The Design 1013 ship (full name Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1013), also known as the Robert Dollar type, was a

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

- hulled

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 seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

design approved for mass production by the

United States Shipping Board The United States Shipping Board (USSB) was established as an emergency agency by the 1916 Shipping Act (39 Stat. 729), on September 7, 1916. The United States Shipping Board's task was to increase the number of US ships supporting the World War ...

s Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFT) in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. Like many of the early designs approved by the EFT, the Design 1013 did not originate with the EFT itself but was based on an existing cargo ship design, in this case one developed by the

Skinner & Eddy Corporation The Skinner & Eddy Corporation, commonly known as Skinner & Eddy, was a Seattle, Washington-based shipbuilding corporation that existed from 1916 to 1923. The yard is notable for completing more ships for the United States war effort during Worl ...

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is a port, seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the county seat, seat of King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in bo ...

. Some of the vessels were oil-fired and others coal-fired. They were produced by a variety of shipyards on the

west coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

of the United States. Most of them were given names starting with the word ''West'' (or in some cases, ''Western''), indicating their west coast origins.McKellar.General Cargo Ships Built in Pacific Coast Shipyards
, ''shipbuildinghistory.com''. A total of 111 of the type were completed—106 for the EFT and an additional five completed later for private contractors. All of them entered service between 1918 and 1920, with the majority probably being completed in 1919. About 37 of the completed ships were acquired by the U.S. Navy either during or shortly after the war for service as

auxiliaries Auxiliaries are support personnel that assist the military or police but are organised differently from regular forces. Auxiliary may be military volunteers undertaking support functions or performing certain duties such as garrison troops, u ...

, but most of these were quickly decommissioned in 1919 after only a few months' service.

Lend-Lease

As per the

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

Agreement, several ships were purchased by the USSR in 1942–1945, as the USSR needed ships for its merchant fleet during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and in the first years after the war. In total, the Soviet Union purchased 25 ships of design 1013. All purchased ships of that design were counted as

Belorussia-class cargo ships Belorussia-class cargo ships were a Soviet Union class of 25 cargo ships which were built on the West Coast of the United States as per design 1013 and as per Lend-Lease Agreement purchased by USSR in 1942–1945 years, during World War II, as the ...

by the Soviet Union and sometimes referred to as West-class cargo ships due to their manufacture on the West Coast of the US. All purchased ships were renamed. Транспорты >> Тип "Белоруссия" (пр. 1013) - 25 единиц.
/ref> Soviet Merchant Marine. Lend Lease Ships
/ref>

References

Bibliography

*McKellar, Norman L. (September–October 1962)
"Steel Shipbuilding under the U.S. Shipping Board, 1917–1921 - Design 1013"
''The Belgian Shiplover'', No. 89, September–October 1962, as reproduced at ''shipscribe.com''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Design 1013 Ship Design 1013 ships Design 1013 ships Standard ship types of the United States