SS Francisco Morazan was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. The ship saw service with the War Shipping Administration during the Philippines campaign in 1944, and was sold to a Greek owner in 1947. Under its Greek owners, the ship was renamed Chryssi in 1947, Haralampos Hadjipateras in 1952, and Aegaion in 1963. In 1967, the ship was scrapped, meeting the same fate as most other Liberty ships.
.jpg) SS Haralampos Hadjipateras at Vancouver in 1953.
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Francisco Morazan |
| Namesake | Francisco Morazán |
| Operator | War Shipping Administration |
| Builder | Permanente Metals Corporation |
| Yard number | 2734 |
| Way number | 2 |
| Laid down | 30 December 1943 |
| Launched | 18 January 1944 |
| Completed | 25 January 1944 |
| Fate | Sold to a commercial owner, 1947 |
 Greece | |
| Name |
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| Operator |
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| Homeport | |
| Fate | Broken up, 1967 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type |
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| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 57 feet (17 m) |
| Draft | 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m) |
| Installed power |
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| Propulsion |
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| Speed | 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
| Capacity |
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| Complement | |
| Armament |
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Construction
editFrancisco Morazan was laid down on 30 December 1943 as Yard Number 2734 by the Permanente Metals Corporation, on Way Number 2 in their Kaiser Richmond No. 2 Yard in Richmond, California.[2][3][4] The ship was launched on 18 January 1944 and was completed on 25 January 1944, being completed in 26 days.[2][3] The ship was named after Francisco Morazán, a Central American politician who served as the president of the Federal Republic of Central America between 1830 and 1834 and again from 1835 to 1839.[5]
Military service
editThe ship participated in the Philippines campaign in 1944, being credited with destroying a Japanese aircraft on 24 November 1944.[6] While under heavy fire from Japanese aircraft on 27 December 1944, the ship landed 10,000 tons of ammunition at Mindoro, while firing eleven tons of ammunition at Japanese aircraft, shooting down several aircraft in the process.[6][7] Captain John J. Brady, the officers, and the crew of Francisco Morazan were commended by Brigadier General William C. Dunckel for "maintaining full efficiency and a well disciplined ship's and gun crew despite a perilous cargo".[4][7] Francisco Morazan was the only ship of the caravan of three Liberty ships, the others being the SS John Burke and the SS William Sharon, to make the 72-hour voyage from Leyte to Mindoro without being sunk or damaged.[4][8]
Commercial service
editUnder a disposal scheme negotiated with the United States in 1946, the Greek government guaranteed the purchase of 100 surplus Liberty ships for operation under the Greek flag.[9] Francisco Morazan was sold on 4 February 1947 to Petros J. Goulandris' Sons of Andros, where the ship was registered and renamed Chryssi.[10][11] Five years later, the ship was sold to Adamantios C. Hadjipateras of Oinousses, given the name Haralampos Hadjipateras, and registered at Piraeus.[10]
In 1959, Hadjipateras transferred ownership to a Panamanian company, Sapphire Compania Naviera S.A., though the ship continued sailing under the Greek flag, being renamed Aegaion in 1963.[10][12] Towards the end of the Vietnam War, Aegaion was included in a list of "free world vessels" which had traded with North Vietnam in 1964 in a document presented to the United States House of Representatives.[12]
References
editCitations
edit- ^ Davies 2004, p. 23.
- ^ a b c Davies 2004, p. 127.
- ^ a b Colton, Tim. "Kaiser Permanente No. 2". Shipbuilding History. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ a b c "SS Francisco Morazan's Guns Fire 10 Tons of Ammunition at Japanese Planes. Get Critical Cargo of Bombs to Mindoro". United States Merchant Marine. Washington, D.C., United States: War Shipping Administration. 14 May 1945. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "Presidentes de El Salvador – General Francisco Morazán" [Presidents of El Salvador – General Francisco Morazán]. casapres.gob (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 1 March 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Battle of the Philippines". Naval History and Heritage Command. 4 June 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ a b NOMMPA 1945, p. 4.
- ^ "Chapter XIV – The Battle of the Philippines". United States Naval Administration in World War II – Office of Naval Operations – History of the Naval Armed Guard Afloat – World War II. pp. 229–230. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ Harlaftis 1993, p. 50.
- ^ a b c d "5418575". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
- ^ United States Senate Committee on Government Operations (1953). "Amending the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949, as Amended". United States Government Printing Office. p. 39.
- ^ a b "Allied Shipper to Red Vietnam now in the United States" (PDF). Congressional Record – House. Washington DC: United States Government Publishing Office. 12 April 1965. pp. 7775–7777. Retrieved 18 September 2021.
Bibliography
edit- Davies, James (May 2004). ""Liberty" Cargo Ship – Feature Article" (PDF). ww2ships.com. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- Harlaftis, Gelina (1993). Greek Shipowners and Greece 1945–1975: From Separate Development to Mutual Interdependence. London: Athlone Press. ISBN 0-485-11428-3.
- NOMMPA (August 1945). "The Master, Mate and Pilot" (PDF). National Organization of Masters, Mates, and Pilots of America. Retrieved 17 September 2021.