SS Ozette
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''Ozette'' was a steam cargo ship built in 1918–1919 by Seattle North Pacific Shipbuilding Company of
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
for 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 ...
as part of the wartime shipbuilding program of the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) to restore the nation's Merchant Marine. The vessel was largely employed on the East Coast to Europe routes during her career before she was laid up in and eventually broken up for scrap in 1936.


Design and construction

After the United States entry into
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 ...
, a large shipbuilding program was undertaken to restore and enhance shipping capabilities both of the United States and their Allies. As part of this program, EFC placed orders with nation's shipyards for a large number of vessels of standard designs. Design 1015 cargo ship was a standard cargo freighter of approximately 9,400 tons deadweight designed by Moore Shipbuilding Co. and adopted by USSB. ''Ozette'' was part of the order for ten vessels placed by USSB with Seattle North Pacific Shipbuilding Co. on 5 November 1917 and was laid down on 19 June 1918 and launched on 28 September 1918 (yard number 1), with Mrs. C.J. Erickson, wife of the shipyard's founder, being the sponsor. Just as with many other vessels being built for the Shipping Board, her name was picked by Mrs. Woodrow Wilson who often chose Native American words or local landmarks for naming purposes. The ship had two main decks as well as
forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...
and
poop deck In naval architecture, a poop deck is a deck that forms the roof of a cabin built in the rear, or " aft", part of the superstructure of a ship. The name originates from the French word for stern, ''la poupe'', from Latin ''puppis''. Thus th ...
and was built on the Isherwood principle of
longitudinal framing Longitudinal framing (also called the Isherwood system after British naval architect Sir Joseph Isherwood, who patented it in 1906) is a method of ship construction in which large, widely spaced transverse frames are used in conjunction with li ...
providing extra strength to the body of the vessel. The freighter had four main holds and also possessed all the modern machinery for quick loading and unloading of cargo from five large hatches, including ten winches and a large number of derricks. She was also equipped with wireless apparatus, had submarine signal system installed and had electrical lights installed along the decks. As built, the ship was long ( between perpendiculars) and
abeam This glossary of nautical terms is an alphabetical listing of terms and expressions connected with ships, shipping, seamanship and navigation on water (mostly though not necessarily on the sea). Some remain current, while many date from the 17th t ...
, a depth of . ''Ozette'' was originally assessed at and and had deadweight of approximately 9,519. The vessel had a steel hull with double bottom throughout with exception of her machine compartment, and a single 2,800 shp steam turbine, double-reduction geared to a single screw propeller that moved the ship at up to . The steam for the engine was supplied by three Foster Water Tubes fitted for both coal and oil fuel. The sea trials were held on 2/3 April 1919 and after their successful completion the ship was turned over to the Shipping Board and officially commissioned three weeks later.


Operational history

While still under construction, the freighter together with several other vessels was allocated to W.R. Grace & Co. Upon commissioning, ''Ozette'' proceeded to load a total of 7,900 tons of cargo consisting of flour and
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supplies destined for either Atlantic coast or Europe. The freighter left Seattle on 10 May 1919 bound for Newport News. Shortly after leaving port, a small fire was discovered in one of the holds, and subsequently she also developed problems with her engines. As a result, the ship was forced to put into San Francisco on May 15 to assess and repair the damage. While there it was discovered that her furnace-burning equipment was defective, and alterations were ordered by local officials. The fire also caused damage to cargo of flour in her No. 3 hold estimated to be approximately 45,000. On further investigation it was also discovered some of the flour in hold No. 2 was also damaged by smoke due to faulty bulkheads. After undergoing repairs and restocking of her cargo ''Ozette'' finally was able to leave San Francisco at the end of June. She reached the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...
on July 10 where she spent about a week undergoing further repairs. The vessel finally reached Newport News on July 28 concluding her maiden voyage. The vessel was subsequently allocated by the USSB to Daniel Ripley & Co. to serve on their Gulf Coast to Europe route. The ship was scheduled to arrive in Galveston in mid-August to load a large cargo of cotton bound for Bremen, but that allocation was cancelled shortly thereafter. Instead, ''Ozette'' was allocated to Strachan Shipping Co. to carry general cargo from East Coast to Europe. That trip, however, did not materialize and the vessel remained berthed in Newport News until early December. The ship finally sailed on December 8 with a cargo of fuel for New York, and from there she proceeded to Florida. After loading a cargo of 4,000 tons of phosphate hard rock at Fernandina ''Ozette'' continued on to
Savannah A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the Canopy (forest), canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to rea ...
in early January 1920 where she additionally embarked 12,353 bales of cotton. ''Ozette'' cleared from Savannah on 28 January 1920 and took course to Bremen. Soon after leaving port the vessel ran aground on a bank of
Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the norther ...
and became stranded, but was quickly pulled off by US Coast Guard cutter and was able to resume her voyage. In the early morning of January 30 while about east of Savannah, the freighter encountered a lone lifeboat containing chief officer and seventeen other men from steam tanker SS ''Mielero'' which broke in two and sank four days earlier. The rescued crew was taken on board the vessel, and was subsequently transferred to ''Mielero''s sister ship SS ''Sucrosa'' who safely landed them ashore at Baltimore on February 3. ''Ozette'' meanwhile continued her trip and arrived in Germany in mid-February. After unloading her cargo, the ship sailed out and reached East coast in April of the same year. The vessel made another similar trip in July–September 1920, loading 5,551 tons of phosphates at Jacksonville at the end of July and sailing for Hamburg reaching it in late September. ''Ozette'' returned to
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on November 1 and remained there until the end of January 1921 when she was ordered to
Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...
. After approximately five months of inactivity, the freighter was finally chartered to carry coal and departed on 15 June 1921 from Newport News with cargo of 7,800 tons of coal bound for England. On June 20, while about south of Halifax, the vessel became disabled after developing problems with her boilers. She was picked up and taken in tow by another steamer, SS ''Asabeth'', who safely brought her to Halifax on June 25. After undergoing quick repairs the vessel was able to sail out a few days later. However, on July 16 her turbines broke down and she was forced to radio for help as the problem could not be fixed at sea. ''Ozette'' eventually arrived in
Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...
on July 19 in tow of another American steamer, SS ''Henry Clay''. Upon unloading her cargo and undergoing repairs, ''Ozette'' departed Southampton on August 22 and reached Norfolk on September 8 after an uneventful journey. The vessel was subsequently laid up and remained berthed at the
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anchorage for the rest of her career. In early September 1932 the Shipping Board decided to scrap 124 World War I era vessels in its possession, including ''Ozette'', to alleviate significant tonnage overabundance. As a result, all the vessels were removed from the U.S register of shipping. In October 1932 it was announced the whole lot of these vessels was sold to the Boston Iron and Metal Company of Baltimore for $1.51/ton of recoverable material which was believed at the time to be over 350,000 tons. The disposition was estimated take about three years to complete and ''Ozette'' was eventually scrapped in April 1936.


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ozette Design 1015 ships Ships built in Seattle 1918 ships Merchant ships of the United States Steamships of the United States