U.S. Maritime Commission type C3-P P&C

The U.S. Maritime Commission’s C3 type was the largest and fastest of the agency’s original standard designs, and was also the platform with the most sub-types and modifications. The vessels’ size (...

Even as the U.S. Maritime Commission’s Liberty shipbuilding program got into full swing, the agency was also designing and building more types of ships as part of the emergency program. Many of these ships were built for wartime use, designed with...

As a part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program, the U.S. Maritime Commission, in addition to the construction of cargo ships and tankers, also built many commissioned U.S. Navy vessels. Between 1939 and 1945, the commission oversaw the delivery of...

After World War II, the surplus of cargo ships produced by the Emergency Shipbuilding Program meant that the U.S. Maritime Commission had several years to develop a successor to the Victory ship and Long Range Shipbuilding Program-era designs. ...

Maritime Administration design type C4-S-1A

The final ships designed by the U.S. Maritime Commission, the Mariner-class, did not go into production until after the U.S. government had reorganized the agency as the Maritime...

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...