Now there are folks who will tell you that there is nothing better than a sea cruise. My mom is one of them (although lunch at Club 33 runs a very close second). Travel by ship from one port of call to another with all of the sights to explore along the way. So much so that last fall she and my dad enjoyed two weeks sailing the Caribbean.
But my dad started his cruise experience a few years back in a decidedly different way. As an able bodied seaman sailing in the Merchant Marine from San Francisco to various ports in the Pacific, he got a view of life at sea that is decidedly different than the rum drinks and midnight buffets.
Some of the ships he sailed aboard had gotten their starts during the Second World War as part of the nations maritime fleet.
Using new methods (to the ship building industry) of construction such as prefabrication and welding allowed for completion and outfitting for duty at an accelerated pace at shipyards across the country. A 200-ship order was called the “Liberty Fleet.” (Eventually, 2,751 of them were built.) The strategy was to build ships faster than the enemy could sink them.
These and others that came after were the lifeline that kept materials flowing to ports around the world. Carrying everything essential from toilet paper to tanks, they helped turn the tide of the war. Aptly named, there were Victory ships and Liberty ships, doing the job that had to be done. Slow but steady, they traveled together in convoys across the oceans of the world. Originally designed to have a life of five years, it was often said during the war that if a Liberty delivered its cargo once, it had paid for itself. Crossing the Atlantic or the Pacific, there was always the constant threat of attack by enemy submarine or aircraft.
In many ways, the men who sailed on these ships were the unsung heroes of the war. Most of these crews were civilians, and had no benefits, no insurance. The only military aboard was a small Navy detachment to man the two 3 inch cannons and eight 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. If they were injured or killed, that was all part of the choice they made to sail with the Merchant Marine. Yet their contribution to the final victories of that war was as important as any. If they had not sailed, men and materials would never have reached battlefields.
Only 200 were lost during the war and many of the survivors went on to new lives with upgraded systems and engines. Some went on to serve other countries such as Greece, Taiwan and Panama. Many simply went into storage to await the call to duty in another conflict. The S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien was one of the latter, and found its way to storage as part of the Mothball Fleet moored in the Suisun Bay of northern California.
It was a long way from the shipyard in Portland, Maine (where she was built in a blistering 40-day effort) where she was launched on June 19, 1943. (From her webpages: “The namesake of the SS Jeremiah O’Brien was a Scots-Irish lumberjack from Maine whose family settled in Machias in 1765. In 1775, at the age of 31, O’Brien was chosen captain of the Unity and while in charge, defeated and commandeered the British ship Margaretta, winning the first naval battle of the Revolutionary War. Outfitted with the arms from the British ship, Unity became an armed cruiser renamed Machias Liberty. O’Brien went on to capture a number of British ships but was himself later captured and sent to prison in Great Britain. He eventually escaped, going first to France and then later back to America at about the time the war was ending. During the War of 1812, when the British threatened to take Machias, O’Brien, now a colonel of advanced years, defiantly brandished his Revolutionary War sword against them. A Liberty Ship was named to honor this tough old bird.”)
About a month later she sailed from Boston bound for England, where she docked in August. After three more successful voyages, the O’Brien was part of the D-Day Normandy invasion with four sailings to the Omaha beach and another seven to Utah beachhead. (In 1994, the O’Brien steamed around the world — with a vintage crew as well — (some 20,000 plus miles) from San Francisco to England and on to Normandy as the only ship to return for the 50th anniversary of the D-Day landings. Check out this link for tales from that voyage. San Francisco’s adopted son, Herb Caen and fellow Chronicle reporter Carl Nolte both kept us entertained with their tales from this voyage back in time. (This link has some of Carl’s stories on later trips aboard. For some photos of some of the trips, this link is to the O’Brien’s photo pages.
Departing San Francisco for Normandy on it’s way to the 50th anniversary of
the D-Day Landings. Photo by Don Maskell from the O’Brien’s web pages.
For a short version of that long trip, this link is from the Los Gatos Weekly-Times. On the way home from Normandy, the ship visited it’s birthplace. This link is to a story that appeared in a Portland newspaper on August 7, 1994.
From the web pages, tales of other wartime voyages:
“The war was not over, but it was clear that the Allies were winning. Still, the O’Brien had a lot of sailing to do, even after the war was already over. In the next 16 months, she would go to, among other places, Chile, Peru, New Guinea, the Philippines, India, China and Australia before ending up in San Francisco. And her luck would hold up.
