President Trump Visits Wilmington and Recognizes the City's Role in WW II-- Part 2: USS North Carolina 'An Enduring Symbol of American Greatness'

 President Trump gave a 15-minute speech and declared Wilmington, North Carolina, as the nation's first World War II Heritage City.  "With this designation, we proudly declare  that we don't tear down the past, we celebrate our heroes.  We cherish our history, we preserve our history and we build our future."

The North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, based in Wilmington, was the largest employer in the state during the war, with 23,000 workers at its peak and built almost 250 merchant ships (mostly Liberty Ships) for the war effort.

During the war, Wilmington was called "The Defense Capital of the State."  The North Carolina General Assembly passed a resolution in 2017, asking the federal government to recognize Wilmington for its war contributions.

The city became a "wartime boomtown," with its population more than doubling in size.

Wilmington's strategic position and contributions made it a target for attack by German U-boats.  Merchant ships were sunk off the entire Atlantic and Gulf coasts as well as off Wilmington.  One German U-boat reportedly surfaced and fired its deck gun at a chemical plant near Fort Fisher, just south of the city.

Standing in front of the battleship USS North Carolina which fought in WW II, the president called it "an enduring symbol of American greatness."

--GreGen

Wilmington, North Carolina's Role in WW II: By the Numbers-- Part 1

From the May 16, 2020, Wilmington (N.C.) Star-News  "Wilmington facts, figures from World War II" by Owen Hassel.

Accompanied by pictures of  a German POW camp marker, WW-II era hangar at Wilmington International Airport, picture of a farm where German POWs were held and a picture of Liberty Ships being built by the N.C. Shipbuilding Company.

**  The POW Sign:  Photo of its unveiling at Robert Strange Park at 10th and Anne streets.  From October 1944 to April 1946, 550 members of Rommel's Afrika Korps were held here in the main camp.  There were also two other German POW camps in Wilmington.

**  Legislation to make Wilmington the first "America City of World War II" has languished in Congress for a decade now.

**  Wilmington International Airport was the site of an active war airport, Bluethenthal Field for anti-submarine patrols and P-47 Thunderbolt aircraft training.

**  Echo Fields dairy farm was one of the places German POWs being held in Wilmington were put to work.

--GreGen

Some More on Bernard Dargols-- Part 1

I have just finished writing five posts about this Frenchman's role in liberating his country as an American soldier during the war.

From 30 April 2019, Breitbart News "Bernard Dargols, Paris-Born GI who fought at Omaha Beach, dies at 98" by Simon Kent.

**  Paris-born Jew and only Frenchman to storm ashore at Omaha Beach in an American uniform.

**  Immigrated to U.S. in 1938 to work in Manhattan.

**  Became an American citizen.

**  Waded ashore as U.S. Army staff sergeant at age 24.

**  "If the Liberty Ship had been able to quickly ho into reverse, I think I would have asked them to do it."  He recounts coming to the shore.

More to Come.  --GreGen

California Shipbuilding Corp.-- Part 4: End of War, End of Calship

The Calship yard had workers from every corner of the United States, lured by work and good wages.  Eventually the force here numbered some 40,000.  Only 1% had had any shipbuilding experience before they came.

After the war, the U.S. Navy and Maritime Commission cancelled their contracts with Calship and the level of shipbuilding decreased.  Calship closed in September 1945, after launching its last Victory Ship.  It was "four years to the minute after the first  slid into the water."

Calship ranks 49th  among U.S. corporations in the value of World War II military production contracts.

In 1947 the Calship facility was taken over by  National Metal & Steel Corporation which operated a scrap yard there.  Fifty-five of the Liberty and Victory Ships that were built there were also scrapped there.

The surviving museum Victory ships SS American Victory and SS Lane Victory were built  in the Calship yard.  The SS American Victory is in Tampa, Florida, and the SS Lane  Victory is in Los Angeles.  They both are open to the public and sail occasionally.

