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MAY +x _ JUN, 1982 Page 59 SO LONG C-4! a by PAUL WIENING Born of necessity, war-built ships have time. always had their shortcomings. During the During World War IJ, standardization major conflagrations of this century, the Federal Government has needed cargo ships to provide transportation of vital goods, services, and troops. Since ships were vul- nerable to all types of attack, they had to be both fast and readily available. In most in- stances, the Government ordered large num- bers of standardized designs from many different yards. Standardization has proven to be the answer. During the First World War, hundreds of canal-size "Lakers" were produced on the Great Lakes by all of the shipyards in the United States. Canadian shipyards also pro- duced in large quantities in a minimum of was again requested, and the familiar "Mari- time" class of vessel was produced on the Great Lakes. For ocean service, the popular and numerous "Liberty" and "Victory" class ships emerged as a product of these conflicts. Along with them came other standardized types of vessels, such as the various T-class tankers, and C-class cargo ships. Toward the end of the war came the large C-4 class of ships. These were built in various shipyards across the United States in numbers approaching one hundred. These ships of various designs were built between 1944 and 1946; were 522 feet in length; were functional and fast; and were relatively sparse as far as The first of the Lakes C-4's was the TOM M. GIRDLER. Seen here when still operated by Republic Steel at the Soo in November, 1969. Author's Photo