TRANSPORT SINKS

Waikato Times, Volume 131, Issue 21910, 14 December 1942, Page 3

TRANSPORT SINKS

PRESIDENT COOLIDGE 4000 TROOPS ON BOARD ONLY FOUfTcASUALTIES (United Pres- A«*n.—El*r. T*»t. Copyrlrtot) WASHINGTON, Dec. 13 The United States Army transport President Coolidge hit a mine and sank in the South Pacific. The vessel was fully laden with 4000 troops. Only four lives were lost. » The United States Navy Department has not disclosed in what area of the South Pacific the President Coolidge was sunk. Prompt and efficient rescue efforts limited the casualties to four men. The President Coolidge, of 22,000 tons, was built in 1931. She was 616 ft, in length, with a breadth of 81 ft., and a draught of 28ft. She had five decks. When the Japanese Government announced its doctrine of domination in the Far East and the application of a blockade to the South China coast in 1940 the evacuation of American nationals and British women and children from Hongkong was ordered, and on June 30 the President Coolidge, which had already sailed from Hongkong, was ordered to return to convey evacuees to Manila. The President Coolidge was involved in a collision while sailing from San Francisco on March 6, 1937, when she rammed and sank the Tidewater Associated Oil Company’s tanker Frank H. M. Buck in the Golden Gate. She spent 17 days in dry dock, having a large hole in her bow plates repaired.