The Design 1013 ship (full name Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1013), also known as the Robert Dollar type, was a steel-hulled cargo ship design approved for mass production by the United States Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFT) in World War I. Like many of the early designs approved by the EFT, the Design 1013 did not originate with the EFT itself but was based on an existing cargo ship design, in this case one developed by the Skinner & Eddy Corporation of Seattle, Washington.

SS West Grama
West Grama, a typical Design 1013 ship, under way in 1919
Class overview
NameEFT Design 1013
Builders
Built1918–20
In service1918–68
In commission1918–46
Completed111
General characteristics
TypeCargo ship
Tonnage8,800 dwt, 5,600 grt
Displacement12,225
Length423 ft 9 in (129.16 m)
Beam54 ft (16 m)
Draft24 ft 2 in (7.37 m)
Depth of hold29 ft 9 in (9.07 m)
Installed powerCurtis geared turbine or triple expansion steam
PropulsionSingle screw propeller
Speed11–12 knots
Complement
  • WWI: 70-90
  • Merchant: about 30

Some of the vessels were oil-fired and others coal-fired. They were produced by a variety of shipyards on the west coast of the United States. Most of them were given names starting with the word West (or in some cases, Western), indicating their west coast origins.[1][2]

A total of 111 of the type were completed—106 for the EFT and an additional five completed later for private contractors. All of them entered service between 1918 and 1920, with the majority probably being completed in 1919. About 37 of the completed ships were acquired by the U.S. Navy either during or shortly after the war for service as auxiliaries, but most of these were quickly decommissioned in 1919 after only a few months' service.[1][2]

Lend-Lease edit

As per the Lend-Lease Agreement, several ships were purchased by the USSR in 1942–1945, as the USSR needed ships for its merchant fleet during World War II and in the first years after the war. In total, the Soviet Union purchased 25 ships of design 1013. All purchased ships of that design were counted as Belorussia-class cargo ships by the Soviet Union and sometimes referred to as West-class cargo ships due to their manufacture on the West Coast of the US. All purchased ships were renamed.[3][4]

References edit

  1. ^ a b McKellar.
  2. ^ a b General Cargo Ships Built in Pacific Coast Shipyards Archived 2009-04-22 at the Wayback Machine, shipbuildinghistory.com.
  3. ^ "Транспорты >> Тип "Белоруссия" (пр. 1013) - 25 единиц". Archived from the original on 2016-10-12. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  4. ^ Soviet Merchant Marine. Lend Lease Ships

Bibliography edit