FEATURE ARTICLE - WW2Ships

[Pages:164]`LIBERTY' CARGO SHIP

FEATURE ARTICLE

written by

James Davies

for

Country of Origin: Manufacturers:

Major Variants: Role: Operated by: First Laid Down: Last Completed: Units:

KEY INFORMATION

United States of America

Alabama Dry Dock Co, Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards Inc, California Shipbuilding Corp, Delta Shipbuilding Co, J A Jones Construction Co (Brunswick), J A Jones Construction Co (Panama City), Kaiser Co, Marinship Corp, New England Shipbuilding Corp, North Carolina Shipbuilding Co, Oregon Shipbuilding Corp, Permanente Metals Co, St Johns River Shipbuilding Co, Southeastern Shipbuilding Corp, Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corp, Walsh-Kaiser Co.

General cargo, tanker, collier, (modifications also boxed aircraft transport, tank transport, hospital ship, troopship).

Cargo transport, troop transport, hospital ship, repair ship.

United States of America, Great Britain, (small quantity also Norway, Belgium, Soviet Union, France, Greece, Netherlands and other nations). 30th April 1941 30th October 1945

2,711 ships laid down, 2,710 entered service.

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'Liberty' Cargo Ship Contents

CONTENTS

`Liberty' Cargo Ship ...............................................................................................................1 Key Information .......................................................................................................................1 Contents .....................................................................................................................................2 Introduction...............................................................................................................................4

Background.........................................................................................................................4 The Tonnage War..............................................................................................................5 The Liberty Ship Programme..........................................................................................5 Impact of Liberty Ships on the War...............................................................................6 Development.............................................................................................................................7 Britain Builds `Emergency' Ships..................................................................................7 The American `Emergency' Programme is Born .........................................................7 General Cargo Vessel Type EC2-S-C1 .........................................................................8 Liberty Ship Profile .........................................................................................................11 Variants....................................................................................................................................12 Tanker Type Z-ET1-S-C3 ..............................................................................................12 Tanker Profile ...................................................................................................................14 Collier Type EC2-S-AW1..............................................................................................15 Collier Profile ...................................................................................................................16 Operational Use......................................................................................................................17 Overview...........................................................................................................................17 Gallant Ships ....................................................................................................................18 SAM Ships........................................................................................................................19 Liberty Ship Fates ...........................................................................................................21

Wartime Liberty Ship Losses..................................................................................21 Overall Liberty Ship Fates .......................................................................................22 Specifications (As-Built)......................................................................................................23 Major Modifications..............................................................................................................24 Passenger Transport ........................................................................................................24 Hospital Ship ....................................................................................................................27 Repair Ship .......................................................................................................................28 Tank Transports and Boxed Aircraft Transports........................................................29 Appendix A: Surviving Examples ......................................................................................30 Jeremiah O'Brien............................................................................................................30

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John W Brown..................................................................................................................32 Lane Victory.....................................................................................................................32 Appendix B: Production Figures.........................................................................................33 Ship Construction Distribution .....................................................................................33 Ship Construction Time, 1942 ? 1945.........................................................................34 Ship Construction Time, Individual Shipyards..........................................................35 Appendix C: Ship Histories ................................................................................................36 General Cargo Type EC2-S-C1 ....................................................................................36

Alabama Dry Dock Co .............................................................................................36 Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards ...............................................................................38 California Shipbuilding Corp ..................................................................................58 Delta Shipbuilding Co ..............................................................................................73 J A Jones Construction Co (Brunswick)................................................................79 J A Jones Construction Co (Panama City)............................................................82 Kaiser Co ....................................................................................................................86 Marinship Corp ..........................................................................................................87 New England Shipbuilding Corp ............................................................................88 North Ca rolina Shipbuilding Co .............................................................................99 Oregon Shipbuilding Corp....................................................................................107 Permanente Metals Co Yard ................................................................................. 122 Southeastern Shipbuilding Corp ..........................................................................142 St Johns River Shipbuilding Co ........................................................................... 146 Todd Houston Shipbuilding Corp ........................................................................150 Walsh-Kaiser Co..................................................................................................... 159 Tanker Type Z-ET1-S-C3 ........................................................................................... 160 California Shipbuilding Corp ............................................................................... 160 Delta Shipbuilding Co ........................................................................................... 162 Collier Type EC2-S-AW1........................................................................................... 164 Delta Shipbuilding Co ........................................................................................... 164

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Introduction

INTRODUCTION

Background

It is said of the armed services that amateurs study tactics, whilst professionals study logistics. This truism highlights the fact that wars can only be won if the fighting services receive the supplies they need at the time that they need them. For many of the nations involved in the Second World War these supplies had to travel across the seas at least once, and often twice or more, before they reached their ultimate destination. These supplies were carried in the merchant ships of nearly all countries of the world, even those who were 'neutral' in the war.

