EFC Design 1013: Illustrations

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Notes: The ship after which Design 1013 was named, S.S. Robert Dollar, was launched at Glasgow, Scotland, in 1911 for use by the Robert Dollar Company in the trade between the U.S. West Coast and the Far East. Her measurements were 410' x 54' x 29.75' moulded depth, essentially as Design 1013. During 1916-1917 British, French and Norwegian interests placed orders for a total of 49 cargo ships from four yards in the Pacific Northwest to a design based on this British-built ship. The American design was produced by the new Skinner & Eddy Corporation, which had just established a yard in Seattle. Six of these ships including four by Skinner & Eddy for Stolt-Nielsen of Norway (Yard nos. 1, 2, 5, and 7) and two for the British by the Northwest Steel Co. (Yard nos. 1 and 2), were completed and delivered before the other 43 were requisitioned by the Shipping Board on 3 August 1917. On 15 January 1918 Skinner & Eddy received a contract for 14 Design 1013 ships (EFC Hulls 1175-1188). In June 1918 the Todd Dry Dock & Construction Co. sold the former Seattle Construction and Dry Dock yard to the Shipping Board who handed it over to Skinner & Eddy for operation as their Shipyard No. 2. On 1 June 1918 Skinner & Eddy received Contract 324 for 35 more ships (EFC Hulls 1925-1959). Skinner & Eddy completed the Design 1014 ships then building in its new yard and built EFC Hulls 1188 and 1925-1928 to Design 1013 there before shifting to Designs 1079 and 1105 (q.v.). The other yards building Design 1013 ships were Los Angeles SB & DD of Los Angeles (whose first contract preceded that of Skinner & Eddy by two weeks), Northwest Steel and Columbia River SB, both of Portland, Ore., and J. F. Duthie of Seattle. Designs 1066 and 1080, developed by Duthie and by Ames SB & DD of Seattle respectively, were very similar.

The design: The U.S. 8800-dwt type, as described by Mitchell & Sawyer in British Standard Ships of World War I (Liverpool, 1968), using as their example the lead ship at Duthie, the Norwegian Hjallborg (later requisitioned as Westerner), was a "well-deck type with forecastle, bridge and poop, and the hull was sub-divided with five transverse watertight bulkheads. In addition to fore and aft peak tanks and machinery space, this gave two cargo holds forward and one large hold aft. To facilitate rapid cargo handling these holds were fitted with large hatchways, there being one to each forward hold and two to the after hold.... The vessels were fitted with two masts, each mast being served by four five-ton derricks [booms] and four winches. In addition, two three-ton cargo booms were fitted to king-posts on the bridge deck and these served a small cargo hatch.... Single-screw turbine steamers, their steam was supplied through three single-ended Scotch boilers ... working to a pressure of 210 psi. The officers' quarters were situated on the bridge deck, the wireless room and operators cabin being on the boat deck above. The crew were berthed aft in the poop." Variations in the rig soon developed as described below, and as the EFC began building its own ships of this type other variations developed, particularly in the machinery which came to include triple expansion engines and watertube boilers. The "large hold aft" was also divided into two.

Rigs: As ordered in 1916, the first ships of this type had the standard freighter rig of two cargo masts each with a topmast and four cargo booms, one mast at the center of each well deck. When the British implemented their own standardized shipbuilding program at the end of 1916, they took precautions based on their wartime experience to render the visibility of ships as small as possible. Cargo masts were replaced with derrick posts that were constructed as to hinge down, and a single mast was provided amidships for the wireless aerial which was telescopic and could be let down to the same height as the funnel, which itself was made as short as possible. In addition the UK adopted the dazzle camouflage idea in the spring of 1917 and subsequently made it compulsory on all shipowners. A ship was painted so that when viewed from a periscope it was difficult to estimate with any degree of accuracy the distance of the vessel, its speed and its direction. Many of these features were applied to the ships under order in the U.S. for the U.K. and its allies. Mitchell & Sawyer, the source for this description, claim that the tonnage of shipping sunk by submarine fell with great rapidity from the date dazzle was introduced, although the level of losses during 1917 was still appalling. The U.S. soon abandoned the double hinged derrick posts and turned instead to single lower masts without topmasts plus the single topmast amidships. (The British seem to have followed a similar path.) In most of the Design 1013 ships the amidships topmast was stepped on a light pole added near the stack, except that in the Los Angeles S.B.-built ships it was stepped on top of the port amidships derrick post.

