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Unnumbered Ships Photo Archive

USAHS Ernestine Koranda
ex-USAT Edellyn
ex-USS Edellyn



Navy call sign (Early 1919):
George - Jig - Dog - Quack

Call sign (Late 1919):
Nan - Easy - Dog - Vice



Civilian call sign (1919):
Love - Rush - Jig - Watch

Eddelyn served both the U. S. Navy and Army

Transport:

  • Built by Sun Shipbuilding Co., Chester, PA (YN 9)
  • Laid down as Edellyn, 05 June 1918
  • Launched, 04 January 1919
  • Delivered to US Government as Edellyn (ON 218199), 15 July 1919
  • Acquired by the Navy and commissioned USS Edellyn the same day at Philadelphia, PA, 15 July 1919
  • Decommissioned, 04 September 1919
  • Struck from the Navy Register and transferred to the War Department as USAT Edellyn, 12 September 1919
  • Acquired by the Luckenbach Steamship Co. and renamed Dorothy Luckenbach, 1922
  • Acquired by the Army and converted to hospital ship,renamed USAHS Ernestine Koranda, 1944
  • Transferred to the Department of Commerce and renamed Dorothy Luckenbach, 1950
  • Broken up by Learner Co., Oakland, CA, arrived 22 March 1957

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 8,713 t.
  • Length 448' 9"
  • Length between perpendiculars 499'
  • Beam 60'
  • Draft 28' 2"
  • Complement 50
  • Propulsion: Two 2,500hp steam engines, two shafts.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    USS Edellyn
    Eddelyn 192k Arriving at New York on 4 September 1919, while transporting U.S. troops home from Europe. She is being assisted by two U.S. Army tugs
    Panoramic photograph by Head-Mayberry, 488 7th Avenue, New York
    Donation of Dr. Mark Kulikowski, 2009
    U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command photo NH 106628    		 Robert Hurst
    SS Dorothy Luckenbach
    Eddelyn 155k Passing under the St. John's Bridge at Portland, Oregon
    Photo from "Hospital Ships of World War II: An Illustrated Reference" by Emory A. Massman    		 Robert Hurst
    USAHS Ernestine Koranda
    Eddelyn 126k Namesake: 2nd Lieutenant Ernestine May "Carmen" Koranda was born 30 May 1912 in Lesterville, South Dakota. A graduate of the Ancker Hospital School of Nursing in St. Paul, Minnesota, Koranda enlisted in the Army Nurses Corps in 1942. In 1943, she was serving at the Army's 12th Station Hospital in Townsville, Queensland, Australia.

    She was killed in the crash of a C-47 transport (VH-CHR/43-30742 "Hoosier Traveler" of the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron) on its way from Townsville to Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, on 19 December 1943. The aircraft exploded and disintegrated in the air about 30 miles NW of Rockhampton, Queensland. All 31 aboard were killed, including three nurses. This was the second worst crash in Australian aviation history. Sadly, Koranda was on her way to Sydney to wed her fiancee. She is buried in Wadena Cemetery, Wadena, Minnesota

    Photo: Army Nurse Ernestine Koranda, who was among those who lost their lives in the line of duty, at home before leaving for Australia. She was honored by the U.S. Army who bestowed her name on the former freighter Dorothy Luckenbach, ex-Edellyn.
    Photo courtesy of the Koranda family

    		 Robert Hurst
    Eddelyn 168k Army Nurse Ernestine Koranda
    Photo courtesy of the Koranda family
    Eddelyn 156k Photo courtesy of Steamship Historical Society of America from "Hospital Ships of World War II: An Illustrated Reference" by Emory A. Massman
    Eddelyn/Ernestine Koranda 173k Moored outboard of ex-USAHS Louis A. Milne while berthed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet anchorage at Tongue Point, Oregon, in January 1949 John Chiquoine and Dave Schroeder
    View the Edellyn
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
    (Note that the DANFS misspells the name of the ships as "Eddelyn." Thanks to John Spivey for spotting this)
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