Type N3-S ships were a
Maritime Commission small coastal
cargo ship design to meet urgent
World War II shipping needs, with the first of the 109 N3, both steam and diesel, type hulls delivered in December 1942. [i]
The N3-S, with "S" designating "steam," came in two versions patterned on and sometimes themselves termed Baltic Coasters.[2] One, the N3-S-A1 was coal fired reciprocating steam powered at British request with the N3-S-A2 variant being oil fired and both types intended largely for wartime
lend lease.[3]
Normal sea speed (average sea conditions)—10½ knots.
Cruising radius (nautical miles)—4,500.
Machinery—reciprocating steam.
However, as the built dimensions and tonnage of the two N3-S types varied somewhat from the basic design and each other.[1] The fourteen Penn-Jersey N3-M-A1 vessels had a different profile in addition to being diesel powered.
N3-S-A1
All of the 36 N3-S-A1 vessels, 2,800 DWT, delivered from December 1942 through May 1945, went to Britain and those surviving the war tended to be sold commercial but one; built as the Freeman Hatch and lastly named Houston, gaining some notoriety being sunk during the failed
Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961. Nine built by
Leathem D. Smith Ship Building & Coal Company in Stureon Bay, Wisconsin. Nine built by Pacific Bridge Company of San Francisco, California.
Walter Butler Shipbuilders Inc. of
Superior, Wisconsin built 18.[1][5][6]
N3-S-A2
Of the 76 proposed N3-S-A2, 2,757 DWT, vessels 59 were built with the first delivered March 1944 and the last after the war in November 1945 with 17 scheduled ships canceled. All were operated by commercial firms with some going to Poland, Greece and Britain.[1] Twenty-three were allocated by the
War Shipping Administration to the Army for use as transports.[7] Of those, 19 were operated in the
Southwest Pacific Area as part of the Army's permanent local fleet with the first arriving 5 September 1944 and the last in December 1945.[8] A few found their way into non-commissioned U.S. Naval service by way of Army as postwar auxiliaries with at least some leased to Korea: Alchiba (AK-261), Algorab (AK-262), Aquarius (AK-263), Centaurus (AK-264), Cepheus (AK-265) and Serpens (AK-266).
Avondale Marine Ways Inc. of Westwego, Louisiana built 14.
Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation of
Decatur, Alabama built 9.
McCloskey & Company Shipyard of Tampa, Florida built 15. Pendleton ShipYard Company of New Orleans, Louisiana built 4. Pennsylvania ShipYard Inc. of Beaumont, Texas built 9. Walter Butler ShipYeard Inc. of Duluth, Minnesota built 2. Walter Butler ShipYard Inc. built 6.[9][1]
N3-M-A1
A third variant, the N3-M-A1, at 2,900 DWT, was a very limited design with diesel-powered ships with superstructure aft instead of amidships. Fourteen built at Penn-Jersey Shipbuilding Co. of Camden, New Jersey.
Barnes-Duluth shipyard built 12. The N3-M-A1 were 2,483 gross tons with a length of 291 feet by beam of 42 feet. Number one and two holds were 56 feet long with number three being 28 feet in length. An example is the Junior N. Van Noy.[1][10]
The ships were constructed under U.S. Navy supervision as Navy had assumed the Maritime Commission contracts for the Penn-Jersey yard and was allocating vessels of this type for its own and British use.[11] Four of the fourteen ships of this type retained the original form and were transferred to Britain as BAK-1, BAK-2, BAK-3 and BAK-4 and operated by
Currie Line for the
Ministry of War Transport as Asa Lothrop, Lauchlan McKay, John L. Manson and Nathaniel Mathews.
[12] One was retained by the U.S. Navy as the
USS Enceladus (AK-80) with the remaining nine transferred to the U.S. Army to be converted to
U.S. Army Engineer Port Repair ships. The conversion placed machine, welding and carpenter shops in number two hold along with generators and air compressors supporting engineering work. Number one hold was reserved for construction machinery with number three containing repair stock, portable generators, refrigerated stores and quarters. The ships also carried portable salvage equipment, including diver support, five ton capacity crawler crane, other lifting equipment and a pontoon barge. The most notable feature was addition of a forty-ton cathead derrick for heavy salvage.
Arthur C. Ely ex Tucana (AK-88)[13] ex MV Symmes Potter
Glenn Gerald Griswold ex Media (AK-83)[14] ex MV Oliver R. Mumford
Henry Wright Hurley ex Norma (AK-86)[15] ex MV Sumner Pierce
Joe C. Specker ex Vela (AK-89)[16] ex MV Charles A. Ranlett
Madison Jordan Manchester ex USS Hydra (AK-82)[17] ex MV Eben H. Linnell
Marvin Lyle Thomas ex MV Moses Pike later USNS Sagitta (T-AK-87)[18]
Richard R. Arnold ex Nashira (AK-85)[19] ex MV Josiah Paul
Robert M. Emery ex Mira (AK-84)[20] ex MV William Nott
Thomas F. Farrel Jr. ex Europa (AT-81)[21] ex MV William Lester
John W. Arey a N3-S-A1, renamed Silver Coast was on a trip from Canabayon Island, Philippines to
Luzon, Philippines she sank on 12 Jan. 1971.[23]
Tully Crosby a N3-S-A1, renamed Capetan Vassilis caught fire and sank on 14 April 1965 at 35.07N 26.52E full of sunflower seed off the eastern coast of the island of
Crete.[24]
Justin Doane a N3-S-A1, sank after gunfire near Chienchow in 1950.
