Type C3

Exporter, the first C3 ship to be completed. Shown in 1943, after conversion by the US Navy toUSS Hercules.
Class overview
Preceded by	Type C2
Succeeded by	Type C4
Built	1940–1947
Completed	238
General characteristics
Tonnage	7,800 gross tons
Displacement	12,000 deadweight tons.
Length	492 ft (150 m)
Beam	69.5 ft (21.2 m)
Draft	28.5 ft (8.7 m)
Installed power	turbine developing 8,500 hp
Speed	16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) (designed)

Type C3-class ships were the third type of cargo ship designed by theUnited States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) in the late 1930s. As it had done with theType C1 ships andType C2 ships, MARCOM circulated preliminary plans for comment. The design presented was not specific to any service ortrade 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.^[1]

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 16.5knots (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. A total of 75 ships were built with C3 hulls and engines, but not built as cargo ships.

DuringWorld War II, many C3 ships were converted to naval uses, particularly asBogue-classescort carriers, and asWindsor-class andBayfield-classattack transports,Klondike-classdestroyer tenders,submarine tenders, andseaplane tenders.

• C3 DWT 12,595
  • Elizabeth C. Stanton-class (AP 4 hulls)
• 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-A DWT 10,000 as inUSS President Polk
• C3-E DWT 9,514 as inUSS Hercules
• C3-P&C DWT 10,000 some converted toAvenger-classescort carrier
• C3-S-A1 DWT 12,595 as inHMS Tracker some converted toBogue-class escort carrier
• C3-S-A2 DWT 12,595
  • Bayfield-class (AP 16 hulls, APA 16+18)
  • Aegir-class (AS 4 hulls)
• C3-S1-A3 DWT 12,595
  • Frederick Funston-class (AP 2 hulls, APA same 2 hulls)
• C3-S-A4 DWT 11,000 the sixPresident ships
• C3-S-A5 DWT 11,800 as inHMS Chaser
• C3-S1-BR1 DWT 9,900, three built:Del Norte,Del Sud &Del Mar
• C3-S-BH1 DWT 12,600 five built:Tillie Lykes,Almeria Lykes,Lipscomb Lykes,Norman Lykes &Doctor Lykes
• C3 Mod. DWT 12,430, as inUSS Euryale
• C3 conversion: Two Sun Ship C3 ships were converted toLong Island-class escort carriers.Mormacmail renamedUSS Long Island andMormacland renamedHMS Archer both were converted to escort carriers, at a top speed of 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).^[3][4]

• Ingalls Shipbuilding, MS: 80
• Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, WA: 43
• Western Pipe and Steel Company, CA: 43
• Bethlehem Sparrows Point Shipyard, MD: 21
• Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, NJ: 19
• Newport News Shipbuilding, VA: 10
• Bethlehem Fore River, MA: 8
• Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., PA: 8
• Moore Dry Dock Company, CA: 4
• Tampa Shipbuilding Company, FL: 2

• 45Bogue-classescort carriers
• 59Attack transports
  • 3Arthur Middleton class
  • 4Crescent City class
  • 2Frederick Funston class
  • 9Windsor class
  • 34Bayfield class
  • 7President Jackson class
• 7Submarine tenders
  • Euryale (AS-22)
  • 2Griffin-class
  • 4Aegir-class
• 2Delta-classrepair ships
  • AR-9 (prev: AK-29), AR-12
• 2Amphion-classrepair ships
  • USS Amphion (AR-13),USS Cadmus (AR-14)
• 2Seaplane tenders
  • USS Tangier (AV-8),USS Chandeleur (AV-10)

• Express a C3-E, was torpedoed and sank off the coast ofMadagascar on 30 June 1942.
• Almeria Lykes a C3, renamedEmpire Condor was torpedoed and sank off coast ofTunisia on 13 August 1942.
• Rio Hudson a C3-P&C, rebuilt and converted toAvenger-class escort carrier. Was renamedHMS Avenger was torpedoed and sank nearGibraltar on 15 November 1942.
• USS Block Island USN CVE-21, a C3-S-A1, was torpedoed and sank near theAzores-Canary Islands on 29 May 1944.
• Rio de Janeiro a C3-P&C,Avenger-class escort carrier, renamedHMS Dasher, exploded and sank in theLower Clyde inScotland in 1943.
• The SSJacob Luckenbach, originallySea Robbin, sank on 14 July 1953 after a collision off San Francisco in fog with another C3 ship, the SSHawaiian Pilot (originallyUSS 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.^[5]
• TheUSNSCard wasattacked 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.

• Type C1 ship
• Type C2 ship
• Type C4 ship
• Type R ship
• T1 tanker
• T2 tanker
• T3 tanker
• Liberty ship
• Victory ship
• Hog Islander
• U.S. Merchant Marine Academy

• Sawyer, L.A.; Mitchell, W.H. (1981).From America to United States: The History of the Long-range Merchant Shipbuilding Programme of the United States Maritime Commission. London: World Ship Society.
• "United States Maritime Commission C3 Type Ships".American Merchant Marine at War. Retrieved18 July 2013.

• Ship types
• Standard ship types of the United States
• Auxiliary ship classes of the United States Navy
• Type C3-P&C ships
• Type C3-E ships
• Type C3-S-A1 ships of the Royal Navy

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from April 2022