Liberty Ships
With the loss of most of our fleet at Pearl Harbor, HI the United States needed a way to replenish the fleet quickly. Without a fleet large enough to carry the men and material across the Atlantic ocean to the European theater all the resources the United States had could not arrive soon enough to help a war weary Europe, this was especially true for Great Britain.
Henry Kaiser developed a process similar to the method used by Henry Ford had developed for making cars, an assembly line that would mass produce thousands of cargo ships (as quickly as one per week per shipyard) utilizing prefabricated materials. These ships were used in the transportation of men and materials to the war effort in Europe.
"Liberty ship" was the name given to the EC2 type ship designed for "Emergency" construction by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II. Liberty ships were nicknamed "ugly ducklings" by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The first of the 2,751 Liberty ships was the SS Patrick Henry, launched on Sept. 27, 1941, and built to a standardized, mass produced design. The 250,000 parts were pre-fabricated throughout the country in 250-ton sections and welded together in about 70 days. One Liberty ship, the fastest ship built using this process took only four and a half days. A Liberty cost under $2,000,000.
This diagram will show the design of Liberty Ships and how cargo was stored onboard for transit across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
With the loss of most of our fleet at Pearl Harbor, HI the United States needed a way to replenish the fleet quickly. Without a fleet large enough to carry the men and material across the Atlantic ocean to the European theater all the resources the United States had could not arrive soon enough to help a war weary Europe, this was especially true for Great Britain.
Henry Kaiser developed a process similar to the method used by Henry Ford had developed for making cars, an assembly line that would mass produce thousands of cargo ships (as quickly as one per week per shipyard) utilizing prefabricated materials. These ships were used in the transportation of men and materials to the war effort in Europe.
"Liberty ship" was the name given to the EC2 type ship designed for "Emergency" construction by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II. Liberty ships were nicknamed "ugly ducklings" by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The first of the 2,751 Liberty ships was the SS Patrick Henry, launched on Sept. 27, 1941, and built to a standardized, mass produced design. The 250,000 parts were pre-fabricated throughout the country in 250-ton sections and welded together in about 70 days. One Liberty ship, the fastest ship built using this process took only four and a half days. A Liberty cost under $2,000,000.
This diagram will show the design of Liberty Ships and how cargo was stored onboard for transit across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
Capacity of a Liberty Ship
Liberty Ships carried a crew of about 44 and 12 to 25 Naval Armed Guard. Some were armed with:
About 200 Liberty’s were lost to torpedoes, mines, explosions, kamikazes, etc. during WWII.
The Liberty was 441 feet long and 56 feet wide. Her 5 holds could carry over 9,000 tons of cargo, plus airplanes, tanks, and locomotives lashed to its deck. A Liberty could carry 2,840 jeeps, 440 tanks, or 230 million rounds of rifle ammunition.
Liberty ships were named after prominent (deceased) Americans, starting with Patrick Henry and the signers of the Declaration of Independence. 18 of these ships were named for outstanding African-Americans.
Cargo ships were not the only “Liberty Ships” that shipyards built during this time. In fact Kaiser would build at least four different types of shipyards and at the direction of the Maritime Commission make several different types of ships that would help win the war. Prior to December 7th, 1941 Kaiser’s shipbuilding efforts and those of the nation were focused on cargo ships to help support President Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease program. The attack on Pearl Harbor, Hi on December 7, 1941, changed priorities again; on January 9, 1942, the Maritime Commission and Kaiser began a third shipyard to build big troop transports designed to carry the bulk of our troops across the ocean to the warfront. Kaiser had two additional yards that were already working producing British freighters and Liberty ships.
In June 1942, Kaiser got a call to build yet another shipyard, this one for invasion ships. This yard was unique when compared to other shipyards in that it came closest to an auto-type assembly line for big ships. The type of ships to be built there, initially cloaked in secrecy, were LST's. Hundreds of these "Landing Ship Tank" vessels were needed as the mainstay of invasion fleets. Kaiser was not the only company commissioned to make ships as shipyards throughout the United States were contracted for the construction of the landing force. In all, 982 were completed including 15 by Kaiser-Richmond, and 30 by Kaiser-Vancouver. More than 100 were completed as or converted to repair ships, casualty evacuation ships, boat tenders and service craft.
Below I have attached a few short films that describe the importance of the Liberty Ship program.
How Liberty Ships are Constrcucted
Liberty Ships carried a crew of about 44 and 12 to 25 Naval Armed Guard. Some were armed with:
- One 3 inch bow gun
- One 4or 5 inch stern gun
- Two 37 mm bow guns
- Six 20 mm machine guns
About 200 Liberty’s were lost to torpedoes, mines, explosions, kamikazes, etc. during WWII.
The Liberty was 441 feet long and 56 feet wide. Her 5 holds could carry over 9,000 tons of cargo, plus airplanes, tanks, and locomotives lashed to its deck. A Liberty could carry 2,840 jeeps, 440 tanks, or 230 million rounds of rifle ammunition.
Liberty ships were named after prominent (deceased) Americans, starting with Patrick Henry and the signers of the Declaration of Independence. 18 of these ships were named for outstanding African-Americans.
Cargo ships were not the only “Liberty Ships” that shipyards built during this time. In fact Kaiser would build at least four different types of shipyards and at the direction of the Maritime Commission make several different types of ships that would help win the war. Prior to December 7th, 1941 Kaiser’s shipbuilding efforts and those of the nation were focused on cargo ships to help support President Roosevelt’s Lend-Lease program. The attack on Pearl Harbor, Hi on December 7, 1941, changed priorities again; on January 9, 1942, the Maritime Commission and Kaiser began a third shipyard to build big troop transports designed to carry the bulk of our troops across the ocean to the warfront. Kaiser had two additional yards that were already working producing British freighters and Liberty ships.
In June 1942, Kaiser got a call to build yet another shipyard, this one for invasion ships. This yard was unique when compared to other shipyards in that it came closest to an auto-type assembly line for big ships. The type of ships to be built there, initially cloaked in secrecy, were LST's. Hundreds of these "Landing Ship Tank" vessels were needed as the mainstay of invasion fleets. Kaiser was not the only company commissioned to make ships as shipyards throughout the United States were contracted for the construction of the landing force. In all, 982 were completed including 15 by Kaiser-Richmond, and 30 by Kaiser-Vancouver. More than 100 were completed as or converted to repair ships, casualty evacuation ships, boat tenders and service craft.
Below I have attached a few short films that describe the importance of the Liberty Ship program.
How Liberty Ships are Constrcucted
Ships for Victory
Last Liberty Ship Launched