SS Rufus C. Dawes

SS Rufus C. Dawes was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Rufus C. Dawes, an American businessman in oil and banking from Ohio. In the 1920s he served as an expert on the commissions to prepare the Dawes Plan and the Young Plan to manage German reparations to the Allies after World War I.

History
United States
Name	Rufus C. Dawes
Namesake	Rufus C. Dawes
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	Luckenbach Steamship Co., Inc.
Ordered	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 1204
Builder	St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida[1]
Cost	$2,017,460[2]
Yard number	12
Way number	6
Laid down	31 May 1943
Launched	4 September 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. Harry B. Hoyt
Completed	18 September 1943
Identification	Call sign: KXMC [2]
Fate	Placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Astoria, Oregon, 14 November 1946 Sold for scrapping, 29 February 1968, withdrawn from fleet, 26 March 1968
General characteristics [3]
Class & type	Liberty ship type EC2-S-C1, standard
Tonnage	10,865 LT DWT 7,176 GRT
Displacement	3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light) 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max)
Length	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa 416 feet (127 m) pp 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam	57 feet (17 m)
Draft	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa) 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion	1 × triple-expansion steam engine,  (manufactured by General Machinery Corp., Hamilton, Ohio) 1 × screw propeller
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m3) (grain) 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m3) (bale)
Complement	38–62 USMM 21–40 USNAG
Armament	Varied by ship Bow-mounted 3-inch (76 mm)/50-caliber gun Stern-mounted 4-inch (102 mm)/50-caliber gun 2–8 × single 20-millimeter (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or, 2–8 × 37-millimeter (1.46 in) M1 AA guns

Construction

Rufus C. Dawes was laid down on 31 May 1943, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1204, by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida; she was sponsored by Mrs. Harry B. Hoyt, sister of the namesake, and launched on 4 September 1943.^[1][2]

History

She was allocated to the Luckenbach Steamship Co., Inc., on 18 September 1943. On 14 November 1946, she was placed in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Astoria, Oregon. On 21 June 1955, she was withdrawn from the fleet to be loaded with grain under the "Grain Program 1955", she returned empty on 28 June 1955. She was sold for scrapping, 29 February 1968, to Oregon Shipwreckers, Inc., for $50,985.57. She was withdrawn from the fleet, 26 March 1968.^[4]