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USAT ''Buford'' was a combination cargo/passenger ship, originally launched in 1890 as the SS ''Mississippi''. She was purchased by the US Army in 1898 for transport duty in the Spanish-American War. In 1919, she was briefly transferred to the US Navy, commissioned as the USS ''Buford'' (ID 3818), to repatriate troops home after World War I, and then later that year returned to the Army. In December 1919, nicknamed the ''Soviet Ark'' (or the ''Red Ark'') by the press of the day, the Buford was used by the U.S. Department of Justice and Department of Labor to deport 249 non-citizens to Russia from the United States because of their alleged anarchist or syndicalist political beliefs. She was sold to private interests in 1923, contracted in mid-1924 to be the set for Buster Keaton's silent film ''The Navigator'', and finally scrapped in 1929. ==Ship's history== The ship began life as the SS ''Mississippi'',〔Atlantic Transport Line: ("S.S. Mississippi (I)" )〕 constructed by Harland & Wolff of Belfast, Ireland for Bernard N. Baker of Baltimore and the Atlantic Transport Line. While under de facto American ownership, she would fly the British flag, due to the economies of the navigation laws of the period.〔, p.103.〕 The ''Mississippi'' was launched on August 29, 1890〔, p.1087.〕 and began her maiden voyage, from London, on October 28, 1890. In command was her first captain, Hamilton Murrell,〔The Baltimore Sun, "Port Paragraphs," Aug 30, 1890, pg. 6〕 "Hero of the ''Danmark'' Disaster," who a year earlier had saved 735 lives from the sinking Danish passenger ship ''Danmark'', the largest single rescue at the time.〔The Baltimore Sun, "President Baker's Approval," Apr 23, 1889, pg. 1〕 For the first year of her career, the ''Mississippi'' plied the waters between London, Swansea, Philadelphia and Baltimore.〔The Baltimore Sun, "Port Paragraphs," Nov 28, 1890, pg. 4〕 In January, 1892, the ''Mississippi'' was moved to the London-New York route,〔 where she remained until she was purchased by the U.S. Army Quartermaster Department as part of a seven ship deal on June 24, 1898 and became an army transport ship, serving in the Caribbean theater of the Spanish American War.〔''New York Times'': ("Transports For The Army," June 25, 1898, p.2 ), accessed January 1, 2010〕 The ''Mississippi'' was assigned the number "25" on July 5, 1898.〔The Baltimore Sun, "Rushing Troops South," Jul 6, 1898, pg. 1〕 However, she sailed under her given name until March 2, 1899, the following year, when she was officially renamed the USAT ''Buford'',〔The Baltimore Sun, "New Names For Auxiliary Ships," Mar 3, 1899, pg. 2〕 in honor of Gen. John T. Buford, the Union cavalry officer and hero of the Battle of Gettysburg of the American Civil War. On May 28, 1900,〔The Baltimore Sun, "Battleship Kentucky," May 29, 1900, pg. 7〕 the ''Buford'' entered the naval yards of the Newport News Ship-Building Company for a major refitting as a troop-ship for service between the United States and the Philippines.〔''Richmond Dispatch'': ("Contract for Newport News," May 25, 1900, p.1 ), accessed January 1, 2010〕 Two of her original four masts were removed; the other two were replaced with long masts.〔 While under conversion, the ''Buford'' would miss the peak of the Boxer Rebellion. Once back in service in November of that year, the ''Buford'' took up regularly service on the Pacific run from San Francisco to Honolulu and Guam terminating in Manila, and returning via Nagasaki and Honolulu.〔''Annual Reports of the War Department, Vol II, 1906'': ("Regular Trans-Pacific Service" p.28 ), accessed January 1, 2010〕 At 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the ''Buford'' was in San Francisco when the Great Quake of 1906 struck. She was taken from the pier into the bay to avoid the resultant fire and was one of three transports - ''Buford'', ''Crook'' and ''Warren'' - used in the harbor as temporary storehouses for the supplies coming into the stricken city by sea in the weeks following the disaster.〔''Annual Reports of the War Department, Vol I, 1906'': ("EARTHQUAKE IN CALIFORNIA" - Special Report of Maj. Gen. Adolphus W. Greely, Commanding the Pacific Division, p.114 ), accessed January 1, 2010〕〔''Annual Reports of the War Department, Vol I, 1906'': ("REPORTS OF SUBORDINATE OFFICERS - Reports of Maj. Carroll A. Devol, Quartermaster, U. S. A." p. 186-7 ), accessed January 1, 2010〕 In 1907〔The Baltimore Sun, "Sails To Relieve Starving Chinese," May 1, 1907, pg. 10〕 and 1911,〔The Baltimore Sun, "B. and O. Offers Its Aid," Feb 17, 1911, pg. 5〕 the ''Buford'' was involved in famine relief missions to China. In 1912–1916, she was involved in refugee and troop missions during the Mexican Revolution.〔 the ''Buford'' was in Galveston harbor when a massive hurricane hit on August 17, 1915 and was the city's sole line of communication to the outside world through her radio.〔The Baltimore Sun, "Texas Storm Sweeps Inland," Aug 18, 1915, pg. 1〕 With the outbreak of World War I in 1914, the ''Buford'' continued her refugee rescue work, bringing away Americans who wished to flee the European fighting.〔''New York Times'': ("Transport For Refugees," Aug 25, 1914, pg. 5 ), accessed January 1, 2010〕 She supported of the American war effort once the U.S. entered the conflict.〔(U.S. Army Ships--USAT Buford (1898) ) Department of the Navy -- Naval History and Heritage Command, accessed January 1, 2010〕 In December 1918, the ''Buford'' underwent another refit to prepare her for transporting American Expeditionary Force troops home from the war. 〔, p. 35.〕 On January 14, 1919 she was transferred to the U.S. Navy, commissioned as the USS ''Buford'' (ID 3818) the next day, and assigned to troop transport duty. During the next half-year she made four round trip voyages between the United States and France, bringing home over 4700 soldiers. She made one more voyage to the Panama Canal Zone before she was decommissioned by the Navy on September 2, 1919 and returned to the Army Transport Service.〔〔''NavSource Online - Section Patrol Craft Photo Archive'': ("USAT Buford - ex-USS Buford (ID 3818) - ex-USAT Buford" ), accessed January 1, 2010〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USAT Buford」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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