The Eagle class patrol craft were a set of steel ships smaller than destroyers but having a greater operational radius than the wooden-hulled, 110-foot submarine chasers developed in 1917. The submarine chasers' range of about 900 miles at a cruising speed of 10 knots restricted their operations to off-shore antisubmarine work and denied them an open-ocean escort capability. Their high consumption of gasoline and limited fuel storage also were handicaps.

Attention turned to building steel patrol vessels. In their construction, it was necessary to eliminate the established shipbuilding facilities as possible sources of construction as they were totally engaged in the building of destroyers, larger warships, and merchant shipping. Accordingly, a design was developed by the Bureau of Construction and Repair which was sufficiently simplified to permit speedy construction by less experienced shipyards.

In June 1917, President of the United States Woodrow Wilson had summoned auto-builder Henry Ford to Washington in the hope of getting him to serve on the United States Shipping Board. Wilson felt that Ford, with his knowledge of mass production techniques, could immensely speed the building of ships in quantity. Apprized of the need for antisubmarine vessels to combat the U-boat menace, Ford replied, "what we want is one type of ship in large numbers."

On 7 November, Ford accepted membership on the Shipping Board and an active advisory role. Examining the Navy's plans for the projected steel patrol ships, Ford urged that all hull plates be flat so that they could be produced quickly in quantity and he also persuaded the Navy to accept steam turbines instead of reciprocating steam engines.

At this point, Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels was drawn into the project. He recognized that no facilities were available at the Navy yards for building new craft and asked Ford if he would undertake the task. Ford agreed, and, in January 1918, he was directed to proceed with the building of 100 of them. Later on, 12 more were added for delivery to the Italian government.

Ford's plan for building the ships was revolutionary. Establishing a new plant on the Rouge River on the outskirts of Detroit, he proposed to turn them out as factory products, using mass production techniques, and employing factory workers. He would then send the boats by the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River to the Atlantic coast. However, Ford had little part in the design of the boats. Except for his insistence upon simple plans and the use of steam turbines, he contributed little of a fundamental nature to the design concept.

The assembly plant was completed in five months, and the first keel was laid in May 1918. The machinery and fittings were largely built at Ford's Highland Park plant in Detroit. At first, Ford believed that boats could be sent down a continuously moving assembly line like automobiles. The size of the craft made this too difficult, however, and a "step-by-step" movement was instituted on the 1,700-foot line. The first Eagle boat was launched on 11 July. The launching of these 200-foot craft was a formidable operation. Not built on ways from which they could slide into the water, the hulls moved slowly from the assembly line on enormous, tractor-drawn flatcars. They were then placed on a 225-foot steel trestle alongside the water's edge which could be sunk 20 feet into the water by hydraulic action.

The original contract called for delivery of 100 ships by 1 December 1918. Although the first seven boats were completed on schedule, succeeding ones did not follow as rapidly, even though the labor force reached 4,380 by July and later peaked at 8,000. The chief reasons were Ford's excessive initial optimism and the inexperience of labor and supervisory personnel in shipbuilding. Upon the signing of the Armistice in November 1918, the number under contract, previously raised from 100 to 112, was cut to 60. Of these, seven were commissioned in 1918, and the remaining 53 were commissioned in 1919.

The entire Eagle Boat operation came briefly under challenge by Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts in December 1918. At the ensuing Congressional hearings, Navy officials successfully defended the boats as being a necessary experiment and well made while Ford profits were proved to be modest.

The term "Eagle Boat" stemmed from a wartime Washington Post editorial which called for "...an eagle to scour the seas and pounce upon and destroy every German submarine." However, the Eagle Boats never saw service in World War I. Reports on their performance at sea were mixed. The introduction, at Ford's insistence, of flanged plates instead of rolled plates facilitated production but resulted in sea-keeping characteristics which were far from ideal. In the first years after the war, a number of them were used as aircraft tenders. Despite the handicap of their size, they serviced photographic reconnaissance planes at Midway in 1920 and in the Hawaiian Islands in 1921 before being supplanted by larger ships. A number of the Eagle Boats were transferred to the United States Coast Guard in 1919, and the balance were sold in the 1930s and early 1940s.

