Name SS Coblenz Owner North German Lloyd Yard number 215771 Launched 1897 | Namesake Koblenz Builder Blohm & Voss
Hamburg Acquired 5 May 1897 Length 94 m | |
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The Cuba was a steamship owned by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company. Originally launched in 1897 as the German SS Coblenz, she was seized by the United States in 1917, and named SS Sachem, until Pacific Mail purchased her from the Shipping Board on February 6, 1920 for US$400,000 and renamed SS Cuba.
Pacific Mail first used the Cuba to carry passengers and cargo between San Francisco, California, and Havana, Cuba, then shifted to a San Francisco-to-Cristobal route.
On the morning of September 8, 1923, Cuba struck a reef just off San Miguel Island in the Santa Barbara Channel off Point Arguello and the coast of Santa Barbara County, California. All aboard survived and were rescued, but the Cuba was a total loss.
The ship's radio was out. She had been navigating through a dense fog for several days. Later that day, nine US Navy destroyers ran aground nearby in the Honda Point Disaster.
The wreck is located at approximately 34.032°N 120.454°W / 34.032; -120.454.