Military Wiki
SS Luther Martin
Career (United States) US flag 48 stars
Name: Luther Martin
Namesake: Luther Martin
Owner: War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator: Agwilines Inc.
Ordered: as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 49
Awarded: 14 March 1941
Builder: Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland[1]
Cost: $1,072,020[2]
Yard number: 2036
Way number: 8
Laid down: 8 May 1942
Launched: 4 July 1942
Sponsored by: Mrs. Charles A. Swartz
Completed: 21 July 1942
Identification:
Fate:
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina, 4 June 1948
  • Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama, 15 May 1952
  • Status: Sold for scrapping, 7 October 1971, withdrawn from fleet, 27 October 1971
    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 Worthington Pump & Machinery Corp, Harrison, New Jersey)
  • 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 Luther Martin was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Luther Martin, a politician and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States, who left the Constitutional Convention early because he felt the Constitution violated States' rights. He was a leading Anti-Federalist, along with Patrick Henry and George Mason, whose actions helped passage of the Bill of Rights.

    Construction[]

    Luther Martin was laid down on 8 May 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 49, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; sponsored by Mrs. Charles A. Swartz, the wife of the B & O Railroad Car inspector at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, and was launched on 4 July 1942.[1][2]

    History[]

    She was allocated to Agwilines Inc., on 21 July 1942. On 4 June 1948, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina. On 15 May 1952, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama. She was sold for scrapping on 7 October 1971, to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., for $33,127.54. She was withdrawn from the fleet on 27 October 1971.[4]

    References[]

    Bibliography[]

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    The original article can be found at SS Luther Martin and the edit history here.