With war looming, in 1940, the U.S. Maritime Commission found the nation faced a critical shortage of cargo vessels. The city of Wilmington began lobbying Washington, DC for a shipyard as did nearby Morehead City. A 56.9 acre site three miles south of downtown and close to Sunset Park suburb was bought.
Wilmington got the shipyard. Ground was broken February 3, 1941 with plans for at least six shipways. Some 400,000 cubic yards of material were removed and 950 feet of steel walls constructed. The Maritime Commission placed an initial order for 25 Liberty Ships and then added another ten. Three more shipways were added.
On May 22, 1941, the keels of the first two ships were laid. On December 6, 1941, just hours before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the SS Zebulon B. Vance (named for the state's Civil War governor) was christened by Mrs. J. Melville Broughton, the wife of the current governor.
Wilmington Liberty Ships were often named for historical figures from North and South Carolina.
More to Come. --GreGen
The USS North Carolina (BB-55) My all-time favorite warship. As an elementary school student in North Carolina, I donated nickels and dimes to save this ship back in the early sixties.
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