SS John M. Brooke

SS John M. Brooke
Career (United States)
Name:	John M. Brooke
Namesake:	John Mercer Brooke
Owner:	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator:	North Atlantic & Gulf SS Co.
Ordered:	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 1550
Builder:	J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida
Cost:	$1,355,928
Yard number:	32
Way number:	4
Laid down:	30 December 1943
Launched:	24 February 1944
Completed:	31 March 1944
Identification:	Call Signal: KWBP
Fate:	Laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, Virginia, 19 May 1946
Status:	Sold for commercial use, 14 February 1947
Template:Infobox ship careerembed=yes
General characteristics
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 John M. Brooke was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after John Mercer Brooke, an early graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he perfected a "deep-sea sounding device", which was instrumental in the creation of the Transatlantic Cable. In 1861, he resigned his commission in the US Navy and joined the Confederate Navy where he was involved with the conversion of the ironclad CSS Virginia, the development of a new rifled naval gun, the Brooke rifle, and the establishment of the Confederate States Naval Academy.

Construction

John M. Brooke was laid down on 30 December 1943, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1550, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida; she was launched on 24 February 1944.

History

She was allocated to North Atlantic & Gulf SS Co., on 31 March 1944. On 15 May 1946, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in the James River Group, in Lee Hall, Virginia. On 2 February 1947, she was sold her J.S. Coumantaros, Piraeus, Greece. She was renamed Stavros Coumantaros. She was scrapped in Taiwan, in 1968.

Bibliography

• "Jones Construction, Panama City FL". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/jonespanamacity.htm. 
• "Liberty Ships – World War II". http://www.glynngen.com/nautical/glynn/libertyships.htm. 
• Maritime Administration. "John M. Brooke". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/sh/ShipHistory/Detail/2618. 
• Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)". p. 23. http://www.ww2ships.com/acrobat/us-os-001-f-r00.pdf. 
• "SS John M. Brooke". http://usmaritimecommission.de/.