Sister-ship General Frank M. Coxe calls at Alcatraz, c. 1935 |
|
| Career (United States) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | General John McE. Hyde |
| Builder: | Charles Ward Engineering Works |
| Launched: | 1921 |
| Commissioned: | 1921 |
| Decommissioned: | 1942 |
| Fate: | Sunk by Japanese artillery, Corregidor, Philippines 1942 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Troop ferry |
| Tonnage: | 539 long tons (548 t) gross 366 long tons (372 t) net |
| Displacement: | 900 long tons (914 t) |
| Length: | 144 ft (44 m) |
| Beam: | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Depth: | 12 ft (3.7 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam boilers |
The General John McE. Hyde was a 144-foot (44 m) long ferry boat built for the United States Army in 1921, to provide transportation services among the military facilities in Manila Bay, Philippines.
The General John McE. Hyde was sunk during World War II during the Battle of Corregidor,[1] by Japanese artillery on 15 April 1942.[2]
The General John McE. Hyde was not a navy ship, but it was among the thousands of vessels owned and operated by the US Army for specific logistical purposes.[3] This vessel along with a sister-ship, the General Frank M. Coxe, was designed and built shortly after World War I, to ferry army personnel within strategic harbors, in answer to the increasing military importance of the Pacific ports. It was designed by the New York firm of Cox & Stevens,[4] who were renowned Naval Architects specializing in yachts and small commercial and military craft. The Hyde was built in 1921, followed in 1922 by the Coxe, to Cox & Stevens design #244. The ships were built on the Kanawha River, by Charles Ward Engineering Works[4] of Charleston, West Virginia,[5] a firm which specialized in shallow draft vessels such as ferries, riverboats, and tugs.[6]