Island nations (such as Great Britain and Japan) relied heavily on imports to sustain their manufacturing industry and to provide food for the population, as well as on coastal traffic to move materials around the country. Many other nations were also dependant to a greater or lesser extent on the sea. Germany required oil, iron ore and small quantities of other key materials for use in manufacturing, as well as luxuries for the population (coffee, for example). The United States of America relied heavily on oil and coal shipments around the coast, as well as benefiting greatly from international trade in the completed products. The Australian and New Zealand economies were built around food exports (predominantly to Britain), and Canada too had significant trade passing through her ports.

In those days before widespread 'flags of convenience', ships usually flew the flag of the nation where the owners of the vessel were based. Ships could expect treatment at sea or in port to be directly influenced by the flag flown, and could expect as a right the assistance of the navy of the nation to which they belonged. In return for this protection nations had the right to requisition ships flying their flag in time of war.

The relative sizes of the merchant navies on the outbreak of war in Europe are shown below. The relative importance of sea trade to a nation is approximately in proportion to the size of its merchant fleet. (Over 90% of the `British Empire' ships were registered in the UK).

Figure 1: Size of the World Shipping Fleets (1939)

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Introduction

The Tonnage War

The hopes for German victory at sea were founded on winning a tonnage war. The concept of a tonnage war is to sink more ships than the enemy can build. Every ship lost is important not because the cargo carried in that ship does not reach its destination, but because all future cargoes that might have been carried by that ship also do not reach their destination. If there are no replacement ships, imports gradually decline, leaving industry without materials and / or the population without food. If replacement ships are available, the loss of ships causes only distress to the families involved and minor inconvenience to industry from the occasional loss of a particularly important cargo.

At the start of the war the British and Commonwealth shipyards were filled to capacity with warships, and there was little remaining capacity for building merchant shipping. Some ships were acquired from other nations, however as much of the world's fleet was already trading with the British Empire there was only limited opportunity to gain ships from elsewhere. In this environment the tonnage war was hugely successful. In 1940, for every 2,000 tons of Allied and neutral ships built, 9,000 tons were sunk. In 1941 the ratio was significantly better, at 4,000 tons built for every 9,000 tons sunk, but still clearly unsustainable (see Figure 2).

Figure 2: Ratio of Losses (All Causes) to New Construction

During 1942-1943 the tonnage war faltered, then finally failed. There was no single reason for this, however the improvement in the number and experience of escorts and the widespread adoption of technological breakthroughs were important factors, as was the secret war fought by the code breakers. Also of great importance was the massive increase in the shipbuilding capacity of America, of which the Liberty Ship formed the foundation.

The Liberty Ship Programme

In 1936, well over 90% of the American merchant fleet was more than 20 years old. In order to ensure that America possessed a fleet that was adequate to meet the future anticipated needs a decision was made to greatly expand America's merchant fleet. The fleet was to be owned and operated by American companies, and in order to ensure their success the American government decided to subsidise the building costs and operating expenses of the ships. As yet there was little urgency in the programme, run by the US Maritime Commission.

In 1941, faced with war already underway in Europe and an expectation of war with Japan, there was seen to be a need to expand the pre-war programme with a ship that could be built rapidly. The Liberty ship design was chosen to meet this immediate need. Eighteen new shipyards were built to meet the demand, and a workforce was trained to handle the construction. It was a project on a massive scale, undertaken with great speed and efficiency. The first Liberty ship (the Patrick Henry) was launched on 27 September 1941 (and completed on 30 December 1941), which was an incredible feat considering that just seven months previously neither shipyard nor workforce existed to build her.

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Introduction

The ships suffered from some initial structural problems, particularly related to the lack of understanding of the influence of welding on the strength of some key elements (such as hatch corners), however once the problems were understood they were soon fixed. Less easy to fix was the 'stiffness' of the ships - they had a rapid roll motion which was uncomfortable for the crew and could lead to damage to cargo. This could be partially offset by putting solid ballast in the 'tween decks, thereby raising the centre of gravity and reducing the 'stiffness'. Unfortunately, if not stowed properly (and sometimes even when stowed properly) this ballast could shift in a storm and put the ship in grave danger of foundering.

A total of 2,710 Liberty ships were completed (with one more being burnt out on the slipway and never completed). This huge total almost defies the imagination when considering the resources that must be employed to produce this number. Putting it in perspective, 1,088 Curtis Hawk fighters were produced, approximately 2,900 M16 half-tracks, and 398 Elco PT boats. During the peak building period (March 1943 to December 1943) over 100 were completed per month.

Despite being initially labelled an 'ugly duckling' by the newspapers, and intended to be expendable if necessary, the ships eventually caught the imagination of the public. They proved to be easy to build, reliable and versatile, exceeding even the most optimistic expectations for their overall contribution to the war effort.

