The Design 1065 ship (full name Emergency Fleet Corporation Design 1065) was a wooden-hulled cargo ship design approved for production by the United States Shipping Board's Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) in World War I.[2] A total of 7 ships were ordered and completed for the USSB from 1918 to 1919.[2] The ships were constructed at the Bellingham, Washington shipyard of Pacific American Fisheries.[1] The USSB originally wanted Pacific American Fisheries to follow its standard "Ferris-type" design (Design 1001) used by other shipyards but PAF was successful in convincing them to use their own design which they felt was more seaworthy.[3] The cost was $50,000 per ship.[3]
Design 1065 ship SS Cruso in dazzle camouflage at the Pacific American Fisheries shipyard in 1918. | |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | EFC Design 1065 |
| Builders | Pacific American Fisheries, Bellingham, Washington |
| Cost | $50,000 |
| Built | 1918–1919 |
| Planned | 7 |
| Completed | 7 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 2,445 gross tons[1] 3,500 dwt |
| Length | 268 ft 4 in (81.79 m) |
| Beam | 46 ft 0 in (14.02 m) |
| Draft | 26 ft 0 in (7.92 m) |
| Propulsion | Twin triple-expansion engines |
One of these ships, originally named SS Clio, was later renamed Arcturus and served as the vessel for naturalist William Beebe's 1925 Arcturus scientific expedition.

Gallery
editReferences
edit- 1 2 Colton, Tim (August 25, 2021). "Emergency Shipbuilders of WWI". Retrieved September 6, 2021.
- 1 2 McKellar, p. Part II, 332 and 341.
- 1 2 Jewell, Jeff (May 31, 2008). "PAF fleet among the last of the coast's wooden trawlers". Bellingham Business Journal.
Bibliography
edit- McKellar, Norman L. "American Wooden Shipbuilding in World War One, Part II" (PDF). Steel Shipbuilding under the U. S. Shipping Board, 1917-1921. ShipScribe. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
- Bennett, Edwin C. (July 1925). "Equipping the Arcturus". Zoological Society Bulletin. 28 (4). New York Zoological Society: 87–90. Retrieved 11 May 2026. Detailed account of how Arcturus was converted into a research vessel.