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SS Francis Asbury
Career (United States) US flag 48 stars
Name: Francis Asbury
Namesake: Francis Asbury
Owner: War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator: A.H. Bull & Co., Inc.
Ordered: as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 1195
Builder: St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida[1]
Cost: $2,452,124[2]
Yard number: 3
Way number: 3
Laid down: 9 September 1942
Launched: 17 April 1943
Sponsored by: Mrs. Benjamin F. Crowles
Completed: 5 June 1943
Identification:
Fate: Struck mine, Constructive Total Loss (CTL), 3 December 1944
Status: Sold for scrapping, 6 April 1953, delivered, 28 April 1953
General characteristics [3]
Class & type:
  • Liberty ship
  • type EC2-S-C1, standard
Tonnage:
  • 10,865 LT DWT
  • 7,176 GRT
  • Displacement:
  • 3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light)
  • 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max)
  • Length: 441 ft 6 in (135 m)
    Beam: 56 ft 10.75 in (17.3419 m)
    Draft: 27 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:
  • 2 × oil-fired boilers
  • 1 × triple-expansion steam engine, 2,500 horsepower (1,900 kW) (manufactured by Hamilton Engine Co., Hamilton, Ohio)
  • 1 × screw propeller
  • Speed: 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h)
    Capacity: 10,800 long tons deadweight (DWT)
    Complement: 41
    Armament:
    • Stern-mounted 4"/50 caliber (102 mm) gun for use against surfaced submarines
    • variety of anti-aircraft guns

    SS Francis Asbury was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Francis Asbury, one of the first two bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. Ashbury traveled thousands of miles those living on the frontier to deliver hundreds of sermons each year.[4]

    Construction[]

    Francis Asbury was laid down on 12 September 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1195, by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida; she was sponsored by Mrs. Benjamin F. Crowles, the wife of one of the vice presidents of the St. John's River SB Co., she was launched on 17 April 1943.[1][2]

    History[]

    She was allocated to A.H. Bull & Co., Inc., on 5 June. On 3 December 1944, she was mined off Ostend, Belgium, while steaming from New York to Ostend, with war supplies. She was beached off Blankenberge, and declared a Constructive Total Loss (CTL). She was sold for scrapping, on 6 April 1953, to Hydraulica, for $2000. She was delivered, 28 April 1953.[4]

    Wreck location: 51°21′N 3°0′E / 51.35°N 3°E / 51.35; 3Coordinates: 51°21′N 3°0′E / 51.35°N 3°E / 51.35; 3[4]

    References[]

    Bibliography[]


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