrison the island of New Caledonia
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
. Returning to the Atlantic, the John Ericsson resumed her mission and by the close of the war had safely transported some 300,000 troops to various theaters of war, despite frequent attacks by enemy submarines and aircraft
Aircraft
An aircraft is a vehicle that is able to fly by gaining support from the air, or, in general, the atmosphere of a planet. An aircraft counters the force of gravity by using either static lift or by using the dynamic lift of an airfoil, or in a few cases the downward thrust from jet engines.Although...
.
In 1940 Anderson took command of the , the second largest U.S. passenger liner of the time, and in 1949 he was named master of the 34,000-ton luxury liner , then the nation's largest and finest passenger liner. While in command of the America, Anderson gained a reputation for outstanding seamanship, unfailing good nature and insistence on crew discipline and courteous service that helped dispel the myth that American passenger ships were inferior to European liners.
Postwar years
At the end of World War II, the nation's leading naval architect, William Francis GibbsWilliam Francis Gibbs
William Francis Gibbs was a renowned naval architect who directed the mass production of cargo ships for the United States during World War II, including the famous Liberty ships, of which 2,751 were built...
, was asked to design a supership of great size and speed that would not only be the finest luxury liner afloat, but would also be capable of carrying a full division of troops in wartime. The result was the 53,000-ton superliner United States, built in close cooperation with the Maritime Administration and the U.S. Navy. In September 1952, following the voyage on which she broke the speed record previously held by the Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary
RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily in the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to 1967 for the Cunard Line...
, crossing the Atlantic in just three days, ten hours and forty minutes at an average speed of nearly 36 knots, Anderson took over command of the United States from Harry Manning and one year later he was appointed Commodore of the entire United States Lines' fleet of 55 passenger and cargo vessels.
Career highlights
In 1956 the United States began to experience labor problems that would eventually lead to her layup. One of the most serious came in February 1957. A tugboat strike had been in progress for a week and when the ship arrived in New York the port was at a standstill and there were no tugs to help her dock. Described by The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
as "the loneliest merchant mariner in the port" that day, Commodore Anderson successfully docked the huge 990-foot, $78 million liner without tug assistance and without mishap, a navigational feat he would have to perform again on several occasions, including the final voyage before his retirement.
Legacy
Commodore John Anderson ended his career in 1964, having served as master of the United States for 12 years. During his long career he received many honors. In 1957 he was presented with the Merchant Marine Achievement Award by the American LegionAmerican Legion
The American Legion is a mutual-aid organization of veterans of the United States armed forces chartered by the United States Congress. It was founded to benefit those veterans who served during a wartime period as defined by Congress...
, and in 1958 he was cited by the Council of American Master Mariners for outstanding maritime achievement. Anderson died on February 15, 1976 and his uniform and other SS United States memorabilia are on display at the Maritime Industry Museum at Fort Schuyler.
Sources
- Frank O. BraynardFrank BraynardFrank O. Braynard was a prominent American author and maritime historian. Born Francis Osborn Braynard in Glen Cove, New York, he was educated at Duke University and later took a master's in maritime history at Columbia University...
, The Big Ship. The Mariners' Museum, Newport News, Virginia. The New York Times, "Dean of U.S. Skippers Retires by Bringing in Liner Unaided" February 20, 1964 - Look Magazine, "The Commodore Leaves the Sea" April 21, 1964 (p.38) The Saturday Evening Post, "Queen of the Seas" September 14, 1957 (p.48)