Hog Islander - Hog Island

Hog Island

Hog Island in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, was the first shipyard ever built for mass production of ships from fabricated parts and sub-assemblies, produced at dozens of subcontractors. It had 50 shipways, seven wet docks and a holding basin.

Only two basic designs, EFC 1022 and EFC 1024, were to be fabricated at the yard, these became collectively known as "Hog Islanders". The Type A design (1022) was a cargo carrier and the Type B (1024) was designed to transport troops. Both were simple designs geared toward mass production and aesthetic considerations were ignored. These were very modern in design except for the aesthetics. The vessels were fueled by oil rather than coal, with modern geared turbines of 2500 shaft horsepower capable of producing up to 15 knots (28 km/h).

The design had a minimum of frills with no sheer (upward curve at the bow or stern), resulting in a squat, angular silhouette. The hulls were symmetrical from the sides. The combination produced an unconventional look and profile. These ships were considered ugly but well built and had good performance in terms of capacity and speed. The profile created a form of camouflage because the lack of sheer in the bow, high stern, and the evenly balanced superstructure, made it difficult for submarines to tell which direction the ships were going.

The Hog Island contract was for 180 ships, but only 122 were completed, and none were completed in time to be used before the war ended. The first ship, the SS Quistconck, was launched on August 5, 1918, and the last of 122 ships on January 29, 1921.

Though not effective in World War I, these ships were used extensively by the military and Merchant Marine. Fifty eight, nearly half, of the Hog Islanders were sunk during World War II. The Liberty ships built during World War II used a similar concept of production, but a completely different design; in most ways the Hog Islanders were a more advanced design, despite their age.