George Washington Carver c1910 - Restoration

SS ''George Washington Carver'' was a

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 ...

built for the United States Maritime Commission during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The ship was named in honor of

George Washington Carver George Washington Carver ( 1864 – January 5, 1943) was an American Agricultural science, agricultural scientist and inventor who promoted alternative crops to cotton and methods to prevent soil depletion. He was one of the most prominent bla ...

, and was the second Liberty ship named for an African American. The ship was initially assigned by the

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 ...

(WSA) to the American South African Line (Farrell Lines), Inc. for merchant service. In November 1943 the ship was allocated to the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

by the WSA and was converted to

hospital ship A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating healthcare, medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navy, navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or ...

USAHS ''Dogwood''. The ship made multiple trips to ports in England from its homeport of

Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint of South Carolina's coastline on Charleston Harbor, an inlet of the Atla ...

, before sailing for duty in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

in 1945.Charles, p. 334. In January 1946, the ship was converted to carry a combination of troops and military dependents as USAT ''George Washington Carver''. The ship was laid up in the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of Ship, ships of the United States, mostly Merchant ship, merchant vessels, that have been Reserve fleet, mothballed but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during nationa ...

in 1947 and was sold for scrapping in 1964.

History

Construction

SS ''George Washington Carver'' ( MC Hull No. 542) was laid down on 12 April 1943 on shipway 7 at Yard No. 1 by Permanente Metals Corp. of

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 3, 1905, and has a Richmond, California, City Council, city council.

, as a standard Liberty ship. The ship was launched on 7 May 1943 and sponsored by

Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne (June 30, 1917 – May 9, 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. Horne's career spanned more than seventy years and covered film, television and theatre. Horne joined the chorus of the C ...

, and delivered 24 May 1943, taking 42 days from start to delivery. During the ship's construction, photographer E. F. Joseph, on behalf of the

Office of War Information The United States Office of War Information (OWI) was a United States government agency created during World War II. The OWI operated from June 1942 until September 1945. Through radio broadcasts, newspapers, posters, photographs, films and other ...

, took a series of photographs showing predominantly African American men and women working on ''George Washington Carver''.

Launching ceremony

A crowd of 1,500 gathered to watch the launching of ''George Washington Carver'' on 7 May 1943. The ceremonies were organized by the United Negro Labor Committee, and that organization's president,

C. L. Dellums Cottrell Laurence Dellums (January 3, 1900 – December 6, 1989) was an American labor activist and one of the organizers and leaders of the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters. Dellums worked as a porter for the Pullman Company from 1924 to 1927 ...

, spoke to crowd. Lena Horne, on a break from filming ''Stormy Weather'', was the sponsor, and welder Beatrice Turner, the first African American female hired at the

Richmond Shipyards The four Richmond Shipyards, in the city of Richmond, California, United States, were run by Permanente Metals and part of the Kaiser Shipyards. In World War II, Richmond built more ships than any other shipyard, turning out as many as three ships ...

, was the matron of honor.

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (born Luther Robinson; May 25, 1878 – November 25, 1949), was an American tap dancer, actor, and singer, the best known and the most highly paid black entertainer in the United States during the first half of the 20 ...

, Horne's ''Stormy Weather'' co-star, and actresses Dorothy Dandridge and Etta Moten were all scheduled to be in attendance at the event. The ''Carver'' was the second Liberty ship – out of a then-planned series of three – named for an African American and the 90th ship launched at the No. 1 yard in Richmond.

Merchant service

The ship was assigned by the WSA to the American South African Line (Farrell Lines) for merchant operation in the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. The ship made convoy runs from

Alexandria Alexandria ( ; ) is the List of cities and towns in Egypt#Largest cities, second largest city in Egypt and the List of coastal settlements of the Mediterranean Sea, largest city on the Mediterranean coast. It lies at the western edge of the Nile ...

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in September 1943, and from Alexandria to

Bizerte Bizerte (, ) is the capital and largest city of Bizerte Governorate in northern Tunisia. It is the List of northernmost items, northernmost city in Africa, located north of the capital Tunis. It is also known as the last town to remain under Fr ...

the following month. From Bizerte the ship headed to

Hampton Roads Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, arriving there on 6 November 1943. On 23 November 1943, after her brief civilian career, the WSA transferred the ship to the War Department for U.S. Army use as a

U.S. Army service

From November 1943 to July 1944 the ship underwent conversion to a Hague Convention hospital ship at the Atlantic Basin Iron Works yard in New York. During this time the ship was assigned the name USAHS ''Dogwood'' by recommendation of the

Surgeon General Surgeon general (: surgeons general) is a title used in several Commonwealth countries and most NATO nations to refer either to a senior military medical officer or to a senior uniformed physician commissioned by the government and entrusted with p ...

. ''Dogwood'' embarked on her first trip as a hospital ship in late July 1944 and returned to her new homeport of Charleston in August. The ship made six transatlantic round trips, usually calling at

Avonmouth Avonmouth ( ) is a port and outer suburb of Bristol, England, on the north bank of the mouth of the River Avon and the eastern shore of the Severn Estuary. Part of the Port of Bristol, Avonmouth Docks is important to the region's maritime eco ...

, Liverpool, and the

Mersey The River Mersey () is a major river in North West England. Its name derives from Old English and means "boundary river", possibly referring to its having been a border between the ancient kingdoms of Mercia and Northumbria. For centuries it ...

, before being ordered to the

Pacific The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...

. In May 1945, ''Dogwood'' transited the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...

and sailed directly to the

, arriving at

Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...

and

Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...

there in late June. She steamed on to

Biak Biak is the main island of Biak Archipelago located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The largest popula ...

, Hollandia, and back to

. In August the ship made another circuit to Biak, Hollandia, and

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...

before heading to Los Angeles. Departing there for Manila again in November, the hospital ship returned stateside, putting in at San Francisco in January 1946. The ship was no longer needed as a hospital ship at that time and put into the Marine Repair Shop at the San Francisco Port of Embarkation for conversion to carry a combination of troops and military dependents. During this interval, the ship reverted to her original name as USAT ''George Washington Carver''. After the work was completed, the ship departed for her new homeport of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

.Charles, p. 33. The ship was assigned to duty between Seattle and ports in Alaska. ''George Washington Carvers first voyage in this role took her to

Dutch Harbor Dutch Harbor is a harbor on Amaknak Island in Unalaska, Alaska. It was the location of the Battle of Dutch Harbor in June, 1942 when the Imperial Japanese Navy attacked it just seven months after the attack on Pearl Harbor in Hawaii. To this day, ...

Shemya Shemya or Simiya () is a small island in the Semichi Islands group of the Near Islands chain in the Aleutian Islands archipelago southwest of Alaska, at . It has a land area of , and is about southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. It is wide and long ...

, Attu, Adak, Whittier, with a return to Seattle. A second voyage, in late March 1946, had the ship visit

Anchorage Anchorage, officially the Municipality of Anchorage, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Alaska. With a population of 291,247 at the 2020 census, it contains nearly 40 percent of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolita ...

, Seward, Dutch Harbor, Adak, Amchitka, Shemya, Adak a second time, eventually returning to Seattle. The ship continued on similar runs into 1947. On 21 March 1947, ''George Washington Carver'' entered the

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the e ...

, California. On 9 January 1964 the ship was withdrawn by First Steel & Ship Corp. for scrapping.

Notes

References

External links

Gallery of photos
taken during building of SS ''George Washington Carver'' at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:George Washington Carver, SS Liberty ships Transport ships of the United States Army Hospital ships of the United States Army 1943 ships