SS ''William B. Wilson'' 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 William B. Wilson, the first United States Secretary of Labor.

Construction

''William B. Wilson'' was laid down on 14 September 1943, 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 1537, 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 launched on 6 November 1943.

History

She was allocated to Eastern Steamship Co., on 16 December 1943. She was one of eight special ships, a Z-EC2-S-C2, a

Tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

carrier. She was built with larger cargo hold hatches and stronger crane lifts. J.A.Jones Construction built the eight Z-EC2-S-C2 Tank carrier in 1943. usmaritimecommission.de Z-EC2-S-C2 Tank carrier, Liberty ships
/ref> On 10 October 1945, she 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 the James River Group,

Lee Hall, Virginia Lee Hall is a community located in the extreme northern portion of the independent city of Newport News in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. History Lee Hall, located in the former Warwick County, was named for nearby Lee ...

. On 31 July 1972, she was sold for $75,500 to N.V. Intershitra,

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, for scrapping. She was removed from the fleet on 25 August 1972.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:William B. Wilson Liberty ships Ships built in Panama City, Florida 1943 ships James River Reserve Fleet