General Characteristics

  • Displacement: 615 tons
  • Length 200.8 feet overall
  • Beam: 33.1 feet
  • Draft: 8.5 feet
  • Complement: 5 officers, 56 men
  • Propulsion: Poole geared turbine, 2,500 shp, one screw
  • Maximum speed: 18.32 knots
  • Armament: two four-inch/50-caliber guns, one three-inch/50-caliber gun, two .50-caliber machineguns, one Y-gun (Eagles 4 through 7 only)

Ships

DesignationKeel LaidLaunchedCommissionedDisposition
PE-17 May 191811 July 191827 October 1918Sold 11 June 1930
PE-210 May 191819 August 1918July 11 1918Sold 11 June 1930
PE-316 May 191811 September 191811 November 1918Sold 11 June 1930
PE-421 May 191815 September 191814 November 1918Sold 11 June 1930
PE-528 May 191828 September 191819 November 1918Sold 11 June 1930
PE-63 June 191816 October 191821 November 1918Destroyed as target 30 November 1934
PE-78 June 19185 October 191824 November 1918Destroyed as target 30 November 1934
PE-810 June 191811 November 191831 October 1919Sold 1 April 1931
PE-917 June 19188 November 191827 October 1919Sold 26 May 1930
PE-106 July 19189 November 191831 October 1919Destroyed 19 August 1937
PE-1113 July 191814 November 191829 May 1919Sold 16 January 1935
PE-1213 July 191812 November 19186 November 1919Sold 30 December 1935
PE-1315 July 19189 January 19192 April 1919Sold 26 May 1930
PE-1420 July 191823 January 191917 June 1919Destroyed as target 22 November 1934
PE-1521 July 191825 January 191911 June 1919Sold 14 June 1934
PE-1622 July 191811 January 19195 June 1919Transferred to USCG late 1919
PE-173 August 19181 February 19193 July 1919Wrecked off Long Island, New York 22 May 1922
PE-185 August 191810 February 19197 August 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-196 August 191830 January 191925 June 1919Destroyed 6 August 1946
PE-2026 August 191815 February 191928 July 1919Transferred to USCG late 1919
PE-2131 August 191815 February 191931 July 1919Transferred to USCG late 1919
PE-225 September 191810 February 191917 July 1919Transferred to USCG late 1919
PE-2311 September 191820 February 191919 June 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-2413 September 191824 February 191912 July 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-2517 September 191819 February 191930 June 1919Lost 11 June 1920
PE-2625 September 19181 March 19191 October 1919Sold 29 August 1938
PE-2722 October 19181 March 191914 July 1919Sold 4 June 1946
PE-2823 October 19181 March 191928 July 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-2918 November 19188 March 191920 August 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-3019 November 19188 March 191914 August 1919Transferred to USCG late 1919
PE-3119 November 19188 March 191914 August 1919Sold 18 May 1923
PE-3211 1930 191815 March 19194 September 1919Sold 3 March 1947
PE-3314 February 191815 March 19194 September 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-348 January 191915 March 19193 September 1919Sold 9 June 1932
PE-3513 January 191922 March 191922 August 1919Sold 7 June 1938
PE-3622 January 191922 March 191920 August 1919Sold 27 February 1936
PE-3727 January 191925 March 191930 September 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-381 1931 191929 March 191930 July 1919Sold 3 March 1947
PE-393 February 191929 March 191920 September 1919Sold 7 June 1938
PE-407 February 19195 April 19191 October 1919Destroyed as target 19 November 1934
PE-4120 February 19195 April 191926 September 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-4213 February 191917 May 19193 October 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-4317 February 191917 May 19192 October 1919Sold 26 May 1930
PE-4420 February 191924 May 191930 September 1919Disposed of 14 May 1938
PE-4520 February 191917 May 19192 October 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-4624 February 191924 May 19193 October 1919Sold 10 December 1936
PE-473 March 191919 June 19194 October 1919Sold 30 December 1935
PE-483 March 191924 May 19198 October 1919Sold 10 October 1946
PE-494 March 191914 June 191910 October 1919Sold 20 September 1930
PE-5010 March 191918 July 19196 October 1919Sold 11 June 1930
PE-5110 March 191914 June 19192 October 1919Sold 29 August 1938
PE-5210 March 19199 July 191910 October 1919Sold 29 August 1938
PE-5317 March 191913 August 191920 October 1919Sold 26 August 1938
PE-5417 March 191917 July 191910 October 1919Sold 26 May 1930
PE-5517 March 191922 July 191910 October 1919Sold 3 March 1947
PE-5625 March 191915 August 191926 October 1919Exploded off Portland, Maine, on 23 April 1945
PE-5725 March 191929 July 191915 October 1919Sold 5 March 1947
PE-5825 March 19192 August 191920 October 1919Disposed of 30 June 1940
PE-5931 March 191912 April 191919 September 1919Sold 29 August 1938
PE-6031 March 191913 August 191927 October 1919Sold 29 August 1938
PE-61 through PE-112 were canceled on
30 November 1918. PE-5, PE-15, PE-25, PE-45, PE-65, PE-75, PE-86, PE-95, PE-105, and PE-112 were allotted for transfer to Italy. None were ever delivered.