A guide to the VC2-S-AP3 Cargo Ship reference plans, 1907-1976

Processed by: Historic Documents Department Staff, 14 November 2017.

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Building E, Fort Mason

San Francisco, CA 94123

Phone: 415-561-7030

Fax: 415-556-3540

SAFR_Historic_Documents@nps.gov

URL: http://www.nps.gov/safr

2018

A Guide to the VC2-S-AP3 Cargo Ship reference plans

HDC1308

San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, National Park Service

2018, National Park Service

Title: VC2-S-AP3 Cargo Ship reference plans

Date: 1907-1976

Date (bulk): 1943-1944

Identifier/Call Number: HDC1308 (SAFR 21367)

Creator: Various

Physical Description: 3 linear ft.

Repository: San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, Historic Documents Department

Building E, Fort Mason

San Francisco, CA 94123

Abstract: The VC2-S-AP3 Cargo Ship reference plans collection (SAFR21367, HDC1308) 1907-1976, bulk 1943-1944, consists of blueprints and diazotypes of Reference Plans for VC2-S-AP3 Cargo, or Victory, Ships used during World War II. Other record types are charts, tables, diagrams, booklets of general plans, news clippings, notes, correspondence, periodicals, pamphlets and assembly instructions. Most of the ships were built for the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) by the California Shipbuilding Corporation. George G. Sharp of New York was the Design Agent. Other creators include Westinghouse Electric; Pelham Electrical Manufacturing Corp.; and the Paragon Electric Company; Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation, Shipbuilding Division, San Pedro Yard, Terminal Island, California; Foster Design Agency for Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California; Norfolk Naval Shipyard; United States Coastguard; and the United States Navy. The collection is open for use.

Physical Location: San Francisco Maritime NHP, Historic Documents Department

Language(s): In English.

Access

This collection is open for use unless otherwise noted.

Publication and Use Rights

Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the researcher's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Processing Note

The descriptions in this collection guide were compiled using the best available sources of information. Such sources include the creator's annotations or descriptions, collection accession files, primary and secondary source material and subject matter experts. While every effort was made to provide accurate information, in the event that you find any errors in this guide please contact the reference staff in order for us to evaulate and make corrections to this guide.

Please cite the title and collection number in any correspondence with our staff.

Preferred Citation

[Item description], [Location within collection organization identified by Collection Number/Series Number/File Unit Number/Item Number], HDC1308 (SAFR 21367), VC2-S-AP3 Cargo Ship reference plans, San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Acquisition Information

SAFR-00001

These blueprints and diazotypes are part of a bulk accession from Golden Gate National Recreational Area when the San Francisco Maritime Museum became a National Historical Park in 1988.

Historical or Biographical Note

Victory ships were produced in large numbers during World War II. They were designed to replace shipping loses caused by German submarines; they were faster and had stronger hulls than Liberty ships. AP3-type Victory ships had 8,000 horsepower engines. North American shipyards built 141 of this type ship during the war.

Most of the reference plans are for AP3-type Victory ships more generally. However, the collection does include blueprints and diazotypes that were produced by specific shipyards or corporations for specific ships. Information on those ships and yards is provided in the Container lists so researchers can pursue those particular histories.

Collection Scope and Content

The VC2-S-AP3 Cargo Ship reference plans collection (SAFR21367, HDC1308) 1907-1976, bulk 1943-1944, consists of blueprints and diazotypes of Reference Plans for VC2-S-AP3 Cargo, or Victory, Ships used during World War II. Other record types are charts, tables, diagrams, booklets of general plans, news clippings, notes, correspondence, periodicals, pamphlets and assembly instructions. Most of the ships were built for the United States Maritime Commission (USMC) by the California Shipbuilding Corporation. George G. Sharp of New York was the Design Agent. Other creators include Westinghouse Electric; Pelham Electrical Manufacturing Corp.; and the Paragon Electric Company; Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation, Shipbuilding Division, San Pedro Yard, Terminal Island, California; Foster Design Agency for Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California; Norfolk Naval Shipyard; United States Coastguard; and the United States Navy. The collection is open for use.

