Lookback #207 – Yellowstone in fatal collision on June 12, 1978 6/12 - Yellowstone was a former C-4 class troop ship from World War Two. The 523-foot-long vessel was launched at Richmond, Calif., on June 28, 1945, and completed as Marine Perch in October after the war had ended. The ship was used to bring troops home from the Pacific war zones, carry Italian Prisoners of War back to Naples, Italy, and ferry soldiers back from Europe to America. It also saw some passenger service on charter before being laid up in the Reserve Fleet. The ship was sold to Rio Grande Transport Inc. in 1965 and converted to the bulk carrier Yellowstone at Tampa, FL that year. Yellowstone made its first transit of the Seaway in May 1978 and loaded grain at Duluth for Algeria and Tunisia. This cargo was topped off to saltwater draft at Baie Comeau. Thick fog proved to be a menace as the ship neared the Mediterranean 36 years ago today. Yellowstone was southeast of Gibraltar when the Ibn Batouta, an Algerian freighter, struck the vessel just off the engine room inflicting significant damage. Yellowstone was taken in tow but sank the next day, June 13, 1978. The casualty list read two sailors dead and three more missing. Ibn Batouta was never a Seaway trader but it too was a collision victim. It sank in the Red Sea, with the loss of 12 lives, on March 9, 2009, following a collision with the OXL Sultan Skip Gillham
Posted on: Thu, 12 Jun 2014 08:03:28 +0000
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