Impact of Liberty Ships on the War

The impact of the Liberty Ship on the Tonnage War can be clearly seen in the graph below (Figure 3). This graph shows the ratio of losses to new buildings if the Liberty ships had not been built. This graph can be directly compared to Figure 2 above.

Figure 3: Ratio of Losses (All Causes) to New Construction (Excluding Liberty Ships)

As can be seen, without the Liberty ship 1942 would have been a worse year (for the Allies) than 1941, largely due to the losses off the American East coast in the first half of the year. The Liberty ship programme began to tail off in 1944, with Victory ships replacing Liberty ships as the new-build of choice. Even without this new tonnage, however, the Allies would have been winning the tonnage war at all times from 1943 onwards.

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Development

DEVELOPMENT

Britain Builds `Emergency' Ships

Having filled her large shipyards with warships, Britain had a pressing need to find new merchant tonnage to offset the losses of those being sunk. Ships were built wherever there was space in British territories, with those built in Britain bearing the prefix `Empire' and known as `Empire' ships, whilst those built in Canada bore the prefix `Fort' and `Park'. Many different designs for those ships existed, however one devised by the J L Thompson & Sons yard had been specifically modified for mass production. This was based on a pre-war design for the Dorington Court, and resulted in a general cargo ship of around 10,000 tons deadweight and a speed of 11 knots. The first wartime ship of this type was the Empire Liberty (launched on the 28th August 1941), and these were known as the `North Sands' type.

Desperate for new tonnage, in late 1940 British representatives (including one from the Thompson yard) took the Empire Liberty plans to America to try to persuade the American government to let Britain place orders for 60 new ships. The Americans agreed, however no space existed in shipyards to allow them to be built and it was decided to build two new shipyards to meet the British need. These ships bore the prefix `Ocean', with the first ship (the Ocean Vanguard) being launched on 15th October 1941.

An aerial view of the California Shipbuilding yard.

The American `Emergency' Programme is Born

Simultaneous with the decision to build ships for the British was a decision to rapidly expand the US merchant fleet, however the choice of a design appropriate for mass production was a difficult one. The previous ships built by the US Maritime Commission were of a very high quality (but not suited to mass production), in stark contrast to the British wartime designs (which deliberately emphasised speed of construction), and there was considerable resistance to the idea of lowering standards to build ships rapidly. Faced, however, with an urgent need, little time and a sound and readily available design a common-sense decision was taken to adopt the basic British concept for the American emergency fleet. This design was modified somewhat to further aid mass production and to suit American building techniques and other US preferences, and orders were placed for the first 200 of these ships in early 1941.

As with the `Ocean' ships, no shipyards existed to build these vessels and a total of nine new shipyards were announced (including the two required to build the British vessels). Later expansions resulted in even more shipyards, and a total completed fleet of 2,710 ships.

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Development

Prefabricated section en route to the Robert E Peary. Liberty ships are famous for their all-welded construction, extensive use of prefabrication and the application of production-line techniques to shipbuilding. Contrary to legend, these were not the first ships to make use of mass-production techniques as the Hog Island type had also applied similar principles during the First World War. Nevertheless, the techniques used when building Liberty ships resulted in a production rate far in advance of what was thought possible before the Second World War, with some ships being launched just days after the keel had been laid (the Robert E Peary was launched just four days after the keel was laid, and was completed only three days later).

General Cargo Vessel Type EC2-S-C1

The Liberty ship was 441 feet 6 inches long overall, with a maximum beam of 57 feet and a depth of 37 feet 4 inches. Liberty ships had five cargo holds, three forward of the accommodation and two aft, and the deck was designed with minimal obstructions so that cargo could be carried on top of the holds. In common with marine convention, holds are numbered from forward to aft, with number one hold being the most forward. Three masts supported booms for cargo handling. Initially these had a lifting capacity of five tons, however this was soon increased to 50 tons for the number two hold and to 15 or 30 tons for the number four hold. The single machinery space was located below the accommodation, although there was a slight overlap forward over the number three hold. This space contained two boilers and a triple expansion steam engine. A single propeller was fitted (normal practice in merchant ships) which gave a speed of 11 knots (comparable with many general cargo vessels of the day). Fuel oil was carried in the inner bottom tanks (just above the keel of the ship) and settling tanks were to port and starboard of the machinery space (settling tanks are used to allow impurities in the fuel, such as water, to settle out before the fuel is used). Oil (either cargo or fuel) could also be carried in deep tank number three, which was located just aft of the machinery space. There were a total of three deep tanks, with number one and two located beneath hold one. All deep tanks could carry dry cargo, with an option for water ballast in deep tanks one and two.

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