SS William W. Loring

SS William W. Loring was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after William Wing Loring, a Colonel in the United States Army that fought in the Mexican–American War. He joined the Confederate States Army during the American Civil War reaching the rank of Major General. After the war he was recommended to Isma'il Pasha, by William Tecumseh Sherman, for his army in Egypt, where he also obtained the rank of Major General.

History
United States
Name:	William W. Loring
Namesake:	William Wing Loring
Owner:	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator:	T.J. Stevenson & Co., Inc.
Ordered:	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 1546
Builder:	J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida
Cost:	$1,349,138[1]
Yard number:	28
Way number:	1
Laid down:	29 November 1943
Launched:	17 January 1944
Completed:	7 March 1944
Identification:	Call Signal: KVVE [1]
Fate:	Laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama, 30 November 1945
Status:	Sold for scrapping, 18 September 1958
General characteristics [2]
Class and type:	Liberty ship type EC2-S-C1, standard
Tonnage:	10,865 LT DWT 7,176 GRT
Displacement:	3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light) 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max)
Length:	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa 416 feet (127 m) pp 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam:	57 feet (17 m)
Draft:	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power:	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa) 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion:	1 × triple-expansion steam engine,  (manufactured by General Machinery Corp., Hamilton, Ohio) 1 × screw propeller
Speed:	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity:	562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m^3) (grain) 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m^3) (bale)
Complement:	38–62 USMM 21–40 USNAG
Armament:	Varied by ship Bow-mounted 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber gun Stern-mounted 4 inches (102 mm)/50 caliber gun 2–8 × single 20 millimeters (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or, 2–8 × 37 millimeters (1.46 in) M1 AA guns

Construction

William W. Loring was laid down on 29 November 1943, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1546, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida; she was launched on 17 January 1944.[3][1]

History

She was allocated to T.J. Stevenson & Co., Inc., on 7 March 1944. On 30 November 1945, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in Mobile, Alabama. On 18 September 1958, she was sold, along with 34 other ships, for $2,666,680 to Bethlehem Steel, for scrapping. She was removed from the fleet on 23 October 1958.[4][5]

References

1. MARCOM.
2. Davies 2004, p. 23.
3. J.A. Panama City 2010.
4. Liberty Ships.
5. MARAD.

Bibliography

• "Jones Construction, Panama City FL". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
• "Liberty Ships – World War II". Retrieved 1 December 2017.
• Maritime Administration. "William W. Loring". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
• Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 1 December 2017.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• "SS William W. Loring". Retrieved 1 December 2017.