SS Ralph A. Cram was an American Liberty ship built in 1943 for service in World War II. Her namesake was Ralph Adams Cram, an influential American architect of collegiate and ecclesiastical buildings. She was operated by Smith-Johnson Steamship Corporation under charter with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration.
Huta Ostroviec in 1969
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History | |
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Name | Ralph A. Cram |
Namesake | Ralph A. Cram |
Builder | California Shipbuilding Corp. |
Completed | 1943 |
Commissioned | 1943 |
Renamed |
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Fate | Scrapped, 1973 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Liberty ship |
Displacement | 14,245 long tons (14,474 t)[1] |
Length | |
Beam | 57 ft (17 m)[1] |
Draft | 27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)[1] |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)[1] |
Range | 20,000 nmi (37,000 km; 23,000 mi) |
Capacity | 10,856 t (10,685 long tons) deadweight (DWT)[1] |
Crew | 81[1] |
Armament | Stern-mounted 4 in (100 mm) deck gun for use against surfaced submarines, variety of anti-aircraft guns |
Design
editLike other Liberty ships, she was 441 feet (134 m) long and 56 feet (17 m) wide, carried 9000 tons of cargo and had a top speed of 11 knots (20 km/h). Most Liberty ships were named after prominent deceased Americans.[2]
Construction and career
editThis particular ship was built by California Shipbuilding Corporation in Los Angeles. She was completed and commissioned in 1943.
After the war, she was sold to commercial service and renamed Atlantico in 1947.
Later again sold to Polish Steamship Company in 1963 and renamed Huta Ostroviec.
She was scrapped in 1973.[3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Davies, James (2012). "Liberty Cargo Ships" (PDF). ww2ships.com. p. 23. Retrieved 7 May 2012.
- ^ "Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II". usmm.org. 2008. Archived from the original on 9 May 2008. Retrieved 10 May 2012.
- ^ Miramar Ship Index