SS John W. Brown

Not to be confused with SS John W. Brown II.

SS John W. Brown
SS John W. Brown on the Great Lakes in 2000.
History
United States
NameJohn W. Brown
NamesakeJohn W. Brown
Ordered1 May 1941
BuilderBethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Sparrows Point, Maryland
Laid down28 July 1942
Launched7 September 1942
Sponsored byAnnie Green
Completed19 September 1942
Acquired19 September 1942
In service19 September 1942
Out of service19 November 1946
Identification
Honors and
awards
Fate
StatusSeagoing museum ship operated by Project Liberty Ship
General characteristics [1]
Class and type
Tonnage
Displacement
Length
  • 441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa
  • 416 feet (127 m) pp
  • 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam57 feet (17 m)
Draft27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power
  • 2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa)
  • 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion
Speed11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Range23,000 miles (20,000 nmi; 37,000 km)
Capacity562,608 cubic feet (15,931.3 m3) grain (as cargo ship)
TroopsUp to 450,[2] 550,[3] or 650[4] (sources) as "Limited Capacity Troopship"
Complement
Armament
NotesAs of September 2007, the bow 3-inch gun and several 20-mm cannon were rigged with compressed gas firing simulators (oxygen and a fuel gas) for historical re-enactments of air defense
SS John W. Brown (Liberty Ship)
SS John W. Brown is located in Baltimore
SS John W. Brown
SS John W. Brown is located in Maryland
SS John W. Brown
LocationCanton Pier 13, 4601 Newgate Avenue, Baltimore, Maryland
Coordinates39°15′35″N 76°33′22″W / 39.25972°N 76.55611°W / 39.25972; -76.55611
Built1942
ArchitectBethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland
NRHP reference No.97001295[5]
Added to NRHP17 November 1997

SS John W. Brown is a Liberty ship, one of two still operational and one of three preserved as museum ships.[6] As a Liberty ship, she operated as a merchant ship of the United States Merchant Marine during World War II and later was a vocational high school training ship in New York City for many years. Now preserved, she is a museum ship and cruise ship berthed at Pier 13 in Baltimore Harbor in Maryland.

John W. Brown was named after the Canadian-born American labor union leader John W. Brown (1867–1941).[7]

The other surviving operational Liberty ship is SS Jeremiah O'Brien in San Francisco, California. A third Liberty ship, SS Hellas Liberty (ex-SS Arthur M. Huddell) is preserved as a static museum ship in Piraeus, Greece.

  1. ^ Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 6 March 2020.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Live was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference walkaround was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference live4 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 15 April 2008.
  6. ^ Sawyer (1985) pp. 1–19, 40–41, 223
  7. ^ Cooper, Sherod, SS John W. Brown: Baltimore's Living Liberty, Project Liberty Ship, 1991, pp. 2–3.