As part of this program, EFC placed orders with nation's shipyards for a large number of vessels of standard designs.

[3] Upon acceptance the freighter was allocated by the Shipping Board to C. H. Sprague & Son to serve on their newly established trade route to Scandinavia.

[9] Subsequently, Kenwood Bridge stayed in the Baltic Sea area through the winter making several trips between Gothenburg and United Kingdom transporting lumber and wood pulp.

[10][11] The vessel then left Southampton for New York on April 18 via Bilbao where she was officially transferred to her new owners and embarked Spanish crew.

[12][13] Under the new ownership the vessel was involved in tramp trade mostly moving coal from the East Coast of the United States to various ports in Europe.

[15] On 21 February 1921 Leonita loaded 4,075 tons of coal at Hampton Roads and departed Norfolk three days later on her last trip bound for Cittavecchia via Gibraltar.

The call was received by a nearby steamer, SS Haworth, who quickly came to the rescue saving the crew while Leonita went down to the bottom.

In addition, the ship foundered within 40 nautical miles (74 km; 46 mi) of the coast in calm weather with crew safety never in question and captain abandoning the vessel right away.

Based on these factors, the courts decided that the ship was deliberately scuttled with the connivance of the owners to collect insurance money.