S. S. Hamlin Garland
Photograph courtesy of Holly Folsom
Making Waves with the S.S. Hamlin Garland
Calling all WWII buffs!
Holly Folsom from Tennessee wrote to the Society via Keith Newlin last March attaching a photograph of the Liberty Ship "S.S. Hamlin Garland," on which her Merchant Marine father had sailed on a single occasion in 1946 out of Tacoma, Washington. The captain was William Gillespie.
Liberty Ships were built assembly-line-fashion from 1942 until the end of the war, numbering more than 2700 in all, and helping to build a floating bridge for supplies and materiel from America's East Coast to the European theater. The "Garland" was constructed in 1943 by Southeastern Ship Builders in Savannah, GA (hull no. 1054; launched July 6, 1943). It served primarily in the Atlantic, earning a battle star in April 1944 as part of Convoy UGS-37.
Most Liberty Ships survived their wartime missions only to be mothballed on both coasts and eventually scrapped. A few are still operable, e.g., in Baltimore, MD, and in San Pedro, CA. Some up-to-date pictures of the fully restored "John W. Brown" in Baltimore harbor can be seen at the Project Liberty Ship website.
Other sites bearing on this worthy subject are linked at the U.S. Merchant Marine and Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission websites.
Keith Newlin's comment: "I'll add it to the list of things named for Hamlin Garland, an elementary school, a university building, a city street, a wildflower preserve -- and now a ship!"
**This article first appeared the Hamlin Garland Newsletter which is archived at the University of Southern California.
Calling all WWII buffs!
Holly Folsom from Tennessee wrote to the Society via Keith Newlin last March attaching a photograph of the Liberty Ship "S.S. Hamlin Garland," on which her Merchant Marine father had sailed on a single occasion in 1946 out of Tacoma, Washington. The captain was William Gillespie.
Liberty Ships were built assembly-line-fashion from 1942 until the end of the war, numbering more than 2700 in all, and helping to build a floating bridge for supplies and materiel from America's East Coast to the European theater. The "Garland" was constructed in 1943 by Southeastern Ship Builders in Savannah, GA (hull no. 1054; launched July 6, 1943). It served primarily in the Atlantic, earning a battle star in April 1944 as part of Convoy UGS-37.
Most Liberty Ships survived their wartime missions only to be mothballed on both coasts and eventually scrapped. A few are still operable, e.g., in Baltimore, MD, and in San Pedro, CA. Some up-to-date pictures of the fully restored "John W. Brown" in Baltimore harbor can be seen at the Project Liberty Ship website.
Other sites bearing on this worthy subject are linked at the U.S. Merchant Marine and Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission websites.
Keith Newlin's comment: "I'll add it to the list of things named for Hamlin Garland, an elementary school, a university building, a city street, a wildflower preserve -- and now a ship!"
**This article first appeared the Hamlin Garland Newsletter which is archived at the University of Southern California.