Jump to content
Free downloads from TNA ×
The Great War (1914-1918) Forum

Remembered Today:

WW1 USA Wooden ship graveyard


museumtom

Recommended Posts

Interesting read, thanks Tom

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What an astounding story! Thanks for posting it!

Trajan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks lads, I knew ye would find it interesting.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great story. I would have liked to see a picture of one or two of the ships as they were when built. Can anyone oblige?

Cheers Martin B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A waste of wooden salvage, but if they were badly made then a fitting end may have saved a lot of seamen from being lost at sea ?

True, but I can't help but feel how nice it would be for marine archaeologists to practice on and learn and make some useful research at the same time... Do the underwater lot at Texas A&M know about this, I wonder?

Trajan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here you go, Martin B ... United States Shipping Board Merchant Fleet Corporation wood ship S. S. Aberdeen, 4000 dead-weight ton wood ship built by Grays Harbor Motorship Corp. Aberdeen, Washington, USA. Launched in 17 days... I paddled around Mallows Bay, Charles County, Maryland many times in the 1960s

post-111052-0-91459600-1452812451_thumb.

post-111052-0-25312300-1452813898_thumb.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Cpl Coleman for the pix. They don't look very fit for purpose, I have to say.

Cheers Martin B

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some technical details of the ships for anyone who is interested: http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015080010682;view=1up;seq=320

Not my thing at all, but thanks for posting what became an enjoyable read! Interesting to see the contract allowed for the possibility of a twin-screw, subject to approval, and also the way the money was to be paid. And lots of other good stuff to see, including that stranded cruiser and the stranded submarine!

Trajan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

An interesting story. Thanks for posting it. I may have to take the kayak out there in the spring and check out the site.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great idea Mr Roswell, perhaps post a few pics here?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What a terrible waste (on both links)............... reminds me of all of those surplus aircraft laid out in the Utah desert.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great post, thank you. unbelievable that they could launch a ship in a little over 2 weeks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20111012/ARTICLES/111019928

A similar story from WW2 of 500+ liberty ships in a graveyard.

Fascinating!

I see that the last one was scrapped... What's the betting there is a museum or two somewhere that would love to find an unaltered example of one of these?!

Trajan

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Fascinating!

I see that the last one was scrapped... What's the betting there is a museum or two somewhere that would love to find an unaltered example of one of these?!

Trajan

Not to veer too far off topic but a great read about a near tragedy involving a Liberty Ship is the book 'Simple Courage'.

I agree re: a museum and wonder if there are any in good enough condition to try and save?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When I was a youngster I worked for a while as a longshoreman, dirty and dangerous work, however I recall seeing a Liberty ship still in service, and even still had the gun mounts and shields.

khaki

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...