Born in the USA

‘Faith’ was the first large scale, seagoing concrete ship built in the USA. At the time of her completion she was by far the largest concrete ship in the world, built by San Francisco Shipbuilding Co. of  Redwood City, California.

Construction of ‘Faith’ started in September 1917 and on 14th March 1918, she was launched at Oakland. 

She was 320’ long and 44’6” wide with a deadweight capacity of 4,500 tons, powered by a 1,700 ihp oil powered steam engine.The installation of the engines, boilers and other equipment was started right away and it took just 44 days  to complete her, ready for her sea trials which she passed with flying colours.

You can read a lot more about the construction and launch of  'Faith' in our Blog https://thecretefleet.com/blog/f/faith---americas-first-seagoing-concrete-ship---part-1

She left San Francisco on May 22nd 1918 with a cargo of rock salt and copper ore, bound for Seattle, on the trip surviving eighty mile an hour gales and waves of 35 feet high. Many voyages followed and she journeyed to many Atlantic and Pacific ports including countries such as Chile, Cuba, Panama, Ecuador, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil.

In the summer of 1919, she travelled across the Atlantic, arriving in London on 20th August 1919, the first concrete ship ever to make a trans-Atlantic crossing, returning to the USA in September 1919.

By 1920, the shipping industry was in the doldrums and, due to being heavier than her steel equivalents, she was more expensive to run. Despite having a fine track record, by August of 1921 she was effectively laid up in New Orleans, where she was put up for sale in order to pay the crew’s wages. 

There were no buyers interested in her as a working ship, and she was ‘sold for a song’ in December 1921, to be dismantled. Having been stripped of all machinery, equipment and fittings, she was left on the river for a decade

In 1932, her hulk was towed to a river in Mexico where she was scuttled as embankment in the Grijalva River.

The full story of 'Faith' is told in our Blog https://thecretefleet.com/blog

‘S.S. Atlantus’ was the first of the US  Emergency Fleet concrete ships, built by Liberty Ship Building Co, Brunswick, Georgia to be launched. 

She was the only ship built to the experimental EFC design 1040 and she was approximately 250 feet long and 43.5 feet wide. Her notional deadweight was 3000 tons.

On 4th December 1918 she entered the water, stern first, and was named the ‘Atlantus’ by Mrs. Woodrow Wilson. 

During the first half of 1919, Her Triple Expansion, 1520 ihp, steam engines were installed by American Shipbuilding Co. during the first half of 1919 and she could reach a speed of 10.5 knots.

In August 1919, she was handed over to Raporel S.S. Co., New England, to be used in the coal trade and in November 1919, after a final sea trial, S.S. Atlantus received her temporary classification document. It was 24th January 1920, when her Permanent Documentation was issued. 

As explained in our very detailed Blog about S.S. Atlantus, and contrary to the Urban Myth that surrounds her, she did not make a single Trans-Atlantic voyage and she did not pick up US Troops from Europe. She was used in the New England coal trade.

Her recorded journeys are listed in our Blog but to keep it simple, she made 8 trips from her Norfolk base, travelling around 7,500 nautical miles, carrying an average of 2,000 tons of coal per trip over a period of just under 11 months before she was laid up at Norfolk and her Documentation surrendered on 25th October 1920.

The reason she was laid up was that she was expensive to run, freight rates had dropped and generally the shipping industry was in the doldrums. 

She was laid up for quite a number of years until, in 1925, she was sold to H. P. Etheridge, Inc. of Norfolk, taken to Baltimore, and dismantled at a salvage yard. 

In 1926, the hull of Atlantus was bought by Colonel Jesse Rosenfeld of Baltimore for usage as ferry pier by his prospective ferry corporation for landings at Cape May, New Jersey from Lewes, Delaware. She arrived on 8th June 1926 at Cape May, a date often incorrectly given as the date of her grounding. 

Actually, it was 13th of July 1926 when  ‘Atlantus’ was blown aground during a storm at Cape May Point. An incorrect date is not the end of the World, but Urban Myths such as S.S. Atlantus travelling the Atlantic to pick up troops - a statement proudly displayed on a sign at Cape May beach - pervert the course of history !!

Since 1926, S.S Atlantus has been battered by storms, ice flows, you name it, and it is a testimony to her strength that any of her is still visible above the water. A steel ship would have broken up long ago. Will she survive to be still visible for her Cape May centennial ? I wonder . . . .

Full details of the Life & Times of S.S. Atlantus are available at https://thecretefleet.com/blog/f/myth-buster-blog---ss-atlantus-the-legend-and-her-urban-myth

S.S. Polias was built  by the Fougner Shipbuilding Co. of Flushing Bay, New York, a company incorporated by Nicolay K Fougner

The order to build ‘Polias’ came from the Concrete Ship Section of the U.S. Shipping Board in February 1918,  and construction starting in August 1918.

S.S Polias was a cargo carrier of approximately 268’ length, 46’ wide and 26’6” deep, with a Total Deadweight of 2,460 tons. Her propulsion was Triple Cylinder Steam Engine producing 1520 IHP and she was capable of 10.5 knots.

She was launched, stern first, on 22nd May 1919. 

Having been launched, Polias was towed to Lord Construction Co., Field’s Point, Providence, Rhode Island for fitting of her engine, boilers, and other machinery. By 15th October 1919 she was able to proceed under her own power to New York to be dry-docked. Her registration certificate was issued on 5th December 1919.

She was chartered by the Puerto Rico Steam Ship. Co., a company that was engaged in the New England coal trade and made a number of voyages carrying coal around New England. Erlend Bonderud tracked down 4 voyages between December 1919 and February 2020 where she carried an average of over 2,000 tons of coal per trip.

On  6th February 1920, she ran aground in blizzard conditions at Old Cilley Ledge, off Port Clyde, Maine. Sadly, a number of crew members (11 or maybe 14)  'abandoned ship' against the orders of the Captain and were never seen again. The remainder of the crew were rescued the next day.

Early attempts to salvage S.S. Polias failed and by 1922, the idea was abandoned. In 1923, the wreck slipped back into deeper water although her bulkhead was still visible at low tide.

An entrepreneur, a Mr. Elliot, bought the wreck for $225 and recovered equipment and artefacts from her, some of which are now on display at the Marshall Point Lighthouse Museum in Port Clyde 

You can read the full story of S.S. Polias at https://thecretefleet.com/blog/f/ss-polias---concrete-ship-of-the-us-world-war-i-emergency-fleet?blogcategory=Vintage+photos