Each new ship strikes a blow at the menace to the Nation and for the Liberty of the Free People of the World?
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
September 27, 1941
At the launching of the first Liberty ship, Patrick Henry from Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard
In 1940, with "blitzkrieg" attacks wrecking havoc on land and "unterseeboat" torpedoes wiping out the British naval fleet, the Germans appeared to be on their way towards conquering Europe. However, the U.S. still had not formally entered the war.
On Sunday, December 7, 1941, the Japanese launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. Within days the U.S. declared war on Japan, Germany, and Italy, entering into a two-ocean global war. To fight this war, the Allies needed a cargo ship that could be built faster than the German U-Boats could sink them. The ship built for this task would become the Liberty ship.
Though equipped with only minimal guns for defense, the Libertys faced torpedoes, mines, bombs, and enemy fire, performing courageously. They endured typhoons in the Pacific, monsoons in the Mediterranean, and icebergs in the Bering Sea. Despite the challenges, these workhorses survived the voyage, delivered supplies to the troops, and headed back to the U.S. to reload for another mission. Of the 2,700 Liberty ships builts, 200 were lost.
Jeremiah O'Brien Returns to Normandy
On June 19, 1943, Jeremiah O'Brien slid down the ways at the West Yard of the New England Shipbuilding Corporation. She made seven voyages overseas and participated in the D-Day invasion at Normandy. After the war she was laid up at the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet in San Francisco, CA. Though she was still in excellent condition, she was never recalled from the reserve fleet and was destined for the scrap heap until her rescue by Rear Admiral Thomas Patterson in 1962. On April 18, 1994, the O'Brien set sail on her commemorative voyage to England and France. Although 50 years old, she sailed 12,000 miles with no repairs and always arrived ahead of schedule.
The Shipyard Society Brings Her Home
In 1980, Ed Langlois, a former NESC employee founded the South Portland Shipyard Society with two goals: to create a Memorial preserving the history of the South Portland shipyards and to bring the Jeremiah O'Brien back to Portland Harbor. The mission was fulfilled on August 6, 1994, when the O'Brien steamed past Portland Head Light into Portland Harbor, her first U.S. port-of-call on her return from France. Many former shipyard workers and Liberty ship mariners came to relive some of the moments from 50 years ago.
This voyage culminated the work of two dedicated volunteer organizations: the National Liberty Ship Memorial in Fort Mason Park, San Francisco[,] and The Shipyard Society of South Portland, Maine.
[Photo captions read]:
1. Liberty ships frequented Port Lyautey, Naples, shown here in October 1943, with views of Mt. Vesuvius in the background. Within a few months, war had ruined this "jewel of the Mediterranean."
2. In February 1945, workers unloaded cargo from a Liberty at the King George's Docks in Calcutta Harbor, India.
3. Liberty ships shown in the background brought supplies for the D-Day troops at Omaha Beach at Normandy, France. Barrage balloons float overhead to deter enemy air attack.
4. Liberty ships, along with other merchant ships, joined convoys and were escorted by naval vessels through dangerous war-torn waters. The convoys offered protection in numbers for the lumbering Liberty ships, who at a maximum of 11 knots were among the slowest in the convoy.
5. Lights May Mean Death whilst in convoy
Your ship MUST be kept thoroughly Blacked Out at all times, otherwise you are endangering all ships in the convoy and the Lives of Everyone in it!
Signal Lamps and Navigation Lights, if used at all, must be DIMMED to show the absolute minimum of light necessary!
Offenders will be dealt with drastically!
To be posted in prominent places throughout the ship
6. South Portland Liberty Ship Casualties of World War II
West Yard
John Winthrop · William King · Daniel Webster · William Pierce Frye · Julia Ward Howe · Richard Hovey · John Poor · Samlong · Edward Crockett
East Yard
Charles W. Eliot · Sumner I. Kimball · George Cleeve · Ezra Weston · Robert L. Vann · George S. Wasson · Arthur Sewall · Samwake · Samsuva · George Hawley · Joseph Carrigan
7. Voyages
South Portland's Liberty ships steamed overseas with their holds full of vital supplies for troops in every theater of the war. This map shows one of the many voyages each of these Liberty ships made. This was the last voyage for the John Poor, which was torpedoed and sunk on March 19, 1944. The Jeremiah O'Brien and the John W. Brown still survive as the last two remaining Liberty ships.
8. The discharge book for Walter Ray Kennedy of East Sullivan, Maine, shows his tour of duty as a chief engineer on board the Calvin Coolidge, a South Portland-built Liberty ship.
9. With its five holds, and 10,000-ton capacity, the Liberty could carry 2,840 jeeps or 440 light tanks, 230 million round of ammunition, and 3,440,000 rations. The cargo might also include troops of up to 600 men on board.
10. On July 11, 1943 the Liberty ship, Robert Rowan, with her cargo of ammunition, blew up after being hit by a German air attack during the invasion of Sicily. In August, the Allies captured the island of Sicily.
11. Wes Masterson displays the American flag at Utah Beach, Normandy.
12. Admiral Patterson inspects the hull of the O'Brien
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