Gurden Gates a N3-S-A1, On 24 July 1944 the
Nazi Dover Strait big guns damaged the Gurden Gates, she was repaired. Later sold and renamed Three Stars, caught fire and was abandoned on 17 Feb 1967 at
Episkopi Bay.[25]
Alden Gifford a N3-S-A1, sank in a gale off the West of England, four miles NNW of
Longships on 2 September 1944. Four crewmen lives were lost.[27]
Josiah P. Cressey a N3-S-A1, sunk by gunfire in the
Yangtze River in 1949.
Ashbel Hubbard a N3-S-A1, renamed Solidarity" sank on 4 March 1951. She was traveling with a crew of 24 and a cargo of 2,300 tons of wet
mechanical wood pulp in bales from
Hommelvik to
London. Some hatch covers were washed over board and she fill with water in a storm. The life-saving ship Larvik was able to get the crew.[28]
Cyrus Sears a N3-S-A1, renamed Giannis. In 1964 she caught fire in the engine room on a trip from
Constanța,
Romania to
Skikda,
Algeria with timber. The fire spread to the cargo holds and the superstructure. The crew abandoned ship to the life boats and were taken aboard British
MV Sir Andrew Duncan. Sir Andrew Duncan took her under tow to
Valletta, Malta. The salvage vessel Thames took her out to sea and she sank at 21 nm NE of
Malta at 36.04N-14.42E.[29]
Reuben Snow(Beechland, Teresa Cosulich) a N3-S-A1. exploded and sank in 1968
Nathaniel Matthews a N3-M-A1, sank in 1974.
Edgar Wakeman a N3-S-A2, renamed
Kielce, collided with another ship and sank in 1946. She was loaded with munitions. The crew abandoned the ship and were saved. Kielce sank about four miles off
Folkestone in the
English Channel, in
Kent, southeast
England. In 1967 the Folkestone Salvage Company was hired to remove the wreck and used explosive charges to dismantle part of the hull. One of these charges detonated her cargo, causing an explosion that was recorded by
seismometers up to 5,000 miles (8,000 km) away. It made a crater 153 feet (47 m) long, 67 feet (20 m) wide and 20 feet (6 m) deep and caused minor property damage in Folkestone.[30]
Otis White a N3-S-A2, renamed Beny, broke in two and sank in 1969 after running a ground off the
Brazilian coast.[31]
David R. Le Craw a N3-S-A2, renamed Los Caribes was in a collision with the MS Schauenburg, then exploded and sank on 20 April 1958 in
Mexico,
Coatzacoalcos harbor channel. She was going to
New York City with a load of sulphur.[32]
Samuel Samuels a N3-S-A2 renamed Milonga and sank in February 1965. She had an engine fire and started to leak off eastern
Sardinia. She was on her way from
Sfax for
Genoa, in Gulf of
Orosei. The crew abandoned ship, but lost three crewmen.[33]
Northern Adventurer a N3-S-A2, sank in 1964.
Samuel S. Curwen a N3-S-A2, renamed Northern Master then Hsuan Huai exploded and sank on 3 December 1948.Hsuan Huai was a Chinese
troop ship. She had 6,000 men from the province of Mantsjoekwo, in northwest China onboard. She sank near
Yingkou in the
Yellow Sea.[34]
John Leckie a N3-S-A2, renamed Pensacola, sank on 5 Feb. 1966. She started leaking in rough sea after dry dock work. She had a full cargo of grain. The crew abandoned ship and she sank 2+1⁄2 hours later. She sank in the
Caribbean Sea off the southeast shore of
Hispaniola, while on a voyage from
Mobile, Alabama, to
Port of Spain,
Trinidad.[35][36]
Footnotes
^While essentially built for the same purpose they were not the sectional pre-fabricated and assembly-line produced (Chrysler) "Liberty Ships" as they are sometimes, if improperly, confused with.
^David H. Grover (2004).
"Lakers: The Ships That Bought Time"(PDF). Lake Huron Lore. "The Anchor Light" with copy published in "The Lightship-Lake Huron Lore. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
^Masterson, James R. (1949). U. S. Army Transportation In The Southwest Pacific Area 1941-1947. Transportation Unit, Historical Division, Special Staff, United States Army. p. 351.