On 17 October 1922 City of Honolulu, formerly NDL’s Friedrich der Grosse, was sunk by gunfire from a US Coast Guard cutter. The bombardment was intentional.
Five days earlier, on City of Honolulu’s first voyage (Los Angeles-to-Honolulu) for her new operator, the Los Angeles Steamship Company, a major fire broke out onboard the vessel. The blaze forced the evacuation of passengers and crew. The liner, which was interned by the US government during World War I and later served the US Navy as USS Huron, was intentionally destroyed when towing the burned-out hulk proved to be impossible.
No passengers or crewmembers were killed or seriously injured during the orderly evacuation to lifeboats, yet the day marked a sad and ignominious end for a great and historic liner.
Please help keep Ocean Liners Magazine afloat. Any amount will be greatly appreciated.
—Regards, John Edwards, Editor/Publisher.