Boxes 1-7 are Reference Plans that show arrangement and details of, as well as Bills of Materials for, various parts and fittings of these cargo ships. There are also lists, diagrams, plans, tables and notes. These include arrangements and details of Throttle Valve Support and Operating Gear, Westinghouse Turbines, Drains, Safety Valves, Easing Gear, Moorings, Shafting, Bilge systems, Tanks, Heating Coils, Steam Pipes, Valves and Flanges, Steam Fittings, Ballast Flow, Firemains and Sprinkling Systems, Ammunition Handling and Stowage, Gun Control Systems, Voice Tubes and the S.P. Battle Telephone System. There are bills of material for Electrical, Sound and Radio Systems, Sounding Tubes and Air Escapes, the Steam Smothering System and Plumbing Drains; lists of Lighting Circuits, Power and Control Cables, Spare Parts, Gauges, Machinery and Alterations; diagrams of Degaussing systems; Docking Plans; Conversion Tables; and General Notes.

Box 8 includes blueprints and miscellaneous materials from Victory ships and other USMC vessels. Box 9 includes some blueprints related to USMC vessels but also has an assortment of miscellaneous documents related to maritime history. The Container List for each box is listed below.

Box 8 Container List:

Bow Wrapper Plate " Bearding Line and Sight Edges of Sketch Plates A-1 and A-1A, undated
Tanks Tables " Fuel Oil Settling Tank, Port and Starboard, Undated
Instructions for Halide Leak Detector Outfit, undated
Assembly Instructions for CR HC Model C Room Fan Coil Unit, 1966 (2 copies)
Freon Piping Arrangement in Messing Spaces, Victory Class, Pacific Ship Repair (Diazotype), 1967
V1663-S29-1-4 Tank Tables, General Notes, undated (photocopy, partially illegible)
Controller Wiring Diagram, Right Hand Winch Assembly, Designed by Westinghouse, 1944
T V. Battery Charging Panel, Built for the United States Maritime Commission by Pelham Electrical Manufacturing Corp. (Blueprint), Circa 1943-1944
Booklet of Tables and Measurements [possibly for a Victory ship], pages 11-104, (Blueprint), undated.
Calibration Chart, Radio Direction Finder, SS NAVAJO VICTORY, 1944
Prints Issued, Plan No. V-1663-S29-1-4 [for Victory ship], 1944 (torn, stained)
Installations " Mivec Drawing No. WO-1905-6-6-52, SS NAVAJO VICTORY, 1952 June 5
Booklet of Hold Loft Offsets, Lines Offsets on Frames " ECS-S-AP1 Cargo Vessels, California Shipbuilding Corporation, 1943, June 20
Marine Boiler Water Sample Cooler " Dimensional Details and Material List (Diazotypes), 1943 (2 drawings, one stained with what looks like mud)
#6 Steering Column Assembly for USMC type VC-2-5-AP5 Vessels (Diazotype), 1943, 1951
Booklet of Tank Tables, Double Bottom Tanks, V-1663-S29-1-4 [for Victory ship] (Blueprint), Circa 1944 (torn, folded stained)
Longitudinal Assembly Drawings, by Westinghouse Electric (Blueprint), 1943
Booklet of General Plans, ARV(E) 3-4 (Blueprint), undated
Booklet of General Plans, AO-142, Prepared by Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation, Shipbuilding Division, San Pedro Yard, Terminal Island, California (Blueprint), 1951
Booklet of General Plans, Scheme "F" (LSM (R) 501-536) Modified Bow (Diazotype), undated
Booklet of General Plans, LSM (R) 536, Prepared by Foster Design Agency for Long Beach Naval Shipyard, Long Beach, California (Diazotype), 1955
United States Coast Guard, Stability Test Data " USAT HOPE (Photocopy), 1976
Booklet of General Plans, T-AO-142 " USNS SHAWNEE TRAIL, Prepared by Bethlehem Pacific Coast Steel Corporation, Shipbuilding Division, San Pedro Yard, Terminal Island, California (Blueprint), 1953
LSM(R)501 CLASS DOCKING PLAN, Norfolk Naval Shipyard (Blueprint), 1948

