Gen. E. O. C. Ord (1909 Mineplanter)

Gen. E. O. C. Ord was a United States Army Coast Artillery Corps mine planter built in 1909 by Pusey & Jones of Wilmington, Delaware to an Army Quartermaster Corps design. The mine planter was among the first vessels specifically designed to plant controlled mines in association with coastal fortifications. The first group had been built in 1904 with a second group built in 1909. Four of the 1909 planters, the first to be specifically designed for mine planting, were 165 ft (50.3 m), steam-powered, twin-screw vessels.^{[note 2]} At the time the vessels were civilian crewed. In 1918 the Army Mine Planter Service of uniformed Army personnel was formed to operate the vessels.^[1][3][4]

History
Name	Gen. E. O. C. Ord
Namesake	Major General Edward Otho Cresap Ord
Owner	U.S. Army
Operator	U.S. Army (civilian operators) (1909–1918) U.S. Army Mine Planter Service (1918–1948)
Builder	Pusey & Jones, Wilmington, Delaware
Yard number	335
Launched	13 February 1909
In service	1909
Out of service	1948
Fate	Scrapped 1948
General characteristics [1]
Type	Mine planter
Tonnage	590 GRT[2] 401 NRT[2]
Length	165 ft (50.3 m) length on deck 154 ft (46.9 m) length on load line
Beam	32 ft (9.8 m)
Draft	10 ft (3.0 m)
Depth	17 ft (5.2 m)
Installed power	Steam, 2 boilers, for engines and auxiliaries. 1 20 kW (27 hp) generator for electrical
Propulsion	2 compound vertical, 2 cyl, 345 ihp (257 kW) each
Speed	13 mph (11 kn; 21 km/h)[note 1]

The vessel was constructed by Pusey & Jones as hull number 335, contract 1158 with the hull in very early stage of construction on 8 October 1908, with launching on 13 February 1909.^[5][6][7]

The steel hull was divided into five compartments by watertight bulkheads with the double bottom running the entire length and also divided into compartments. Fresh water storage was in fore and aft bottom compartments with the ones between used for ballast adjusting draft and trim.^{[note 3]} A steam and pump brake windlass was located forward for mine handling.^[1]

Footnotes

1. Stated in statute miles per hour, not unusual for inland or Army vessels.
2. The four vessels were built at different yards.
3. See inboard profile on page 18 of the reference "Twin Screw Steamer for Submarine Mine Service" for detail.