SS Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman on the river Scheldt
History
United States
Name	Harriet Tubman
Namesake	Harriet Tubman
Builder	South Portland Shipbuilding Corporation, South Portland, Maine
Yard number	3032
Way number	6
Laid down	19 April 1944
Launched	3 June 1944
Acquired	13 June 1944
Homeport	Portland, Me
Identification	IMO number:  5143247 Call sign: WHRE [1]
Fate	Scrapped in Houston, TX, 1973 [2]
General characteristics
Type	Liberty ship
Tonnage	7,000 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Length	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam	56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft	27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)
Propulsion	Two oil-fired boilers Triple expansion steam engine Single screw 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)
Speed	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Capacity	9,140 tons cargo
Complement	41
Armament	1 × Stern-mounted 4 in (100 mm) deck gun AA guns

SS Harriet Tubman (MC contract 3032) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Harriet Tubman, an African-American abolitionist and spy during the American Civil War, and was the first Liberty ship to be named for an African-American woman. ^[3]

The ship was laid down by the South Portland Shipbuilding Corporation, South Portland, Maine, on 19 April 1944, then launched on 3 June 1944. Twenty-two members of Tubman's extended family attended the launch. Eva Stuart Northrup, Tubman's great-niece, christened the ship. ^[3] The ship survived the war and remained in active service until June 1952. Laid up in the Beaumont Reserve Fleet she would suffer the same fate as nearly all other Liberty ships; she was scrapped in 1973. ^[4]

The launching party for SS Harriet Tubman, 3 June 1944

References

1. Lloyd's Register 1970-71
2. Mariners
3. Larson, Kate Clifford (2022). Harriet Tubman: A Reference Guide to Her Life and Works. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 132. ISBN   978-1-5381-1356-1.
4. "New England Shipbuilding Company, South Portland ME". shipbuildinghistory.com. 2010. Archived from the original on 3 March 2017. Retrieved 16 December 2009.