I actually have a work related question. For whatever reason, seems like some individuals here, such as myself, have an interest in boats and ships, as well as railroads, so please excuse the slightly off topic question. I have some hull designations of ships dating from WWI, one example being "SC 426", and I'd like to look ship information, such as name, if possible. Thank you very much.Regards,Joshua K. Blay

The best source on the web I have found is the NAVSOURCE PHOTO ARCHIVES at: http://www.navsource.org/Either choose by catagory on the left hand side, or choose the Search Navsource Site at the very bottom, and enter the number of the ship you are looking for (such as DD-858) or name.Unfortunately, it did not work when I tried to search for SC-426; in that case, if you have the ship's name, it might work.-James Hefner Hebrews 10:20a Surviving World Steam Project

The "SC 426" designation would indicate a Submarine Chaser, I believe that normally this type of vessel used its designation number and was not assigned a name. If you use any of the internet search sites you might get the best results by describing it as "Subchaser 426" or "Submarine Chaser 426".For specific information on Submarine Chasers try:www.splinterfleet.orgIf you want to see a great ship and lots of genuine Cleveland Diesel (the former Winton Engine Company) engines, be sure to visit the Destroyer Escort USS SLATER in downtown Albany, NY.

Joshua,The standard reference books for the US Navy is: The Dictionary of United States Naval Fighting Ships.Some of it is available on line but I think you will have to get the actual volumes in your hand to see something as small as sub chasers. they are listed in one of the appendixes.If you want antique Diesel engines; two PT boats are displayed at the Battleship Cove Museum, Fall River, Massachusetts.As he said above the Destroyer Escort USS Slater is a fine example of ship preservation. The Destroyer Escort Association get her back from Greece. And they are doing a great job restoring her to WWII appearence. Ted Miles

Here's a link to navsource.org that may be useful. This page is dedicated to Sub Chasershttp://www.navsource.org/archives/12/15idx.htm

Adding a note to Ted's excellent posting, the Battleship Cove Museum in Fall River Massachusetts is also one of the few museums that has put some military engines on display. They have a couple of Hall-Scott engines from the early PT boat trials, and a couple of the Packard M2500's from the World War Two PT boats, as well as having ELCO and Higgins PT boats on display. A fabulous museum, plan on taking survival supplies and spending an entire day, because there is SO MUCH to see!Adding another note on the USS SLATER, I think it is fair to say that this vessel is one of the finest historical restorations ever done with a warship. They have put a great deal of time and effort into finding and restoring the exact correct period equipment, and ship looks like something out of a time warp, right back to 1944. Also, she is a small enough ship so that with very substantial effort the volunteer crew keeps up well with the painting needs, so she looks very nice all the time.Even if ships are not high on your interest list, there is probably a lot to be learned about planning and managing a historical restoration project from the folks on the USS SLATER. They have an excellent website, maintain good e-mail and snail mail communication with their volunteers and supporters, and search extensively (including monitoring eBay) for material useful in their projects. Their practice of posting detailed photo essays illustrating needed equipment on the website is one of the best ways of locating correct material that I have seen. By the way, the SLATER's Engineer, who is restoring her diesel engines, is a fine gentleman who served on USN submarines and then worked for many years for the Delaware & Hudson.

Here is another excellent site for navy shipshttp://www.hazegray.org/