SS John W. Brown
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations. (April 2009) |
 John W. Brown on the Great Lakes in 2000 |
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| Career (United States) |  |
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| Name: | SS John W. Brown |
| Namesake: | John W. Brown |
| Ordered: | 1 May 1941 |
| Builder: | Bethlehem-Fairfield Ship Yard's Inc. Baltimore, Maryland |
| Laid down: | 28 July 1942 |
| Launched: | 7 September 1942 |
| Acquired: | 19 September 1942 |
| Fate: | Operational museum ship States Marine Corporation |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | EC2-S-C1 (Liberty ship) |
| Tonnage: | 10,920 short tons (9,910 t) |
| Displacement: | 14,245 short tons (12,923 t) (Loaded) 3,380 short tons (3,070 t) (Light) |
| Length: | 441 feet 6 inches (134.57 m) |
| Beam: | 57 feet (17 m) |
| Draft: | 26 feet 10 inches (8.18 m) |
| Propulsion: | 3cyl Triple-expansion reciprocating steam engines 2,500 horsepower (1,900 kW) |
| Speed: | 11 knots (13 mph; 20 km/h) |
| Range: | 23,000 miles (37,000 km) |
| Capacity: | 562,608 cubic feet (15,931.3 m3) (grain) |
| Complement: | |
| Armament: |
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| Notes: | As of September, 2007, the bow 3 inch gun and several 20mm cannon were rigged with compressed gas firing simulators (oxygen and a fuel gas of some sort) for historical re-enactments of air defense. |
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SS John W. Brown (Liberty Ship)
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| Location: | Pier 1, Clinton St., Baltimore, Maryland |
| Coordinates: | 39°16′4″N 76°34′12″W / 39.26778°N 76.57°WCoordinates: 39°16′4″N 76°34′12″W / 39.26778°N 76.57°W |
| Built: | 1942 |
| Architect: | Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard Balt,MD |
| NRHP Reference#: | 97001295[1] |
| Added to NRHP: | 17 November 1997 |
SS John W. Brown is a Liberty ship, one of two still operational today (the other being the SS Jeremiah O'Brien in San Francisco).[2] The ship is today a museum ship located at Clinton Street Pier 1 in Baltimore Harbor. The ship was named after labor union leader John W. Brown.
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[edit] History
[edit] World War II
John W. Brown made 13 wartime voyages to the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean, including duty during the Anzio landings. She was also part of the liberation force of Southern France during Operation Dragoon in August, 1944. John W. Brown's US Navy Armed Guard gunners may have shot down one enemy plane during the liberation of Southern France in August, 1944, though this was never confirmed as a kill.[3]
After the war, John W. Brown carried government cargoes to help rebuild war-torn Europe and returned American troops to the United States.
[edit] Training ship
After 1946, she was loaned by the government to the City of New York, where she became a floating nautical high school, the only one in the United States. The ship served in that capacity from 1946 to 1982, graduating thousands of students prepared to begin careers in the Merchant Marine, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard.[3]
When her schoolship days had ended, the first Project Liberty Ship was formed in New York City to preserve the ship. They were not successful in finding her a berth in New York and she was towed to the James River Reserve Fleet in July 1983 with her future in serious doubt.
[edit] Restoration and Heritage
In 1988, Project Liberty Ship Baltimore was able to rescue and restore her, and found her a home in Baltimore, Maryland near where she was built. In September 1988, John W. Brown was rededicated as a memorial museum at ceremonies at Dundalk Marine Terminal.
After three years of restoration effort, on 24 August 1991, she steamed under her own power for the first time in 45 years, completed sea trials in the Chesapeake Bay. One month later, on 21 September 1991, John W. Brown carried about 600 members and guests on her Matron Voyage, her inaugural cruise.
The SS John W. Brown was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.[1]
In 1994, John W. Brown received Coast Guard Certification for coastwise ocean voyages. For the first time since 1946, in April she made her first offshore voyage to New York Harbor and in August, made her first foreign voyage to Halifax, Nova Scotia, then to Boston, Massachusetts and Greenport, New York. In 2000 she visited the Great Lakes for dry docking and hull work in Toledo.
In addition to her floating museum role, John W. Brown still puts out to sea for "Living History Day Cruises".
[edit] References
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html.
- ^ Sawyer (1985) pp. 1-19, 40-1, 223
- ^ a b Sawyer (1985) pp. 40-1
- Sawyer, L. A.; Mitchell, W. H. (1985). The Liberty Ships (second ed.). London: LLoyd's of London Press Ltd..
[edit] External links
- "Project Liberty Ship". http://www.liberty-ship.com/. Retrieved 2011 October 19.
- "SS John W. Brown Alumni Association". http://www.jwbalumni.com/. Retrieved 2011 October 19.
- "Historic Naval Ships Association: SS John W. Brown". http://www.hnsa.org/ships/jbrown.htm. Retrieved 2011 October 19.
[edit] See also
- List of ships of the United States Navy
- SS Jeremiah O'Brien - other surviving Liberty ship
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