SS Francis Scott Key was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Francis Scott Key, an American lawyer, author, and amateur poet from Frederick, Maryland, who is best known for writing the lyrics for the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner".
SS Samuel Chase was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Founding Father Samuel Chase, an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court and a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Maryland.
SS Francis L. Lee was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Founding Father Francis L. Lee, a member of the House of Burgesses, in the Colony of Virginia. As an active protester regarding issues such as the Stamp Act, Lee helped move the colony in the direction of independence from Britain. Lee was a delegate to the Virginia Conventions and the Continental Congress. He was a signer of the Articles of Confederation and the United States Declaration of Independence as a representative of Virginia.
SS Esek Hopkins was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Esek Hopkins, the only Commander in Chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. He was also an accomplished merchant captain and privateer. He is noted for his successful raid on the British port of Providence, in the Bahamas, and capturing large stores of military supplies.
SS Peter Minuit was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Peter Minuit, a Walloon from Tournai, in present-day Belgium. He was the 3rd Director of the Dutch North American colony of New Netherland from 1626 until 1631, and 3rd Governor of New Netherland. He founded the Swedish colony of New Sweden on the Delaware Peninsula in 1638. Minuit is generally credited with orchestrating the purchase of Manhattan Island for the Dutch from the Lenape Native Americans. Manhattan later became the site of the Dutch city of New Amsterdam, and the borough of Manhattan of modern-day New York City.
SS William Johnson was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after William Johnson, a state legislator and judge in South Carolina, and an associate justice of the United States Supreme Court from 1804 to his death in 1834.
SS James Gunn was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after James Gunn, a delegate to the Continental Congress and a United States senator from Georgia.
SS Samuel Johnston was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Samuel Johnston, an American planter, lawyer, and statesman from Chowan County, North Carolina. He represented North Carolina in both the Continental Congress and the United States Senate, and was the sixth Governor of North Carolina.
SS William MacLay was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after William MacLay, a politician from Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century. Maclay, along with Robert Morris, was a member of Pennsylvania's first two-member delegation to the United States Senate. Following his tenure in the Senate, he served in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on two separate occasions, as a county judge, and as a presidential elector.
SS Reverdy Johnson was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Reverdy Johnson, a statesman and jurist from Maryland. From 1845 to 1849, Johnson represented Maryland in the United States Senate as a Whig. From March 1849 until July 1850, Johnson was Attorney General of the United States under President Zachary Taylor. He represented the slave-owning defendant in the controversial 1857 case Dred Scott v. Sandford. In 1865, he defended Mary Surratt before a military tribunal. From 14 September 1868 until 13 May 1869, he served as the ambassador to the United Kingdom.
SS Richard H. Alvey was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Richard H. Alvey, an American jurist who served as Chief Judge of the supreme court of the State of Maryland, the Maryland Court of Appeals and subsequently served as the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia.
SS Bernard Carter was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Bernard Carter, a lawyer, professor, and politician from Maryland. Carter was corporate attorney in Baltimore and a professor at the University of Maryland.
SS William Tilghman was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after William Tilghman, the Chief United States circuit judge of the United States Circuit Court for the Third Circuit and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
SS Jared Ingersoll was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Jared Ingersoll, an American Founding Father, lawyer, and statesman from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signatory of the Constitution of the United States.
SS William Paca was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after William Paca, a signatory to the United States Declaration of Independence from Maryland, a delegate to the First Continental Congress and the Second Continental Congress from Maryland, Governor of Maryland and a United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Maryland.
SS John Walker was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after John Walker, a representative of the House of Burgesses. He was in the Continental Army, serving in 1777 as an aide-de-camp to General George Washington, holding the rank of colonel. In 1780, he was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress. He then studied law. When William Grayson died in 1790, Walker was appointed to the United States Senate to serve from March 31 to November 9.
SS Jonathan Elmer was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Jonathan Elmer, an American politician and delegate to the Continental Congress three times: 1777 to 1778, 1781 to 1783, and 1787 to 1788. In 1780 and 1784 he represented Cumberland County in the New Jersey Legislative Council. The College of New Jersey made Elmer a trustee in 1782. He served in that position until 1795. The New Jersey Legislature appointed Elmer to the United States Senate for the term of 4 March 1789 to 3 March 1791.
SS John Mitchell was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after John Mitchell, an American labor leader and president of the United Mine Workers of America from 1898 to 1908.
SS Nicholas Biddle was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Nicholas Biddle, an American financier who served as the third and last president of the Second Bank of the United States. He also served in the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He is best known for his role in the Bank War.
SS Cardinal Gibbons was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Cardinal Gibbons, an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Apostolic Vicar of North Carolina from 1868 to 1872, Bishop of Richmond from 1872 to 1877, and as ninth Archbishop of Baltimore from 1877 until his death in 1921. Gibbons was elevated to the rank of cardinal in 1886.
United States
