Military

Fruit Steamships

By 1890 there were about 90 fruit steamships in the tropical fruit trade between the United States, West Indies, and Central America. Bananas formed the great bulk of the trade; cocoa-nuts, oranges, pineapples, and other fruits made up the balance of the cargoes. The principal fruit ports in the United States, besides New York, were Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, and New Orleans. The steamships were built expressly for the fruit trade, and were all, or nearly so, under the Norwegian and English flags, the Norwegian ships predominating. The hull was of steel lined with wood; the space between the steel plates (or outer skin of the vessel) and the wood was filled in with charcoal, which made the ship a huge floating refrigerator. The vessels were provided with all the latest improvements in motive power, including triple-expansion engines and steam steering-gear. Some of the best ships devoted exclusively to the fruit trade had twin screws, and had accommodation for from 10 to 12 saloon passengers. Their average speed was from 11 to 13 knots per hour. Many of the ships had their engines and boilers further aft than is the ease in ordinary freighters.

Fruit steamships had three decks, all open, with a space of about two inches between each of the deck planks. This arrangement assured a free circulation of air at all times, and thus the fruit was preserved from heating and decay. These ships carried from 15,000 to 25,000 bunches of bananas, each bunch averaging in weight from 60 to 80 pounds, but some bunches were found to weigh over 200 pounds. The fruit is stowed by an experienced stevedore, who devoted himself exclusively to the fruit trade.

The bunches are placed on end along the decks, until all the space was filled; then a second and a third tier of bunches were laid flat, one over the other, in a manner that allowed plenty of ventilation. Great care was taken to prevent the fruit from contact with salt water, which causes the black spots frequently seen on the bananas. After the vessels discharge the fruit, they returned in ballast for another cargo. The bulk of the crop was shipped during the five months from February to August. At the expiration of the season about one-third of the fruit vessels returned to tropical ports and continue in the trade between there and the United States fruit ports during the winter. The other ships returned to Europe with a grain cargo, and were chartered for general freight until the next fruit season.

Cattle Ships

A cattleship is a cargo ship for the transport of livestock, and a cattle boat is also a cargo ship for the transport of livestock. The term "cattle boat" is an offensive and derogatory term for an over-crowded vessel. In the tourist diving industy, "Cattle Boat" diving consists of large groups of diving tourists being herded around like cattle.

The loading of cattle-ships was interesting. The vessels are tied up to the docks cities where the stock-yards were located, and the cattle were driven up a narrow gang-plank. When steamships take grain or other cargo in the hold and cattle on deck, the latter are usually loaded from barges at the wharf, or while the vessel is at anchor in the bay. Occasionally a fractious steer breaks away from the drivers, and, plunging over the side of the gangplank, takes a bath in the water. A sailor jumps in and passes a rope around the animal, which is then hoisted on board by means of a block and tackle.

The cattle are placed in strongly constructed pens between decks, as well as on the upper deck. The space for each head of cattle is fixed by law at 2 feet 6 inches by 8 feet. The pens hold half a dozen cattle each. Experience has shown that there was greater loss when more room than this was allowed for the cattle. A steer with plenty of room in his pen would roll from side to side and become bruised or crippled when a heavy sea was encountered. By packing the cattle tightly, they serve as buffers for each other, and the loss is diminished. By 1890 the methods of shipping cattle had been improved, so that the loss was less than two per cent.

The cost of shipping cattle from New York to Liverpool in the early 1890s was about half a cent per pound, live weight. This included the care and the feed during the voyage. From ten to a dozen men were employed to look after the cattle on the trip. Very low wages were paid these men, as there are always a number of applications on hand from impecunious men who were desirous of working their passage to Europe by taking care of the cattle. A few men were regularly engaged in the business of taking care of cattle at sea. They were known as cowboys of the sea, and were big burly fellows who are used to rough living and to facing danger. The work of feeding and watering the cattle was not an easy task in fair weather, and with a rough sea on it is dangerous. When severe storms were met, the cattle became panic-stricken, and the men were obliged to go among them and quiet them. Sometimes the pens were broken down in a gale, and there would be pandemonium aboard.

Cattle-ships have arrived in port with only a small portion of the number of cattle taken on board, but as the losses fall upon the shippers and the reputation of the steamship line is to some extent at stake, they are, therefore, more interested in the safety of cattle at sea than anyone else. The efforts of Samuel Plimsoll, M.P., and the cattle inspectors of Great Britain and the United States, materially improved the methods of this traffic.

The USAT SHERMAN was built as a cattle boat in 1893 by Harland and Wolff at Belfast, Ireland. The US Army purchased the SHERMAN and four other British ships in 1898. They were converted into Army troopships by the Atlantic Transport Company, forming the nucleus of the US Army permanent fleet. The USAT SHERMAN participated not only in the Spanish American War, but also in the Philippine Insurrection, the Boxer Rebellion and World War I. After actively serving the US Army from 1898 to 1923, the SHERMAN was scrapped in 1933.

Since the late 1980s, the Hawaii beef cattle industry has undergone profound change. No longer are the majority of the State's beef cattle fed and processed in the State. Instead, the State's calf crop is exported to North America. By the late 1990s the industry exported approximately 70 percent of its production, in excess of 46,000 head a year. There are several reasons for this change in marketing. The most significant was the closure of the largest processing and feeding company in Hawaii, the Hawaii Meat Company. The immediate reaction was a demand for the movement of live cattle eastbound from Hawaii to the mainland. The immediate reaction of the cattle industry in Hawaii was to repeal the Jones Act because no service exists. The reason no service existed was because there had never been a need for it before. When these circumstances changed, Matson 34,000 head of cattle moved in 1995, essentially going from 1,500 or 3 or 4 years earlier.

Santa Rosa Island, the last working island cattle ranch in the continental United States, closed in 1998. The isolation of ranching on an island in the Pacific Ocean dictated the way this unique ranch was operated. Cattle were transported to and from the island by a custom-built cattle boat; roundups and other activities were carried out entirely on horseback. Rope, saddles, bridles, and chaps, among other things, were made on the island.