SS Stephen Furdek

SS Stephen Furdek
Career (United States)
Name:	Stephen Furdek
Namesake:	Stephen Furdek
Owner:	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator:	Merchants & Miners Transportation Company
Ordered:	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 2299
Builder:	J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida
Cost:	$991,203
Yard number:	40
Way number:	1
Laid down:	16 March 1944
Launched:	28 April 1944
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Virginia Dickerman
Completed:	23 May 1944
Identification:	Call Signal: KWBZ
Fate:	Laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama, 27 September 1948
Status:	Sold for scrapping, 13 May 1970
General characteristics
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 ft 6 in (135 m)
Beam:	56 ft 10.75 in (17.3419 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:	2 × oil-fired boilers 1 × triple-expansion steam engine, 2,500 horsepower (1,900 kW) (manufactured by Iron Fireman Manufacturing Co., Portland, Oregon) 1 × screw propeller
Speed:	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h)
Capacity:	10,800 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Complement:	41
Armament:	Stern-mounted 4"/50 caliber (102 mm) gun for use against surfaced submarines variety of anti-aircraft guns

SS Stephen Furdek was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Stephen Furdek, a Roman Catholic priest, co-founder of the First Catholic Slovak Union, commonly known as Jednota, and an ardent activist for Slovak identity and nationhood.

Construction

Stephen Furdek was laid down on 16 March 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2299, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida; she was launched on 28 April 1944.

History

She was allocated to Merchants & Miners Transportation Company, on 23 May 1944. On 27 September 1948, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in Mobile, Alabama. On 13 May 1970, she was sold, along with SS Isaac M. Singer, for $61,202.08 to Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation, for scrapping. She was withdrawn from the fleet on 1 June 1970.

Bibliography

• "Jones Construction, Panama City FL". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/jonespanamacity.htm. 
• "Liberty Ships – World War II". http://www.glynngen.com/nautical/glynn/libertyships.htm. 
• Maritime Administration. "Stephen Furdek". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/sh/ShipHistory/Detail/4682. 
• Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)". p. 23. http://www.ww2ships.com/acrobat/us-os-001-f-r00.pdf. 
• "SS Stephen Furdek". http://usmaritimecommission.de/query.php?datalist=1&typeofquery=Name%20of%20Ship&valueofquery=Stephen%20Furdek&code=B2299a.