U.S. Maritime Commission type EC2-S-C1 “Liberty Ship”

The driving force behind the Liberty ship design was speed of construction. The U.S. Maritime Commission initially designed and contracted its standardized “C” cargo ships at a relatively...

Although the early focus of the U.S. Maritime Commission’s shipbuilding efforts had been dry cargo ships, by early winter in 1941, German U-boats and commerce raiders were exacting a heavy toll on Allied tankers. These mounting losses lead the agency...

U.S. Maritime Commission design type C3-S-DX1

The only vessel of the C3-S-DX1 design, SS Schuyler Otis Bland was the final vessel ordered by the U.S. Maritime Commission, and the first vessel launched by the newly-created...

U.S. Maritime Commission design type C1-S-D1

Thirty six of these concrete-hull ships were built for the U.S. Maritime Commission. Originally designed to carry sugar, the U.S. Army converted many into floating warehouses and intentionally sank...

U.S. Maritime Commission type S4-S2-BB3

Before the United States even entered World War II, the U.S. Maritime Commission participated in the Allies’ desperate chase for aircraft carrier superiority. Planners were learning that military air...

U.S. Maritime Commission type T1-M-A1

The T1 was a small “coastal” gasoline tanker designed to be used either by the military (mostly sub-type A2) or transferred to the British Ministry of War Transport as part of the Lend-Lease program (...

U.S. Maritime Commission type V4-M-A1

The Maritime Commission’s V4 tug, with a length of 194 feet, displacement of 1,613 tons, and capable of a speed of 14 knots (6 knots towing), were among the largest and most powerful tugs in the world when...

U.S. Maritime Commission/Maritime Administration type P6-S4-DS1

In June 1952, SS United States became the final U.S. Maritime Commission vessel to be delivered, nearly two years after the agency ceased to exist. ...

U.S. Maritime Commission type P2-SE2-R3

The most efficient means to transport large groups of people, even into the 1970s, was the troop transport ships, which were a key part of the U.S. Maritime Commission’s shipbuilding program.  The...

U.S. Maritime Commission type C3-S1-B1

One of the many variations on the standard C3 design, USS Chandeleur (AV-10), was a seaplane tender, the only vessel of its type. Several earlier seaplane tenders had been constructed...