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USS ''West Alsek'' (ID-3119) was a cargo ship in the United States Navy during World War I. She had been built as SS ''West Alsek'' for the United States Shipping Board (USSB) as part of the ''West'' boats, cargo ships built on the West Coast of the United States. She sailed on two voyages for the U.S. Navy before she was decommissioned after the Armistice. ''West Alsek'' was selected for a test program by the addition of coal pulverizers—units that crushed coal and mixed it with air for injection into the boilers. She became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic ocean depending solely on pulverized coal. Test results showed that she sailed faster and used less coal than before the conversion. ''West Alsek'' was later abandoned by the USSB and scrapped in 1933. == 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 United States Shipping Board (USSB) for emergency use during World War I. All were given names that began with the word ''West'', like ''West Alsek'',〔Crowell and Wilson, pp. 358–59.〕 named, in part, after the Alsek River in Alaska. ''West Alsek'' was one of some 24 ''West'' ships built by Skinner & Eddy of Seattle, Washington.〔 ''West Alsek'' (Skinner & Eddy No. 22, USSB No. 87)〔 was launched on 4 May 1918 and delivered to the United States Navy upon completion later in the month.〔〔 ''West Alsek'' was built in a total of 78 working days, 92 calendar days,〔Hurley, pp. 92–93.〕 and was tied with three other ships for tenth place on a list of the ten fastest constructed ocean-going vessels compiled in 1920.〔〔The other three ships tied for tenth-fastest were and —both also constructed by Skinner & Eddy, and ''Lake Gardner''. See: Hurley, p. 93.〕 Skinner & Eddy received a $25,000 bonus for completing the ship early.〔Shipping Board Operations, p. 624.〕 The ship was ,〔 and was long (between perpendiculars) and abeam. ''West Alsek'' had a steel hull and a mean draft of .〔 She displaced 12,226 t,〔 and had a deadweight tonnage of . The ship had a single triple-expansion steam engine powered by three coal-fired boilers that generated and drove her single screw propeller, and moved the ship at a pace.〔〔 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「USS West Alsek (ID-3119)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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