Near East Relief chartered the steamer Quequen to test a sea route from Constantinople to Batoum, the Black Sea port through which relief reached Soviet Armenia. Jaquith's cable reports the ship's arrival at a deserted harbor and the state of the port, where no food could be bought at any price and the town reckoned it had four days left. The route held, and larger ships followed.
Context
In 1921, war, blockade, and the Bolshevik takeover left the Caucasus and newly Sovietized Armenia facing mass starvation. Near East Relief mounted a sea lifeline — the chartered ships Quequen and Georgia — from Constantinople to the Black Sea port of Batoum and inland by rail to Erivan and the orphan city of Alexandropol, where it fed tens of thousands of children. These cables track the operation and the negotiations that allowed relief to pass.
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