An awkward steel box, docked at Berth 45 in the Port of San Francisco, does not stand out in any way against the background of modern ships passing under the Golden Gate Bridge. Only a slightly archaic design of the superstructures betrays the ship's solid age. A poster on the pier reads: "Jeremy O'Brien" is one of 2,710 Liberty-class transports built during World War II.
When "wolf packs" of German submarines monthly sunk allied ships with a total displacement of half a million tons, at a meeting of the US Naval Commission a proposal was made to build ships at such a speed that the Germans did not have time to sink them. Of course, it was a joke - out of 2,710 Liberty-class transports, the Germans and the Japanese were able to sink "only" 300 units, but the shipyard owners correctly understood the hint - the production race had begun.
Carriers of freedom and democracy
The meaning of building such an irrational number of transport ships in 4 years is quite obvious: the United States, hiding behind the backs of the belligerent states, assumed the role of the main supplier of equipment, materials and raw materials for the countries of the anti-Hitler coalition. The delivery of a huge amount of lend-lease cargo across the ocean required special solutions - the traffic flow was growing day by day, and the shortage of vehicles was felt more and more sharply. But where to get additional ships, if time does not wait, and under the cold waves of the Atlantic, hundreds of Kriegsmarine submarines lurked, thirsty for Anglo-Saxon blood?
The Americans solved the problem with the help of their national tradition of standardization and large-scale construction.
On November 27, 1941, 14 ships were launched, which became the first in a huge series that received the loud name "Liberty" ("Freedom"). As for the choice of names for the ships themselves, the Americans approached the naming process with their characteristic pragmatism - anyone who donated $ 2 million to the needs of the military industry received the right to name the transport by his own name.
"Liberty" multiplied with irrepressible speed - 18 shipyards threshed new ships around the clock, as a result, by 1943, the rate of construction was 3 ships per day. In terms of technology, the process of building a ship of the Liberty class took on average 30-40 days, but once an amazing record was set: the transport "Robert K. Peary" was launched 4 days 15 hours and 29 minutes after laying. After 9 days, "Robert K. Peary" took on board 10 thousand tons of cargo and set off on its first transoceanic voyage!
But sometimes the rush turned into a disaster: 12 "Liberty" early issues fell apart right in the middle of the ocean. Urgently arrived specialists from Cambridge, determined that the technology is generally correct, the problem is in the grades of steel. But, even after making adjustments to the technological process, "Liberty" periodically continued to collapse from the wind.
America gave Russia a steamer !!!! Cha-cha-cha-cha !!!! Huge wheels, but terribly quiet running !
How happy the Soviet sailors were when they received the new steamer "Valery Chkalov" from the Americans. The ship, of course, is not handsome, but how big and roomy! The joy was short-lived - a few days later the steamer fell in half during a storm. Fortunately, there were no casualties - both parts of the hull remained buoyant and were towed back to the shores of the United States. The Americans apologized for the ridiculous setup and … handed over to the sailors a new steamer "Valery Chkalov" (its hull broke in the Sea of Okhotsk on March 5, 1951).
In total, 40 Liberty vehicles were handed over to the USSR under Lend-Lease. Our sailors recall the process of obtaining foreign equipment with a smile: “Hello, captain. Here are the keys. Small - from boxes, large - from doors. Goodbye, I wish you good luck! This was the end of the acceptance process - the ship got up for loading in order to set off on a long voyage in a couple of days, full of risks, anxieties and adventures.
Despite the fact that initially the service life of the Liberty was set at 5 years, most of the ships of this type continued to be actively operated after the war, for example, the famous Greek tycoon Aristotle Onassis bought 635 Liberty at the price of scrap metal and used them until the mid-60s. NS.
"Liberty" became the basis for numerous experiments: on the basis of the design of these ships, 24 reinforced concrete dry cargo ships were built (in all seriousness!), Six "Liberty" during the Second World War were converted into helicopter carriers, one of the hulls in the post-war years was used as a floating nuclear power plant, and on the decks of other ships are fish processing plants, warehouses and workshops. Another 490 T2 tankers were built using the technologies and design solutions of the Liberty type transports.
The cost of a ship of the "Liberty" type in the process of large-scale construction fell to 700 thousand dollars in prices of those years - the ship cost less than 10 P-47 Thunderbolt fighters!
Engineers have developed a set of special measures at all stages of ship construction - from design to painting the hull. As a base for a dry cargo vessel of project ES2-S-C1MK (real name “Liberty”), the structures of cargo ships of the late 19th century were used.
The labor intensity of assembly work was reduced several times, thanks to the rejection of riveted joints - the Liberty hulls were all-welded, in addition, this saved about 600 tons of steel. The sectional assembly method was widely used - many elements of the Liberty structure were assembled from ready-made sections weighing from 30 to 200 tons. All living quarters were compactly grouped in the superstructure of the ship - the length of the cables, the length of the water supply, heating and sewerage pipes were reduced.
A single steam engine with two fuel oil boilers was used as the main power plant. Power of the power plant - 2300 h.p. - enough to develop at full load 10-11 knots speed. Of course, there is nothing good in this - a very modest result even by the standards of those years, on the other hand, Liberty was not created for records. The record was the very process of their creation.
Much more important for "Liberty" was the huge cruising range - 13,000 miles at 10 knots. (from Murmansk to Sakhalin and back without refueling)!
The five cargo holds of the steamer could fit:
- 260 medium tanks
- 2840 jeeps
- 600 thousand shells of 76 mm caliber
- 14,000 cubic meters of bulk cargo
For loading and unloading operations, two powerful booms with a lifting capacity of 15 and 50 tons, as well as 10 light cranes with a lifting capacity of 5 tons, were mounted on the upper deck of the transport.
The steamer "Liberty" was operated by a crew of 50 sailors.
Each steamer was armed with a 102 mm cannon, as well as a dozen 20 and 37 mm automatic cannons to defend against enemy aircraft. Dear reader smiles in vain, imagining how this slow-moving vessel, shaking and creaking with its entire body, repels enemy attacks.
On September 27, 1942, the Liberty-class bulk carrier Stephen Hopkins was intercepted in the South Atlantic by two German raiders Stir and Tannenfels. Twelve 150 mm guns of the Germans against one 102 mm guns, German electronic warfare stations drowned out American calls for help. Stephen Hopkins died, but before he died, he dragged one of his pursuers to the bottom of the Atlantic. For a long time, the Germans could not believe that this ugly vessel could destroy the Stir raider.
