Readers of naval history with only a casual interest in merchant ships might be under the impression that America built all of the standard merchant types in WWII. The Liberty Ship program in particular was a massive project, and literally thousands were built. Contrary to this general impression, the American built ships were not the only standard designs to be built in quantity. British yards also built large numbers of merchant ships of all types. Prefabrication on the American pattern was not possible because new yards could not be created due to lack of suitable sites. Also, there was limited space for expansion of existing facilities. Instead, suitable designs already in hand were mass produced in existing yards. One of the more important pre-war designs built in quantity was the Doxford tramp.

William Doxford began his small shipbuilding business in 1840, establishing a yard on the upper reaches of the River Wear. He quickly established a reputation for good design and workmanship. Initially the yard built small salling ships. By 1857 Doxford was joined by his two sons and the yard was relocated to a larger site at Pallion. By 1870, still more land was acquired, and the yard began the transition from wood to iron and began building steamships. In the mid 1870's William Doxford and Sons received their first Admiralty contracts, for a series of three gunboats. Later in the 1890's they built several torpedo boats for the Royal Navy. Merchant ships continued to be their primary focus. In the 1890's the firm was designing and building the first of many "turret" ships, a unique design of tramp steamer. The design was distinctive because of it's hull form. This was a patent design of about 340 feet in length, 45 feet wide, and a deadweight capacity of 4,500 tons. In all, 178 of these ships were constructed for a variety of owners over a period of eleven years. (The turret style tramp steamer design will be the subject of a future article in this series).

In 1901 the firm converted to a public company and continued to expand so that by 1902 the yard and facilities covered 32 acres. The Sunderland area had become the home of many small shipyards, and Doxford's was now the largest. In WWI they were heavily involved in the war effort, building government barges, 13 tramp steamers of two different types, and a total of 20 destroyers for the Royal Navy.

For several years before the Great War Doxford's was engaged in research work attempting to design an efficient oil engine for a motor driven tramp steamer. The first design was a single cylinder unit. Ship hulls and engine designs developed in parallel. Their first two motor ships were built in 1921-22. A much improved design followed, which progressively evolved in the 1930's. The engine was standardized as a three cylinder unit, very economical, of a relatively low horsepower rating. Tank tests were run to find the optimum hull form for this powerplant. The result was designated "The Doxford Economy Ship". This translated into a ship of about 9,000 deadweight tons with a hull length of about 420 ft. The design was so successful that the Admiralty permitted Doxford's to continue production under the WWII emergency programs as a standard cargo vessel. Nearly 80 ships of this type were completed.

At this point in time, motor ships were not very common. Tramp steamers were usually powered by triple expansion steam engines with scotch boilers. This common installation required relatively unskilled labor to run and maintain. Parts and repairs could be easily obtained in ports around the world. However, the motor ships soon demonstrated their worth and in the process educated ship owners to the advantages of oil fired ships. Over 20 different private owners operated these ships during the war, in addition to the vessels built for the Ministry of Transport.

Whereas the traditional tramp steamer could barely average 10 knots and burned 30 to 40 tons of coal a day, the motor ships could average 11 knots on just over 9 tons of oil. Coal fired tramps usually had to bunker at each arrival in a British port The oil fired vessels were able to fill their tanks abroad and make a round trip, thus preserving stocks of this increasingly precious commodity. This was a particular advantage on the North Atlantic convoy runs.

Great difficulty was experienced in keeping station in convoy on the westward passage as the ships were not designed with enough ballast space. Side ballast tanks of 500 ton capacity were added as a result. The tanks were later removed and some of the ships produced towards the end of the war dispensed with this feature. The following particulars apply to all of the ships in the series. Length, (waterline) 420 ft. Length, (registered) 429 ft. Molded beam, 56 ft. 6in. Depth, 35 ft. Speed loaded, 11-12 knots. BHP 2,500.

There is little doubt that the operating experience gained in these ships during the war helped convince many ship owners of the economic advantages of this type of vessel. Traditional steamship operators, who would not have considered a diesel ship under the pre-war trading conditions, reconsidered their position in light of this expenence. In the more demanding postwar economy, motor ships became increasingly popular and the traditional steamers began to fade away. Some famous shipping companies operated this class of ship. British India, P & 0, Anchor Line, Hain SS Ltd, Bank Line, and Reardon-Smith were some of the more prominent firms. Most of the ships had long and useful careers, passing through several owners, and operating on all of the world's oceans. Many were "sold east" to oriental firms in the 1960's as the revolution in merchant ship design, (to LASH and RO-RO vessels, container ships, and bulk carriers), made the traditional tramp obsolete. The last of these sturdy merchantmen was scrapped in the early 1970's.

1/700 Scale Drawings