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Type C3-class ship

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Type C3
Exporter, the first C3 ship to be completed. Shown in 1943, after conversion by the US Navy to USS Hercules.
Class overview
Preceded byType C2
Succeeded byType C4
Built1940–1947
Completed238
General characteristics
Tonnage7,800 gross tons
Displacement12,000 deadweight tons.
Length492 ft (150 m)
Beam69.5 ft (21.2 m)
Draft28.5 ft (8.7 m)
Installed powerturbine developing 8,500 hp
Speed16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) (designed)

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]

During World War II, many C3 ships were converted to naval uses, particularly as Bogue-class escort carriers, and as Windsor-class and Bayfield-class attack transports, Klondike-class destroyer tenders, submarine tenders, and seaplane tenders.

Design

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The C3 was larger and faster than the C1 and C2 contemporaries, measuring 492 feet (150 m) from stem to stern (vs. 459 feet (140 m) for the C2), and designed to make 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) (vs. 15.5 kn (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph) for the C2). Like the C2, it had five cargo holds. A total of 465 of these ships were built between 1940 and 1947.

Ships in class

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Subtypes of C3 Type ships
Type Total DWT Example
C3 19 12,595 Elizabeth C. Stanton-class (AP 4 hulls)
C-3 P&C
C3-A P&C 		5
1 		10,000 USS President Monroe
USS President Polk
C3-E DWT 9,514 USS Hercules
C3 P&C 10,000
C3-S-A1 12,595 Bogue-class escort carriers
C3-S-A2 12,595
  • Bayfield-class (AP 16 hulls, APA 16+18)
  • Aegir-class (AS 4 hulls)
C3-S-A3 7,336 USS Queens
C3-S-A4 11,000
C3-S-A5 7 11,800
C3-S-BH1 5 11,800
C3-S-BH2 6 11,800
C3-S1-A3 2 12,595 USS James O'Hara
C3-S1-BR1 3 9,900
  • C3 Mod. DWT 12,430, as in USS Euryale
  • C3 multiple or unverified sub-types
    • Klondike-class (AD 4 hulls)
    • President Jackson-class (AP 2+5 hulls, APA 5)
    • Windsor-class (AP 1 hull, APA 8+1)
    • Kenneth Whiting-class (AV 4 hulls) [2]

C3

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The original C3 type, powered by steam turbines, were built at Federal, Ingalls and Moore; 12 ships were built.

C3 P&C and C3-A P&C (Newport News)

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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.

C-3 P&C (Sun)

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Main article: Avenger-class escort carrier

C3-S-A4

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American President Lines

  • President Taft
  • President Grant
  • President Pierce
  • President Madison
  • President McKinley
  • President Jefferson

C3-S-A5

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  • Mormacgulf (II)
  • Mormacisle
  • Mormacdawn
  • Mormacland (III)
  • Mormacmail (IV)
  • Mormacpenn (IV)
  • Mormacsaga

C3-S-BH1

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Lykes Lines

  • SS Tillie Lykes
  • SS Almeria Lykes
  • SS Lipscomb Lykes
  • SS Norman Lykes
  • SS Doctor Lykes

C3-S-BH2

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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-S1-A3

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The two ships of the C3-S1-A3 type were delivered to the US Army Transportation Service as transport ships, but after several months of service in this role they were acquired by the US Navy and reclassified as the Frederick Funston-class attack transport.

C3-S1-BR1

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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]

  • SS Del Norte (MC Hull 1811)
  • SS Del Sud (MC Hull 1812)
  • SS Del Mar (MC Hull 1813)

Warship conversions

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Long Island-class escort carriers

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Two Sun Ship C3 ships were converted to Long Island-class escort carriers. Mormacmail renamed USS Long Island and Mormacland renamed HMS Archer both were converted to escort carriers, at a top speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).[5][6]

Bogue-class escort carriers

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Further information: Bogue-class escort carrier

Amphibious warfare ship conversions

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Auxiliary ship conversions

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Delta-class repair ship

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USS Delta (AR-9), USS Briareus (AR-12)

Amphion-class repair ship

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USS Amphion (AR-13), USS Cadmus (AR-14)

Griffin-class submarine tender

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USS Griffin (AS-13), USS Pelias (AS-14)

Submarine tender Euryale

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Euryale (AS-22)

Aegir-class submarine tender

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USS Aegir (AS-23), USS Anthedon (AS-24), USS Apollo (AS-25), USS Clytie (AS-26)

Seaplane tender Tangier, Pocomoke and Chandeleur

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USS Tangier (AV-8), USS Pocomoke (AV-9), USS Chandeleur (AV-10)

Kenneth Whiting-class seaplane tender

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Production

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Notable incidents

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  • 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 HMS Avenger was torpedoed and sank near Gibraltar on 15 November 1942.
  • USS Block Island USN CVE-21, a C3-S-A1, was torpedoed and sank near the Azores-Canary Islands on 29 May 1944.
  • Rio de Janeiro a C3-P&C, Avenger-class escort carrier, renamed HMS Dasher, 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 USS Burleigh (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.

See also

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Citations

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  1. ^ shipbuildinghistory.com shipbuildinghistory.com, List of all C3 ships
  2. ^ "KENNETH WHITING AV 14". Naval Cover Museum. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
  3. ^ "The "Del-Triplets" - SS Del Norte, SS Del Mar, and SS Del Sud - 1946/47-1972". ssmaritime.com.
  4. ^ "Del Norte, Del Sud, Del Mar - Delta Line". lastoceanliners.com.
  5. ^ "Moore-McCormack, Mormacland". Moore-McCormack. Retrieved 18 March 2009.[dead link]
  6. ^ "A history of HMS Archer". Royal Navy Research Archive. Retrieved 18 March 2009.
  7. ^ "The Shipwreck Jacob Luckenbach". National Marine Sanctuaries, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration.

References

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