Requisitioned Sisters: These included Yard nos. 1-10 at the Columbia River Shipbuilding Corp. of Portland, Ore.; 8-12 and 14-20 at J.F. Duthie & Co. of Seattle, Wash.; 2-16 at the Northwest Steel Co. (fitted out by Willamette Iron & Steel), Portland, Ore.; and 6, 8-10, 12, and 16-17 at the Skinner & Eddy Corp. of Seattle. Of these 30 were for British interests, 13 French, 9 Norwegian, and 1 Japanese. All are covered in the Requisitioned Ships portion of the McKellar list (the Northwest ships under Willamette). Columbia River hulls 4 and 6-10 (4 British and 2 French) were later transferred to the contract program as EFC hulls 1644-49.

The USSB Diesel Program, Phase I (1924-28): A 6 June 1924 amendment to the merchant marine act of 1920 authorized the Shipping Board to install internal combustion (Diesel) engines in vessels of the Government, both to find an acceptable type for use in the American merchant marine and to create competition in the development of the various types and promote the manufacture of such engines in the U.S. By a Shipping Board resolution of 2 December 1924 contracts were awarded for nine single-acting engines (4 by Busch-Sulzer, 3 by McIntosh & Seymour, and 2 by Pacific Diesel Engine) and five double acting engines (1 by Hooven, Owens, Rentschler; 1 by McIntosh & Seymour, 1 by New London Ship & Engine, and 2 by Worthington Pump & Machinery). On 7 April 1925 the Board selected 14 steel vessels to be converted from reciprocating steam engines to internal combustion engines: eight of Design 1027 built by Oscar Daniels, four of Design 1013 by Los Angeles S.B., and two of Design 1013 by Columbia River S.B. It was hoped that the program would eventually result in the conversion of about 50 cargo ships and tankers. Pacific Diesel defaulted in its engine contract, resulting in the deletion of the Columbia River pair (West Harts and West Hartland) from the program. The remaining four Design 1013 ships were ordered from Bethlehem S.B., West Honaker and West Cusseta on 10 May 1926, Crown City on 10 June 1026, and West Grama (at Fore River) on 27 May 1927. All 12 ships were complete by the end of 1928. See Design 1027 for the rest of Phase I and Designs 1037 and 1032 for Phase II of this program.

Specifications: Design 1013 (S.S. Accomac, EFC Hull 27): Steel Cargo. Deadweight tons: 8800 designed, 8341 actual. Dimensions: 423.75' length oa, 410.5' pp x 54' beam mld. x 29.75' depth mld., 23.9' draft loaded. Propulsion: 1 screw, 1 Westinghouse turbine, 4 Heine water tube boilers, 3000 SHP, 10.5 kts. Configuration: 3-island, 2 decks, 3 holds, 5 hatches.

S.S. West Galoc (Design 1013, EFC Hull 31) around the time of her completion in August 1918 by the Los Angeles S.B. & D.D. Co. This ship has the wartime rig fitted to many ships (and shown in the drawing above) in which the two topmasts on the masts were replaced by a single topmast stepped near the stack (in the Los Angeles ships on the port derrick post). The change supposedly made it harder for a submarine to get a torpedo firing solution. (NHHC 19-N-14747, also NARA RG-19-LCM) (Click photo to enlarge)

