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TELESCOPE May 103 The "Lakers" of World War I AND THEIR PREDECESSORS: PART TWO The Pre-Lakers By the Rev. Edward J. Dowling, S. J After 1914, World War I was raging in Europe, and the world shipbuilding industry was busy. Great Lakes shipbuilders were then building ocean ships for European buyers on a large scale. Standardization of design and early forms of pre-fabrication and mass production began to come into the shipyard scene. Among the customers in these early years of the war were the neutral Scandinavian nations, especially Norway, whose shipyards and designers had evolved an economical medium-sized freighter known as the "Fredrikstad " (variously spelled) type or design. This type was the outgrowth of years of experience on short-sea operations on the Baltic and North Seas. Great Lakes shipyards built twenty-six such vessels in 1916 and 1917. Most of them were for European buyers, but some were for American coastwise and West Indies trades. The principal dimensions of this improved Fredrikstad type of freighter were as follows. length, over all length, between perpendiculars beam, molded depth, molded draft, deep water deadweight, loaded design block coefficient 261 feet 6 inches 253 feet 6 inches 43 feet 6 inches 22 feet 6 inches 19 feet 6 inches 3500 tons Three Island, Single Deck .790 approximately Here are the names, builders and other historical data on these vessels: