EFC Design 1093 (American S.B. Co.): Notes & Illustrations
Click here for larger and more complete plans from the 1920 USSB ship register: Sheet 1, Data
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Notes: EFC Design 1093 (American Ship Building Co. design) was built by the EFC at the six American Ship Building (AmShip) yards under contracts (one per ship) dated 28 March 1918. The EFC contracts covered 60 Design 1093 ships there, along with a final six ships of Design 1020 at AmShip Detroit (4) and Cleveland (2), perhaps to use components already fabricated. Design 1093 (called by AmShip "Type No. 9") followed Design 1020 at the six AmShip yards. Experience with the EFC's wooden 3500 deadweight ton Ferris Design 1001 ships persuaded the EFC that they was too small for economical operation, and the same would have applied to the steel 3500 dwt Design 1020 ships. One problem was that coal took up too much of the vessel's total deadweight tonnage on long ocean voyages, including on the North Atlantic. One early Design 1020 ship, Lake Gradan, was listed with permanent coal bunkers for 2,070 miles and reserve bunkers (displacing cargo) for another 2538 miles. The search for larger capacities in wooden ships (which required structural innovations given the limitations of wood) began with Ballin's "composite" Design 1011 and continued with the 4700-dwt Daugherty type (Design 1006). For steel ships, it happened that AmShip already had a design for a ship like Design 1020 but with greater capacity. Among the 60 Welland Canal size ships built for foreign and private U.S. interests by the AmShip yards at Cleveland, Lorain, Chicago, Detroit, and Superior before they and the Buffalo yard began to build EFC Design 1020 ships were two at Detroit that differed from the rest. Most had a depth of hold of about 20 feet (either 18.2 feet registered and 20.0 feet moulded or 20.0 feet both), but in War Song and War Path (AmShip Detroit yard nos. 209 and 210) the registered depth was 26.3 feet and the moulded depth was 28.2 feet. These figures were nearly identical to the 26.1 and 28.2 feet of Design 1093. This increased depth gave the two ships a capacity of 4200 deadweight tons, also as in Design 1093, while the other early ships had around 3100 dwt capacity and the deeper Design 1020 was rated at 3500 dwt. The AmShip drawings for Detroit yard nos. 209 and 210 were dated 30 January and 20 February 1917 and were issued on 3 and 26 February 1917, long before Design 1093 was produced, but when experience revealed the need for greater capacities and a new batch of contracts was received on 28 March 1918, AmShip already had a design to work with. AmShip's drawings for Design 1093 were dated between 5 April and 20 June 1918, and all were issued for use on 22 July 1918. Design 1093 had a registered depth of 26.1 feet and a moulded depth to the upper deck of 28.2 feet, each four feet deeper than the 22.25 and 24.2 feet of Design 1020, producing an increase in the designed capacity from 3500 to 4200 tons. (Special source: Lloyd's Register Foundation, hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/documents/) Requisitioned Precursors: War Song (Yard no. 209) was requisitioned in August 1917 but was released because she was already complete. She was captured and sunk by submarine gunfire on 15 January 1918. War Path (Yard no. 210) was requisitioned and renamed Lake Placid. She was inspected by the U.S. Navy on 12 October 1917 and was in commisison from 11 January 1918 to 18 March 1919. Two months later, on 19 May 1919, she was sunk in the Kattegat by a wayward mine. Both had the original Fredrikstad rig. Specifications: Design 1093 (S.S. Lake Gradan, EFC Hull 1584): Steel Cargo. Deadweight tons: 4200 designed, 4165 actual. Dimensions: 251' length pp x 43.5' beam mld. x 28.2' depth mld., 24.3' draft loaded. Propulsion: 1 screw, 1 triple expansion engine, 2 Scotch boilers, 1350 IHP, 9.5 kts. Configuration: 3-island, 1 deck, 2 holds, 4 hatches. |
| S.S. Lake Grainger (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1586) nearly complete on 24 February 1919. She was built by the Chicago Shipbuilding Co. (American Ship Building Co.), Chicago, Ill., and was delivered to the EFC on 23 April 1919. (NHHC: NH 51210) (Click photo to enlarge) |
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S.S. War Song (Design 1093 precursor, Yard No. 209) This ship was completed at Detroit (Wyandotte), Mich., in September 1917 with the original Fredrikstad rig which had a tall mast at each end of the ship and pairs of derrick posts at the front and back of the bridge house. She had the same depth of hull and deadweight capacity as Design 1093. She was requisitioned but was released to the British because she had already been completed. Photo No. None Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, Ship Histories Branch, SP/ID card. |
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S.S. War Path, later Lake Placid (Design 1093 precursor, Yard No. 210) Photographed on 21 September 1917 by the Detroit Shipbuilding Co. It appears that the "War" name is about to be painted up, the American "Lake" names being assigned later. She had the same depth of hull, deadweight capacity, and Fredrikstad rig as War Song, above, to which she was the only exact sister. Photo No. 165-WW-498-063 Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-165-WW |
