MS American Leader

MS American Leader at sea in 1941
History
Name:	MS American Leader
Operator:	United States Lines
Port of registry:	New York
Builder:	Western Pipe and Steel Company
Yard number:	58
Launched:	8 October 1940
Acquired:	12 June 1941
Maiden voyage:	June 1941
Out of service:	10 September 1942
Fate:	Sunk by torpedo
General characteristics
Class and type:	C1-B
Tonnage:	8,015
Displacement:	12,875
Length:	417.75 ft (127 m)
Beam:	60 ft (18 m)
Draft:	27 ft (8 m)
Installed power:	2 Busch-Sulzer 2-cycle, trunk-piston diesel engines
Propulsion:	4-blade single screw
Speed:	14 knots (26 km/h; 16 mph)
Capacity:	8 passengers (4 spares)
Crew:	43 (2 spares)

MS American Leader was a merchant cargo ship which entered service for the United States Lines in 1941. It was most noted for falling victim to the German auxiliary cruiser Michel during the Second World War. Her surviving crew members were taken as prisoners of war and collectively they endured three ship sinkings.

American Leader was one of five vessels constructed by the Western Pipe and Steel Company from the US Maritime Commission's Type C1-B design. The detailed building plans were prepared for Western Pipe and Steel by New York naval architect George G. Sharp. In the 1930s American shipyards were making a transition from riveting to welding as the main building method and Western had been a pioneer in using these techniques since 1929. Welding reduced weight and steel usage because plate seams did not have to overlap as with riveting. New workers acquired welding skills more quickly than riveting techniques. Welding transformed shipbuilding by allowing assembly in modules which could be placed sideways or even upside down to facilitate construction.

The C1-B cargo ships were constructed with flush full scantling type decks having a raked stem and cruiser stern. Two complete steel decks, the main and second decks, were fitted and a third deck was fitted below the second deck extending from the stem to the forward machinery space bulkhead. The double bottom extended from the forward collision bulkhead to the after collision bulkhead. Two 28-foot lifeboats, with a capacity of 60 persons each, were stowed under mechanical davits on the bridge deck.

The hull was subdivided by seven transverse bulkheads, all watertight to the main deck. Five cargo holds were provided: three forward and two aft of the machinery space. Cargo was handled through five hatches, one for each hold. Deep tanks were provided for 702 tons of liquid cargo.

The crew accommodations were all in a midship deck house. Crew quarters, messrooms, galley, hospital and the ship's stores were on the main deck. Officers' quarters, accommodations for eight passengers, a combined dining room/lounge and the pantry are on the cabin deck. The captain's office and stateroom and the chief mate's stateroom were on the bridge deck with the wheel house, chart room, radio room, gyro room, fan room and the emergency generator room. Mechanical ventilation and heating was provided for all living and working spaces.