Latest news with #LibertyShips
Wall Street Journal
4 minutes ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
‘Launching Liberty' Review: Shipyard Victory
Constructing a massive merchant fleet was one of the most remarkable American achievements during World War II. Most of those vessels were Liberty ships, 441 feet long, designed to ferry tanks, planes and military supplies across the oceans. Between 1941 and 1945, some 2,700 Liberty ships were built at U.S. shipyards. The goods they transported were critical to the Allies' victory. In 'Launching Liberty,' Doug Most tells the story of the Liberty ships and the people who built them. History buffs will find his book enjoyable. Academics, though, may note a lack of new insights into a subject scholars have investigated thoroughly since the 1940s. Mr. Most, a former editor at the Boston Globe, vividly describes a great accomplishment, but he leaves some of its less praiseworthy aspects aside. The book opens in 1940, one year into World War II. German submarines had torpedoed much of the British merchant navy, and the beleaguered British had sent a delegation to the U.S. in a desperate quest for ships. The U.S. Maritime Commission agreed that 60 such ships could be constructed in American yards. But there was a problem: The U.S. Navy had already commandeered the country's entire capacity for building oceangoing ships. Emory S. 'Jerry' Land, the retired rear admiral who headed the Maritime Commission, helped the British envoys arrange a coast-to-coast tour to identify locations where yards could be built and companies that could run them. After Dec. 21, when German forces sunk an unarmed American-crewed tanker off the coast of West Africa, the isolationist sentiment that previously stood in the way of the British venture dissipated. On Dec. 29, President Franklin Roosevelt proclaimed the U.S. to be 'the great arsenal of democracy' and pledged to build those 60 ships for the British. Five days later, he announced a separate program to build cargo ships for American use.
BBC News
12-02-2025
- General
- BBC News
Shipwreck off Devon still giving up secrets 80 years on
Divers are being asked to help with the creation of an exhibition telling the story of a ship sunk off the coast of Plymouth-based Ships Project is asking divers to loan artefacts found while exploring the wreck of the SS James Egan Layne, which lies in Whitsand Bay. To mark the 80th anniversary of the sinking in March 1945, the group wants to show US relatives of the crew the variety of things divers have found onboard. They are also planning a voyage to the wreck site to raise the ship's original stars and stripes flag once again. The wreck of the American Liberty Ship rests in just 25 feet of water near the Rame Peninsula, making it one of the most accessible and most dived wrecks in the Ships Project divers are keen to share what they have learned about the vessel with the public. Historian and diver Peter Holt, who is also director of The Ships Project, said Liberty Ships transported goods needed during the war."Because the UK is an island everything had to come in via ship, but the Germans at the time were sinking ships far faster than we could build them," he said. "So a (Liberty Ship) programme was put together to build ships in America really fast."The Egan Layne was fully loaded with cargo when it was torpedoed near the Eddystone Rock by a German submarine. It was limping back to Plymouth when it started to sink. All the crew were able to evacuate the ship, including 17-year-old Earl George Blache who later shared the tale with his grandson Glen in Blache said: "Earl was asleep in his bunk when they were torpedoed. He woke up and was lodged between two pipes. He barely made it out.' Despite this he went back to save the ship's American Blache said the first mate ordered his grandfather to go and retrieve the flag."He said no, if I'm going to get it, I'm keeping it. The captain told him, whoever swims and gets it, gets to keep the flag. So he out swam the first mate..."The stars and stripes flag has been a prized possession passed down through the Blache family ever since. The James Egan Layne sank fully loaded and close to shore so many items have has been salvaged over the years. Diver Mallory Haas said: "Everyone's got a piece of her somewhere in their house. It would be good to see it back together."The Ships Project is keen to find out what divers have found - but said they did not want any ammunition handed to them for safety reasons.
