City of Paris (1889)

Later names
Paris (1893)
USS Yale (1898)
Paris (1898)
Philadelphia (1901)
USS Harrisburg ID-1663 (1918)
Philadelphia (1919)

Owners:
Inman & International Steamship Company
(Inman Line)
Liverpool, England
(The Inman Line was owned by
International Navigation Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Feb. 22, 1893:
American Steamship Company
(American Line)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
(The American Line was owned by
International Navigation Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
1922:
New York-Naples Steamship Company


Builder:
J & G Thompson
Clydebank, Scotland
Ordered:
N/A
Keel Laid:
September 14, 1887
Year Built:
1889
Launched:
October 23, 1888
Sister Ships:
City of New York
Maiden Voyage:
April 3, 1889
Fate:
Scrapped in Genoa, Italy 1923.


Dimensions, machinery and performance

Length:
560'
Engines:
2 triple expansion (d)
Beam:
63'
Boilers:
9 fire tube type (coal fired)
Draft:
21'
Shafts:
2
Gross Tons:
10,499 (a)
HP:
18,500
Displacement:
N/A
Speed:
20 knots
Crew:
362 (b)
Funnels:
3 (e)
Passengers:
1,740 (c)
Masts:
3 (f)

Construction notes:
(a):
10,508 as Paris, 10,699 as USS Yale, 10,786 as Philadelphia, 10,499 as USS Harrisburg,
10,232 after 1922.
(b):
436 as USS Yale.
(c):
1,265 after 1893.
(d):
Quadruple expansion engines fitted in 1901.
(e):
2 after 1901.
(f):
1 after 1918.


Combat Victories
Date
Name
Type
Tons
Nationality
Notes
May 8, 1898
Rita
Cargo
N/A
Spain
Captured and
taken as prize


History:
Mar. 19, 1889:
Sea trials.
Apr. 3, 1889:

Maiden voyage Liverpool - Queenstown New York. Remained on this route until Feb. 1893
making more than 30 transatlantic voyages.
May 8, 1889:
Won the Blue Riband (westbound) 5 days, 23 hours, 7 minuets, 19.95 knots. Bettered the
record on a voyage Aug. 22-28, 1889 to 5 days, 19 hours, 18 minuets, 20.01 knots. Held
the record until losing to the White Star liner Majestic on Aug. 5, 1891.

May 22, 1889:
Won the Blue Riband (eastbound) 6 days, 29 minuets, 20.03 knots. Held the record until
losing to her sister ship City of New York on Aug. 23, 1892.
Mar. 25, 1890:
On the return trip to Liverpool while 200 miles west of Ireland, the starboard propeller
shaft broke, the engine running under a no load condition at full speed disintegrated.
Debris from the engine punctured the hull and the bulkhead to the port engine
room causing both engine rooms to flood. With both engines shut down the ship drifted
until taken in tow on March 27. The ship was towed to Queenstown and repaired but,
was out of service until May 13, 1891.

July 27, 1892:
Won the Blue Riband (westbound) 5 days, 15 hours, 58 minuets, 20.48 knots. Bettered the
record on a voyage Oct. 13-18, 1892 to 5 days, 14 hours, 24 minuets, 20.70 knots. Held
the record until losing to the Cunard liner Campania on June 23, 1893.
Feb. 22, 1893:
Upon departure on her last Liverpool - New York voyage the City of Paris was
transferred to the American Line and renamed Paris. Registered under the US flag
and was used on the New York - Southampton route until 1889. After her arrival in
New York the passenger accommodations were changed.
Mar. 25, 1893:
First New York - Southampton voyage as Paris.
Apr. 27, 1898:
Chartered by the US Navy and converted into an auxiliary cruiser for use in the the
Spanish - American War. 4 x 6 pounders and 4 x 3 pounders were installed.
May 2, 1898:
Commissioned as USS Yale and departed for patrol duty off Puerto Rico.
May 8, 1898:
Captured the Spanish cargo ship Rita and installed a prize crew. Rita was taken to
Charleston, South Carolina.

May 28, 1898:
After patrolling off Puerto Rico, The Virgin Islands and Haiti departed for Newport News
for repairs.

June 3, 1898:
Arrived at Newport News, Virginia.
June 23, 1898:
Departed Newport News for patrol duty off Cuba.
June 27, 1898:
Arrived Santiago de Cuba, stayed only two days and then returned to the USA. Was sent
back to Cuba and then to New York for the first two weeks of August.

Aug. 15, 1898:
Arrived at Santiago de Cuba to return troops to the USA.
Aug. 23, 1898 :
Arrived at New York and remained there until decommissioned.
Sept. 2, 1898:
Decommissioned as USS Yale and returned to the American Line
Stricken from the Naval Register July 3, 1899.
Oct. 1898:
Placed back on the New York - Southampton route.
May 21, 1899:
Grounded on the Manacles off Cornwall, England until July 11. Towed to Milford Haven,
Wales for temporary repairs, permanent repairs made in Belfast, Ireland.

July 1899:
Repaired and refit in Belfast. The three funnels were replaced by two taller funnels
and quadruple expansion engines were installed. Repairs completed in Aug. 1901.
Renamed Philadelphia GRT changed to 10,786.
1901-1913:
Placed on the Southampton - Cherbourg - New York route.
Aug. 1914:
Placed on the New York - Liverpool and remained on this route until May 1918.
May 1918:
Requisitioned by the US Navy as a transport for World War 1
Armed with 2 x 6" / 2 x 4" / 2 x 1 pounders installed.

May 29, 1918:
Commissioned as USS Harrisburg ID-1663.
Made four trans-atlantic voyages (2 to Liverpool and 2 to Brest) taking troops to Europe.
Made six trans-atlantic voyages returning troops. In total transported over 30,000 troops.
Sept. 25, 1919:
Decommissioned at Hoboken, New Jersey and returned to the American Line.
Dec. 1919:
Repair and refit following war duty. Completed in Mar. 1920.
Mar. 1920:
Placed on the Plymouth - Cherbourg - Southampton - New York route until Oct. 1920.
Nov. 1920:
Removed from service and laid up.
1922:
Sold to the New York - Naples Steamship Co., registered at 10,232 tons.
Made one voyage New York - Naples. On arrival at Naples the crew mutinied and an
attempt was made to scuttle her. The ship was impounded for debt at Naples and
scrapped in Genoa in 1923.


Thanks to George Gardner at Glasgow University for providing additional information for this page.


Builder's Data

Page published Aug. 7, 2007