Building Liberty Ships During World War II -- Birth of Victory 1945

The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, a creation of American industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, who established the shipbuilding company around 1939 in order to help meet the construction goals set by the United States Maritime Commission for merchant shipping.
Four of the Kaiser Shipyards were located in Richmond and were called the Richmond Shipyards. Together, these four Kaiser Shipyards produced 747 ships, including many of the famous Liberty ships and Victory ships‍-‌more than any other complex in the United States. Only one of these ships, the SS Red Oak Victory, survives. Kaiser also produced the Casablanca-class escort carriers.
Three other shipyards were located across the Columbia River from each other at Ryan Point in Vancouver, Washington and in the St. Johns area of Portland, Oregon as part of the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation group, and at Swan Island in Portland.
Henry Kaiser was known for developing new methods of ship building, which allowed his yards to outproduce other similar facilities and build 1,490 ships, 27 percent of the total Maritime Commission construction. Kaiser's ships were completed in two-thirds the time and a quarter the cost of the average of all other shipyards. Liberty ships were typically assembled in a little over two weeks, and one in less than five days.
Kaiser Shipyards shut down at the end of the war. The Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park was dedicated October 25, 2000 on the site of one of the shipyards in Point Richmond.
Henry Kaiser had been building cargo ships for the Maritime Commission in the 1930s, partnering with Todd Pacific Shipyards and the Bath Iron Works. When orders for ships from the British government, already at war with Germany, allowed for growth, Kaiser established his first Richmond shipyard begun in December 1940.
In April 1941 the Maritime Commission requested an additional Kaiser yard, to be used for Liberty ship construction, and after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Kaiser started third and fourth yards, building troop transports and tank landing ships (LSTs), respectively. His son, Edgar Kaiser, Sr was appointed Vice-President and General Manager of the shipyards.
Kaiser set several records:
- The Liberty ship SS Robert E. Peary was assembled in less than five days as a part of a special competition among shipyards.
- At the Oregon Shipbuilding Yard on the Columbia River, near Portland, the Victory ship SS Joseph N. Teal was built in ten days in fall 1942.
- The Oregon Shipbuilding Yards were responsible for 455 ships.
Kaiser recruited from across the United States to work in his yards, hiring women and minorities.
For availability and licensing inquiries, please contact:
www.globalimag...
Ref: S754

[@KPMACHINE1]

My grandpa was a merchant marine, told me many stories of taking goods to England. Those merchant sailors were some of the silent hero’s of WW2. Many of them were sunken. But they kept hauling those goods. His last trip was to take a load of Wheat to Japan. His tour ended in the pacific northwest somewhere. It took 3 days for him to get back to KY by train. RIP papaw

[@PendeltonWhiskey]

You have every right to be very proud of your grandfather. There has long been a debate that the United States Merchant Marine suffered a higher casualty rate than any branch of the uniformed services - even the Marine Corps. Many merchant sailors tried to leave the merchant marine and join the armed forces because they were tired of having ships torpedoed and sunk beneath them but were denied because they were in an essential service. They would come back home from an extremely dangerous voyage and go into one of their long time familiar bars to unwind and celebrate surviving another voyage but find themselves in a bar teaming with newly uniformed soldiers and sailors who would bully and often beat them because they weren't in uniform. Merchant mariners never received any veterans benefits such as medical care or education or cheap loans to buy a house. America never paid any part of the debt they owed the merchant sailors. My parents were both WW2 Navy veterans. I am a retired merchant mariner of 42 years. I sailed with one man who was on three different ships in one day because the first two were sunk under him.

[@theccpisaparasite8813]

I'll tell you a story you may not know own. To the extent you call the Merchant Marine a military branch, they suffered the highest casualty rate of any branch. Not the Marines, not the Navy, not the Army. The Merchant Marine

[@jimciancio9005]

My grandmother was a welder of these ships up in the Brooklyn Dry Docks. Because her husband was chief engineer of the engine room of one of these Liberty Ships a officer status by the time he graduated from Kings Point Merchant Marine Academy. Thankfully with God's grace, grandma's welds held up to the Germans Wolfpacks and somehow my Papa survived the war without major permanent physical harm. Mentally though he had a Little PTSD I'm sure after his experience with death over or under each wave, Making dozens of successful sorties to England, Scotland and Ireland, keeping the British in the fight against Germany. The fact he was so lucky is mind boggling, and never torpedoed by the U-Boats.

[@joebloe6928]

My dad was an engineer on Liberty ships and Kings Point grad too.

[@georgemalakasis]

Liberty ships won the war. After war, they kept operating, giving the Ellenic maritime miracle ! One of the last is fully restored in the port of Pireas (Πειραιάς) in Hellas, with the name : Hellas Liberty ! She is operating as museum ! Glory and honor to all these dedicated people that brought these ships in life !!!

[@06colkurtz]

The greek ship is static display and is not running. There are two running ships in the US. See them on YT

[@Conn30Mtenor]

Greek shipping companies bought up liberty ships throughout the 1950's. Clever businessmen, the Greeks.

