SS Josiah Parker

	Josiah Parker was a standard liberty ship, similar to SS John W. Brown, seen here.
History
Name	Josiah Parker
Namesake	Josiah Parker
Owner	War Shipping Administration
Port of registry	New Orleans
Builder	Delta Shipbuilding Co, New Orleans
Yard number	44
Way number	8
Laid down	16 July 1942
Launched	26 September 1942
Completed	21 October 1942
Fate	Scrapped 1964
General characteristics
Class and type	Liberty ship; type EC2-S-C1, standard;
Tonnage	10,865 LT DWT; 7,176 GRT;
Length	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa; 416 feet (127 m) pp; 427 feet (130 m) lwl;
Beam	57 feet (17 m)
Height	34 ft 8 in (10.57 m)
Draft	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Propulsion	1 × triple-expansion steam engine, (manufactured by General Machinery Corp., Hamilton, Ohio); 1 × screw propeller;
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m3) (grain); 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m3) (bale);
Crew	38–62 USMM; 21–40 USNAG;
Armament	Varied by ship; Bow-mounted 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber gun; Stern-mounted 4 inches (102 mm)/50 caliber gun; 2–8 × single 20 millimeters (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or,; 2–8 × 37 millimeters (1.46 in) M1 AA guns;

SS Josiah Parker was a liberty ship built during World War II by Delta Shipbuilding Company, New Orleans, an EC2-S-C1 Type.^[3] The ship was named for Josiah Parker (1751 – 1810), an American politician who was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Virginia in the First through Sixth United States Congresses.

The SS Josiah Parker's Official Number was 242368. It was owned by the United States War Shipping Administration. Its MC Hull No. was 0132.^[4] It was laid down on July 16, 1942 and launched September 26, 1942.^[5]

Convoy UGS-37, 1944

SS Josiah Parker was one of the 37 ships carrying United States Navy Armed Guards in Convoy UGS-37, April 11–12, 1944.

"They were some 35 miles east of Algiers near midnight of April 11 and 12 when an undetermined number of enemy planes attacked. No ship carrying Armed Guards was hit by the enemy, but several ships received minor damage from the gunfire of other ships. Practically all ships opened fire and the amount of flak falling was quite heavy ... The Josiah Parker reported an explosion on one of the escorts and indicated that she too was hit by shell fragments."^[6]

The SS Josiah Parker was sold to private interests in 1947 and scrapped in 1964.^[4]

References

^ Browning, pp. 467–68.
^ ^a ^b Colton, Tim. "Delta Shipbuilding Company, New Orleans LA". Shipbuildinghistory.com. The Colton Company. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
^ "Liberty ships built by Delta Shipbuilding and J. A. Jones Construction during World War II". Retrieved 2013-11-10.
^ ^a ^b "Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II". Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2013-11-10.
^ "Delta Shipbuilding, New Orleans LA". Retrieved 2013-11-10.
^ Office of Naval Operations. "Chapter VIII, Six Mediterranean Convoys". HyperWar: US Naval Admin in WW II: History of the Naval Armed Guard Afloat.

External links

Deka (ex- Epinal, ex- Josiah Parker) at unknown date and location between December 1963 and May 1964

[Browning-1] Browning, pp. 467–68.

[Colton-2] Colton, Tim. "Delta Shipbuilding Company, New Orleans LA". Shipbuildinghistory.com. The Colton Company. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.

[3] "Liberty ships built by Delta Shipbuilding and J. A. Jones Construction during World War II". Retrieved 2013-11-10.

[deltashipbuilding-4] "Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II". Archived from the original on 2008-05-09. Retrieved 2013-11-10.

[5] "Delta Shipbuilding, New Orleans LA". Retrieved 2013-11-10.

[6] Office of Naval Operations. "Chapter VIII, Six Mediterranean Convoys". HyperWar: US Naval Admin in WW II: History of the Naval Armed Guard Afloat.

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