SS Wheatland Montana  Wheatland Montana was a steam cargo ship built in 1919 by Skinner & Eddy of Seattle for the United States Shipping Board as part of the wartime shipbuilding program of the Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) to restore the nation's Merchant Marine. The freighter spent the majority of her career in the Pacific connecting the West Coast of the United States with the Chinese and Japanese ports in the Far East. Early in 1928 the ship together with six other vessels was sold by the US Government to the Tacoma Oriental Steamship Co. and subsequently renamed Seattle. After her owner declared bankruptcy early in 1937, the ship was sold to Matson Navigation and renamed Lihue and was then mainly employed to transport sugar and canned fruit from the Hawaiian Islands to the ports on the United States East coast. In February 1942 she was chartered to transport general cargo and war supplies to the Middle East but was torpedoed by "U-161" in the Caribbean Sea on February 23, and eventually sank three days later while in tow without loss of life. After the United States entry into World War I, a large shipbuilding program was undertaken to restore and enhance shipping capabilities both of the United States and their Allies. As part of this program, EFC placed orders with nation's shipyards for a large number of vessels of standard designs. Design 1079 cargo ship was a modified Design 1013 standard cargo freighter of approximately 9,600 tons deadweight designed by Skinner & Eddy and adopted by USSB. "Wheatland Montana" was part of the order for 47 vessels placed by USSB with Skinner & Eddy on 1 June 1918 and was laid down on 26 March 1919 and launched on 4 August 1919 (yard number 54), with Miss Juanita Cook of Judith Gap, Montana being the sponsor. The vessel was named in honor of town of Wheatland in Montana whose residents finished first in their district in subscription for the Liberty Loan. The ship was of a three-deck type, had five main holds and also possessed all the modern machinery for quick loading and unloading of cargo from five main hatches, including ten winches and a large number of derricks. The vessel had electric lights installed along the decks and was also equipped with wireless. After successfully completing her six hour long trial trip on August 30, "Wheatland Montana" was handed over to the USSB on the same day, and officially commissioned on September 3. As built, the ship was long (between perpendiculars) and abeam, a depth of .