page_title: Type C2 ship
section_title: Notable incidents
hierarchical_section_title: Type C2 ship / Notable incidents
caption_attribution_description: The U.S. Navy stores ship USS Polaris (AF-11) operating off Korea, in 1953.
context_page_description: Type C2 ships were designed by the United States Maritime Commission in 1937–38. They were all-purpose cargo ships with five holds, and U.S. shipyards built 173 of them from 1939 to 1945. Compared to ships built before 1939, the C2s were remarkable for their speed and fuel economy. Their design speed was 15.5 knots, but some could make 19 knots on occasion. The first C2s were 459 feet long, 63 feet broad, and 40 feet deep, with a 25-foot draft. Later ships varied somewhat in size. Some, intended for specific trade routes, were built with significant modifications in length and capacity.
  In 1937, MARCOM distributed tentative designs for criticism by shipbuilders, ship owners, and naval architects. The final designs incorporated many changes suggested by these constituencies. The ships were to be reasonably fast but economical cargo ships which, with some government subsidies to operators, could compete with vessels of other nations. Building costs were to be minimized by standardization of design and equipment, and the ships were to have sufficient speed and stability that they could be used as naval auxiliaries in time of national emergency.
context_section_description: Highflier a C2-S-B, exploded and sank in 1947.
  Wild Rover a C2-S-B1, renamed Mormackite capsized in heavy seas and sank off Cape Henry on 7 October 1954. Survivors were attacked by sharks.
  USS Starlight, a C2-S-AJ1, on 26 December 1969 with a full load of 8,900 bombs, rockets, shells and mines bound for Da Nang, South Vietnam a bomb went off in rough seas.  On 5 January 1970 she sank. 29 members of her crew died.
  USS Towner, a C2-S-AJ3, renamed SS Guam Bear wrecked and sank in 1967. She was in a collision outside Apra Harbor, Guam. A constructive total loss, the hulk was towed 2 nautical miles (3.7 km; 2.3 mi) off shore and scuttled.
  SS American Shipper, a C2-S-AJ5. Delivered December 1945. Sank in 1974 in the Balintang Channel, 400 miles (640 km) southeast of Hong Kong.
  SS Santa Elisa was torpedoed in 1942 and sank off Tunisia.
  SS Santa Rita was torpedoed in 1942, sank in North Atlantic.
  SS Louise Lykes was torpedoed and sank in the North Atlantic in 1943.
  SS Shooting Star was torpedoed and sank in South Atlantic in 1943.
  USS Pollux was wrecked and sank off Newfoundland in 1942.
  USS Mount Hood exploded and sank in the Admiralty Islands in 1944.
  SS Fairport was torpedoed and sank in the North Atlantic in 1942.
  SS Santa Catalina was torpedoed and sank off Georgia 1943.
  SS African Star was torpedoed and sank in the South Atlantic in 1942.
  SS African Dawn (CH-111) collided with a tanker in convoy, 2300 hrs, Oct 28 1943.
  USS Starlight sank 5 January 1970 north of Midway Atoll
caption: USS Polaris operating off Korea, 1953, a C2
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