Going into Mindoro in the Philippines carrying a large load of explosives, the crew of the O’Brien learned that the ship that just preceded it had been hit by a kamikaze. The ship had also been carrying explosives, and when hit, simply disintegrated. Always nervous anyway because they were carrying explosives, this information renewed the crew’s tensions, tensions that were not eased until the cargo was discharged several days later.
The ship went to Calcutta, India to load U.S. Army cargo, which it then transported to Shanghai, China. The war was already over, so things were less tense aboard ship. Radio silence was a thing of the past, alerts were rare although danger still roamed in the waters because there were many mines that were still floating about. Still, things were gearing down, and the trip was relatively relaxed.
Perhaps the most unusual cargo that the O’Brien carried was on her last voyage from abroad, from Freemantle, Australia to San Francisco. Nine Australian war brides and three of their children were passengers. The nine war brides were married to Navy personnel, and were transported to the states to join their husbands. Some adjustments had to be made, and there was a no fraternization rule in effect (not strictly enforced), but the voyage turned out to be incident free. The presence of women on board the O’Brien made the voyage home quite enjoyable. Playing cards together and chatting let time pass more pleasantly. And since the women liked to sunbathe and the crew had cameras, an additional activity to pass the time was born. “
In 1978, the O’Brien was declared a National Monument and placed on the National Register as a historic object. Thanks to the vision of Admiral Thomas J. Patterson, she today forms the basis of the National Liberty Ship Memorial. And it’s not just a stuffed and mounted kind of tribute. The men and women who volunteer to keep this ship going are proud to see her alive as intended and under steam for occasional cruises. Coming up over the Labor Day Weekend, she’ll be steaming from San Francisco to Sacramento (for display) and then back again. It’s a great way to see the Bay and the Delta. The one-way fare of $175 includes a great buffet-style chuckwagon barbecue and bus transportation back to the point of origin. I enjoyed one of her Maritime Day cruises around the Bay a few years ago. This one should be just as memorable.
Now, if you’re on the East Coast, head for Baltimore to check out another one of the “Liberty Fleet” — the S.S. John Brown. From their web pages: “After the war the JOHN W. BROWN 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. During that time the BROWN was lovingly cared for by her students and instructors, making her reactivation by our volunteers that much easier.”
Today she sails from Baltimore on a regular basis. Their pages have a great selection of photos and reports from past cruises as well as info on the upcoming voyages.
Los Angeles is home to another of the World War II Fleet, the S.S. Lane Victory. These ships were the next step in the process begun by the “Liberty Fleet;” both bigger and faster. She also sails on occasion and takes folk back to the days of simpler transport, before the jet airplane forever changed our travel experience.
In fact, she sails this weekend from her berth in San Pedro. This link has the details for this event and another coming up in September. Only $100 for adults for an all day cruise to Avalon and back! And the restored Pacific Electric “Red Car” service also departs from the World Cruise Center across from the Lane Victory’s berth!
How about Tampa, Florida? Why not the American Victory? Here’s another of these great ships making history come alive for folks by doing what she was designed to.
A great view of the American Victory as docked near the Florida Aquarium.
San Francisco Bay was home to a great deal of maritime action that has dwindled somewhat in recent years. During the war, Henry J, Kaiser’s Richmond Shipyards built many ships, including one now under restoration not far from the former home of Pixar, the Red Oak Victory. Also part of the effort is the Rosie the Riveter Memorial. It’s a great way to salute the ladies who left home to take up the duties in the shipyards. This page even tells the tale of where Norman Rockwell got this inspiration from for his classic work for a Saturday Evening Post cover featuring the archetype of “Rosie.”
This classic Norman Rockwell image of “Rosie” is from
the web pages of this great group.
If you’re looking for a cruise of a different color, okay battleship gray, why not consider one of these? I think you’ll be amazed by the skills of the volunteers of all these ships. It’s their labor of love that will keep them steaming for future generations to enjoy and learn another chapter in our nations transportation history.
So there you have it, the tale of the sea, albeit at ten knots or less. Tune in next week as Roger is back with another random act of senseless journalism. In the next installment of this series, life on the prairie and a trail ride may be just around the bend.
And once again, thanks to one and all for the donations to his Amazon Honor System Paybox. Your continued support is appreciated. That and it keeps Roger looking for more excuses to write these columns…