History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | Timothy Pickering |
Namesake | Timothy Pickering |
Owner | War Shipping Administration |
Operator | American President Lines |
Builder | Permanente Metals Corp., Richmond No. 2 Yard, Richmond, California [1] |
Laid down | 8 October 1941 |
Launched | 28 March 1942 |
Fate | Sunk by dive bomber, 1943. While anchored offshore at Avola, Sicily on 13 July 1943 with the loss of 127 British servicemen and a number of United States Merchant seamen. Only one British serviceman survived the explosion. |
General characteristics | |
Type | Liberty ship |
Tonnage | 7,000 long tons deadweight (DWT) |
Length | 441 ft 6 in (134.57 m) |
Beam | 56 ft 10.75 in (17.3419 m) |
Draft | 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
Capacity | 9,140 tons cargo |
Complement | 41 |
Armament |
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SS Timothy Pickering (Hull Number 246) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Timothy Pickering, the third United States Secretary of State under George Washington and John Adams.
The ship was laid down on 8 October 1941, then launched on 28 March 1942. She was lost after she was hit by an Italian Ju 87 Stuka off Augusta, Sicily on 13 July 1943. Timothy Pickering was operated by American President Lines under charter with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.
George W. Alther, Jr. was second mate on SS Timothy Pickering. He was given the Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal by The President of the United States. It was given for heroism above and beyond the call of duty. SS Timothy Pickering was hit with a 500 pound bomb in 1942 and sank. During the air attack on in the Sicilian port of Avola was loaded with ammunition, T.N.T., aviation gasoline, and British troops. The bomb broke the ship in two. Much of the ammunition exploded and burning gasoline floated around the ship. George W. Alther, Jr. saved the life of the wounded gunnery officer as he was on a flame-filled lower deck, with disregard for his own safety. For the President the award was given by Admiral Emory S. Land. [2]
Timothy Pickering was the third United States Secretary of State under Presidents George Washington and John Adams. He also represented Massachusetts in both houses of Congress as a member of the Federalist Party. In 1795, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society.
USS Gar (SS-206) was the first of the Gar subclass of the Tambor-class submarines to be commissioned for the United States Navy just prior to the country's 7 December 1941 entry into World War II. These submarines were a slightly improved version of preceding submarines of the Tambor class. While Gar survived the war, all of her sister ships — USS Grampus (SS-207), 'USS Grayback (SS-208), USS Grayling (SS-209), USS Grenadier (SS-210), and USS Gudgeon (SS-211) — were lost. She is the only ship of the United States Navy to be named for the gar, a fish of the family Lepisosteidae.
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SS Elmira Victory was a Victory ship built during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. It was built and launched by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation on May 12, 1944 and completed on May 31, 1944. The ship's United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3 and hull number 105 (1021). The ship was Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation's 21st victory ship. The Maritime Commission turned it over for Merchant navy operation to a civilian contractor, the Isthmian Steamship Company under the United States Merchant Marine act for the War Shipping Administration. She was named after the city of Elmira, New York.
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