SS Walter L. Fleming

SS Walter L. Fleming
Career (United States)
Name:	Walter L. Fleming
Namesake:	Walter L. Fleming
Owner:	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator:	Waterman Steamship Corp.
Ordered:	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 1542
Builder:	J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida
Cost:	$1,314,932
Yard number:	24
Way number:	2
Laid down:	31 October 1943
Launched:	7 December 1943
Completed:	30 January 1944
Identification:	Call Signal: KUVZ
Fate:	Laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, Virginia, 24 May 1946
Status:	Sold for scrapping, 15 September 1959
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 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 Walter L. Fleming was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Walter L. Fleming, American Civil War historian and Dean of the Vanderbilt University College of Arts and Science in 1923, and later Director of the Graduate School.

Construction

Walter L. Fleming was laid down on 31 October 1943, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1542, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida; she was launched on 7 December 1943.

History

She was allocated to Waterman Steamship Corp., on 30 January 1944. On 24 May 1946, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in the James River Group, Lee Hall, Virginia. On 15 September 1959, she was sold, along with nine other ships, for $717,810 to Bethlehem Steel, for scrapping. She was withdrawn from the fleet on 28 September 1959.

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. "Walter L. Fleming". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/sh/ShipHistory/Detail/5077. 
• Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)". p. 23. http://www.ww2ships.com/acrobat/us-os-001-f-r00.pdf. 
• "SS Walter L. Fleming". http://usmaritimecommission.de/.