Type C4-class ship

USS Haven, an example of a Type C4 ship, seen here in 1954, a type C4-S-B2 ship.
Class overview
Builders:
Operators: United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM)
Preceded by: Type C3-class ship
Subclasses: Six
Completed: 81
General characteristics
Type:
  • C4-S-A1 troop transport (30 built)
  • C4-S-A3 troop transport (15 built)
  • C4-S-A4 cargo ship (16 built)
  • C4-S-B1 tank carrier (one built)
  • C4-S-B 2 troop transport/hospital ship (14 built)
  • C4-S-B5 cargo/troop transport (five built)
Tonnage:
  • 12,420 GRT (A1-A4)
  • 11,757 GRT (B1-B5)
Length:
  • 523 ft (159 m) (A1-A4)
  • 520 ft (160 m) (B1-B5)
Beam: 71.6 ft (21.8 m)
Draft:
  • 29 ft (8.8 m) (A1-A4)
  • 30 ft (9.1 m) (B1-B5)
Propulsion:
  • Steam turbine
  • 9,900 shp (7,400 kW)
Speed: 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Range:
  • 12,000 miles (A1-A4)
  • 14,000 miles (B1-B5)
Complement: Varied by design type

The Type C4-class ship were the largest cargo ships built by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) during World War II. The design was originally developed for the American-Hawaiian Lines in 1941, but in late 1941 the plans were taken over by the MARCOM.

Eighty-one ships were built as cargo or troopships in four shipyards: Kaiser Richmond, California (35 ships), Kaiser Vancouver, Washington (20 ships), Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock in Chester, Pennsylvania (20 ships) and Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point, Maryland (6 ships). All ships were capable of 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph), driven by a single screw steam turbine generating 9,900 shaft horsepower (7,400 kW).

Among the variations of the design were the Haven-class hospital ship.

They were followed post-war by thirty-seven of the larger C4-S-1 class, also known as the Mariner class.[1][2]

List of Type C4 class ships

USS General G.O. Squier, a C4-S-A1

General series

C4-S-A1 DWT: 14,863.

USS General C. G. Morton at Golden Gate

Marine series

C4-S-B1, C4-S-B2, C4-S-B5 DWT: 15,300

USNS Marine Adder as MSC Time Charter, a C4-S-A3
  • USNS Marine Adder (T-AP-193)
  • SS Marine Angel
  • SS Marine Arrow
  • SS Marine Devil
  • SS Marine Dragon
  • USNS Marine Fiddler (T-AK-267)
  • SS Marine Flier
  • SS Marine Fox
  • SS Marine Panther
  • SS Marine Perch
  • SS Marine Raven
  • SS Marine Robin
  • SS Marine Runner
  • SS Marine Star
  • SS Marine Swallow
  • SS Marine Wolf
    • C4-S-A3 DWT: 14,863
  • Built by Kaiser Shipyards in Vancouver, Washington
  • SS Marine Cardinal
  • USNS Marine Carp (T-AP-199)
  • SS Marine Falcon
  • SS Marine Flasher
  • SS Marine Jumper
  • USNS Marine Lynx (T-AP-194)
  • SS Marine Marlin
  • USNS Marine Phoenix (T-AP-195)
  • SS Marine Tiger
  • SS Marine Shark
  • USNS Marine Serpent (T-AP-202)
    • C4-S-A4 DWT: 14,863
  • Built by Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, California
  • SS Marine Snapper
  • SS Marine Leopard

Mount series

C4-S-A3 DWT: 14,863

  • Built by Kaiser Shipyards in Vancouver, Washington.
  • SS Mount Davis
  • SS Mount Greylock
  • SS Mount Mansfield
  • SS Mount Rogers
  • SS Mount Whitney

Named after a person

C4-S-A3 DWT: 14,863

  • Built by Kaiser Shipyards in Vancouver, Washington.
  • SS Scott E. Land
  • SS Willis Vickery
  • SS Louis McH. Howe
  • SS Ernie Pyle

Hospital ships

C4-S-B2 DWT: 15,300

M-class ships

C4-S-49a DWT: 19,799 Four cargo/passenger liners were built for the Grace Line 1963-1964 by Bethlehem Steel Sparrows Point, Maryland.[3]

  • SS Santa Magdelena
  • SS Santa Mariana
  • SS Santa Maria
  • SS Santa Mercedes (later renamed: TS Patriot State)

Jet-class ships

C4-S-49b DWT: 13,915.

  • Built in 1965 by Bethlehem Steel of Sparrows Point, Maryland. The last two C4 ships were constructed in 1966 for Prudential Lines.[3]
  • SS Prudential Seajet [4]
  • SS Prudential Oceanjet [5]

Notable incidents

  • Marine Perch a C4-S-A3, was renamed the SS Yellowstone. SS Yellowstone was in a collision with the Algerian freighter MV IBN Batoutaand and sank on 12 June 1978, 14 miles southeast of Gibraltar in the Mediterranean Sea in dense fog. Five crewmen on Yellowstone were killed and two were injured, none on IBN Batoutaand. The bow of IBN Batoutaand struck deep into Yellowstone.[6][7][8]
  • Marine Lion a C4-S-B2, was renamed to USS Benevolence, a hospital ship. On 25 August 1950 she sank after a in collision with the freighter SS Mary Luckenbach in heavy fog off San Francisco. Of the crew of 550, 23 were lost in the sinking.[9]
  • USS General Omar Bundy, built in 1944, was sold a few times and renamed SS Poet. In 1980 she went missing without a trace and is presumed sunk. her cargo was 13,500 tons of bulk corn that she loaded at Girard Point Terminal in South Philadelphia, she was to steam to Port Said, Egypt. There was a severe storm in the Atlantic Ocean at the time she vanished and she was low in the water with her heavy load.[10]

See also

Notes and citations

  1. ↑ Pike, John. "C4-S-1a Mariner / APA-248 Paul Revere / AKA-112 Tulare". www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  2. ↑ "C4 Cargo Ships". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  3. 1 2 Colton, Tim. "Yardlist for Bethlehem Steel Company, Sparrows Point MD". Shipbuilding History. www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
  4. ↑ "Prudential Seajet - IMO 6523028". shipspotting.com.
  5. ↑ "S.S. Prudential Oceanjet - City of Vancouver Archives". searcharchives.vancouver.ca. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  6. ↑ "wrecksite.eu, Marine Perch". wrecksite.eu. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  7. ↑ shipspotting.com, SS Yellowstone
  8. ↑ Collision of U.S. Bulk Carrier SS Yellowstone and Algerian Freighter M/V IBN Batouta, Mediterranean Sea, June 12, 1978, by the United States. National Transportation Safety Board
  9. ↑ "Hospital Ship (AH) Photo Index". www.navsource.org. Retrieved 17 April 2018.
  10. ↑ Rasmussen, Frederick N. (March 4, 2006). "The 1980 disappearance of the SS Poet". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 17 April 2018.

Bibliography

  • American Merchant Marine at War - C4 ships
  • US Maritime Commission Details and Outboard Profiles of Maritime Commission Vessels, The C4 Cargo Ship, Conversions and Subdesigns
  • US Maritime Commission overview
  • US Maritime Commission - Technical Specifications for Ships including definitions of terms
  • From America to United States: The History of the long-range Merchant Shipbuilding Programme of the United States Maritime Commission, by L.A. Sawyer and W.H. Mitchell. London, 1981, World Ship Society
  • Ships for Victory: A History of Shipbuilding under the U.S. Maritime Commission in World War II, by Frederic C. Lane ISBN 0-8018-6752-5
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