Description
Payment must be made within 3 days of the end of auction. I have been collecting RPPCs and other Real Photos, mostly maritime related, for 25 years. I'm now thinning my collection a bit so check back often to see new listings or check the "Follow This Seller" button. I combine shipping for multi-wins. For multi-wins, please wait for an Ebay invoice from me before making payment. Happy bidding! LUMBER CARRIER ADELINE SMITH: The second of the packaged lumber carriers for operation by C.A. Smith between Coos Bay and California, the steel Adeline Smith with a triple-expansion engine and 2,000,000-foot lumber capasity , was completed at Newport News and entered service in 1912. Relying entirely on the shoreside cranes at Marshfield and Port Chicago, she had no cargo gear while in this trade, except a single boom forward for handling mill supplies The government having taken over the packaged lumber carriers Nann Smith and Adeline Smith for war time service, the C.A. Smith Lumber Co. in early 1917 commissioned Edward S. Hough to design a wooden vessel of a large carrying capacity which could be built in a minimum of time. The basic hull design of these vessels was adapted by Mr. Hough when he was commissioned by the U. S. Shipping Board to design a standardized wooden cargo steamer for mass production, resulting in the famous Hough-type steamship of the World War I wooden shipbuilding era. In 1918 the Adeline Smith, following govertment service, passed to the Dollar Steamship Co. and was renamed Stanley Dollar. The Adeline Smith was a sturdy vessel, indeed. From 1922 to 1941 the ship operated on the West Coast as the lumber carrier W. R. CHAMBERLAIN, JR. On January 3, 1942 WSA chartered the small freighter at San Pedro, Cal., from her owner, W. R. Chamberlain & Co. and simultaneously chartered her to the Army. The Army delivered her to a contractor, Johnson, Drake, & Piper, Inc., of New York City, and she was then converted to a salvage vessel by the San Diego Marine Construction Co., and fitted out, equipped, and manned for a salvage expedition conducted by the North African Military Mission. Her forecastle was built up to provide accommodations for her much enlarged crew and a new low deckhouse was fitted amidships containing a carpentry shop and a machine shop. The ship also received an air conditioning system and diesel generators. W. R. CHAMBERLAIN, JR. (ex-Adeline Smith) sailed from San Diego on April 28, 1942 and arrived on August 12 at Massawa, Ethiopia, where she participated in the clearance and reopening of the port. This project had been undertaken in April 1942 as Lend-Lease assistance to the United Kingdom under the leadership of Capt. Edward Ellsberg, USNR. In November 1942 Gen. Eisenhower ordered Capt. Ellsburg to the newly captured port of Oran, Algeria, to salvage ships there, and in mid-December 1942 Ellsburg ordered the three salvage ships operated at Massawa by Johnson, Drake & Piper, W. R. CHAMBERLAIN, JR., and two tugs owned by the Army, RESOLUTE and INTENT to proceed to Oran via the Cape of Good Hope. W. R. CHAMBERLAIN, JR. departed Massawa in early January 1943. By the time she arrived at Oran Ellsberg had been invalided home and the Navy had decided to take over the three ships. The designation of the W. R. CHAMBERLAIN, JR. as USS TACKLE (ARS-37) was approved on 8 Jun 43. The Navy decided to man her with Navy crews to permit her use in active military zones. TACKLE suffered shock damage to her propulsion plant at Naples, Italy, on November 5, 1943 from a nearby bomb detonation, and the ship subsequently reported that her armament was insufficient and that her .50 caliber machine guns should be replaced by at least 6-20mm AA. On September 4, 1944 the ship's stern was damaged by an underwater explosion (probably a mine) at Port de Bouc, France, and she was towed to Toulon by ARIKARA (ATF-98) for repairs.
