Coastal trading vessels, also known as coasters or skoots, are shallow-hulled

merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...

s used for transporting cargo along a coastline. Their shallow hulls mean that they can get through

reef A reef is a ridge or shoal of rock, coral, or similar relatively stable material lying beneath the surface of a natural body of water. Many reefs result from natural, abiotic component, abiotic (non-living) processes such as deposition (geol ...

s where deeper-hulled seagoing ships usually cannot (26-28 feet), but as a result they are not optimized for the large waves found on the open ocean. Coasters can load and unload cargo in shallow

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

s. For European inland waterways, they are limited to a 33,49 m beam. Maritime Commission N3-S-A1

World War II

USS Enceladus AK-80 N3-M-A1 USN 19-N-51234

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

there was a demand for coasters to support troops around the world. Type N3 ship and Type C1 ship were the designations for small

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

s built for the United States Maritime Commission before and during World War II. Both were use for close to shore and short cargo runs. The

Government of the United Kingdom His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

used Empire ships type Empire F as

s for coastal shipping. British seamen called these "CHANTs", possibly because they had the same hull form as Channel Tankers (CHANT); initially all the tankers were sold to foreign owners and therefore there was no conflict in nomenclature. The USA and UK both used coastal tankers also. UK used Empire coaster tankers and T1 tankers. Many coasters had some armament, such as a 5-inch (127 mm) stern gun, 3-inch (76.2 mm) bow anti-aircraft gun and Oerlikon 20 mm anti-aircraft gun. These were removed after the war. After the war many of the ships were sold to private companies all around the world.

Shipyards

Major coastal trading vessel shipyards include:USM shipyards, ''usmm.org''
/ref> * Avondale Shipyard and Marine Ways *

Consolidated Steel Corporation The Consolidated Steel Corporation was an American steel and shipbuilding business. Formed on 18 December 1928, the company built ships during World War II in two main locations: Wilmington, California, and Orange, Texas. It was created by the mer ...

(Long Beach & Wilmington) * Froemming Brothers * Globe Shipbuilding Company * Ingalls Shipbuilding Corporation (Decatur, AL) * J. A. Jones Construction Company (Brunswick) * Kaiser Richmond No. 4 * Leathem D. Smith Shipbuilding Company * Pennsylvania Shipyards Inc. * Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation * Walter Butler Shipbuilders Inc. (Superior and Duluth)

References

External links

Historia y Arqueología Marítima - Los buques cargueros tipo N3 (Spanish, with diagram & photos
{{DEFAULTSORT:Coastal Trading Vessel Merchant ships

World War II

Shipyards

See also

References

External links