Jeremiah O’Brien sails to home port
World War II ship back at Pier 45 after repairs from fire
An air of joyful pride wafted aboard the cargo ship Jeremiah O’Brien as two tugboats pulled the historic World War II cargo vessel back home — after months away — to Pier 45.
The 7,600ton, 441foot floating museum had been docked at Pier 35 since May, when a fire destroyed a fish processing and storage warehouse just inches away from its longtime home at Pier 45. The 77yearold ship — which was part of the DDay armada at Normandy, and is only one of two surviving liberty ships — was saved with only minor damage.
“This is living history,” said Randy Quezada, communications director for the Port of San Francisco as he watched the tugboats gently pull the ship into the San Francisco Bay. “It’s a
shot in the arm.”
Nearly everyone onboard the ship Tuesday, including representatives from the port, the fire department and some of the ship’s longstanding volunteers who came to support its return, emphasized the docking at Pier 45 symbolized a step toward normalcy, not just for the museum ship but for the Fisherman’s Wharf as a whole.
“It’s a surreal moment, especially for the fire department,” said Lt. Jonathan Baxter, who was onboard Tuesday morning. “This vessel highlights what community is.”
Because of the pandemic, Fisherman’s Wharf, usually among the most popular destinations for the millions of tourists who ordinarily visit San Francisco every year, had already suffered financial blows from the decrease in foot traffic and shutdowns before the fire. The blaze destroyed an estimated $9 million of processing equipment and crab traps.
But recently, it seems, things are picking back up: More restaurants are opening, and attractions like Pier 39, Aquarium of the Bay and Alcatraz tours are resuming, Quezada said.
“Fisherman’s Wharf is the birth of San Francisco and so I personally believe this is where the resurgence is going to come from,” said Crezia TanoLee, manager of business strategy for the Port of San Francisco, who added that work still needs to be done to reconstruct a facility in place of Shed C, which burned in the fire.
The ship was able to return to Pier 45 in large part because much of the cleanup work had been completed. Back at home, the ship needs repairs before an anticipated June reopening, said Matt Lasher, executive director of the National Liberty Ship Memorial, which supports the preservation of the Jeremiah O’Brien.
Lasher said $180,000 has been spent on repairs and the total cost would approach $500,000, a hefty amount considering the ship’s revenue through tours had all but stopped for the better part of the year. The museum ship — which doesn’t receive any money from government agencies — is selffunded and has had fewer volunteers each year, as many of them are getting older.
“We’ve had to do an awful lot of fundraising,” Lasher said.
As the ship made its way around the wharf, it was escorted by one of the fire department’s boats, which shot water into the air as a salute to the vessel returning to the pier that has been its home since the late 1990s.
At the dock, a small group awaited the ship’s return. Two people held up an American flagthemed sign that said: “Welcome home.”