SS Selma (1919)

SS Selma
	Wreckage of SS Selma in 2013
History
Name	SS Selma
Builder	F.F. Ley and Company, Mobile, Alabama
Launched	28 June 1919
Fate	Abandoned in 1922
General characteristics
Tonnage	6,826 GRT; 4,225 NRT;
Length	425 ft (129.54 m)
Beam	54 ft (16.46 m)
Draught	36 ft (10.97 m)
Propulsion	T.3-cyl.; 359 nhp; Single screw;
	SS Selma (steamship)
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	SS Selma Show map of TexasShow map of the United StatesShow all
Nearest city	Galveston, TX
Coordinates	29°20′39″N 94°47′11″W / 29.3442°N 94.7863°WCoordinates: 29°20′39″N 94°47′11″W / 29.3442°N 94.7863°W
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP reference No.	93001449
Added to NRHP	January 5, 1994

SS Selma was an oil tanker built in 1919 by F.F. Ley and Company, Mobile, Alabama. President Woodrow Wilson approved the construction of 24 concrete vessels of which only 12 were actually completed.

SS Selma is the only permanent, and prominent, wreck along the Houston Ship Channel. It lies approximately one mile north of Galveston Island.

Construction and career[]

Steel shortages during World War I led the US to build experimental concrete ships, the largest of which was the SS Selma, today partially submerged in Galveston Bay and visible from both the Houston Ship Channel and Seawolf Park.

SS Selma was built in Mobile, Alabama, and named to honor Selma, Alabama, for its successful wartime liberty loan drive. The ship was launched on June 28, 1919, the same day Germany signed the Treaty of Versailles, officially ending World War I. As a result, the 7,500-ton ship never served during the war. Instead she was placed into service as an oil tanker in the Gulf of Mexico.

On May 31, 1920, the Selma hit a jetty in Tampico, Mexico, ripping a 60 foot hole in her hull. After attempts to repair the ship in Galveston failed and efforts to sell the ship proved unsuccessful, US officials decided to intentionally scuttle the ship. A channel 1,500 feet long and 25 feet deep was dug to a point just off Pelican Island's eastern shoreline where on March 9, 1922, the ship was laid to rest. The wreck of the Selma has since been the object of failed plans to convert it for use as a fishing pier, pleasure resort, and an oyster farm. Long a source of curiosity and local legend, it remains important to scientists who continue to study aspects of its concrete construction.

References[]

^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.

Rob Bender - Concrete Ships - http://www.concreteships.org - 6/23/2011
Texas Historical Commission - http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us/viewform.asp?atlas_num=5167011567&site_name=SS+Selma&class=5000

External links[]

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. November 2, 2013.

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SS Selma (1919)

Contents

Construction and career[]

See also[]

References[]

External links[]

History
Wreckage of SS Selma in 2013
Name	SS Selma
Builder	F.F. Ley and Company, Mobile, Alabama
Launched	28 June 1919
Fate	Abandoned in 1922
General characteristics
Tonnage	6,826 GRT 4,225 NRT
Length	425 ft (129.54 m)
Beam	54 ft (16.46 m)
Draught	36 ft (10.97 m)
Propulsion	T.3-cyl. 359 nhp Single screw

SS Selma (steamship)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

SS Selma SS Selma Show map of TexasShow map of the United StatesShow all
Nearest city	Galveston, TX
Coordinates	29°20′39″N 94°47′11″W / 29.3442°N 94.7863°W / 29.3442; -94.7863Coordinates: 29°20′39″N 94°47′11″W / 29.3442°N 94.7863°W / 29.3442; -94.7863
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP reference No.	93001449^[1]
Added to NRHP	January 5, 1994


Palo Alto Peralta Selma
List of auxiliary ships of the United States Navy