--GreGen

California Shipbuilding Corporation-- Part 2: Very Fast Ship Production

Calship (California Shipbuilding Corporation) was created from scratch and began production of Liberty Ships in May 1941.  In the early 1940s, contracts from the U.S. Department of Maritime Commission and a number of U.S. Navy contracts led to great prosperity in L.A. shipbuilding businesses.

The Calship yard covered  175 acres on the  north side of Terminal Island.  It initially had eight ways which were later increased to fourteen.  Some 40,000 men and women  worked on the construction of the ships  Altogether, the ships that were produced here are referred to as the "Liberty Fleet."

The cargo ships were built with rapid construction with lower costs.    Just thirteen months after commencing production, the company broke the record by delivering 15 Liberty Ships in June 1942.  For the year, they delivered 111 Liberty Ships. more than any other yard in the United States.  In June the following year, they broke their own record by delivering twenty ships.  Then, again in December 1943, they delivered 23.

They Could Build Ships Very Fast.  --GreGen

California Shipbuilding Corporation-- Part 1: Built 467 Liberty and Victory Ships

Last week I wrote about the USS Jaguar and its service during World War II.

It was built by this company.

From Wikipedia.

And, I thought the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company built a lot of ships for WW II service, but this one built almost twice as many.

Built 467 Liberty and Victory ships during the war, including Haskell-class attack transports.  It was often referred to as Calship (California Shipbuilding).

The Calship shipyard was created  at Terminal Island, Los Angeles as part of the U.S.'s huge shipbuilding effort during the war.  W.A. Bechtel Co. was given sponsorship  and was in charge of executive direction.

As of the 1940, the Los Angeles shipyards had not built a large ship  in 20 years.  By  late 1941, though, shipbuilding had become the second largest  manufacturing industry  in the Los Angeles area.

--GreGen

N.C.'s Liberty Armada-- Part 14 Launching the Liberty Ships SS Vance, Dare and McKay

Several very interesting photographs accompanied the article.

**  Crews prepare the SS Zebulon B. Vance for its launch from the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, which stood at the site of the current Port of Wilmington.

**  Building Liberty Ships was dangerous and deadly.  Some 115,000 workers were injured and 15 died during the five years the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company was in operation.  Shows the cranes and at least two Liberty Ships under construction, one of which was the SS Virginia Dare, named after the first white English child born in the New World.  She was born at what is now called the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island.

**   On July 30, 1942, the SS James I McKay was christened in Wilmington by Mary West Cromartie, a descendant of the ship's namesake, a North Carolina congressman from the 1800s.   Shows the bottle of champagne breaking on the bow.

--GreGen

N.C.'s Liberty Armada-- Part 13: North Carolina Shipbuilding Company Closes Down

The ships launched by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company's ships are considered among the best and most efficiently built vessels of the war.  But on April 16, 1946, the last ship, the SS Santa Isabel, sled down the ways.  The company shutters its operation and releases most of its 25,000 workers.

The site sat vacated.  But, after nearly five years of negotiations, on November 15, 1949, the state port authority was created with a fifty-year lease on the northeast section of the yard.

Part of the site will be developed into the Port of Wilmington, a modern deep-water port -- planned but never realized after World War I.

The Liberty Ships at last retired from the high seas.  But two of them are still operational.

--GreGen

N.C.'s Liberty Armada-- Part 10: SS Zebulon Vance Launched Dec. 6, 1941

The first Liberty Ship to slide down the ways into the Cape Fear River, then, was the Zebulon B. Vance.  It was 441.6 feet long, 56 foot beam and displaced 14,100 tons with a draft of 27.8 feet.

It was manned by 44 officers and crew and could carry more than 9,000 tons of cargo:  440 tanks, 2,840 jeeps or 230 rounds of small arms ammunition.  It cost $1,610,000.

These Liberty Ships were not just being built here, but in shipyards all along the seaboard.

The launch took place on December 6 in a short ceremony with brief remarks.  North Carolina Governor Joseph M. Broughton also spoke.  His wife, Alice W. Broughton christened the ship with the traditional bottle of champagne.

