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SS ''Empire Simba'' was a British steam-powered cargo ship. She was originally an American ship, launched in 1918 as SS ''West Cohas''. During a stint in the United States Navy from 1918 to 1919, she was called USS ''West Cohas'' (ID-3253). ''West Cohas'' was built in 1918 for the as part of the ''West'' boats, a series of steel-hulled cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States for the World War I war effort. She was the 24th ship built by Skinner & Eddy of Seattle, Washington, and was completed in 88 calendar days. She was commissioned into the of the United States Navy as USS ''West Cohas'' (ID-3253) in June 1918. After several overseas trips for the Navy, she was decommissioned in May 1919 and returned to the . ''West Cohas'' ran aground off Sable Island in 1925 while trying to assist a vessel in distress, but otherwise had a relatively uneventful merchant career for the . In 1933, she was sold to the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company. In 1939, she collided with the Irish passenger ship ''Munster'', which damaged both vessels. In June 1940, ''West Cobalt'' was sold to British interests and renamed ''Empire Simba''. During convoy service in World War II, ''Empire Simba'' initially sailed between the United Kingdom and North America carrying cargos of scrap iron from the United States. She was bombed by a German aircraft on 1 March and abandoned. She was towed to port for repairs but was struck by a German land mine dropped in a bombing raid. After six months of repairs, she began sailing roundtrips to Freetown, Sierra Leone. On one return voyage to the UK in July 1944, she collided with another ship in the convoy. After splitting the rest of the war between voyages to North America and Africa, ''Empire Simba'' was loaded with chemical weapons in August 1945 and scuttled west of Ireland. ==Design and construction== The ''West'' ships were cargo ships of similar size and design built by several shipyards on the West Coast of the United States for the for emergency use during World War I. All were given names that began with the word ''West'', like ''West Cohas'', one of some 24 ''West'' ships built by Skinner & Eddy of Seattle, Washington.〔〔Skinner & Eddy was an emergency shipyard that operated only from 1916 until about 1920.〕 ''West Cohas'' (Skinner & Eddy No. 24, No. 1177)〔 was launched on 4 May 1918 and delivered to the United States Navy upon completion later in the month.〔〔 ''West Cohas'' was built in a total of 73 working days, 88 calendar days,〔 and was listed in seventh place on a list of the ten fastest-built ocean-going vessels compiled in 1920.〔Hurley, however, reports ''West Cohas''s construction time as 85 calendar days. Skinner & Eddy's number of 89 days would put ''West Cohas'' at number nine on the list.〕 Skinner & Eddy received a $64,000 bonus for completing the ship early.〔Shipping Board Operations, p. 624.〕 The ship was long between perpendiculars〔 and overall,〔 and had a beam of .〔 Her draught was (mean)〔 or 〔 and her depth of hold was .〔 Her tonnages were ,〔 5,173 tons under deck;〔 〔 12,225 displacement.〔 The ship had a double reduction-geared steam turbine that drove her single screw propeller, giving her a speed of .〔 By 1930 her equipment included submarine signalling and radio.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「SS Empire Simba」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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