The Seamaster class of the Marad Design C4-S-69a , later Marad Design C6-s-69c, was a five-unit type of ship of the American President Lines . The fast freighters were considered the largest and fastest conventional general cargo ships when they were built.
The design of the Seamaster class was commissioned by the US shipping company American President Lines from the New York marine engineering firm George G. Sharp. The construction of the five ships, each costing around 13.5 million US dollars, was initially carried out by MARAD as type C4-S-69a as part of the Long Range Shipbuilding Program . The builder Ingalls Shipbuilding from Pascagoula delivered the ship series 1967/68 within only seven months. The ships were finally used on the services operated by American Mail Lines from the United States to Asia. After around five years of service, all five ships were extended in 1972 at the Todd Shipyards shipyard in San Pedro and converted into full container ships. After the conversion, the ships were given the MARAD designation C6-s-69c.
The type of ship reached speeds of 24 knots thanks to its geared steam turbine drive. On the return voyage of her maiden voyage , the model ship President van Buren reached a speed record in 1967 from Yokohama to San Francisco with an average speed of 25.55 knots. A special technical feature of the ships was an electric emergency drive with an output of around 700 hp attached to the reduction gear, which was fed by a gas turbine generator.
Overview
Five MARAD Type C4-S-69a ships were built.
Seamaster class
Building name
Shipyard / construction number
IMO number
Commissioning
Renaming and whereabouts
President van Buren
Ingalls Shipbuilding / 489
6708496
29th September 1967
1988 Howell Lykes , 1993 President van Buren , 1993 Van Buren , scrapped in Alang from December 17, 1993
President Grant
Ingalls Shipbuilding / 490
6711558
October 27, 1967
Stranded in thick fog in the harbor entrance of Keelung on September 1, 1976, towed free on September 9 and sunk
President Taft
Ingalls Shipbuilding / 491
6718518
December 15, 1967
sold for demolition to Chien Yu Steel Company of Kaohsiung on December 22, 1992
President McKinley
Ingalls Shipbuilding / 492
6728147
March 18, 1968
chartered to Lykes Lines on April 12, 1987 and renamed Almeria Lykes , later returned and chartered to Sealand on February 9, 1993 and renamed Sea-Land Shining Star , sold to Sealand on September 15, 1993, demolition in Alang from 3. May 1996
President Johnson
Ingalls Shipbuilding / 493
6812429
May 31, 1968
Launched as President Filmore , chartered to Lykes Lines on May 10, 1987 and renamed Mason Lykes , back on June 28, 1993, renamed again to President Filmore and launched in San Diego, sold to Western Overseas Company on January 4, 1994 and sold to India scrapped
