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dgaad -> (7/8/2002 4:53:33 AM)
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A Liberty Ship designated an EC2, which meant {E for Emergency, C for Cargo, 2 for large capacity]
The Liberty Ship design was adapted from that of an old and time-proven British tramp ship The contract plans and many others for the Liberty ship were obtained form th eBritish. Detailed plans were prepared by Gibbs & Cox, a firm of naval architects in New York, and by the U.S. Maritime Commission. The design came from sunderland and originated in 1879. Various claims for the Liberty ship design have been made by U.S. Citizens, even a gold metal was awarded for one, but they were erroneous and no award was deserved
The standard Liberty was as follows: 441'6" long; a beam of 56' 10 3/4"; draft of 27' 9 1/4 "; deadweght tonnage was 10,920; gross tonnage about 7,500; and displacement tonnage 14,257. They carried 9,140 tons of cargo with a full load of fuel.
The vessel had 5 holds: Three forward of the engine spaces and two aft. Cargo capacity was equaled to that fo 300 railroad freight cars. A liberty could carry 2,840 jeeps, 440 light tanks, 230 million rounds of rifle ammunition, or 3,440,000 C-rations.
Speed of about 11 Knots.....some would get 11.5 knots when things were extremely good.
Officers had private rooms. Crew slept two to three to a room.
Sixty-one percent of the Liberty ship was prefabricated, with more that 152,00 feet of weld performed.
A Liberty ship required 3,425 tons of hull steel, 2,727 tons of plate, and 700 tons of shapes, which included 50,000 castings.
Women made up more that 30% of the work force.
Work force totaled 700,000 by 1943
The result of some sloppy work due to lack of training, inadequate inspection, and other reasons is as follows: Henery Wynkoop fractured her decks while loading in New York on Nov. 17, 1943. George P. Garrioson developed cracks up forward and in her deckhouse during a North Atlantic crossing. Alexander Baranoff broke in two and was welded togethr again. John Philip Sousa had grease fouling her boiler water. Thirteen buckets of grease was removed form one boiler.
By 1942 746 ships were built. 1943 1896 ships were built of which 1238 were Liberty's.
Est of cost of a Liberty was $1,500,000. Contractors fee added $60,000 to 140,000 for each ship.
In 1940 the entire U.S. merchant marine, from ocean liners to tow boats included some 65,000 men [a few women]. In 1943 it was 85,000. In 1944 it was 175,000. At end of WW II 250,000.
Men to lod for th edraft.....or not accepted in the armed forces.....found the merchant marine as something they wished to enter into.
Early on manning the Liberty's was difficult. New vessels was being procuced faster than man power could be obtained. So crews was usually a hodgepodge of individuals.
Crewing the ships was a joint effort by the various maritime unions, government and steamship company hiring halls, and the government training schools, including the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.
Largest training establishments for unlicenced seamen was at Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York. Intended to process 30,000 men per year.
The age limit for enlistment in the Maritime Service was lowered to 16 years in May, 1944. In one week more that 7,000 youngsters volunteered as some 40 recruiting offices.
On 17 November 1941 Congres authorized the use of Navy guns and gunners for the defense of American merchant ships. The first vessel portected was the SS Dunboyne.
Civilian crews was paid at the end of each voyage whereas military mne were paid a lower amount.....a great cause of some friction among both types of crewmen.
Pay for crewmen was standardized on 24 February 1943, in the form of voyage, area, and attack bonuses. Seaman was paid an additional 40 to 100 percent of this total wages, including overtime, during the time his ship was transiting certain areas considered subject to enemy action. Five dollars a day was added for Murmansk, Mediterranean, and South Seas. Finally there was a bonus of $125 paid to each man if a vesel was under enemy attack at any port or anchorage.
An average Liberty carried a crew of 41 men. Deck officers included the master, chief mate, second and third mates; engine officers included the chief engineer and first, second and third assistants. The deck crew included a boatswain, six able seamen, three ordinary seamen, and a carpenter. Unlicenced engine room personnel included three firemen, three oilers, two wipers, and a deck engineer who took care of the deck winches, steam lines, rediators, and othe requipment outside the engine spaces. The stewards department included a chief steward, chief cook, second cook, night cook and baker, six messmen, and a galley man. Each ship also carried a radio operator and a purser to take care of ships business.
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Note : in game terms, this means a liberty ship would have a load capacity of approximately 9000 supplies assuming that 1 supply = 1 ton.
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