This ship was built by Alex Stephen & Sons, of Glasgow, as the Wilson's
& Furness-Leyland Line's Winfreda. She made her maiden voyage, from
London to New York, on 3 March 1898, and her last voyage for her
original owners in June 1898, on the same route.
She as then acquired, with her sisters (Alexandra/Menominee,
Boadicea/Marquette,
Cleopatra/Mohegan and Victoria/Manitou) by Atlantic Transport and was
placed on ATL's London-New York service. She made her first two roundtrips
for ATL under her original name, and was then renamed Mesaba.
In 1909, when Minnewaska III entered service, Mesaba became a reserve
steamer. She also made three Antwerp-Boston-Philadelphia sailings for
the Red Star Line between 1912 and 1914, before returning to ATL service
in June 1915.
On 1 September 1918, while Mesaba was 21 miles from Tuskar Rock, making
a convoy voyage from Liverpool to Philadelphia in ballast, she was
torpedoed and sunk by UB 118. There were 20 fatalities, including the
ship's commander.
