Concrete Ships

The friendliest place on the web for anyone who enjoys boating.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Can't open some links right now...so not positive what it is...


The ruins of a concrete ship is just south of the entrance to the west end of the Cape May canal.....beached.


I also think some were used as a breakwater for the ferry landing on the Delmarva side of the old ferry route across the mouth of the Chesapeake.
 
Last edited:
Ferro-cement the was a favorite building material for amateur boat builders for many years. They thought it would be an easy cheap material to work with. It just made crappy boats that soon bled rust through the concrete. Back in the 1970s there was a company that made ferro-cement houseboats on the Miami River. They went bankrupt pretty quick.
 
When I was a little kid in Sausalito we used to go south to (I think) Santa Cruz. There was a beached concrete freighter hulk there that had been turned into a sort of amusement pier if memory serves. My mother or somebody told me it had been built by Kaiser as a prototype freighter but I can't remember for what purpose. I was just a few years old so the thing seemed huge to me but I'm guessing it wasn't actually all that large. I have no idea if it's still there.

PS-- So I just looked it up and apparently it is still there.
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    117.1 KB · Views: 103
Last edited:
Concrete tanker,aprox. 150 ft, and several concrete bridge pontoons form part of the breakwater at Tyee marina here in Tacoma
 
Concrete reinforced with steel is pretty amazing stuff. Probably not an optimal material for shipbuilding, but can be done. Especially if steel is scarce for some reason.
 
I enjoyed many a beer after work while standing on that boat Marin. It's not a bad place to watch the sun go down. 150 or so steps back up to street level will keep your legs in shape.
 
There was a concrete fish boat in Craig Alaska.

Didn't take a picture .. kinda rough looking .. may have hurt the camra.
 
Marin said:
When I was a little kid in Sausalito we used to go south to (I think) Santa Cruz. There was a beached concrete freighter hulk there that had been turned into a sort of amusement pier if memory serves. My mother or somebody told me it had been built by Kaiser as a prototype freighter but I can't remember for what purpose. I was just a few years old so the thing seemed huge to me but I'm guessing it wasn't actually all that large. I have no idea if it's still there.

PS-- So I just looked it up and apparently it is still there.
Click to expand...

Me too, but I'm not from Sausalito. Believe it's off Aptos if not Santa Cruz. The boat's remains were still there three years ago (Dad retired in Aptos and we occasionally revisited the site as part of reliving our younger years), but it has deteriorated (dissolving), and boarding the old ship has been prohibited. The pier is still there, so one can closely observe the remains.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Palo_Alto
 
Last edited:
The ones that were used as breakwaters are WWII liberty ships. There is a good article on them in Wikipedia. 2,700 of them were built during WWII as war supplies transport ships. The average build time was 42 days. Many became breakwaters and artificial reefs after the war.

Ted
 
All the floats for the floating bridges across Lake Washington in Seattle are made of concrete. I believe the bridge on Hood Canal is the same. Most of them are still floating. There have been a couple accidents, all human error, where some sections sank.
 
If I recall correctly...having read it and my grandfather telling me stories about them.... one of the major issues with the concrete ships was the concrete was worse than steel for causing injuries when hit by bullets/shells.
 
O C Diver said:
The ones that were used as breakwaters are WWII liberty ships. There is a good article on them in Wikipedia. 2,700 of them were built during WWII as war supplies transport ships. The average build time was 42 days. Many became breakwaters and artificial reefs after the war.
Ted
Click to expand...

Nope. They appear similar to Liberty Ships, but they are not. They are concrete ships and barges made by Barret and Hilp in San Francisco, CA, McCloskey Shipbuilding in Tampa, FL, Concrete Ship Constructors, National City, CA.

Older ships were of the Emergency Fleet Program and were built by various yards.

I'm kind of an expert in them actually. I have surveyed them and I have all of the drawings, and records from the US archives.
 
Last edited:
Maybe I should have said many, a lot on the East Coast are. Have dove on several liberty ship artificial reefs and there is a good example of a breakwater built from them at the entrance to the harbor of Cape Charles, Virginia.

Ted
 
O C Diver said:
Maybe I should have said many, a lot on the East Coast are. Have dove on several liberty ship artificial reefs and there is a good example of a breakwater built from them at the entrance to the harbor of Cape Charles, Virginia.

Ted
Click to expand...


The Kiptopeke breakwater is made out of McCloskey concrete ships as well.
 
Same idea: The tunnel crossing the Fraser river, for highway 99, was built ashore, of reinforced concrete, floated into place and sunk. That was done in the early 60s and is now scheduled for replacement by a new bridge to be built in the next few years.
 
HopCar said:
Ferro-cement the was a favorite building material for amateur boat builders for many years. They thought it would be an easy cheap material to work with. It just made crappy boats that soon bled rust through the concrete. Back in the 1970s there was a company that made ferro-cement houseboats on the Miami River. They went bankrupt pretty quick.
Click to expand...

All new(er) house boats in Holland (and there's a lot of them) have concrete tubs. Done right they require no maintenance and last (almost) forever....

Of course "done right" means the right mix, additives, metal reinforcement design, curing schedules/temperatures.....etc etc.

Do a Google Image search for "drijvende huizen"...... there's some amazing stuff there, including floating neighborhoods. When there's plenty of water and not enough land, you get creative.
 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2015-12-13 at 9.07.36 AM.jpg
    Screen Shot 2015-12-13 at 9.07.36 AM.jpg
    48.8 KB · Views: 59
Last edited:
oscar said:
All new(er) house boats in Holland (and there's a lot of them) have concrete tubs. Done right they require no maintenance and last (almost) forever....

Of course "done right" means the right mix, additives metal reinforcement design.....etc etc.
Click to expand...

Maybe "done right" means they stay in fresh or brackish water.
 
I am indeed not aware of concrete tubs in salt water.
 
oscar said:
I am indeed not aware of concrete tubs in salt water.
Click to expand...

Ferro-cement is ideal in salt water - the effect of osmosis is to help pull the water OUT of the cement, which cures it. This process continues FOREVER as the cement gains in strength, though it becomes immeasurable after a number of years.


Keith
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Pmcsurf1
WA to FL Cost: Shipping boat via truck or ship or cruise
2
Replies
34
Views
6K
Pete Meisinger
Pete Meisinger
RT Firefly
Cruise ship accident-2 crew dead
Replies
1
Views
424
CaptTom
CaptTom
Capn James Brett
For Sale: Stern Passerelle or Gangway if you're going to Europe
Replies
0
Views
636
Capn James Brett
Capn James Brett
Portage_Bay
Sitex by Comnav autopilot
Replies
28
Views
2K
Portage_Bay
Portage_Bay
alfamike
Panama Canal reducing vessel traffic due to drought.
Replies
12
Views
1K
PierreR
P

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom