The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act, on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War I efforts. The program ended on March 2, 1934.
The Seattle General Strike was a five-day general work stoppage by 65,000 workers in the city of Seattle, Washington from February 6 to 11, 1919. The goal was to support shipyard workers in several unions who were locked out of their jobs when they tried to strike for higher wages. Most other local unions joined the walk-out, including members of the American Federation of Labor (AFL) and the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). The national offices of the AFL unions were opposed to the shutdown. Local, state and federal government officials, the press, and much of the public viewed the strike as a radical attempt to subvert American institutions.
SS Vaterland was an ocean liner launched on 3 April 1913 and began service in 1914 for Germany's Hamburg America Line. The ship, second of three running mates and then the largest passenger ship in the world, made her first voyage to New York arriving on 21 May 1914 under the command of a Commodore and four Captains of the German Naval Reserve to celebrations featuring German and American officials at the line's Hoboken facilities.
The Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) was established by the United States Shipping Board, sometimes referred to as the War Shipping Board, on 16 April 1917 pursuant to the Shipping Act to acquire, maintain, and operate merchant ships to meet national defense, foreign and domestic commerce during World War I.
Leon Pratt Alford was an American mechanical engineer, organizational theorist, and administrator for the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. known for his seminal work in the field of industrial management.
USS Refuge (AH-11), was a hospital ship of the United States Navy during World War II. The ship was built in 1921 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., of Camden, New Jersey, as SS Blue Hen State, but was renamed President Garfield in 1923 and then SS President Madison in 1940 for service with American President Lines. Acquired by the Navy from the War Shipping Administration on 11 April 1942 the ship was commissioned as the transport USS Kenmore until conversion to a hospital ship.
SS President Cleveland was originally built as Golden State for the United States Shipping Board (USSB), one of the planned World War I troop transports converted before construction into passenger and cargo vessels launched as Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1029 ships first known, along with the smaller Design 1095 versions, in the trade as "State" ships due to names assigned for the nicknames of states and later as "535s" for their length overall. Almost all ships of both designs were renamed for United States presidents by May 1921, with Golden State being renamed President Cleveland. As one of the USSB-owned ships operated by agents of the board, President Cleveland was allocated to and operated by the Pacific Mail Steamship Company until sold by the USSB to the Dollar Steamship Line in 1925. After the demise of that line and creation of a new, replacement line, American President Lines, the ship remained with that line until government acquisition for the Second World War.
The Merchant Shipbuilding Corporation was an American corporation established in 1917 by railroad heir W. Averell Harriman to build merchant ships for the Allied war effort in World War I. The MSC operated two shipyards: the former shipyard of John Roach & Sons at Chester, Pennsylvania, and a second, newly established emergency yard at Bristol, Pennsylvania, operated by the MSC on behalf of the U.S. Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC).
The Seattle Construction and Drydock Company was a shipbuilding company based in Seattle, Washington. Between 1911 and 1918, it produced a substantial number of ships for both commercial and military uses. In the beginning of the 20th century, until its significance was diluted by the emergence of a number of shipyards during the World War I shipbuilding boom, it was the largest of its kind in Seattle and one of the few significant ship yards along the West Coast of the United States, second only to the Union Iron Works in San Francisco.
Theodore Ernest Ferris was an American naval architect and engineer responsible for the "Ferris Designs" used by the US Emergency Fleet Corporation, of the United States Shipping Board, during World War I.
James Mapes Dodge was an American mechanical engineer, inventor, industrialist and president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in the year 1903–1904. He is known as president of the Link-Belt Company, and as pioneer of applying scientific management methods.
Conrad Newton Lauer was an American mechanical engineer, general manager at Day & Zimmerman, Inc., chairman of the Philadelphia Gas Works Co., and 51st president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in 1932–33.
Paul Aaron Langevin Doty was an American mechanical engineer, vice-president and general manager of the St. Paul Gas Light Co., president of St. Paul Trust and Savings Bank, and investor. He was the 53rd president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in the year 1934–35.
David William Rowsen Morgan was an American mechanical engineer and business executive at the Westinghouse Electric Corporation, known as 74th president of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in the year 1955-56.
The Design 1023 ship was a steel-hulled cargo ship design approved for mass production by the United States Shipping Board's (USSB) Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) in World War I. Like many of the early designs approved by the EFC, the Design 1023 did not originate with the EFC itself but was based on an existing cargo ship designed by Theodore E. Ferris for the United States Shipping Board (USSB). The ships, to be built by the Submarine Boat Corporation of Newark, New Jersey, were the first to be constructed under a standardized production system worked out by Ferris and approved by the USSB.
Suremico was a Design 1023 cargo ship built for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) immediately after World War I. She was later named the Nisqually and converted into a barge and later a scow. She was bombed and sunk during the Battle of Wake Island.
The Design 1014 ship was a steel-hulled cargo ship design approved for production by the United States Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFT) in World War I. They were referred to as the "Cascade"-type. They were all built by Todd Drydock and Construction Company, at their Tacoma, Washington shipyard. 20 ships were completed for the USSB in 1919 and 1920; and additional 2 were completed in 1920 for private companies. 12 ships were cancelled.
The Design 1015 ship was a steel-hulled cargo ship design approved for production by the United States Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFT) during World War I. They were referred to as the "Moore & Scott"-type.
USAT Arcata, was built in 1919 as the SS Glymont for the United States Shipping Board as a merchant ship by the Albina Engine & Machine Works in Portland, Oregon. The 2,722-ton cargo ship Glymont was operated by the Matson Navigation till 1923 in post World War I work. In 1923 she was sold to Cook C. W. of San Francisco. In 1925 she was sold to Nelson Charles Company of San Francisco. In 1937 she was sold to Hammond Lumber Company of Fairhaven, California. For World War II, in 1941, she was converted to a US Army Troopship, USAT Arcata. She took supplies and troops to Guam. On July 14, 1942, she was attacked by Japanese submarine I-7 and sank. She was operating as a coastal resupply in the Gulf of Alaska, south of the Aleutian Islands at, approximately 165 nautical miles southeast of Sand Point, when she sank. She was returning after taking supplies to Army troops fighting in the Aleutian Islands campaign.
The Design 1006 ship was a wood-hulled cargo ship design approved for production by the United States Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFT) in World War I. They were referred to as the "Daugherty"-type after A. A. Daugherty, the president of the National Shipbuilding Company. The USSB ordered a total of 40 hulls from three shipyards: National Shipbuilding Company of Orange, Texas shipyard ; Union Bridge & Construction Company of Morgan City, Louisiana shipyard ; and Dirks Blodgett Shipbuilding Company of Pascagoula, Mississippi. The design was altered by National Shipbuilding increasing the deadweight to 5,000 tons. Only 12 were completed for the USSB while two were built as tankers in 1920 for the National Oil Transportation Company of Port Arthur, Texas and one as a barge.
