According to Edwin Way Teale, in his otherwise excellent book The Wilderness World of John Muir (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1954), “during the First World War, a liberty ship was christened the SS John Muir.” But Teale had his wars mixed up. In actuality, all “Liberty Ships” were built during and used in the Second World War, not the first.

On September 27, 1941, the first 14 “Emergency” Liberty Ships were launched in what was dubbed Liberty Fleet Day. The Liberty Ship John Muir was built in 1942. It was one of approximately 2700 Liberty Ships built before and during the Second World War. A “Liberty Ship” was an emergency cargo ship, mass-produced using a common design. As German submarines kept sinking supply ships, it was important to the war effort to mass-produce as many new ships as possible for transporting supplies. So Liberty Ships had to be constructed quickly – in under six months. Since many hundreds of Liberty Ships were sunk under enemy fire during World War II, new Liberty Ships had to be built to replace them over and over again. 

Liberty Ships could carry over 9,000 tons of cargo, plus airplanes, tanks, and locomotives lashed to its deck. A Liberty ship could carry 2,840 jeeps, 440 tanks, or 230 million rounds of rifle ammunition. Various types of large guns were provided for defense.

 Yet, the Liberty ships proved to be too slow and too small to carry the tons of supplies the United States and her Allies would need to win the war. In 1943, the United States began a new ship-building program, the “Victory Ships.”  These new ships would be faster, larger, and able to carry cargo long after the war was finished. Today, you can visit the SS Red Oak Victory, the last surviving vessel of 747 ships of all types built at the Richmond Kaiser Shipyards during World War II. 

Remarkably, the Liberty Ship John Muir survived the war, but was finally scrapped in 1966.

The Liberty ships were constructed of sections that were welded together rather than riveting, which took longer to construct. The ships were made assembly-line style, from prefabricated sections. The work force was newly trained – no one had previously built welded ships. In some places, African Americans constituted 10% or more of the work force. As America entered the war, the shipbuilding yards increasingly employed women, to replace men who were enlisting in the armed forces.  You can visit a tribute to those working women at Rosie the River WW II National  Historic Park in Richmond, California. Another historic memorial is dedicated to the 320 lives lost when two ships were being loaded with munitions is the Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial in east San Francisco Bay area. These sites are linked administratively by the U.S. National Park Service, as the Superintendent of each of these parks is also the Superintendent of the John Muir National Historic Site in Martinez. The John Muir National Historic Site has on display the original 1942 plaque that was placed on the bridge of the S.S. John Muir: