EFC Design 1111 (Geary type): Notes & Illustrations
EFC Design 1111: 5000 ton wood cargo ship, Geary type
| Drawing by the National Shipbuilding Co. of Orange, Texas, Seattle Branch, dated 18 May 1920, for installing machinery in Snoqualmie and Broxton, which had been delivered as flush deck barges. (Plan copyright Lloyd's Register Foundation, hec.lrfoundation.org.uk/archive-library/documents/lrf-pun-w738-0032-p) |
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Notes: Design 1111, also called the Geary type, was a new large wooden cargo ship design produced by Leslie Edward "Ted" Geary, a racing yacht designer then serving as naval architect to the EFC's Northwest Division. In February or March 1918 Geary visited the National Shipbuilding Co. in Orange, Texas, to see its 4700-ton, 315-foot (oa) Design 1006 Daugherty type and probably the 5000-ton variant that it was then developing that became Design 1056. Geary then began work in Seattle on a modified Daugherty type, probably optimized for Douglas fir instead of the yellow pine used on the Gulf and East Coasts. After the Germans launched their March 1918 offensive the USSB leadership decided that it needed a 5000-ton wooden vessel to replace the small and inefficient 3500 ton Ferris Design 1001, in which coal took up too much of the vessel's total deadweight tonnage on long ocean voyages. In the EFC's Oregon Division the Columbia River shipbuilders began work on a 5000 ton version of the Ferris design that probably became Design 1072. In the EFC's Northwest Division (primarily Washington State) the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Co. in Seattle had received on 10 January 1918 a contract for eight Design 1005 Ward steamers, but a contract dispute had held up six of them and the manager of the Northwest Division with the concurrence of the EFC's wooden ship division agreed with the shipyard that they would build the remaining six ships to Geary's design. The contract was revised accordingly on 1 October 1918. In the meantime the Columbia River design had been sent to EFC headquarters at Philadelphia where it was still being evaluated when the war ended. Following the end of the war, Snoqualmie (EFC Hull 1115) and Broxton (1117) were directed on 15 March 1919 to be completed as flush deck barges (plans had already been approved on 28 January 1919), but this was changed on 21 July 1919 to ship hulls without engines. Brotherton (1116) and Brundlidge (1118) were cancelled on 15 March 1919, and Rubicon ex Buckeye (1119) and Ballard (1120) were suspended on 23 November 1918 and cancelled on 27 March 1919. As of October 1919 Broxton and Snoqualmie had no deck houses above the upper deck and the engine and boiler space was built in accordance with the January 1919 barge plans. The first two were sold in January 1920 to the National Oil Transport Co. of Maine, a subsidiary of the National Oil Company of New Jersey which also owned the National Ship Building Co. of Orange, Texas. The Seattle branch of the Texas shipyard then installed Shipping Board 1400 hp engines and equipment as in the plan above. On trial Broxton developed 11.28 knots and Snoqualmie 11.357 knots. The middle two ships were used for many years as freight barges on Puget Sound. Specifications: Design 1111 (Geary). Wood hull. Deadweight tons: 5000 designed. Dimensions: 330.0' oa, 315.0' pp x 49.8' ext, 48.0' mld x 32.1' depth mld. Propulsion: 1 screw, 1 triple expansion engine, 3 boilers, 1400 IHP, 11.3 knots (trials). Configuration: 2 decks, 2 holds, 4 hatches. (Mostly from blueprints for Geary's Design 1111 signed by its author, dated 1 October 1918, and posted by the Lloyd's Register Foundation.) |
| S.S. Brotherton (Design 1111, EFC Hull 1116)) in frame on the ways on 26 September 1918 at the Puget Sound Bridge & Dredging Co., Seattle, Wash. (NARA: RG-165) (Click photo to enlarge) |
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S.S. Snoqualmie (Design 1111, EFC Hull 1115) Just after launching on 11 August 1919. Snoqualmie was delivered on 21 August 1919 to the EFC as a 5200 dwt barge (here meaning a hull without engines) and, after being laid up at the Lake Union, Seattle, storage yards, was sold in January 1920, and was engined by her new owner in March-July 1920. She then sailed for Sydney, Australia. Snoqualmie and her sister Broxton were said to be the largest vessels of wood construction built up to that time, a claim made earlier for the Design 1006 Daugherty type. Photo No. PO.609.0002 Source: Posted on Facebook by the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum. A photo of the launching is on commons.wikimedia.org |
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S.S. Broxton (Design 1111, Hull 1117) Just after launching on 22 September 1919. Broxton was delivered on 26 September 1919 to the EFC as a 5200 dwt barge managed by the Pacific Steamship Co., was sold in January 1920, and was engined by her new owner in April-July 1920. She made an average speed of 11.28 knots on her official trial trip over the regulation Puget Sound course and then sailed for Melbourne, Australia, hauling lumber from British Columbia. Photo No. None Source: www.rboat.org/geary/skahill1/skahill1-09.html |
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S.S. Broxton (Design 1111) In October 1920 The Marine Review reported that "Registering from Seattle, the new steamers Broxton and Snoqualmie, said to be the largest wooden carriers afloat, have just been placed in commission. The Broxton is carrying a cargo of lumber to Melbourne and the Snoqualmie to Sydney, Australia." Plans were to set up a regular service between Seattle and Vladivostok with these two and the smaller (Design 1116) Adria, Agylla, and Agron, which the National Oil Co. had also purchased and completed. Photo No. None Source: The Marine Review, October 1920, page 538 |
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S.S. Broxton (Design 1111) The National Oil Company of New Jersey encountered financial difficulties during 1921 and Broxton was laid up at Lyttleton, New Zealand. She was sold to the Union Steamship Co. of New Zealand and re-registered there under the British flag in 1921. Her new owner converted her into a hulk at Port Chalmers and she was withdrawn from classification in Lloyd's Register on 3 November 1922. This view across Carey's Bay with the hulks of Broxton and S.S. Stella and in the left foreground was photographed by Albert Percy Godber in 1926. Broxton's machinery compartments appear to have been converted into a fifth cargo hold. Photo No. None Source: natlib.govt.nz/records/22498442 |
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S.S. Presidente Leguia (Design 1111) With her owner in financial distress Snoqualmie was laid up in 1921 at Callao, Peru. The Peruvian "Compania Nacional de Navegacion Oriente" bought her in 1922 and renamed her Presidente Leguia for service on the route between Iquitos in the Amazon and Callao near Lima. On 20 March 1922 she sailed from Callao without carrying out an overdue boiler inspection, and she was expunged from Lloyd's Register in June 1922 for non-compliance. Her last trip was to Callao, arriving with passengers and cargo (including wood) on January 5, 1924. While she was waiting at the dock she caught fire on 6 February 1924 and was towed into the bay where she ended up sinking. Photo No. None Source: La Cronica, Lima, Peru, 7 Feb 1924, posted on Facebook by Boris Berezovsky |
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S.S. Presidente Leguia (Design 1111) The Peruvian steamship Presidente Leguia (ex Snoqualmie), which had arrived a few days previously from Iquitos, caught fire on Wednesday (6 February) morning in the bay of Callao. This view shows her appearance in the late afternoon before she was towed out to sea. Photo No. None Source: La Cronica, Lima, Peru, 7 Feb 1924, posted on Facebook by Boris Berezovsky in response to a post by the Snoqualmie Valley Historical Museum |
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