Ship S.S. ABERDEEN under construction — circa 1918 — #4433_1
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Photograph Copyright Anderson & Middleton Company
United States — Washington (State) — Aberdeen
The United States government had established the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) in April, 1917 to oversee rapid shipbuilding for the war effort.
Launched by Grays Harbor Motorship Corp. Sept. 28, 1918, the S.S. ABERDEEN was designed by M.R. Ward and known to the shipping world as the "Ward Type", approved by the United States Shipping Board. She was 290 feet overall, 49 feet beam and 28.2 feet moulded depth, being of 4000 tons deadweight capacity, and was equipped with twin engines of 700 horsepower each. In building the ABERDEEN every record in construction of a ship of this size was smashed. Three shifts, working 7.5 hours each, were employed. The following record, vouched for by the United States Inspector, speaks for itself : laying of keel, 10 seconds; assembling, building, erecting and shoring 73 square frames, 29 hours, 26 minutes; ceiling, 151 hours; planking, 228.5 hours. From keel laying to launching, with superstructure 96% complete and auxiliary engine installation 40% complete, 17½ actual working days. The keel was laid 8:00 a.m., September 9th, 1918 and the launching took place September 28th, at 9:00 p.m. 1918. Engine installation required 6 days; the ABERDEEN going on her trial trip, laden with 200 passengers, out into the Pacific Ocean, Sunday, October 6, 1918. This record still stands as the most wonderful performance in the history of shipbuilding and will probably never be equaled. ABERDEEN was built for WWI, but with the ending of the war on November 11, 1918, she never saw service.
Thanks to Sam Talley who adds: "The fate of this ship is not known. The US government never commissioned it, so it remained in private hands. It was reported that this ship was made with green lumber and immediately started drying out above the water line, allowing rot and leaks in the caulking."
