User:Jordanroderick/sandbox

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SS Norlago in 1943, a design 1099 freighter originally named Fargo
Class overview
NameEFT Design 1099
Completed91
General characteristics
TypeCargo ship
Tonnage2,606 Gross registered tons

1,612 Net registered tons

4,050 dwt
Length251 ft (77 m)
Beam43 ft 6 in (13.26 m)
Draft24 ft 2 in (7.37 m)
PropulsionOil-fired triple-expansion steam engine

The Design 1099 ship (full name Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1099) was a steel-hulled cargo ship design approved for mass production by the United States Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation in World War I. A total of 91 of these ships were produced. Of these, 88 were purchased by the Shipping Board. The remaining three were cancelled by the Shipping Board, but were completed for private companies.

Construction[edit]

Design 1099 ships were referred to as "Lakers" since all were produced in shipyards on the Great Lakes, and most were named after lakes. Production was spread over eight shipyards:[1]

All 91 ships were completed in 1919 and 1920. Costs varied slightly among design 1099 ships. For example, Bartholomew cost $781,925.46, while Detroit Wayne cost 777,751.41.[2]

Characteristics[edit]

Design 1099 ships were built of welded steel plates. They were 251 feet (77 m) long between perpendiculars, with a beam of 43 feet 6 inches (13.26 m), and a depth of hold of 28 feet 2 inches (8.59 m). Their fully loaded draft was just over 24 feet (7.3 m). Deadweight tonnage, the weight of cargo which could be carried, varied among ships between 4000 and 4155 tons. Gross register tonnage varied between 2,542 and 2,810, while net register tonnage varied between 1,512 and 1,704.[2]

All the design 1099 ships had a single propeller which was driven by a single triple-expansion steam engine with an indicated horsepower of 1,425. Two slightly different engine configurations were built. One had high, medium, and low-pressure cylinders with diameters of 22, 36, and 59 inches, and the other 21, 35, and 59 inches. Both types had a stroke of 42 inches. Steam was provided by two boilers, which were oil-fired, except on Lake Farlin which burned coal. The ships were capable of reaching 9.5 knots. Their fuel tanks could hold between 664 and 708 tons of oil, giving them a steaming range of about 8,000 miles.[2]

There were two cargo holds, each of which had two hatches. Each hold was serviced with four cargo booms, each of which had its own winch. The heaviest load that could be winched aboard was 4 tons. Depending on the type of cargo and the ship, design 1099 freighters had between 166,806 and 183,153 cubic feet of effective cargo space.[2]

Design 1099 ships that were pressed into government service during World War II were armed variously. USAT City of Houston, launched as Lake Strymon, was armed with a 3" gun on the stern and four 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns, two on the stern and two on top of the pilothouse.[3]

Class History[edit]

USAT City of Houston in 1944, a design 1099 freighter originally launched as Lake Strymon

The design 1099 class arrived too late to make a difference in World War I. Instead of solving the problem of ship scarcity during the war, it was part of a ship surplus after the war. The US Shipping Board had hundreds of excess ships, including dozens of the design 1099 class, which cost several billion dollars[4] to build and another $60 million per year to maintain.[5] Congress wanted to sell the ships to get its money back and so that it could stop paying to maintain them. Various Americans, however, had their own views about what to do with the excess ships.

American shipping lines did not want to compete with foreign shipping companies rejuvenated after the war by ships sold at fire-sale prices.[6] American shipyards also feared a large sale of Shipping Board hulls, since it would depress the market for new ships for years to come. But if they had to be sold, the shipyards would prefer them to be sold overseas, where they could depress some other country's shipyards. Farmers exporting crops were in favor of the Shipping Board selling its fleet even if it hurt the shipping lines. The lower ocean shipping rates were, the more competitive their products would be around the world.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the political pressures involved, the Shipping Board reduced its fleet using multiple approaches over the course of more than a decade. Between 1925 and 1930, it sold off roughly half[7] to ship breakers for pennies on the dollar, thereby protecting the shippers and shipyards to some extent, and eliminating further maintenance costs. A lower percentage of the design 1099 ships, 16 of the 88 purchased by the Shipping Board were scrapped.

Salvage Company Design 1099 ships scrapped by the United States Shipping Board
Boston Iron & Metal Company Lake Fanbush
Ford Motor Company Lake Farlin, likely chosen for scrapping because its boilers were coal, rather than oil-fired[7]
Northern Metals Ashland County
Union Shipbuilding Company Franklin County, Lake Fagundus, Lake Farabee, Lake Farragut, Lake Fibre, Lake Figart, Lake Fighting, Lake Gazette, Lake Gert, Lake Geyer, Lake Gilta, McCreary County, Sioux Falls

The Shipping Board sold some ships to foreign lines, most notably the Soviet Union, which purchased eight design 1099 ships. Smaller numbers were sold to China, Japan, Italy,

Henry County became Golden State, the training ship for the California Maritime Academy.

