SS Stevens, a , 14,893-ton ship, served as a floating dormitory from 1968 to 1975 for about 150 students of Stevens Institute of Technology, a technological university, in Hoboken, New Jersey. Permanently moored on the scenic Hudson River at the foot of the campus across from New York City, this first collegiate floating dormitory became one of the best-known college landmarks in the country.
Twenty-four years prior to her duty as a floating dormitory, the ship served with distinction in World War II as , a Windsor-class attack transport vessel. Originally launched in 1944, Dauphin was awarded one battle star and was present in Tokyo Bay for the Surrender Ceremony of World War II on September 2, 1945.
Following the war, the vessel underwent significant modifications and emerged as the cruise liner — a member of the "4 Aces", a post-war quartet of ships operated by American Export Lines. During her eleven years of cruise liner service, from 1948 to 1959, Exochorda — along with her nearly identical sister ships in the "4 Aces" — regularly sailed with passengers and cargo on a route from New York Harbor to various Mediterranean ports. Exochorda was retired to the US Navy reserve ("mothball") fleet in 1959 where she remained for eight years.
Exochorda's conversion to a dormitory ship, following her purchase by Stevens Institute of Technology in 1967, required only minor modifications such as the connection of land-based water, sewer and electric utilities. Accommodations for the many student residents aboard Stevens included private baths and in-room control of heating and air-conditioning. Featuring portholes, roll-up berths and nautically themed artwork, Stevens became quite popular among her residents.
Purchased by the institute to fill a shortfall in student housing, the ship's operating costs during the initial years of service were comparable to conventional land-based dormitory housing. In later years, however, the ship's burgeoning operating and repair costs, combined with a more favorable housing outlook, forced the institute to sell Stevens in 1975. In tribute, one of her 6-ton anchors was prominently placed on the campus grounds by the graduating Class of 1975. In August 1975, the ship was towed to a shipyard in Chester, Pennsylvania, and she was subsequently scrapped in 1979.
Location and design
Setting
From the west bank of the Hudson River, opposite mid-town Manhattan, Stevens offered her residents a panoramic view of the New York skyline extending from the George Washington Bridge in the north, to the Verrazzano–Narrows Bridge in the south. Located at the foot of the Stevens Institute of Technology campus in Hoboken, her venue afforded viewing of the large variety of watercraft that frequented the river. Silently gliding past portholes, river vessels imparted the sensation of motion to residents aboard their stationary home.
Notable among the ships witnessed by Stevens residents was the great transatlantic ocean liner, , sailing from New York on her final voyage on October 30, 1968. For Stevens' residents, all vessels traveling the river were bestowed New York City's picturesque backdrop.
Moored in place Stevens was moored at the foot of a bluff, above which much of the campus is situated. With her starboard side adjacent to the Eighth Street pier at River Road, she was secured at her bow and stern by a total of seven mooring lines. With concurrence by the Coast Guard, four sets of pilings were driven into the river bed, wedging the ship in place and preventing her from drifting downriver in the event the lines were cut. Although she carried four anchors, two on chains at her bow, and two more fastened in place on deck, none were used to anchor the ship.
The robustness of her mooring system was often demonstrated during major storms that swept through the New York area. Despite high winds and accompanying storm surge, the pilings and mooring lines held the ship in place, usually without incident, except for minor damage in some rooms caused by the toppling of unsecured personal items.
In a separate incident unrelated to storm activity, a departing cruise ship — while maneuvering to avoid a collision with two other departing cruise ships — passed unusually close to Stevens. The resulting wake from the passing ship tossed Stevens and caused the mooring bollard securing the bow lines to break away from its footing on the pier. The pilings and remaining lines held the ship in place without further incident.
Access to pier and campus
Access to Stevens from the campus-owned Eighth Street Pier was facilitated by two gangplanks. A double-ramped covered gangplank provided access from the main "A" deck foyer to a fixed, elevated platform on the pier. Two stairways connected the elevated platform to the pier surface. A second gangplank, an uncovered single ramp, provided access to the lower "B" deck directly from the pier surface. Rollers attached to the end of each gangplank accommodated the ship's motion on the water.
Normal walking distance between "the Ship", as she was known by students, and upper campus facilities such as the Student Center was approximately and included a lengthy flight of stairs south of the Gatehouse. An alternative route was improvised by students seeking to substantially reduce walking time and distance. This route, dubbed "Ho Chi Minh trail", or simply, "the trail", required scaling the treacherous bluff directly below the Student Center building on the upper campus and was frequented by the ship's more intrepid residents.
Cabin plan, decks and cargo
Stevens comprised a lower "B" deck, main "A" deck, Promenade, Boat and Sun decks. Students' quarters and public spaces were distributed throughout all decks except for Sun deck which was closed.