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S.S. Lake Frecks (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1627) Photographed at the AmShip Lorain yard on 24 February 1919 with Lake Frecks, Yard 749 labeled (1), at the front right, Lake Fray, yard 747 (2) behind her, and Lake Frazee, yard 748 (3) in the rear. They may all be in a flooded drydock. Lake Fray was delivered to the EFC on 19 April 1919 and the other two followed on 22 April 1919. Photo No. 165-WW-498A-019 Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-165-WW |
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S.S. Lake Fouche (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1618) Nearly complete at the Superior Shipbuilding Co., Superior, Wisc. Lake Fouche was delivered to the EFC on 30 November 1918 but not to her operator until 24 June 1919, the delay probably due in part to the winter halt in navigation. Photo No. 165-WW-498A-024 Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-165-WW |
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S.S. Lake Foxcraft (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1620) Shown fitting out at Superior, probably at the same time as Lake Fouche, above. She was delivered to the EFC on 14 April 1919 after the spring thaw and to her operator on 11 May 1919. Photo No. 165-WW-498A-022 Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-165-WW |
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S.S. Lake Friar (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1635) Inspected in the 3rd Naval District for Navy records on 19 & 21 July 1919 and given the identification number ID 4177. Built at Lorain, she had been delivered to the EFC on 21 June 1919 and to her operator on 25 June 1919. This photo was on the back of the ship's Navy inspection data (SP/ID) card and probably dates from the time of the inspection. Photo No. None Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, Ship Histories Branch, SP/ID card. |
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S.S. Lake Freeland (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1630) Inspected in the 3rd Naval District for Navy records on 18 July 1919 and given the identification number ID 4186. Built at Lorain, she had been delivered to the EFC on 30 April 1919 and to her operator on 7 June 1919. This photo was on the back of the ship's Navy inspection data (SP/ID) card and probably dates from the time of the inspection. The Navy was pleased with her accommodations, which it called "ample for officers in present quarters" (16 rooms and 45 berths for crew). Photo No. None Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command, Ship Histories Branch, SP/ID card. |
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S.S. Dorsoduro, ex Lake Frecks (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1627) A stereo photo of Lake Frecks as the Italian Dorsoduro taken in Savona Italy around 1927, probably discharging salt bags. She was sold to another Italian firm in 1927 as Palma and was torpedoed in 1941. Dorsoduro is a district of Venice. Photo No. None Source: Courtesy Capt. Paolo Piccardo, Savona, Italy |
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S.S. Jack, ex Lake Fresco (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1633) One of the five ships of the Minnesota-Atlantic Transit Co.'s "Poker Fleet." They were named "Ace" through "Ten." Jack was built at Lorain. Photo No. None Source: Shipscribe |
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S.S. King, ex Lake Faristell (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1612) Another ship of the "Poker Fleet" after the peacetime markings were painted out and guns and liferafts fitted circa 1942. King was built at Cleveland. Photo No. King_11953_004 Source: vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/11953 |
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S.S. Lake Frugality (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1639) In 1927 the Ford Motor Co. removed the engines of this ship and in 1929 lengthened her to 313 feet for service as a barge on the Great Lakes, increasing her capacity from 2609 to 3371 gross tons. She was converted back to a cargo ship in 1943 using the engines of the freighter Frank C. Ball. She foundered in the Formosa Strait on 12 December 1959. Photo No. LakeFrugality_2936_004 Source: vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/2936 |
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S.S. Lake Freeland (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1630) Photographed on 26 March 1944 off Morehead City headed southwest by a blimp from ZP-14 based at NAS Weeksville, North Carolina. Her engines had been removed by Ford in 1926 and she was lengthened 313 feet in 1929 and used as a barge on the Great Lakes until the war. She was converted back to a cargo ship in 1943 and was finally scrapped at Campana, Argentina, in April 1972. Photo No. 80-G-222652 Source: NARA RG-80-G |
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S.S. Lake Folcroft (Design 1093, EFC Hull 1605) Photographed on 17 February 1944 off the Virginia Capes headed southwest by a blimp from ZP-14 based at NAS Weeksville, North Carolina. Her engines had been removed by Ford in 1928 and she was lengthened in 1929 and used as a barge on the Great Lakes until the war. She was converted back to a cargo ship in 1943 using the engines of the Lakes passenger steamer Illinois. She was wrecked later in 1944 and scrapped in 1947. Photo No. 80-G-215568 Source: NARA RG-80-G |
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