SS ''John Bascom'' 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 in the

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 ...

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 ...

. She was named after

John Bascom John Bascom (May 1, 1827October 2, 1911) was an American professor, college president and writer. Life He was born on May 1, 1827, in Genoa, New York, and was a graduate of Williams College with the class of 1849. He graduated from the Andover ...

, a professor of

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

Williams College Williams College is a Private college, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts, United States. It was established as a men's college in 1793 with funds from the estate of Ephraim ...

from 1855 to 1874, and the president of the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

from 1874 to 1887.

Construction

''John Bascom'' was laid down on 7 September 1942, under a

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 ...

(MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1521, by

J.A. Jones Construction J.A. Jones Construction was a heavy construction company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Operating internationally since the 1950s, it merged with Germany's Philipp Holzmann AG in 1979. In 2003, the company ceased operations due to th ...

Panama City Panama City, also known as Panama, is the capital and largest city of Panama. It has a total population of 1,086,990, with over 2,100,000 in its metropolitan area. The city is located at the Pacific Ocean, Pacific entrance of the Panama Canal, i ...

, Florida; she was sponsored by Mrs. Harry G. Fannin, the wife of the mayor of Panama City, she was launched on 31 March 1943.

History

She was allocated to

Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc. 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 ...

, on 30 April 1943. On 2 December 1943, she was sunk during the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

air raid on Bari The air raid on Bari (, ) was an air attack by German bombers on Allied forces and shipping in Bari, Italy, on 2 December 1943, during World War II. 105 German Junkers Ju 88 bombers of ''Luftflotte'' 2 surprised the port's defenders and bombed ...

, Italy. On 20 February 1948, she was sold, along with 39 other vessels, including her

sister ships A sister ship is a ship of the same class or of virtually identical design to another ship. Such vessels share a nearly identical hull and superstructure layout, similar size, and roughly comparable features and equipment. They often share a ...

and , for $520,000, to Venturi Salvaggi Ricuperi Imprese Marittime Societa per Azioni,

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

Awards

*Captain Otto Heitmann, Master of ''John Bascom'' was given the

Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal The Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal is a decoration of the United States Merchant Marine (USMM). The decoration is the highest award which can be bestowed upon members of that service. It is awarded to any seaman in the USMM who, on ...

by The President of the United States. With disregard to his painful injuries he aided and comforted his crew. *Allen G. Collins, Third Mate on ''John Bascom'' was given the

by The President of the United States. Collins showed great courage and his self-sacrificing to aid his shipmates. ''John Bascom'' was attacked in the harbor of Bari, Italy. Around exploding and sinking ship that caused fire on ''John Bascom''s deck with strafing enemy planes, Collins continued his gun crew until seriously wounded by a bomb. Wounded, he assisted other men to lifeboats, helped lower the boat, manned an oar for the trip to the breakwater and assisted in dragging three additional injured men from the flaming oil covered waters of the harbor. Several days later he died in a local hospital as a result of the injuries he had incurred.

References

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:John Bascom Liberty ships Ships built in Panama City, Florida 1943 ships Ships sunk by aircraft during the air raid on Bari Maritime incidents in December 1943