Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Mass-produced on an unprecedented scale, the Liberty ship came to symbolize U.S. wartime industrial output.
SS Jeremiah O'Brien is a Liberty ship built during World War II and named after the American Revolutionary War ship captain Jeremiah O'Brien (1744–1818).
George Edmund Badger was a slave owner and Whig U.S. senator from the state of North Carolina.
USS Du Pont (DD–152) was a Wickes-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II, later reclassified as AG-80. She was the second ship named for Rear Admiral Samuel Francis Du Pont.
USS George E. Badger (DD-196/CG-16/AVP-16/AVD-3/APD-33) was a Clemson-class destroyer in the United States Navy during World War II; she was named for Secretary of the Navy George E. Badger (1795–1866).
SS A. Frank Lever was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. Her namesake was A. Francis "Frank" Lever. Her sponsor was Mrs. A. Frank Lever.
SS A. Mitchell Palmer (MCE-2436) was an EC2-S-C1 Type Liberty ship design cargo ship, named after U.S. Attorney General Alexander Mitchell Palmer. The ship's keel was laid by Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation of Savannah, Georgia, on 17 December 1943, commissioned as part of the Second World War effort by the War Shipping Administration (WSA). It was launched 12 February 1944. It was scrapped in 1968 in Taiwan.
SS Abraham Clark was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Abraham Clark, a signer of the Declaration of Independence from New Jersey.
USS Starlight (AP-175) was a United States Navy Storm King-class auxiliary transport in commission from 1944 to 1945. She was designed as a troop carrier. After her naval service she became the civilian cargo ship SS Badger State. She sank in January 1970 after an explosion of a cargo of munitions on December 26, 1969, with the loss of 26 of her crew of 40
USS Alcor, AK-259, was a Greenville Victory-class cargo ship in service with the United States Navy from 1952 to 1968. She was originally built in 1944 as SS Rockland Victory, a World War II era Victory ship. She was sold for scrap in 1970.
SS James Iredell was a Liberty ship in World War II that was attacked in Naples and scuttled on June 8, 1944 to protect Omaha Beach.
SS Luxembourg Victory was a Victory ship built for the United States during World War II. She was launched by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation on February 28, 1944, and was completed on April 5, 1944. The ship's US Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3, hull number 90 (V-90). She was built in 101 days under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. The Maritime Commission turned her over to a civilian contractor, the Lykes Brothers SS Company, for operation until the end of World War II hostilities. She was operated under the US Merchant Marine Act for the War Shipping Administration.
SS R. Ney McNeely was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after R. Ney McNeely, a State Representative in North Carolina, a member of the North Carolina Senate, a later the American Consul in Aden.
SS Cassius Hudson was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Cassius Hudson, a Farm Demonstration Agent for the North Carolina Extension Service and developer of 4-H Youth Development programs.
SS Johan Printz was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Johan Printz, the governor from 1643 until 1653, of the Swedish colony of New Sweden, in North America.
SS Robert F. Hoke was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Robert Hoke, Confederate Army Major General, politician, and Director of the North Carolina Railroad.
SS Penelope Barker was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Penelope Barker, American Revolution activist and organizer of the Edenton Tea Party boycott in 1774.
SS Benjamin Contee was an American Liberty Ship type EC2-S-C1 built in 1942 by the Delta Shipbuilding in New Orleans, Louisiana as part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program for World War II. She was laid down on February 2, 1942, launched on June 15, 1942, and completed on August 7, 1942. She was operated by the Mississippi Shipping Company for the War Shipping Administration as a United States Merchant Marine ship. She was a Maritime Commission design. Like other Liberty ships, she was 441 feet (134 m) long and 56 feet (17 m) wide, carried 9000 tons of cargo and had a top speed of 11 knots (20 km/h). Most Liberty ships were named after prominent deceased Americans. She was converted from a cargo ship to a troop transport ship. She is named after Benjamin Contee, an American Episcopal priest and statesman from Maryland. He was an officer in the American Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Confederation Congress, and a member of the first United States House of Representatives.
World War II United States Merchant Navy was the largest civilian Navy in the world, which operated during World War II. With the United States fighting a world war in all the world oceans, the demand for cargo and fuel was very high. Cargo and fuel was needed around the world for the United States Navy, United States Army, United States Marine Corps, United States Army Air Forces, United States Coast Guard and the support of the allied nations of the United States. American steamship companies chartered ships from the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration to meet the demand. Many United States Merchant Marine ships were newly built in the Emergency Shipbuilding Program, other ships were older World War I ships that were put back in service, or private ships acquired under Emergency war requisitions. The Merchant Navy operated in the Pacific War and European war. Over 200 US Merchant ships took part in the D-day Normandy landings. To make a Normandy breakwater Harbor, called Mulberry harbour, 33 merchant ships were sunk 1,000 yards from shore. Some of the ghosts merchant ships used were damaged and others were deemed too old.
United States