Soviet Fleet[edit]

Soviet freighter Kamchatneft, launched as Lake Filson

The price of ships crashed at the onset of the Great Depression. The Soviet Union took advantage of this to purchase eight design 1099 freighters from 1929 to 1931. Six were assigned to its Pacific Fleet, and one to its Black Sea Fleet. Two of these ships were lost during World War II.[8]

Design 1099 ship Soviet name
Lake Fablus Mongol
Lake Fandon Chukcha
Lake Fansdale Kamchadal
Lake Farley Buriat
Lake Favonia Zyrianin
Lake Ferrona Turkmen
Lake Festina Samoied[9]
Lake Filson Kamchatneft


World War II casualties[edit]

While the entire class of design 1099 ships missed World War I, many of those that had been sold into commercial service were still at sea during World War II. A number of these were active in several nations' war efforts and sunk. These included:

  • Bayou, the former Lake Fairfax, was sunk by U-129 on 28 February 1942 north of Paramaribo
  • Norlantic, the former Lake Fandango, was sunk by U-69 on 13 May 1942 near Bonaire.
  • Chukcha, the former Lake Fandon, was sunk in error by USS S-34 on 31 May 1943 off Paramushir, Russia.[10]
  • Caribstar, the former Lake Fanquier, was sunk by U-175 on 4 October 1942 off the mouth of the Orinoco River.
  • Florence D, the former Lake Farmingdale, was sunk by Japanese bombers on 19 February 1942 near Darwin, Australia while attempting to supply General MacArthur's forces in the Philippines.[11]
  • Nissho Maru, the former Lake Farrar, was sunk by a US mine on 12 May 1945 off Shimonoseki, Japan.[12]
  • Atlantic Gulf, the former Lake Faulk, was sunk by Japanese submarine I-10 on 6 June 1942 in the Mozambique Channel.[13]
  • Zyrianin, the former Lake Favonia, was sunk by German aircraft on 1 April 1942 off Feodosia, Russia.[8]
  • William J. Salman, the former Lake Felden, was sunk by U-125 on 18 May 1942 south of Cuba.
  • Shinsei Maru No. 17, the former Lake Fielding, was sunk by U.S. carrier aircraft bombs on 12 January 1945.[12]
  • Western Head, the former Bartholomew, was sunk by U-107 on 28 May 1942 south of Cuba.[14]
  • Frances Salman, the former Lake Flambeau, was sunk by U-552 on 18 January 1942 off St. Johns, Newfoundland.[15]
  • Fenicia, the former Lake Fife, was sunk by HMS Unique on 10 March 1941 between Naples and Tripoli.[16]
  • Caribsea, the former Lake Flattery, was sunk by U-158 on 11 March 1942 off Cape Lookout.
  • Ruth Lykes, the former Lake Gera, was sunk by U-103 on 16 May 1942 off Cape Falso, Nicaragua
  • Roanoke, the former Lake Glasco, was sunk by U-1055 on 11 January 1945 in the Irish Sea.
  • Commercial Trader, the former Lake Tippah, was sunk by U-558 on 16 September 1942 east of Trinidad.
  • Nidarnes, the former Santa Isabel, was sunk by U-159 on 4 June 1942 in Yucatan Strait.

References[edit]

  1. ^ McKellar, N. L. (September 1963). "Steel Shipbuilding Under the U.S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921" (PDF). The Belgian Shiplover (95–96): 400a–499a.
  2. ^ a b c d United States Shipping Board and Emergency Fleet Corporation: Hearings Before the Select Committee to Inquire Into the Operations, Policies, and Affairs of the United States Shipping Board and the United States Emergency Fleet Corporation, House of Representatives, Sixty-eighth Congress, First Session, Pursuant to House Resolution 186. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1925. pp. 1996–1997.
  3. ^ "1944-01-13. AERIAL PORT SIDE VIEW OF THE AMERICAN CARGO STEAMER CITY OF HOUSTON. NOTE THE 3 INCH ..." www.awm.gov.au. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  4. ^ "Vouchers Missing For Billion Spent". New York Herald. 21 November 1920. p. 13.
  5. ^ "Brooklyn Navy Yard In Freeze-Out Game". Standard Union. 27 November 1920. p. 1.
  6. ^ "Oppose Plan To Restore German Shipping Routes". New York Tribune. 20 March 1920. p. 14.
  7. ^ a b Sale by the United States Shipping Board of 200 Vessels to the Ford Motor Co: Hearing Before the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Sixty-ninth Congress, First Session, Pursuant to S. Res. 135, to Investigate the Validity of the Sale of Certain Vessels to the Ford Motor Company by the United States Shipping Board. February 11, 1926. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. 1926.
  8. ^ a b Budzbon, Przemyslaw; Radziemski, Jan; Twardowski, Marek (2023-07-30). Warships of the Soviet Fleets, 1939–1945: Volume III Naval Auxiliaries. Seaforth Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-3990-2284-2.
  9. ^ Lloyd's Register Foundation, Heritage & Education Centre (1940). Lloyd’s Register of Shipping 1940 Sailing Vessels.
  10. ^ Campbell, Douglas E.; Hinman, Charles R. (2019-08-12). The Submarine Has No Friends: Friendly Fire Incidents Involving U.S. Submarines During World War II. Lulu.com. ISBN 978-0-359-76906-3.
  11. ^ "View Shipwreck - SS Florence D". Australasian Underwater Cultural Heritage Database.
  12. ^ a b Committee, United States Joint Army-Navy Assessment (1947). Japanese Naval and Merchant Shipping Losses During World War II by All Causes. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 88. ISBN 978-0-598-73567-6.
  13. ^ "Imperial Submarines". www.combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  14. ^ Wiberg, Eric (2014-04-26). "SS Western Head sunk by U-107/Gelhaus 26 May 1942 off Bahamas, Cuba". Eric Wiberg. Retrieved 2024-05-30.
  15. ^ "Casualties Of War" (PDF). Duluth Seaway Port Authority.
  16. ^ Rommelsriposte (2020-04-19). "Axis merchants lost on the North Africa Route – 1941-1943". The Crusader Project. Retrieved 2024-05-30.

External links[edit]

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