The SS Lewis Emery Jr. was a World War II
liberty ship built by the
Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company at their yard at
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile ( , ) is a city and the county seat of Mobile County, Alabama, United States. The population within the city limits was 187,041 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, down from 195,111 at the 2010 United States census, 2010 cens ...
, and launched on 15 October 1943.
Namesake
Lewis Emery Jr.
Lewis Emery Jr. (1839–1924) was a New York-born businessman and politician who was active in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Biography
Lewis Emery Jr. was the son of Lewis Sr. and Maria (Gilson) Emery; born at Cherry Creek Township, Chauta ...
was the son of Lewis Sr. and Maria (Gilson) Emery; born at
Cherry Creek Township,
Chautauqua County, New York
Chautauqua County is the westernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. As of the United States Census 2020, 2020 census, the population was 127,657. Its county seat is Mayville, New York, Mayville, an ...
, 10 August 1839. He moved with parents to Michigan; attended common schools; pursued a career as a miller; moved to Pennsylvania and engaged in the oil business in
Titusville; moved again to
Bradford
Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...
,
Tioga County, 1875; member of the House of Representatives, 1879; state Senate, 1880–1888; became a wealthy oil man and industrialist, and 1906 Reform Republican candidate for Governor. He married at age 78, Eleta Card of
New York City. He died in New York City, 19 November 1924, at age 102.
Wartime service
She was operated by
Merchants & Miners Transportation Company charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...
with the
United States Maritime Commission and
War Shipping Administration. The ''Lewis Emery Jr.'' departed New York Harbor on 18 November 1943 in position 61, the first ship in the sixth column, as part of a convoy to
Scotland and
Murmansk. The ship departed
Loch Ewe at 1530 hrs. on 12 December for a 21-vessel convoy run to Russia, arriving 20 December. Six weeks were spent discharging cargo, taking on chrome ore for ballast and having slit plates repaired.
The ship departed Murmansk in convoy on 3 February 1944, arriving in Scotland on 11 February. It departed for the United States on 14 February in a convoy of 104 ships.
Post-war
Following the end of the war, the ship was sold in 1947 into Greek hands, and was operated by Victory Carriers, Incorporated, a
Delaware corporation.
On 24 January 1955, shortly before noon, the ''Lewis Emery Jr.'' collided with another Liberty ship, the
SS ''George E. Long'', in a dense fog off Coos Bay Bar, Oregon. Both vessels were able to return to the harbor at
Coos Bay, Oregon, under their own power. Damage was minor.
[United Press, "Freighters Collide", ''The San Bernardino Daily Sun'', San Bernardino, California, Tuesday 25 January 1955, Volume LXI, Number 127, page 1.]
References
Liberty ships
Ships built in Mobile, Alabama
1943 ships
World War II merchant ships of the United States
Standard ship types of the United States
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