--GreGen

N.C.'s Liberty Armada-- Part 9: South Carolina-Named Ships Launched in North Carolina?

The first of the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company's designated "Liberty Ships" scheduled to be launched in December 1941, was to be named Francis Marion, honoring the American Revolution guerrilla leader from South Carolina.  Others were to have the names Nathaniel Greene and Daniel Morgan, Revolutionary War generals from Rhode Island and New Jersey.  Four more were to be named after South Carolinians:  John C. Calhoun, Charles C. Pinckney, William Moultrie and Edward Rutledge.

These names struck a blow to local pride and the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce wrote a letter to the United States Maritime Commission in charge of the ships reading:  "Thus, it would appear that, to date, South Carolina has gained more recognition than any other state in the number of vessels constructed here."

Just weeks before the Marion's launch, the name was changed to Zebulon B. Vance, the Civil War governor of North Carolina.

--GreGen

N.C.'s Liberty Armada-- Part 5: Blacks and Whites At the Shipyard

Work gangs on the ships were integrated.  White and Black men worked alongside each other doing both skilled and unskilled jobs.  But dining, restroom and locker facilities were strictly segregated.  White workers read the Shipyard Bulletin, while Blacks read The Colored Shipbuilder.

Discrimination by Maritime Commission contractors was prohibited, but that usually was not the case.  During periods of racial tension, Backs and Whites exited the shipyards through separate gates.

The article didn't mention if there was a difference in pay rates between Blacks and Whites.

--GreGen

N.C.'s Liberty Armada-- Part 3: Using New Technology

What they had planned for this new Cape Fear shipyard was to construct 37 new cargo ships at a cost of $42 million.  They would be built to a uniform design adopted from the British and to be used in all American shipyards to build these ships, to be known as Liberty Ships.

They could be modified for use as tankers and fitted out with anti-aircraft guns.  They would carry supplies to England through the Lend-Lease Act of 1941.

Plus, they would be built using new technology.  Instead of the traditional expensive and time-consuming method of riveting steel plates, workers would build the ships in modules and weld the pieces together.  This had never been tried before in ocean-going ships.

The Liberty Ships were not expected to hold up for more than a few years, but the speed of construction and efficiency were deemed to be worth it.  The Allies needed supply ships right away and these would fit the bill.

--GreGen

Shorpy Home Front Photos: "Weld Noir" and "Fate's Fickle Finger"

NOVEMBER 18, 2014  "Weld Noir: 1943"  May 1943.  "Bethlehem -Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland.  Liberty Ship construction.  Welding on a hatch assembly at night."  Arthur Siegel, OWI.

American war industry goes mass production to destroy the Axis.  Work continued around the clock.

NOVEMBER 13, 2014   "Fate's Fickle Finger"  New York: 1944.Pawnbroker and prospective customer.  Tony Lick.

JANUARY 7, 2015

JANUARY 4, 2015--  "You  Like It: 1942.  August 1942.  "Bike rack in Idaho Falls, Idaho.  Russell Lee, OWI.  There is Seven-Up advertising on the bike rack.  Bicycling increased so much because of gas rationing.

Don't Drive It... Bike It.  --GreGen

Liberty Ships in North Carolina-- Part 3: Two Functioning Ones Left

After the war, a number of the Liberty Ships became merchant vessels and others were stored for future.  Most were scrapped.

In the early 2000s, two restored and functioning Liberty Ships remained:  the SS Jeremiah O'Brien on the West Coast and the SS John W. Brown, moored in Baltimore, which visited Wilmington in 1996.

As part of the North Carolina artificial reef program, the Liberty Ship SS Theodore Parker was sunk in 50 feet of water just off Fort Macon near Morehead City and became a popular site for scuba divers and fishermen.

