SS Mary Ball

SS Mary Ball
Career (United States)
Name:	Mary Ball
Namesake:	Mary Ball Washington
Owner:	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator:	United Fruit Co.
Ordered:	as type (Z-EC2-S-C2) hull, MC hull 1534
Builder:	J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida
Cost:	$2,143,464
Yard number:	16
Way number:	1
Laid down:	20 July 1943
Launched:	17 October 1943
Completed:	23 November 1943
Identification:	Call Signal: KYHQ
Fate:	Laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama, 20 June 1946
Status:	Sold for scrapping, 28 October 1971
General characteristics
Class & type:	type Z-EC2-S-C2, army tank transport
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 Filer & Stowell Co., Milwaukee, Wisconsin) 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 Mary Ball was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Mary Ball, the mother of George Washington, the first President of the United States.

Construction

Mary Ball was laid down on 20 July 1943, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1534, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida; she was launched on 17 October 1943.

History

She was allocated to United Fruit Co., on 23 November 1943. On 20 June 1946, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in Mobile, Alabama. On 28 October 1971, she was sold, along with 13 other ships, for $513,800, to Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation, to be scrapped. She was removed from the fleet on 17 April 1972.

Bibliography

• "Jones Construction, Panama City FL". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/jonespanamacity.htm. 
• Maritime Administration. "Mary Ball". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/3257. 
• Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)". p. 23. http://www.ww2ships.com/acrobat/us-os-001-f-r00.pdf. 
• "SS Mary Ball". http://usmaritimecommission.de/query.php?datalist=1&typeofquery=Name%20of%20Ship&valueofquery=Mary%20Ball&code=B1534a.