Name/Title
B+W photo of Exochorda being moved into drydock, to become the Stevens dormitory ship, at Bethlehem Steel Hoboken Shipyard, Oct. 4, 1967.Entry/Object ID
2009.001.0015Description
Black-and-white photo of the S.S. Exochorda being moved into drydock, to become the Stevens dormitory ship, at the Bethlehem Steel Hoboken Shipyard, Oct. 4, 1967. 8" x 10" wide print. Photographer not indicated other than an official company document. Attached to reverse is a mimeographed press release/caption on Bethlehem Steel letterhead along with some holographic notes on the print and one on the release.
View is northeast with the New York City and the Empire State Building visible. Two tugboats are seen easing the ship into a wet drydock.
Text as found in the caption:
Dormitory Ship Stevens (3)
On October 4, 1957, the Exochorda was towed from the Hudson River Reserve Fleet to Bethlehem's Hoboken, N.J., shipyard for conversion into the Stevens, a floating dormitory for Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. The conversion entailed extensive interior work, rearrangement of some of her spaces, and modification of the her superstructure.
From: Max L. Brown, Press Relations, Bethlehem Steel Corporation, 375 Park Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022. Phone: Murray Hill 8-5522.
Photo No. 49430A-1
806210
[End of text]
Holographic note on release: "ship scrapped Jersey City, NJ."
The ship became the S.S. Stevens and from Nov. 1967 to 1975 at the former long dock, Eighth Street Pier, below Castle Point. See notes for a timeline.Acquisition
Accession
2009.001Source or Donor
PurchaseAcquisition Method
PurchaseCredit Line
Museum Collections.Made/Created
Date made
1967 - 1967Notes
Date: 1967-1967General Notes
Note
Notes: Timeline of vessel:
USS Dauphin (APA-97)
22 December 1943 — Laid down (as cargo ship)
10 June 1944 — Completed as Windsor-class military attack transport and launched by Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Maryland
23 September 1944 — Transferred to Navy and commissioned as Dauphin
2 September 1945 — Present at the Surrender Ceremony of World War II in Tokyo Bay
30 April 1946 — Dauphin decommissioned
1948 — Dauphin sold for commercial service
SS Exochorda
1948 — Refurbished as passenger-cargo ship, SS Exochorda, for American Export Lines
2 November 1948 — Maiden voyage of Exochorda
1948 – 1959 — Exochorda served as passenger-cargo ship sailing from New York to the Mediterranean
15 March 1959 — Exochorda towed to Bethlehem Steel Corp. for preparation to be placed in reserve fleet
1959 – 1967 — Returned to the US Maritime Administration and mothballed in Hudson River Reserve Fleet at Stony Point, NY
June 1967 — The U.S. Maritime Administration announced plans to sell the former cruise liner, Exochorda, for either non-transportation use or scrap
28 September 1967 — Announcement of Stevens Institute of Technology's bid of $130,301 for Exochorda
October 1967 — US Maritime Administration awards Exochorda to Stevens Institute of Technology for $130,301 to be used as a floating dormitory
4 October 1967 — Exochorda was towed from the Hudson River Reserve Fleet in Jones Point, N.Y. to the Hoboken Yard of Bethlehem Steel Corporation in Hoboken, New Jersey to be refurbished as a dormitory
10 November 1967 — Vessel towed from the Bethlehem Steel Corporation to the school-owned Eighth Street Pier, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N.J.
SS Stevens
November 1967 — Christened SS Stevens
January 1968 — First student residents of Stevens moved aboard
23 May 1975 — Last student leaves Stevens
26 August 1975 — Last Voyage: towed from Hoboken N.J. to a shipyard in Chester, PA
1975 – 1979 — Partially dismantled in Chester, PA
March 1979 — Resold to scrappers at Kearny, NJ
Original or Copy: Original
Status: OK
Status By: dw
Status Date: 2009-08-13
