USS West Lianga (ID-2758) - Design and Construction

Design and Construction

The West ships were cargo ships of similar size and design built by several shipyards on the West Coast of the United States for the United States Shipping Board for emergency use during World War I. All were given names that began with the word West, like West Lianga, one of some 24 West ships built by Skinner & Eddy of Seattle, Washington. West Lianga (Skinner & Eddy No. 21; No. 1176) was laid down on 14 February 1918. When she was launched on 20 April with an elapsed time of 55 working days—65 calendar days—from keel laying to launch, it was in world-record time, beating the launch of Columbia River Shipbuilding's West Grove, launched after 61 working days in March.

When West Lianga was completed on 4 May, 67 working days after her keel laying, it was another world record, shaving 18 days off of Columbia River Shipbuilding's previous record. By 1920, West Lianga had fallen to third-fastest when Edward N. Hurley, the wartime chairman of the, compiled a list of the ten fastest-constructed ocean-going vessels for his 1920 book The New Merchant Marine. Skinner & Eddy received a $71,600 bonus for completing the ship early.

West Lianga was 5,673 gross register tons (GRT), and was 409 feet 5 inches (124.79 m) long (between perpendiculars) and 54 feet 2 inches (16.51 m) abeam. West Lianga had a steel hull and a deadweight tonnage of 8,800 DWT. The ship had a single steam turbine that drove her single screw propeller which moved the ship at an 11.5-knot (21.3 km/h) pace.