Kroonland was the sister ship of Finland and a near sister ship of Vaderland and Zeeland of the same company. When launched, she was the largest steamship ever built in the United States. Kroonland sailed from New York City to Antwerp on her maiden voyage in June , beginning service on the route she would sail for the next twelve years.
According to The New York Times , Kroonland became the first ship to issue a wireless distress call at sea when she radioed for help during a storm in In another radio first, Kroonland heard the "first real broadcast of history" in December Despite stormy seas, Kroonland was able to take aboard 89 survivors, for which captain and crew received accolades that included U. Congressional Gold Medals. On a trip to the Mediterranean in October , Kroonland was detained by British authorities at Gibraltar , and part of her cargo was confiscated amidst diplomatic wrangling between the then-neutral United States and the United Kingdom.
During a chartered circumnavigation of South America in February , Kroonland became the largest passenger ship to have transited the Panama Canal during that time. Kroonland was placed in New York β Panama Canal β San Francisco service until a landslide temporarily closed the canal to navigation. Returned to transatlantic service, Kroonland was one of the first U.
In May Kroonland was struck by a torpedo, which failed to detonate and only slightly damaged the ship. Army and Navy. She made six trips carrying troops to France before the Armistice and eight voyages after, transporting nearly 38, troops in total.
Returned to IMM in late , Kroonland was scorched in a shipyard fire in January while she was being refitted for passenger service. The ship was sold and scrapped at Genoa in In July , the Red Star Line announced plans for the construction of four large ocean liners. Kroonland and the virtually identical Finland , [5] at 12, gross register tons GRT each, [6] were slightly larger than Vaderland and Zeeland.
