EFC Design 1044 (Manitowoc S.B. Co.): Notes & Illustrations
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Notes: EFC Design 1044 (credited to the Manitowoc S.B. Co.) was built by the EFC only at Manitiwoc Shipbuilding in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The only EFC contracts for this design (Nos. 203 and 204, both dated 27 February 1918), provided for nine ships of this type, including one previously requisitioned. Previously Manitowoc built eight ships for Norwegian and British interests to essentially the same design, all of which were requisitioned, after building five ships, also requisitioned, to different designs. The foreign orders at Manitowoc began with an unusual pair: two diesel propelled variants of the Fredrikstad type ship with their machinery aft. They had the original Fredrikstad rig that consisted of two tall masts at the extreme ends of the ship, one on the forecastle and one on the poop, and two pairs of derrick posts, one pair at each end of the unusually short bridge house amidships. These were followed by three ships to a design developed by the Great Lakes Engineering Works that the EFC later designated Design 1042. (A drawing and a photo are on that page.) Then came eight ships, three for Norwegian interests and five for the British, built with a wartime variant of the Fredrikstad rig in which the masts at the ends were shortened to derrick posts and a telescoping mast for radio antennas was added amidships. (A plan of this variant is linked on the page for Design 1020.) The EFC followed these with a a pair of contracts dated 27 February 1918 for nine ships, EFC Hulls 1310-1312 and 1304-1309, including the last requisitioned ship, Lake Kyttle (Yard No. 96), which became EFC Hull 1310. For these Manitowoc reverted to the original Fredrikstad rig with tall masts, possibly because the end of the war made the wartime modifications unnecessary. This became EFC Design 1044 and is shown in the drawing above. Three of the Manitowoc Design 1044 ships, Corrales, Corsicana, and Coquina, were rerigged as four-masted lumber schooners after Pillsbury & Curtis of San Francisco bought them and Indiana Harbor (Design 1099) in 1925. Later Manitowoc ships were of the larger-capacity two-masted Design 1074, which was also oil fueled. (Special sources: Photo collections posted and copies provided by the Historical Collections of the Great Lakes at Bowling Green State University.) Requisitioned Sisters: During 1916-1917 Norwegian, British, and American interests placed orders for 14 ships (Yard nos. 80-83, 86-88, and 90-96) with the Manitowoc Shipbuilding Co. of Manitowoc Wisc., of which three (Yard nos. 82-83 and 86) and eight (Yard nos. 87-88 and 90-95) were respectively built to designs that later became EFC Design 1042 and 1044. All of these ships were requisitioned by the Shipping Board on 3 August 1917 and are covered in the Requisitioned Ships portion of the McKellar list. Yard no. 96 (Lake Kyttle) was later transferred to the contract program as EFC hull 1310. Specifications: Design 1044 (S.S. Coperas, EFC Hull 1304): Steel Cargo. Deadweight tons: 3400 designed, 3180 actual. Dimensions: 261.25' length oa, 251' pp x 43.5' beam mld. x 23' depth mld., 20' draft loaded. Propulsion: 1 screw, 1 triple expansion engine, 2 Scotch boilers, 1250 IHP, 9.5 kts. Configuration: 3-island, 1 deck, 2 holds, 4 hatches. |
| S.S. Lake Linden (As Design 1044, Yard No. 93),probably shown around the time of her completion, perhaps at her builder's yard. She was delivered to the EFC on 31 August 1918 and to her operator on 11 September 1918. (Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University) (Click photo to enlarge) |
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S.S. Lake Shawano (As Design 1044, Yard No. 87) This requisitioned ship is shown at Boston, Mass., on 2 May 1920. She was the first of the eight requisitioned ships at Manitowoc (three Norwegian and five British) to be completed with the wartime Fredrikstad rig in which the masts at the ends were shortened to derrick posts. She was scrapped in 1926. Photo No. None Source: Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. |
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S.S. Lake Winthrop (As Design 1044, Yard No. 94) This requisitioned ship is shown on 9 July 1922 underway off Boston, Mass. She was delivered on 26 August 1918. Photo No. None Source: Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. |
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S.S. Lake Kyttle (Design 1044, Yard No. 96/EFC Hull 1310) This ship was requisitioned before construction began and was then taken into the contract program. She was delivered on 31 October 1918. With her tall masts at the ends she marks the reversion to the original Fredrikstad rig at Manitowoc. Photo No. None Source: Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. |
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S.S. Lake Kyttle After conversion to a barge by the Ford Motor Co. in 1927. Photo No. None Source: Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. |
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S.S. Mary, ex Lake Monroe (As Design 1044, Yard No. 90) This requisitioned ship is shown here in April 1934 being operated by the Bull Lines with a topmast added to her stern derrick post to help support radio antennas. She was delivered on 10 August 1918. Lake Mary was a different ship. Photo No. None Source: Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. |
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S.S. Belize ex Cornucopia (Design 1044, EFC Hull 1309) This ship is shown between 1937 and her loss in 1941. She was the last of the nine Design 1044 ships (counting Lake Kyttle) built under the contract program. She was delivered to the EFC on 22 May 1919 and to her first operator nine days later. Photo No. None Source: Historical Collections of the Great Lakes, Bowling Green State University. |
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S.S. Margaret Schafer, ex Corsicana (Design 1044, EFC Hull 1312) This contract-built ship was one of three purchased in 1925 by Pillsbury & Curtis of San Francisco and rerigged as four-masted lumber schooners. She was renamed Margaret Schafer in 1934 and is shown here circa 1941 in a photo probably from Coast Guard files. Photo No. MargaretSchafer_9676_003 Source: vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/9676 |
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S.S. Catherine, ex Lake Greenwood (As Design 1044, Yard No. 91) This requisitioned ship was one of a half-dozen Lakers transformed into small passenger vessels at various times. Catherine, with accommodations for 96 passengers, was a well-known West Indies cruise ship between the wars. She became USS Stratford (AP-41) in July 1941. Photo No. 19-N-24973 Source: U.S. Naval Historical Center |
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USS Gemini (AK-52), ex S.S. Coperas (Design 1044, EFC Hull 1304) On 19 December 1941 this contract-built ship was ordered converted to a cargo ship (AK-52). She received an armament of 1-4"/50 gun and 4 50-cal machine guns. Her conversion was completed on 3 April 1942 and she was turned over as a civilian-manned "U. S. Naval Cargo Ship" (USNCS) to Marine Transportation Lines, Inc., for operation. She is shown here at anchor, probably at New York, on 5 April 1942 just before carrying an Army cargo to Iceland. Photo No. Gemini_1798_001 Source: vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/1798 |
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USS Gemini (AP-75), ex S.S. Coperas (Design 1044, EFC Hull 1304) On her way back from Iceland circa June 1942 Gemini was damaged by ice. She was repaired at East Boston, given a new armament of 2-3"/50 and 4-20mm guns, and placed in full commission as AK-52 on 4 August 1942. Three days later she was ordered converted into a troop transport. This view was probably taken off the Boston Navy Yard on 21 October 1942, five days after her troopship conversion was completed. Photo No. 19-N-35410 Source: NARA RG-19-LCM |
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USS Gemini (AP-75), ex S.S. Coperas (Design 1044, EFC Hull 1304) Probably photographed off the Boston Navy Yard on 21 October 1942. This "Laker" retains her original "Fredrickstad" rig, although wartime additions to the superstructure tend to conceal the two derrick post pairs and the masts at the ends have been shortened. Photo No. 19-N-35408 Source: NARA RG-19-LCM |
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