S.S. Robert Dollar (Design 1013 precursor) This, the ship that evolved into Design 1013, was specifically designed to carry whole logs from the Pacific Northwest to Japan and was given a lumber-carrying rig of four masts instead of the usual two cargo masts. Photo No. None Source: Columbia River Maritime Museum, Quarterdeck Review, Winter 1985-86, no. 1
S.S. War Baron (Design 1013 precursor) One of two ships built for the British by the Northwest Steel Co. at Portland, Oregon (fitted out by the Willamette Iron & Steel Works) and actually delivered to them. Three others were requisitioned, as were eight building for the French. Note the standard two-masted freighter rig. She was sunk by a submarine on 5 January 1918 off the coast of Cornwall. Photo No. NH 102371 Source: NHHC, also NARA RG-19-LCM
S.S. Westerner (As Design 1013, Yard No. 9) This single ship was ordered by a Norwegian owner from the J.F. Duthie & Co. of Seattle, Wash., as Hjallborg and was later requisitioned by the EFC. She is shown here as photographed on 26 January 1918 by her builder. She has the standard two-masted rig. Photo No. NH 65077-A Source: NHHC, also NARA RG-19-LCM
S.S. Jeannette Skinner (As Design 1013, Yard No. 6) This ship was launched by the Skinner & Eddy Corp. of Seattle, Wash., with the name Jeannette Skinner on her bow and so registered with ABS and Lloyd's, indicating that the common spelling "Jeanette" is incorrect. This photo on postal card stock bears the handwritten date "July 1918" and the inscription "Loading supplies at Hampton Roads en route to France from Baltimore." She has the standard two-masted rig. Photo No. NH 104118 Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command
S.S. Wakulla (Design 1013, EFC Hull 28) Photographed by her builder, the Los Angeles S.B. & D.D. Co. of San Pedro, Calif., on 25 June 1918. This early Los Angeles ship has a standard two-masted rig. Photo No. None Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-32-S
S.S. West Arrow (As Design 1013, Yard No. 12) Probably shown on trials in March 1918 after completion of construction by the Skinner & Eddy Corp. of Seattle, Wash. This ship was completed with an early British-style wartime rig consisting of double derrick posts close together abreast in place of the usual single masts. Photo No. NH 83443-A Source: NHHC, also NARA RG-19-LCM
S.S. West Arrow (As Design 1013, Yard No. 12) Photographed looking forward from the stern by her builder, the Skinner & Eddy Corp. of Seattle, on 29 January 1918. Note the mechanism for lowering the derrick posts to lie flat on the deck, hopefully making it harder for a U-boat to get a torpedo firing solution. Photo No. None Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-32-UB
S.S. Westward Ho (As Design 1013, Yard No. 1) This, the first ship of this type built by the Columbia River S.B. Co. of Portland, Ore., was one of the few with hinged double derrick posts in place of her masts. The photo indicates that they were in the raised position when she was torpedoed on 8 August 1918 in the eastern Atlantic by the German submarine U-62. She was towed in to Brest, France, on 11 August 1918 with only one percent bouyancy remaining and a valuable military cargo including the deck cargo seen here. Photo No. NH 101619 Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, courtesy of Jack Howland, 1987.
S.S. West Bridge (As Design 1013, Yard No. 11) Photographed by her builder, J. F. Duthie & Co. of Seattle, on 25 May 1918. She has what became the standard wartime rig of the class, in which the lower parts of the two masts were retained but their topmasts were replaced by a single topmast on a new light mast (as here) or a derrick post in the vicinity of the funnel. Photo No. NH 65098-A Source: NHHC, also NARA RG-19-LCM
S.S. West Apaum (Design 1013, EFC Hull 88) Photographed by her builder, the Skinner & Eddy Corp. of Seattle, on 19 June 1918. She has the wartime rig without topmasts on her two masts but with a single topmast on a new thin mast aft of the funnel. Photo No. NH 102369 Source: NHHC, also NARA RG-19-LCM
S.S. West Grama (Design 1013, EFC Hull 763) In service with N.O.T.S. on 11 March 1919. This ship, built by the Los Angeles S.B. & D.D. Co. of San Pedro, Calif., has the wartime rig with the single topmast amidships stepped on the port derrick post. Photo No. NH 106600 Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command
S.S. Western Light (As Design 1013, Yard No. 12) Probably at Rotterdam during her call there 13-27 April 1919. She was built by the Northwest Steel Co. at Portland, Oregon and fitted out by the Willamette Iron & Steel Works. She retained the wartime rig with one topmast on a light pole mast amidships. Photo No. NH 84506 Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command
S.S. West Erral (Design 1013, EFC Hull 764) Photographed by her builder, the Los Angeles S.B. & D.D. Co., upon completion in February 1919. The wartime rig was no longer necessary and she and other postwar ships returned to a peacetime rig with topmasts on each of her two masts and none amidships. For a drawing showing this rig see Design 1066. Photo No. None Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-32-S
S.S. West Cobalt (Design 1013, EFC Hull 1081) This Columbia-built ship is shown with her peacetime rig on a post card mailed at Devonport, England, on 15 April 1919. The writer said he was on the ship in the rear. Photo No. None Source: Shipscribe
S.S. West Hixton (Design 1013, EFC Hull 764) A Design 1013 ship with a peacetime rig is shown in a photo that is on the Navy inspection data (SP/ID) cards for four ships (a common practice) built by Los Angeles S.B. & D.D.: West Hixton, West Selene, West Himrod, and West Cusseta. Based on the length of the name on the name board it could be any of these except the last one. Photo No. None Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, Ship Histories Branch, SP/ID card.
M.S. West Cusseta (Design 1013, EFC Hull 1412) After being re-engined with diesel machinery and otherwise upgraded under the USSB Diesel Program between 1926 and 1928. The ships converted under this program were easily recognized by their smaller funnels. Photo No. None Source: Shipscribe
S.S. Argun, ex *West Modus* (Design 1013, EFC Hull 1077) At San Francisco, Cal., probably while being turned over by her owner, the U.S. Maritime Commission, to the USSR in 1943. She was last reported in 1963 and was removed from Lloyd's Register in 1968. Photo No. NH 89878 Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command

EFC Design 1013 (Robert Dollar type): Illustrations