A Ship That Did a Lot for Our War Effort.  --GreGen

Liberty Ships in North Carolina-- Part 2: SS Zebulon B. Vance

Between 1941 and 1946, the North Carolina Shipbuilding Corporation in Wilmington produced 243 vessels, of which 125 were Liberty Ships.  In 1943, 20,000 workers were involved in this effort.  Many of these Liberty Ships were named for famous North Carolinians and for cities, counties that conducted war bond drives.

On 6 December 1941 the SS Zebulon B. Vance was the first Liberty Ship launched in Wilmington, just hours before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor plunged the United States into World War II.  The Vance made several successful runs to London before being damaged by a mine of a return trip; it was repaired and rejoined the Liberty fleet.

Later, the Vance was converted to a hospital ship and renamed the USS John J. Meany.  Finally, it was reconverted to the Vance to transport "war bride" dependents of American military personnel to the United States.  These were women overseas, mostly England, who had married service men.

--  GreGen

Liberty Ships in North Carolina-- Part 1: A Fast Ship to Build

From the Encyclopedia of North Carolina "Liberty Ships" by Jim Fowlkes.

A number of them were built in Wilmington and they carried two-thirds of U.S. cargo during World War II, thus playing a significant role in the Allied cause as merchant vessels.

According to standards developed by the U.S. Maritime Commission in 1940, Liberty Ships were 440 feet long, 66 feet wide, and, with 2,500 horsepower, capable of cruising at 11 knots.  Some were also armed.

These ships were the first vessels to be mass-produced using welding instead instead of riveting; welding was faster, cheaper and lighter, and it took less time to train welders than riveters.  Consequently, the ships became known for their rapid production.  Nationally, over 2,700 Liberty Ships were built and about 200 sunk by the enemy.

--GreGen

World War II in Savannah: Role and Liberty Ships

From New Georgia Encyclopedia.

Men and women from Savannah and Chatham County served  in all branches of U.S. military during the war.  Being a port city, Savannah was very involved in wartime production and a najor military cargo port.

Other groups during the war were  the Savannah-Chatham County Defense Council and the U.S. Coats Guard Temporary Reserves Volunteer Port Security Force.

The Southeastern Shipbuilding Corporation received a contract to build 36 Liberty Ships on the Savannah River east of the city.  However, between 1942 and 1945, they built 88 ships.

--GreGen

72nd Liberty Ship Launched at Wilmington March 1943

From the Match 13, 2013, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Back Then."

MARCH 1, 1943:  The 72nd Liberty Ship slid down the ways at the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company.  It was the SS William D. Pender, named after the Confederate general, one of the youngest and most promising officers of the South who was killed at the Battle of Gettysburg.

He was born at Pender's Crossroads in Edgecombe County, North Carolina and graduated the USMA in 1854.  Before the war, he served with the U.S. 2nd Artillery and 1st Dragoons in Washington Territory and in Indian Wars.

Pender County, North Carolina was named for him in 1875.

--GreGen

N.C. Shipbuilding Co. Launches 57th Liberty Ship

From the February 5, 2013, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Looking Back"

JANUARY 14, 1943:  The N.C. Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington launched its 57th Liberty Ship, the Robert Howe, named for General Robert Howe of Brunswick County, hero of the Revolutionary War.

Born in 1732, he became the colonies' highest-ranking officer.  Died Nov. 1786 at his Brunswick home.

This ship was scrapped in 1971.

--GreGen

25th Liberty Ship Launched at Wilmington August 23, 1942

From the August 28, 2012, Wilmington (NC) Star-News "Looking Back."

AUGUST 23, 1942:  The Thomas Pinchney, the 25th Liberty Ship to be launched by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company (present-day N.C. State Port) at 8:30 that morning.

Thomas Pinckney was an American statesman and veteran of both the American Revolution and War of 1812.  He was born in South Carolina and governor of that state.

During the war, 243 Liberty Ships were launched at Wilmington.

For more on the Wilmington Liberty Ships, go to tinyurl.com/8z3xjqv.

Wilmington: Arsenal of Democracy.  --GreGen