Box 9 Container List:

Booklet of General Plans, Prepared by Foster Design Agency, Terminal Island, California for the Long Beach Naval Shipyard in Longbeach, California, 1953 February 4, Diazotype.
Charts, Tables and Diagrams for T2 "SE " AD Tanker, undated
Damage Control Diagrams Prepared by Norfolk Naval Shipyard for the Bureau of Ships, 1955 July
Booklet of General Plans for the USNS MISSION SAN LUIS OBISPO, Department of the Navy, Military Sea Transportation Service, Technical Section, 1954
Capacity Plan from the S.S. JULESBURG, 1954 May 12
"Old Ironsides: The Glorious Career of the U.S.S. Constitution," by Dorothy E. Richard
Engineers Signal & Alarm Panel, Drawing No. A-237 Revision #2, Built for U.S. Maritime Commission by Paragon Electric Co., 1943
Diagrams of B.U. Ships No. LST 1122-S0103-1213719, Undated (very fragile)
LSD 16 Damage Control Diagram, 2 Subdivision Main Deck and Below, Prepared by Long Beach Naval Shipyard for Bureau of Ships, 1959, 1968, 1975
Surveyor: Quarterly Publication of the American Bureau of Shipping, 1973 February
Dimensions of International Code Flags and Pennants, 1933
Specification of Lumber for Rock Barge, undated (this is torn at the folds)
News Clipping, "Romance of Hardwood," 1926
Piece of paper that says "McNairn's Interviews," undated
Photocopies of [Excerpts from] a Conversation with Fred Klebingat, 1965
Notes for Preparation of Inclining Experiments, Norfolk Navy Yard, and a Memo Regarding that data for the USS CHLORIS, 1955
"Sixty Years at Sea," by Captain John K. Bray, undated (2 copies)
Correspondence from Moulton H. Farnham of Boating magazine to Karl Kortum Regarding an issue featuring the BALCLUTHA and the San Francisco Maritime Museum, 1971
Outboard Profile, Bureau Ships Hull No. ARVE(E)3, undated.
News Clipping of the "Maritime Day 'Queens'" at Maritime Museum, undated
Sketch of an elevator (with a note) from Hendry & Blue, Mechanical Engineers, 1907 (the sketch is on tissue-thin paper, is very wrinkled)
BL-19868, "Vessel Spare Parts List 'B,' Contract No. NOrd L/I 5557, (marked confidential), Radar Equipment (Bell telephone Laboratories), undated
News Clipping of articles about Captains Charles Porta and R.M. Olsen and the vessels the MOKIHANA and the HENRY KNOX)
Pamphlet about Whaling by Conlan Creative Lithographers, 1968

Collection Arrangement

Original order was maintained.

Related Materials

The San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park has numerous collections related to Victory ships. A few of these are listed below, but researchers will find more if they search the Park's web catalog.

NAVAJO VICTORY Logbooks, 1967-1968, SAFR 18647, HDC0566 AP2 and AP3 plans, engineering specifications and outfitting drawings, circa 1944, HDC1306

Lidgerwood Manufacturing Company instructions booklet, 1944, for Victory ship electro-hydraulic steering gear, SAFR 7839, HDC0673

SS FORDHAM VICTORY test records, 1945, SAFR 7840, HDC0674

U.S. Maritime Service Training School papers, 1944-1981, SAFR 8136, HDC0730

John Kinney-Ed Parker papers, 1943-1944, SAFR 14672, HDC1095, papers related to fitting Liberty and Victory ships at Kaiser Shipyard #2

Dolores H. Burns photo collection, 1943-1945, SAFR 17652, P88-011, group portrait at Kaiser Shipyard #2

This material is located at San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Naval engineering

Shipbuilding--military aspects--United States

World War, 1939-1945--naval operations

Architectural drawings--Marine

Blueprints

Diazotypes

shipfitting