International Freighting Corporation of

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

was a US shipping company whose main operations was chartered shipping from

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

ports to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. International Freighting Corporation owned and operated an

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

service called American Republics Line, with service from New York to South America. In 1920 Scovil Company took over the International Freighting Corporation. Scovil Company was founded in 1802 in

Waterbury, Connecticut Waterbury is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. Waterbury had a population of 114,403 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 Census. The city is southwest of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford and northeast of New York City. Waterbury i ...

, operating a large

brass Brass is an alloy of copper and zinc, in proportions which can be varied to achieve different colours and mechanical, electrical, acoustic and chemical properties, but copper typically has the larger proportion, generally copper and zinc. I ...

plant. By 1956 Du Pont and

General Motors Corporation General Motors Company (GM) is an American multinational automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing four automobile brands: Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, ...

were the two stock owners of International Freighting Corporation and Du Pont purchased General Motors shares. In 1957 International Charter Services was founded and took over the accounts and contracts of the troubled International Freighting Corporation. *Ships: * sunk by torpedo on September 30, 1942, off West Africa. *Most ships chartered not owned

World War II

International Freighting Corporation was active with charter shipping with the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The c ...

and

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

. During wartime, the International Freighting Corporation operated

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards during World War II. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engin ...

s and

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

s. The ship was run by its International Freighting Corporation crew and the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

supplied

United States Navy Armed Guard The United States Navy Armed Guard was a force of United States Navy gunners and related personnel established during World War II to protect U.S. merchant shipping from enemy attack.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merc ...

s to man the deck guns and radio. The most common armament mounted on these merchant ships were the MK II 20mm Oerlikon autocannon and the 3"/50, 4"/50, and

5"/38 The Mark 12 5"/38-caliber gun was a United States dual-purpose naval gun, but also installed in single-purpose mounts on a handful of ships. The 38-caliber barrel was a mid-length compromise between the previous United States standard 5"/51 low ...

deck guns.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 25846 Highlandtown Station, Baltimore, M

file:Liberty ship at sea.jpg,

of World War II

Victory ships

* *

Liberty ships

* *''Sonata'' *''Albert K. Smiley'' * * *, sunk by torpedo 27 March 1942 *''Reginald A. Fessenden'' *''Roger Williams'' * * *''Ruben Dario'' *''Nathaniel Bacon'' *''Ole Bull'' *''Mary Ashley Townsend'' *''Milton J. Foreman'' *''Edwin L. Drake'' *''Ernest W. Gibson'' *''Ezra Weston'' *''John G. Tod'' *''Banner Seam'' *''Lyman Abbott'' *''William S. Halstead'' *''William Wirt'' *''Albert K. Smiley'' *''Andrew A. Humpreys'' *''James D. Trask'' *''James Longstreet,'' ran ashore off New Jersey at 40.27N 74.00W on October 27, 1943, later refloated and sank as gunnery target. *''James D. Trask'' *''John A. Poor'', was sunk by torpedo by in the Indian Ocean at 13.58N 70.30E on March 19, 1944

Other ships

*'' Lammot du Pont''

American Republics Line

International Freighting Corporation sold its American Republics Line to the

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 1950. The co ...

in 1926. In 1946 the line was sold to

Moore-McCormack The Moore-McCormack Lines was a series of companies operating as shipping lines, operated by the Moore-McCormack Company, Incorporated, later Moore-McCormack Lines, Incorporated, and simply Mooremack, founded in 1913 in New York City. It ceased tr ...

. American Republics Line then became a Mooremack subsidiary. American Republics Line was called '' The Good Neighbor Fleet''. *American Republics Line ports: New York, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo, Buenos Aires, Santos, and Trinidad. Moore-McCormack-Good-Neighbor-passenger-liner

Moore-McCormack-Good-Neighbor-passenger-liner

Ships

* * *''

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

'' * * * *'' SS Mormacpenn''

International Charter Services

International Charter Services was founded in 1957. International Charter Services took over control of the International Freighting Corporation and shipping in 1957. International Charter Services operated

airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers or freight (cargo). Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines ...

service from 1957 to 1965 with service to North America, Europe, India, and South Africa. In 1959 Swissair acquired a 40% share of

Balair Belair, legally ''Belair Airlines AG'', was a Swiss charter airline headquartered in Glattbrugg operating out of Zürich Airport and EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. It was a subsidiary of Air Berlin and operated under the Air Berlin bran ...

. In 1965 International Charter Services turned over air service Belair - Swissair to

Swissair Swissair (German language, German: Schweizerische Luftverkehr-AG; French language, French: S.A. Suisse pour la Navigation Aérienne, stylised as swissair) was the Flag carrier, national airline of Switzerland between its founding in 1931 and ban ...

until 1971. In 1971 International Charter Services sold its shares in Belair.

D. & H. Scovil Company

D. & H. Scovil Company was founded in 1844, by Daniel and Hezekiah Scovil and closed in 1942. Scovil came up with a self-sharpening hoe, called ''Scovil’s Planters''. ''Scovil’s Planters'' used a layer of brass and iron to achieve a self-sharpening edge. The company started in a small

blacksmith shop A blacksmith is a metalsmith who creates objects primarily from wrought iron or steel, but sometimes from #Other metals, other metals, by forging the metal, using tools to hammer, bend, and cut (cf. tinsmith). Blacksmiths produce objects such ...

and grew into a large factory. The factory was sold to the State of Connecticut in 1942.connecticutmills.org, Scovil Mill #3
/ref>

External links

Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II

References

{{Authority control Defunct shipping companies of the United States