SS William Byrd

Last updated

History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameWilliam Byrd
Namesake William Byrd II
Owner War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator United Fruit Co.
Orderedas type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 1203
Builder St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida [1]
Cost$2,068,703 [2]
Yard number11
Way number5
Laid down24 May 1943
Launched20 August 1943
Sponsored byMiss Marjorie Byrd McCarty
Completed5 September 1943
Identification
Fate
General characteristics [3]
Class and type
Tonnage
Displacement
Length
  • 441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa
  • 416 feet (127 m) pp
  • 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam57 feet (17 m)
Draft27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power
  • 2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa)
  • 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion
Speed11.5 knots (21.3  km/h; 13.2  mph)
Capacity
  • 562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m3) (grain)
  • 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m3) (bale)
Complement
Armament

SS William Byrd was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after William Byrd, an American planter and author from Charles City County, in colonial Virginia. He is considered the founder of Richmond, Virginia.

Contents

Construction

William Byrd was laid down on 24 May 1943, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1203, by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida; she was sponsored by Miss Marjorie Byrd McCarty, a descendant of the namesake, she was launched on 20 August 1943. [1] [2]

History

She was allocated to the United Fruit Co., on 5 September 1943. On 11 March 1948, she was placed in the James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia. On 11 August 1953, she was withdrawn from the fleet to be loaded with grain under the "Grain Program 1953", she returned loaded with grain on 28 August 1953. She was again withdrawn from the fleet on 2 June 1956, to have the grain unloaded, she returned reloaded on 30 June 1956. On 16 March 1960, she was withdrawn from the fleet to be unloaded, she returned empty on 28 March 1960. She was sold for scrapping, 22 January 1973, to Luria Brothers and Company, for $59,577.75. She was withdrawn from the fleet, 18 May 1973. [4]

Related Research Articles

SS Richard K. Call was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Richard K. Call, an American attorney and politician, the 3rd and 5th territorial governor of Florida. Before that, he was elected to the Florida Territorial Council and as a delegate to the US Congress from Florida.

SS Edward D. White was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Edward Douglass White, the ninth Chief Justice of the United States and a United States senator from Louisiana.

SS Augustine B. McManus was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Augustine B. McManus, a US Navy officer and a Navy Hydrographic Bureau scientist that had testified at the Titanic disaster trials.

SS Arthur J. Tyrer was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Arthur J. Tyrer, a supervising inspector general for the Steamboat Inspection Service and a founding member of the Bureau of Navigation in 1903.

SS E. Kirby Smith was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after E. Kirby Smith, a career United States Army officer who fought in the Mexican–American War, and for the Confederacy in the Civil War, rising to the rank of General in the CSA.

SS Elihu Root was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Elihu Root, a United States senator from New York, the United States Secretary of War under presidents William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt, the United States Secretary of State under Theodore Roosevelt, and the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

SS Jean Ribaut was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Jean Ribaut, a French naval officer, navigator, and colonizer.

SS Samuel Ashe was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Samuel Ashe the ninth Governor of the US state of North Carolina from 1795 to 1798. He was also one of the first three judges of the North Carolina Superior Court in 1787.

SS John Gorrie was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after John Gorrie, an American physician, scientist, inventor of mechanical cooling, and humanitarian.

SS Owen Wister was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Owen Wister, an American writer and historian, considered the "father" of western fiction. He is best remembered for writing The Virginian and a biography of Ulysses S. Grant.

SS Andrew Turnbull was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Andrew Turnbull, a Scottish physician who later served as a British Consul at Smyrna, then part of the Ottoman Empire, in what is now Turkey. In 1768, he organized the largest attempt at British colonization in the New World by founding New Smyrna, Florida, named in honor of his wife's birthplace.

SS Henry S. Sanford was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Henry S. Sanford, a wealthy American diplomat and businessman from Connecticut who served as United States Minister to Belgium from 1861 to 1869. Sanford is also known for founding the city of Sanford, Florida, and for successfully lobbying the United States into recognizing King Leopold II's claim to the Congo region in central Africa.

SS Hendrik Willem Van Loon was a liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Hendrik Willem Van Loon, a Dutch-American historian, journalist, and children's book author.

SS W. S. Jennings was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after W. S. Jennings, an American politician. He served as the 18th Governor of Florida after being a lawyer, county judge, and state representative.

SS John H. McIntosh was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after John H. McIntosh, an American college football player and coach, as well as an attorney and newspaper editor. He was the head coach of the Colorado State (1904–1905) and Montana State (1908–1910) football programs.

SS Morris C. Feinstone was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Morris Feinstone, a Polish born wood-carver, master designer, and the executive secretary of the United Hebrew Trades union.

SS David L. Yulee was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after David Levy Yulee, an American politician and attorney. Born in St. Thomas, then under British control. He later served as Florida's territorial delegate to Congress. Yulee was the first person of Jewish ancestry to be elected and serve as a United States senator. He founded the Florida Railroad Company and served as president of several other companies, earning the nickname of "Father of Florida Railroads".

SS C. W. Post was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after C. W. Post, an American inventor, breakfast cereal and foods manufacturer and a pioneer in the prepared-food industry. He was the founder of what is now Post Consumer Brands.

SS Grover C. Hutcherson was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Grover C. Hutcherson, a Merchant seaman killed on the Liberty ship SS Timothy Pickering when she was struck by an Italian Ju-87 Stuka while anchored off August Sicily, 13 July 1943.

SS Fred C. Stebbins was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Fred C. Stebbins, a Merchant seaman killed on the Liberty ship SS Johnathan Sturges, 24 February 1943, when she was struck and sunk by a torpedo from German submarine U-707.

References

Bibliography