SS Ralph Izard

SS Ralph Izard
Career (United States)
Name:	Ralph Izard
Namesake:	Ralph Izard
Owner:	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator:	American Foreign Steamship Corp.
Ordered:	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 914
Awarded:	1 January 1942
Builder:	Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland
Cost:	$1,042,919
Yard number:	2064
Way number:	4
Laid down:	1 August 1942
Launched:	12 September 1942
Sponsored by:	Mrs. Charles E. Keys
Completed:	23 September 1942
Identification:	Call sign: KHCS
Fate:	Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama, 5 September 1947
Status:	Sold for scrapping, 11 February 1965, withdrawn from fleet, 11 March 1965
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 Ralph Izard was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Ralph Izard, an American politician. He was appointed commissioner to the Court of Tuscany by the Continental Congress in 1776, but was recalled in 1779. He returned to America in 1780, and pledged his large estate in South Carolina, for the payment of war ships to be used in the American Revolutionary War. He was a member of the Continental Congress in 1782 and 1783. In 1788, he was elected to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1795, serving as president pro tempore of the United States Senate during the Third Congress.

Construction

Ralph Izard was laid down on 1 August 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 914, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; she was sponsored by Mrs. Charles E. Keys, the wife of a yard employee, and was launched on 12 September 1942.

History

She was allocated to American Foreign Steamship Corp., on 23 September 1942. On 5 September 1947, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama. On 11 February 1965, she was sold for scrapping to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., for $48,225.89. She was removed from the fleet on 11 March 1965.

Bibliography

• "Bethlehem-Fairfield, Baltimore MD". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 14 August 2008. http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/bethfairfield.htm. 
• Maritime Administration. "Ralph Izard". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/4046. 
• Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)". p. 23. http://www.ww2ships.com/acrobat/us-os-001-f-r00.pdf. 
• "SS Ralph Izard". http://usmaritimecommission.de/query.php?datalist=1&typeofquery=Name%20of%20Ship&valueofquery=Ralph%20Izard&code=B0914a.