EFC Design 1104 (Patterson-MacDonald Australian type):
Notes & Illustrations
EFC Design 1104: 4800 D.W.T. Wood Cargo Ship, Patterson-MacDonald Australian type
| Framing Plan and Inboard profile of its Hulls 1 to 10 by Patterson-MacDonald Shipbuilding Co. of Seattle dated 5 January 1918. This copy of the plan (originally a blueprint) was received by Lloyd's Register of Shipping in London on 30 December 1918 and marked as applying to S.S. Bellata, Builder's Hull No. 2. (Plan copyright Lloyd's Register Foundation, hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/documents/lrf-pun-w737-0203-p_0002) |
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Notes: The Patterson-MacDonald Shipbuilding Co. of Seattle received from the Australian Government on 22 June 1917 a contract for ten wooden cargo steamers with a deadweight cargo capacity of 3500 tons and a bunker capacity of 600 tons. (Their combined deadweight capacity was 4200 tons.) Their measurements were 281'6" oa (263'11" length pp, 268'9" Lloyd's) x 48' extreme beam (46'10" molded) x 27' molded depth (about 24'6" depth of hold) and each had twin screws with two inverted triple expansion engines for a total of 1500 ihp giving not less than 10 knots. The Australians also ordered from the Sloan Shipyards Corp. of Olympia, Wash., on 5 June 1917 four slightly smaller motorships of about 3200 dwt cargo capacity and measurements of 280' length oa x 46' extreme beam x 24' molded depth and two Diesel engines for a total of 1000 hp giving about 10 knots. The Patterson-MacDonald company was formally organized by Adam Patterson and Alex M. McDonald in July 1917, commenced construction of a yard with four building ways in the same month, and laid down its first keel on 11 August 1917. Its steamers were named for the Australian postal towns of Bellata, Birriwa, Bundarra, Berringa, Bethanga, Benowa, Babinda, Balcatta, Boobyalla, and Borrika; and the Sloan motorships were named Cethana, Culburra, Challamba, and Coolcha. All were to arrive in Australia before the end of 1918. The first of Patterson's ten steamers, Bellata, was launched on 17 April 1918 and the fifth, Bethanga on 31 August 1918. However the completion of these five ships was delayed for many months by slow production of the British-designed engines called for in their specifications at the Victoria (B.C.) Machinery Depot and it was decided to equip the five ships still on the ways with diesel engines as in the Sloan ships. The five steamers were completed between September 1918 and October 1919. According to the Seattle Daily Times of 6 October 1924, the company went into bankruptcy in 1920 due to a protracted legal battle with the Government of Australia over the cancellation of part of its contract. In 1922 the Australian Government sold all five to a syndicate that intended to dismantle them and use them as hulks. In early 1918 the EFC became convinced that its 3500 dwt standard wooden Ferris design was too small for economical operation and began looking for 5000 dwt alternatives. An EFC document dated 7 May 1918 now in the records of the Shipping Board at the National Archives (RG-32) listed characteristics for a "Patterson-MacDonald wooden ship for Australia" that were longer than those of the Australian ships. The new measurements were 4660 deadweight tons, 7060 tons displacement, 309'0" oa, 295'9" pp x 46'10" molded x 27'0" depth, and 10 knots speed. These were approved by an EFC naval architect on 21 May 1918. Other documents indicated that the EFC used the specifications for Standard Design 72 (Design 1072), the 5000 dwt Douglas Fir ship also known as the Columbia type, in the new design, which was eventually numbered Design 1104, and that in this design the length of the Bellata design had been increased by 30 feet. After various refinements the final measurements of the new design appear to have been 4800 dwt, 298'0" pp x 48'6" extreme beam x 32'6" depth and 24'0" draft. On 15 August 1918 the EFC ordered from Patterson-MacDonald "four complete wood cargo-carrying vessels of the Patterson-MacDonald type, 4800 dwt, 10 knots" for the U.S. (EFC Hulls 2439-2442), an order that the yard accepted the next day. According to a press account the keel of the first of these was laid in around November 1918. However at the end of the war the EFC suspended this contract on 23 November 1918 and cancelled it on 25 March 1919. |
| S.S. Bellata (Design 1104 precursor) in service with the Australian Commonwealth Line. The design for Australia joined the bridge island and the poop to produce a complete deck from the bridge to the stern with a 'tween deck under it. There was no 'tween deck forward of the bridge. It is not known if EFC Design 1104, which was about 30 feet longer than the Australian ships, retained this configuration. (www.shipspotting.com/photos/1402025, image copyright Gordy, Australia) (Click photo to enlarge) |
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S.S. Bellata (Design 1104 precursor) "Launching of the Steamship "Bellata" by the Patterson-MacDonald Shipbuilding Co., Seattle, U. S. A., April 17th 1918." Bellata is the third ship from the left, the others are unidentified. Photo No. MOHAI 12997 Source: Wikimedia from the Museum of History & Industry (MOHAI), Seattle |
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M.S. Boobyalla (Design 1104 precursor) Probably photographed in early 1920 around the time of her purchase from the Australian Government by the Pacific Freighters Co., along with four sister motorships and four motorships built by the Sloane Shipyards Co. Note the smaller bridge house, the new after deckhouse, and the thin pipe for the diesel exhaust. Benowa, the first of Patterson's five diesel ships, was delivered in July 1919 but completion of the last two, Boobyalla, and Borrika, was delayed by the Seattle General Strike from 21 January to 14 April 1919. Boobyalla got a good review in the press in May 1920 soon after entering service, but Borrika may never have been registered. Photo No. None Source: Pacific Marine Review, May 1920, p. 160 |
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M.S. Boobyalla (Design 1104 precursor) Associated Press photo dated in pencil on the back 17 May 1929 with the newspaper caption: "A fire starting in the engine room ... destroyed the motorship and she was beached near Victoria, B.C. where the fire burned itself out. The vessel, owned by the Pacific Steamship company, was reported ablaze again Wednesday at anchor off Albert head and the steamer Salvage King left Victoria to make an attempt to finally extinguish the fire." Note the smoke rising from the after part of the ship where the diesel engine was. Photo No. None Source: Shipscribe |
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