Taking Liberty
Voyage on Second World War ship was a once-in-a-lifetime experience
“You’re in 1944, the world is at war and you’ve just set sail to cross the Atlantic Ocean on the SS John W. Brown. Spend an exciting day in 1944 as you experience a sea and air adventure aboard our restored Liberty ship. Plenty of food, era-relevant entertainers, and an air show with vintage Second World War aircraft await you.”
This paragraph from the website of this floating museum ship, which operates from the historic harbour at Baltimore, Maryland, was an invitation not to be missed. Especially as I have spent the last several years researching a new book on the military history of Sydney harbour.
For here was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to spend part of a day at sea, on an actual Second World War merchant ship. During the Second World War more than 7,500 merchant ships sailed in convoy from Sydney harbour. How many of these were American-produced Liberty ships, we do not know, but we can assume that at least a fair number of them would have been.
The SS John W. Brown had crossed the Atlantic and Pacific oceans a total of 13 times, and took part in several battles in the Mediterranean Sea, including putting troops and cargo ashore in North Africa, Southern France and the coast of Italy. She thus took part in military action against all three of our military enemies: Germany, Japan and Italy.
She was also a sister ship of the American Liberty ship that was towed into Sydney harbour in late August of 1943, with a raging fire and on-board explosions. That ship, the SS J. Pinckney Henderson, collided with an oil tanker in thick fog, while sailing in convoy between Cape Breton and Newfoundland. Of the 67 men in her crew, there were only three survivors.
When the fires were finally extinguished after more than three weeks, the 32 bodies that were recovered were buried in a common grave in Hardwood Hill Cemetery in Sydney, and returned to the United States about five years later.
Our fascinating voyage into history cruise started mid-morning, from the cruise ship terminal in Baltimore. It was a very warm and sunny Saturday, and our sixhour excursion would see us tour the inner and outer reaches of the 200-mile long Chesapeake Bay, on the outskirts of Baltimore, Maryland, and Washington, D.C.
The entire ship’s crew was dressed in the same uniforms they would have worn during the Second World War, and the entire ship was open for us to visit. From the very hot and noisy
engine room, with its magnificent 140-ton steam engine, to the relative quiet of the ship’s wheelhouse and radio room, all was available for myself and the other 300 guests on board to explore at our leisure.
I should point out, however, that the engine room was out of bounds to children under the age of 12, and any women wearing shoes with a high heel. The very steep steel ladders that had to be negotiated to visit this part of the ship, with its massive pistons and slippery oil-covered stairs and walkways, made such a precaution mandatory.
Next month: a U. S. Marine Corps memorial service at sea, entertainment by Second World War-style singers and entertainers, and coming under aerial attack from both German and Japanese vintage aircraft. (The ship’s gunners would fight back with all available weapons!)