Type C3-class ships were the third type of cargo ship designed by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) in the late 1930s. As it had done with the Type C1 ships and Type C2 ships, MARCOM circulated preliminary plans for comment. The design presented was not specific to any service or trade route, but was a general purpose ship that could be modified for specific uses. A total of 162 C3 ships were built from 1939 to 1946, with an additional 75 ships built with C3 hulls and engines, but not built as cargo ships.[1]
The C3 was larger and faster than the C1 and C2 contemporaries, measuring 492 feet (150m) from stem to stern (vs. 459 feet (140m) for the C2), and designed to make 16.5 knots (30.6km/h; 19.0mph) (vs. 15.5kn (28.7km/h; 17.8mph) for the C2). Like the C2, it had five cargo holds. A total of 465 of these ships were built between 1940 and 1947.
The original C3 type, powered by steam turbines, were built at Federal, Ingalls and Moore; 12 ships were built.
C3-E
The 8 vessels of the C3-E type were a private design of the American Export Line, based on the C3 hull with a different stern and equipped with loading gear for heavy cargo.
Six ships of C3 P&C type and one ship of the C3-A P&C type, intended for commercial service with American President Lines, were laid down by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Newport News, Virginia between October 1939 and December 1940. The Maritime Commission acquired them all for military service before they were completed, but only five were initially handed to the Navy and designated President Jackson-class transports with "AP" hull numbers. These five vessels were all later converted into attack transports and correspondingly reclassified with "APA" hull numbers.
The 6 vessels of the C3-S-BH1 type were built for Lykes Lines. They were based on the basic C3 design, but incorporated lessons learned during wartime, as well as slight structural modifications and major internal changes.
SS Tillie Lykes
SS Almeria Lykes
SS Lipscomb Lykes
SS Norman Lykes
SS Doctor Lykes
C3-S-BH2
The 6 vessels of the C3-S-BH2 type were similar to the C3-S-BH1 type, but were built specifically for American South African Line (later known as Farrell Lines).
SS African Star (II)
SS African Planet (II)
SS African Rainbow
SS African Crescent
SS African Moon
SS African Lightning
C3-S-DX1
Only the prototype for the C3-S-DX1 type was built.
The three ships of the C3-S1-BR1 type (also called the “Del” ships) were combined passenger-cargo cruise ships built for Delta Lines. Designed by naval architect George G. Sharp of New York, they were based on the C3 hull with a custom design. They were built at Ingalls Shipyard in Pascagoula, Mississippi at $7,000,000 each and completed in 1946 and 1947 with new commercial radar. Delta Line (Mississippi) had two departures per month from Gulf of Mexico ports to the Caribbean and South America. Passenger cruise service ended in 1967 and the ships were converted to cargo. In 1975 the three were scrapped in Indonesia.[3][4]
Express a C3-E, was torpedoed and sank off the coast of Madagascar on 30 June 1942.
Almeria Lykes a C3, renamed Empire Condor was torpedoed and sank off coast of Tunisia on 13 August 1942.
Rio Hudson a C3-P&C, rebuilt and converted to Avenger-class escort carrier. Was renamed HMSAvenger was torpedoed and sank near Gibraltar on 15 November 1942.
Rio de Janeiro a C3-P&C, Avenger-class escort carrier, renamed HMSDasher, exploded and sank in the Lower Clyde in Scotland in 1943.
The SS Jacob Luckenbach, originally Sea Robbin, sank on 14 July 1953 after a collision off San Francisco in fog with another C3 ship, the SS Hawaiian Pilot (originally USSBurleigh(APA-95)). Both ships were built at Ingalls and were only five hull numbers apart. The wreck was determined in 2002 to be a source of oil pollution and about 85,000 gallons of oil were removed.[7]
The USNS Card was attacked on 2 May 1964, while moored dockside in Saigon, a North Vietnamese frogman, Lam Son Nao, planted an explosive charge that blew a hole in the hull, killing five crewmen.
Sawyer, L.A.; Mitchell, W.H. (1981). From America to United States: The History of the Long-range Merchant Shipbuilding Programme of the United States Maritime Commission. London: World Ship Society.
"C3 Cargo Ships". shipbuildinghistory.com. 12 April 2008. Retrieved 12 April 2009.
C: Completed after the warS: Single ship of classX: CancelledV: Conversions
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