The main "A" deck, the highest deck to extend the entire length of the ship, included a center section with students' rooms and the ship's main foyer with a gangway.
The lower "B" deck contained the largest number of students' rooms, recreational areas and the ship's laundry room, equipped with automatic washers and dryers.
Promenade deck, immediately above the main deck, contained students' rooms and the ship's more frequently used lounges. The aft lounge, the largest on the ship featured expansive casement windows, oak furniture and rift-cut American oak paneling. French doors provided access to the promenade for open-air strolling and sightseeing. Promenade's forward lounge, paneled in Kelobra wood, was often used for smaller social gatherings.
Boat deck carried the ship's six lifeboats, three on each side, including one motorized boat, the center boat on the port side. The ship was fitted with gravity roller track davits for the larger aft and center boats. The curved davit arms extended over the open portion of Promenade deck. Radial single pivot davits were implemented for the smaller forward boats.
Sun deck contained the ship's wheelhouse flanked by docking bridges. Outside viewing by wheel house personnel was facilitated by three large forward-looking portholes, flanked by smaller portholes.
Areas below "B" deck, not authorized for passenger access and closed for students, comprised "C" deck, engine room, shaft alley, fuel tanks and water ballast areas.
The cabin plan shows the following number of students' rooms on the ship: Boat deckPromenade"A" deck"B" deckTotal10 rooms6 rooms35 rooms46 rooms97 rooms
The ship contained six cargo holds numbered 1 through 6, starting at the bow. Hatch locations for cargo holds were:
Cargo hatchLocation #1 and #2Forward portion of "A" deck, on the bow #3Forward portion of Promenade deck #4Aft portion of Boat deck #5 and #6Aft portion of "A" deck
Heritage of Stevens
Adventuresome past
Contrary to her sedentary life as a floating dormitory, the ship's past was filled with travels to numerous ports in Europe and the Far East including Okinawa, Tokyo and Pearl Harbor in the Pacific. As Windsor-class attack transport Dauphin for the US Navy, from 1944 to 1948, she was awarded one battle star in the assault on and occupation of Okinawa and earned the Navy Occupation Service Medal for landing cargo and troops in Japan. She was present in Tokyo Bay for the Surrender Ceremony of World War II on September 2, 1945.
Following the war, and after significant refurbishment, the vessel became the cruise liner Exochorda, a member of the quartet of ships known collectively as "4 Aces" — replacements for the pre-war quartet of ships with the same names — operated by American Export Lines. From 1948 to 1959, Exochorda regularly sailed a , 45-day circuit from New York to Mediterranean ports such as Casablanca, Marseille, Beirut, Alexandria, Barcelona and Livorno. Among her passengers were potentates of the East, routinely accompanied by cooks and bodyguards. An Arab ruler once brought his entire entourage on board, complete with swords and machine guns. Notable among her passengers was actress Rita Hayworth, a popular film star and dancer. In 1956, Exochorda was called upon to assist in the rapid evacuation of 350 Americans from Alexandria, Egypt during a military conflict that became known as the Suez Crisis.
At the end of her active service in 1959, Exochorda was placed in reserve until plans to sell her were announced in June 1967.
Need for student housing As early as 1965, the idea of buying a ship arose as an interim solution to the potential housing gap following the institute's forecast of an increase in student enrollment. By the next year, 1966, the need for additional student housing on the , Hoboken campus had become more evident. With the student body having grown to 1350 students, an increase of about 150 students over the prior year, a strain was created on the institute's existing land-based dormitory housing. Owning suitable waterfront property on the Hudson River, the institute assessed the feasibility of purchasing a ship for temporary use as a dormitory until additional land-based dormitories became available. The institute expected to recoup its original investment in the ship through its continued operation and eventual sale for scrap.
Purchase of Exochorda In June 1967, the U.S. Maritime Administration announced plans to sell the former cruise liner, Exochorda, for either non-transportation use or scrap. Assisted by shipbuilding experts, the institute prepared and submitted a bid for the ship. The bid was announced on September 28, 1967. Within one week of the institute's bid, the U.S. Maritime Administration awarded Exochorda to Stevens Institute of Technology for $130,301 — the highest bid and $6,700 more than offered by a scrap metal dealer. The cost of purchasing and refurbishing the ship brought its total cost to approximately $500,000. The total expenditure was not considered excessive when compared to an estimated several million dollars the institute would have had to spend on conventional dormitory housing. "We didn't think a permanent building was a wise investment", said Wilson T. Crisman, the institute's director of auxiliary operations. The institute planned to continue the vessel's operation as a dormitory for several years but intended to take her offline if the student population were to decrease.
Refurbishment as floating dormitory