Ships Bought in Japan: Notes & Illustrations

Notes: In its effort to relieve the scarcity of tonnage the Shipping Board concluded various agreements providing for the acquisition of ships from neutral and allied countries. On 19 March 1918 negotiations were begun by the U.S. War Trade Board and the Shipping Board for the purchase of Japanese vessels and for the construction in Japanese yards of additional vessels (see Designs 1118-1127). An agreement was concluded under which contracts were made in April and May 1918 providing for the purchase of 15 Japanese vessels either completed or nearing completion, totaling about 128,000 deadweight tons, to be delivered between June and December 1918. The price agreed upon for these vessels ranged from $212.50 to $265 per ton, and the War Trade Board agreed to license the exportation of 1 ton of old steel (steel that had already been contracted for) to Japan for each deadweight ton of vessels delivered. (Source: Annual Report of the USSB, 1918, page 53.)

These 15 ships fell into at least seven classes from four shipyards. Here are views of four ships representing three classes. Three of these images are indistinct views taken from Navy inspection ID data cards now at the Naval Historical Center, Washington, D.C., and one was printed in a 1925 EFC sales catalog to represent its class.

S.S. Eastern Queen (Design 1122 precursor) This ship was the 18th ship of the Daifuku Maru standard type of flush-decked freighters built by the Kawasaki Dockyard and one of seven sold upon completion to the U.S. Shipping Board. She was completed in February 1918 under the name Tofuku Maru. She was inspected by the Navy in the 13th Naval District on 22 July 1918 and given the identification number ID 3406. This photo was on the back of the ship's Navy inspection data (SP/ID) card and may date from the time of the inspection. She served in the Navy from 26 October 1918 to 19 April 1919. Photo No. NH 103541 Source: U.S. Naval Historical Center
S.S. Easterner (Design 1122 precursor) This ship was the 19th ship of the Daifuku Maru standard type of flush-decked freighters built by the Kawasaki Dockyard and one of seven sold upon completion to the U.S. Shipping Board. She was completed in February 1918 under the name Seifuku Maru. She was inspected by the Navy in the 12th Naval District on 29 August 1918 and given the identification number ID 3331. This photo was on the back of the ship's Navy inspection data (SP/ID) card and may date from the time of the inspection. It shows her in a nest of cargo ships--the tall stack is hers. She served in the Navy from 12 November 1918 to 14 May 1919. Photo No. NH 103542 Source: U.S. Naval Historical Center
S.S. Easterner (Design 1122 precursor) This purchased ship, Kawasaki yard no. 408 and Daifuku Maru no. 19, was completed in February 1918 under the name Seifuku Maru. This photo was in a file made by the Navy's Bureau of Construction and Repair showing ships in camouflage. Photo No. C.R. 14832 (possibly later 19-N-14832) Source: U.S. National Archives, RG-19-N (NH), box 37
S.S. Eastwind (Design 1122 precursor) This purchased ship, Kawasaki yard no. 414 and Daifuku Maru no. 26, was delivered directly to the U.S. Shipping Board in September 1918. This drawing shows her on a commercial voyage from Capetown to Baltimore in 1921-22. Photo No. None Source: Shipscribe
S.S. Eastern Chief (Design 1125 precursor) This ship was built by the Uraga Dock Co., completed in December 1917 for a Japanese shipping firm as Yoshida Maru No. 3, and purchased by the U.S. Shipping Board in June 1918. She was inspected by the Navy in the 6th Naval District on 10 September 1918 and given the identification number ID 3390. This photo was on the back of the ship's Navy inspection data (SP/ID) card and may date from the time of the inspection. She served in the Navy from 27 September 1918 to 19 May 1919. Photo No. NH 103540 Source: U.S. Naval Historical Center
S.S. Eastern Chief (Design 1125 precursor) At Antwerp, Belgium, after World War I Photo No. None Source: Shipscribe
S.S. Eastern Light (Design 1127 precursor) In the Port of Rotterdam, Holland, on 3 May 1919. This purchased ship, Osaka Iron Works yard no. 951, was delivered directly to the Shipping Board Directorate of Operations on 5 October 1918 and to the EFC on 4 November 1918. Photo No. NH 106026 Source: U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command
S.S. Eastport ("Design 1154") This ship was completed by the Osaka Iron Works and delivered directly to the U.S. Shipping Board in August 1918. She briefly saw commercial service under USSB ownership in 1920-1921 and then remained idle until sold to the Soviet Union in 1930. This photograph was used in a 1925 EFC sales catalog to represent the ship, which for sales purposes was designated Design 1154. Click here for a plan. Photo No. None (contained in S-528-A) Source: U.S. Naval Historical Center
S.S. Eastport ("Design 1154") Probably at Galveston, Texas, in mid-March 1919. The sender wrote on the back, "The old bird is sitting pretty high. Wish you could have been aboard coming thru the Caribbean. Seas breaking over forward gun-deck and some roll." Photo No. None Source: NHHC, 2017.31 Mark Kulikowski Collection