The SS Antilles was a US passenger-cargo steamship constructed by William Cramp & Sons Shipbuilding Company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and delivered in April 1907. She measured approximately 421 feet 11.5 inches in length on the load line, with an extreme beam of 53.2 feet and a mean draft of 26 feet. Her displacement at normal coal supply was around 10,500 tons. The vessel was a twin screw steamship capable of reaching a nominal speed of 15 knots (about 17 mph). Antilles was operated as a combined passenger and cargo vessel by the Southern Pacific Steamship Company from her launch until 1917. She served primarily on routes between New York and New Orleans, operating under the Morgan Line along with her sister ship, Momus, and other vessels. Her service was characterized by her role in transporting both passengers and cargo across these key American ports. Following the United States' entry into World War I in 1917, Antilles was requisitioned by the US government. She was turned over to the Shipping Control Committee on May 26, 1917, and subsequently chartered by the US Army as a civilian-crewed transport vessel (USACT). She participated in the first troop convoy departing from Hoboken, New Jersey, on June 14, 1917, though initial troop loading experienced delays. On September 24, 1917, Antilles departed New York in a convoy designated Group Number 8, bound for France. Tragically, on October 17, 1917, while returning from Saint Nazaire, France, Antilles was torpedoed by German U-boat U-62 approximately two days out of Quiberon Bay. The attack resulted in the ship sinking in about four and a half minutes. She was in a small convoy escorted by patrol yachts USS Alcedo, USS Aphrodite, USS Corsair, and USS Kanawha. The sinking caused the loss of 67 lives, including Brigadier General William Sharp McNair, marking the largest US loss of life in a single incident during WWI at that time. The majority of survivors—118—were rescued by USS Alcedo, with an additional 50 rescued by USS Corsair. Survivors were brought ashore in France and cared for by the Red Cross, while the fallen were among the first to be covered under the new war-insurance law. This event underscored the hazards faced by US maritime forces during wartime and remains a significant episode in the maritime history of WWI.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.