SS Clara Barton

History
United States
Name	Clara Barton
Namesake	Clara Barton
Builder	California Shipbuilding, Los Angeles CA
Laid down	19 July 1942
Launched	25 August 1942
Acquired	12 September 1942 (delivered to War Shipping Administration)
Fate	Scrapped, 1970
General characteristics
Type	Liberty ship
Tonnage	7,176 GRT, 10,807 DWT
Length	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam	56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft	27 ft 10 in (8.48 m)
Propulsion	2 oil-fired boilers Triple expansion steam engine single screw 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	9,140 tons cargo
Complement	41
Armament	1 × 4 in (100 mm) stern-mounted deck gun Variety of anti-aircraft guns

SS Clara Barton (Hull Number 636) was a standard Liberty ship, Type EC2-S-C1, built by the California Shipbuilding Corporation, Terminal Island, for the United States Maritime Commission and delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) for operation as allocated by WSA during World War II. She was named after Clara Barton, the founder of the American Red Cross. The ship survived the war only to suffer the same fate as nearly all other Liberty ships that survived did; she was scrapped in 1970.

Construction

The 7,176 GRT, 10,807 DWT ship was laid down at the California Shipbuilding Corporation on 19 July 1942, launched on 25 August 1942 then completed and delivered to the War Shipping Administration on 12 September 1942.

Service history

Clara Barton was assigned official number 24323 and allocated by WSA upon delivery to Coastwise Line (PFE) Line for operation under a WSA agreement which continued for the duration of the war. On 20 December 1946 the ship, under Maritime Commission control, was bareboat chartered to Moore McCormack Lines for operation. In December, 1947 the ship was taken out of service and placed in the James River Reserve Fleet. There the ship was used in a program to store reserve grain, the "Grain Program 1953," with occasional withdrawals to load grain and return as a grain store until returned empty on 10 March 1959. On 24 July 1970 the ship was sold for $124,559 to I.C.E. Chemicals for scrapping.

Personal account

Clara Barton participated in the Normandy Invasion on D-Day and made many trips from the UK to various ports on the continent as the invasion progressed. On D-Day the ship was hit by a tank shell which passed clear through the ship with minimal damage before detonating. On one of her trips as the invasion progressed the Clara Barton blew a major packing in her main engine and limped back to port through E-boat (German PT-boat equivalents) infested waters powered by the jacking engine, a small engine intended only to get the main engine off dead center. On a subsequent trip the same packing blew again and then the jacking engine failed, leaving her dead in the water again in E-boat infested waters. After an anxious wait she was safely towed back to port.