5. The Liberty Ship
“A real ugly duckling” President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The Liberty Ship was the workhorse of the high seas. What it lacked in beauty, it certainly made up for in work ethic. 2,840 jeeps, 440 tanks, or 230 million rounds of rifle ammunition could be carried onboard the Liberty. The class was developed to replace the British ships destroyed by German U-boat raids in the North Atlantic Ocean.
The ship had a simple design and could be produced at a low cost – all great factors for mass production. At first, it took about 230 days to build a Liberty ship, this construction time was reduced by an average of 42 days. Then, somebody had some coffee and the record was set; a Liberty ship was launched 4 days, 15 hours, and 30 minutes after the keel was laid. Liberty ships were built in 18 shipyards across the country, from Alabama to Washington. The Liberty ship was a perfect example of wartime American industrial power, and the practical application of transporting goods, soldiers and supplies across the Atlantic helped the Allied war effort.
Liberty ships were mass-produced on an unprecedented scale, built in 18 shipyards across the country, from Alabama to Washington. 2,710 Liberty ships were built between 1941 to 1945. The Liberty ship was a perfect example of wartime American industrial power, and the practical application of transporting goods, soldiers and supplies across the Atlantic helped the Allied war effort.
There are only three surviving Liberty ships, two of them are museums. The SS John W. Brown, based in Baltimore, Maryland and the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, docked at Pier 45, San Fransico, California, both of these ships are museums and open to the public.