SS Pierre L'Enfant

SS Pierre L'Enfant was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Pierre L'Enfant, a French-American military engineer who designed the basic plan for Washington, D.C., known today as the L'Enfant Plan.

History
United States
Name:	Pierre L'Enfant
Namesake:	Pierre L'Enfant
Owner:	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator:	Polarus Steamship Co., Inc.
Ordered:	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 1001
Awarded:	30 January 1942
Builder:	Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland[1]
Cost:	$1,002,961[2]
Yard number:	2151
Way number:	11
Laid down:	17 May 1943
Launched:	11 June 1943
Sponsored by:	Mrs. O. M. White
Completed:	28 June 1943
Identification:	Call sign: KHLY [2]
Status:	Sold for commercial use, 27 November 1946
Panama
Name:	Atlantic Wave
Owner:	Atlantic Maritime Co. (1946—1953) Atlantic Freighters, Ltd. (1953—1961)
Operator:	Boyd, Weir & Sewell (1946—1952) Maritime Brokers, Inc. (1952—1953) Livanos Ltd. (1953—1961)
Status:	Sold, 1961
Yugoslavia
Name:	Miljet
Owner:	Atlanska Plovidba Dubrovnik
Operator:	Anglo-Yugoslav Shipping Corp.
Status:	Sold, 1965
Yugoslavia
Name:	Kolasin
Owner:	Prekookeanska Plovidba, Bar.
Operator:	Anglo-Yugoslav Shipping Corp.
Fate:	Grounded near Tuapse, 27 January 1970
Status:	Declared Total Loss
General characteristics [3]
Class and type:	Liberty ship type EC2-S-C1, standard
Tonnage:	10,865 LT DWT 7,176 GRT
Displacement:	3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light) 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max)
Length:	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa 416 feet (127 m) pp 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam:	57 feet (17 m)
Draft:	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power:	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa) 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion:	1 × triple-expansion steam engine,  (manufactured by General Machinery Corp., Hamilton, Ohio) 1 × screw propeller
Speed:	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity:	562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m^3) (grain) 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m^3) (bale)
Complement:	38–62 USMM 21–40 USNAG
Armament:	Varied by ship Bow-mounted 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber gun Stern-mounted 4 inches (102 mm)/50 caliber gun 2–8 × single 20 millimeters (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or, 2–8 × 37 millimeters (1.46 in) M1 AA guns

Construction

Pierre L'Enfant was laid down on 17 May 1943, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 1001, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; she was sponsored by Mrs. O. M. White, the wife of a yard employee, and was launched on 11 June 1943.[1][2]

History

She was allocated to Polarus Steamship Co., Inc., on 28 June 1943. On 27 November 1946, she was sold for commercial use to Atlantic Maritime Co., for $544,506. After several owner and name changes, sailing as Kolasin, she was grounded near Tuapse, on the Black Sea, and declared a Total Loss.[4]

References

1. Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards 2008.
2. MARCOM.
3. Davies 2004, p. 23.
4. MARAD.

Bibliography

• "Bethlehem-Fairfield, Baltimore MD". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
• Maritime Administration. "Pierre L'Enfant". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
• Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
• "SS Pierre L'Enfant". Retrieved 17 March 2020.