Posted on 09/27/2019 4:29:18 AM PDT by Bull Snipe
President Franklin D Roosevelt presides over the launching of SS Patrick Henry at the Bethlehem Steel ship yard in Baltimore. Patrick Henry is the first Liberty ship to be built. By the WWII ends, 2710 of these ships will be built in 18 shipyards located in 12 States. The 14,245 ton cargo ship (the "ugly duckling) will carry 10,856 tons of cargo. Her 2,500 HP triple expansion steam engine will move the ship at 11 knots. It took over 240 days to build Patrick Henry. By 1844, from keel laying to sail away from the yard had been reduce to 42 days. Every round of ammunition, every c-ration, every jeep, tank or deuce and a half, large quantities of oil, gasoline and lots of troops that supported our armed forces in Europe and the Pacific during WWII, most likely got there in the cargo hold of a liberty ship. It was a truly awesome accomplishment for American Industry.
Should be 1944, not 1844.
I’ve seen the SS John W. Brown a few times docked in the Hudson
To my understanding, she and the SS Jeremiah O’Brien are the last two operational Liberty ships
http://www.ssjeremiahobrien.com/
Sorry, link for the O’Brien is no good
I’ll see if I can find out more.
think you are correct. Only two left in seaworthy condition.
I remember that in the 70’s there was a fleet of them near Peekskill NY on the Hudson. They were sold as scrap metal.
he Occidental College Tigers were off after having blanked the Redlands Bull Dogs 13-0 two weeks earlier. Next up would be the Cal Tech Beavers, whom the Tigers would shut out 25-0.
UCLA, whose team included future baseball great Jackie Robinson, would start its season a week later, beating Washington State 7-6.
Blue Champagne by Jimmy Dorsey & His Orchestra was the number one song on this day (I've never drunk or even seen blue champagne). However, Freddy Martin's rendition of Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto #1 was quickly moving up and would be #1 on some charts the day the war began.
When I was a kid in the 60’s/70’s there was a “yuge” number of them in California’s Suisun Bay just east of the Carquinez Strait. I drove through there this summer and there was only a couple of old rustbuckets remaining.
A lot of brave merchant mariners sailed those ships. Slow, defenseless and vulnerable to submarine attack.
many paid the full price trying to deliver the materials of war to our armed forces and allies.
Not always defenseless. Liberty Ship SS Stephen Hopkins sailed out of the fog in the South Atlantic, sighted the German surface raider Stier. Stier demanded Hopkins surrender. Captain Buck of Stephen Hopkins refused. Stier opened up with her 6 x 5.9 in guns. Hopkins fired back with the single 4 inch gun she carried. It was a really uneven fight, Stephen Hopkins was shot up pretty quickly, but her gunners did manage to damage Stier’s engines and steering gear. Hopkins sank soon after, with 42 crewmen killed. During the action, as one of the U.S. Navy gunners was hit, a mariner would step forward to replace him at the gun. The gun boss (LTjg) Kenneth Willett was killed, he was replaced by USMMA Midshipmen Edwin Ohare. Captain Buck, Midshipman Ohare were both posthumously awarded the Merchant Marine Dishtinguished Service Medal. Ltjg Willett was awarded the Navy Cross, posthumously. The serviving crewmen were in lifeboats for 30 days until they reached Brazil. The Captain of Stier order her scuttled when it was determained that she could not be repaired. The Germans lost 2 men, the crew and officers transferred to a German supply ship accompanying Stier
Thanks for that interesting war story. So many brave men sacrificed all in that war.
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