SS Benjamin Contee
World War II Liberty ship of the United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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SS Benjamin Contee was an American Liberty Ship type EC2-S-C1 built in 1942 by the Delta Shipbuilding in New Orleans, Louisiana as part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program for World War II. She was laid down on February 2, 1942, launched on June 15, 1942, and completed on August 7, 1942. She was operated by the Mississippi Shipping Company for the War Shipping Administration as a United States Merchant Marine ship. She was a Maritime Commission design. Like other Liberty ships, she was 441 feet (134 m) long and 56 feet (17 m) wide, carried 9000 tons of cargo and had a top speed of 11 knots (20 km/h). Most Liberty ships were named after prominent deceased Americans.[2] She was converted from a cargo ship to a troop transport ship. She is named after Benjamin Contee, an American Episcopal priest and statesman from Maryland. He was an officer in the American Revolutionary War, a delegate to the Confederation Congress, and a member of the first United States House of Representatives.[3][4]
Benjamin Contee was a standard liberty ship, similar to SS John W. Brown, seen here. | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name | Benjamin Contee |
Namesake | Benjamin Contee |
Builder | Delta Shipbuilding Company, New Orleans |
Yard number | 153 |
Way number | 2 |
Laid down | February 2, 1942 |
Launched | June 15, 1942 |
Completed | August 7, 1942 |
Fate | Abandoned at Normandy June 16, 1944 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Type EC2-S-C1 Liberty ship |
Displacement | 14,245 long tons (14,474 t)[1] |
Length | |
Beam | 57 ft (17 m)[1] |
Draft | 27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)[1] |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)[1] |
Range | 20,000 nmi (37,000 km; 23,000 mi) |
Capacity | 10,856 t (10,685 long tons) deadweight (DWT)[1] |
Crew | 81[1] |
Armament | Stern-mounted 4 in (100 mm) deck gun for use against surfaced submarines, variety of anti-aircraft guns |