Ugly Ducklings

      More Letters From Paradise
          Ugly Ducklings

President Roosevelt called the Liberty Ships of WWII "ugly ducklings," and as such they would bring victory to Europe. So these cargo ships, came to be called Liberty Ships. There were 18 ship yards located on the East coast, West coast, and the Gulf. The plan was to build 2,711 ships, and 2,710 were completed.

Taking a cue from Henry Ford's idea of an assembly line, they decided to do the same with ship construction. 250 ton sections were transported by rail to shipyards for final assembly. This was already being done with warplanes. One ready to fly B24 bomber rolled off the assembly line every hour!

Shipyards competed, and the SS Robert E. Peary was built in 4 days, 15 hours, and 29 minutes! But on average, it took 70 days to build a ship. Ships had been riveted before, and now they were welded together. But there were problems, three ships broke in half. It was thought that the problem was with inexperienced welders. But it was proved that the cold Atlantic waters caused the steel to become brittle.

Liberty ships were 441 feet long, and 56 feet wide. They were powered by two oil fed boilers, and had a speed of 11 knots. Each ship had five holds for over 9,000 tons of cargo,plus planes or tanks, lashed on the top deck. A Liberty ship could carry 2,840 jeeps,440 tanks, or 230 million rounds of rifle ammunition.

These ships in 1943, also carried soldiers,over the protests of the military. They were sometimes called "Kaiser's coffins," after the West coast ship builder's name. This may have something to do with the fact that 24 ships were built using concrete. Ferro  cement  was used with steel. It was not a new idea. The British used concrete for ships during WWI, when there was a shortage of steel. Concrete floats, it is all a matter of displacement.
 
Liberty ships were named for famous Americans, starting with the signers of the Declaration of Indepence. A ship could be named by a group selling $ 2 million in War Bonds.

These slow cargo ships carried in addition to her crew, a Naval Armed Guard,consisting of 12 to 27 men. Ships were provided with a stern-mounted 4 inch gun, assorted anti-aircraft guns and machine guns.

More than 2,400 Liberty ships survived the war. While others were sunk by torpedoes or floating mines. Many were sold to foreign countries,loaned, or put to other uses. Some ships were used by M.S.T.S., (Military Sea Transportation Service) carrying servicemen and their families. Sailors called it "more shit than service."

I think it was 1957, when my squadron was moved from Panama to its new home in Puerto Rico. And we traveled aboard a ship named the George W. Gothels, named for the man who built the Panama Canal. I did some research and found that it was a Liberty ship with the number 0599, when it was built.

If interested the best source is :American Merchant Marine at War, www.umm.org Every ship is listed there and a great deal of other information about Liberty ships.

An interesting fact I came across is that the engine room scenes in the film "Titanic," were filmed on a museum Liberty ship in San Francisco Bay.

I think the next time I fly to San Francisco, I will be sure to visit this ship.
          Aloha
          Grant