[@rogerscottcathey]

My Dad took a course at Benson Polytechnic to read blue-prints and applied to KSY in St. Johns, Oregon. He eventually became foreman in the mast construction section. He helped speed the process by instituting the use of steel tape templates for cuts, slots, rivets, taps and welds, etc. for which he received a commendation. As part of morale building team he wrote the lyrics for the song titled "No Work, No Woo" for which George Bruns wrote the music. Bruns wrote the ballad "Davy Crockett" for the tv show.

[@vpmanoharan2274]

Aaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwawwaaaaaqaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa@@@aaa@a@@

[@mickey62970]

That was the Best Video I have saw about Building of Ships during a War and gotta say I loved the American Spirit. We all need to United as One Again. Simply Amazing!

[@isakbonaventura2825]

747 ships in 4 years, one every second day. Amazing! (Please remember: Things develop. That's why Ford T had no airbag).

[@JDAbelRN]

Yes things develop and many options are added to construction, sh*t made in china that is worthless when manufactured.

[@warrenhuffman4236]

Mr. Kaiser and the Kaiser Shipyards, their WORKERS are UNSUNG heros (in a different way than being in combat) as was the American population who contributied to the War Effort. MAN, I wish we has that kind of patriotism today!

[@jaminova_1969]

I appreciate your comment! God Bless America 🇺🇲

[@soulscanner66]

These days, American businessmen outsource to other countries for the cheap labor. American businessmen are no longer patriotic.

[@greeceuranusputin]

And all the war effort was financed by the government borrowing money and putting people to work. Try to do that today and you'll get a huge fight because high unemployment benefits corporations.

[@model-man7802]

It will never happen.Too many people from other countries are here and dont care to be American s at all.They are just here for the money.Most of our family's came from somewhere else but they were proud to be Americans.Not now.

[@soulscanner66]

@@model-man7802 LOL. Kaiser (the owner of the shipyards) were German!Anti-immigrant assholes seem to litter the internet these days.

[@cpcattin]

Henry Kaiser, Great AMERICAN industrialist hero. Founder of Kaiser Permanente, Hawaii-Ki, Hilton Hawaiian Village and so many others.

[@neglesaks]

Henry Emperor is truly a great name.

[@georgeskinner2624]

I sailed on the Gen WH Gordon built in 1943. I and 5000 close friends got on board in California and sailed to Viet Nam in 1966. Later I found out the ship had taken troops to Europe and POWs back to the US. After the war it was used to transport Jews from Europe to Israel. We found graffiti from all these people below decks. I had never seen the ocean and enjoyed it.

[@williamwright4060]

I sail from Seattle to Yokohama 1953 on Gen Gordon best sleep I ever had food was great for those who could eat

[@glbaker5987]

@@williamwright4060 what do you think was the ratio of people being seasick while you were on board

[@BeKindToBirds]

Hell of a story, thank you

[@Tifford1]

A liberty ship carried my Dad's 83 foot boat and three more just like her over to England to help with the invasion of France. My Dad's boat had radar and the liberty ship did not have radar so the liberty ship used the radar from my Dad's boat to help it across the Atlantic. My Dad said they ran into heavy fog during the trip over to England and the radar helped them to avoid running into other friendly ships.

[@ronniescott5179]

The people who worked with such energy were focused on one objective which was winning the war. We now need a clear objective for the nation to work towards and stop drifting without purpose.

[@jaminova_1969]

Mars or bust! - I kid!

[@neglesaks]

@@jaminova_1969 Today, Mars. Tomorrow..... well, you know what's coming.

[@mattklein5498]

Universal Healthcare?

[@JDAbelRN]

@@neglesaks china 🇨🇳?

[@neilpuckett359]

Can you imagine trying to build a ship yard in California today it would never happen.

[@JDAbelRN]

Yes, too many environmental regulations, too many cost overruns, etc, and oh yes global warming is a game stopping complication. We'll just contract it out to China and let Chinese Communist party collect the our treasure. It would sink in under a year is my prediction.

[@andyZ3500s]

My grandfather was a welder at Richmond until he was sent to Leyte.

[@Redruth49]

Designed in Sunderland ( North East England ) by J L Thompson. An absolutely fantastic achievement with so many wonderful spin-offs. Bringing work and prosperity back to America after the Depression, keeping Britain supplied with the food and goods to keep fighting, health care, decent housing . . . I am always in awe of what our fathers and mothers did during this war. Every other kind of war winning tool, too, from Warships to bullets, Aeroplanes, tanks, trucks, guns . . . the list is endless. Our manufacturers did very well, but Britain was constantly being bombed, which cost lives, homes, factories and infrastructure. Luckily for us, America and Canada were a long way from enemy bombs and rockets.

[@KPearce57]

My Father was Merchant Marine spent the war on Liberty ships, and troop ships.

[@mattklein5498]

AND HE DIDNT GET THE BENEFITS OF THE GI BILL AFTER THE WAR TILL THE 1980S THATS JUST WRONG CAUSE BY PERCENTAGE MERCHANT MARINE HAD THE HIGHEST RATE OF CASUALTIES MERCHANT MARINE DEFINITELY SERVED IN COMBAT

[@jaminova_1969]

My Grandfather came home from France on one of those Liberty Ships!

[@lbbradley55]

KD my Uncle Joe Bradley was a Merchant Marine 15 yrs. I also Dove on most of the Liberty Ships here in the Northern Gulf of Mexico. They sunk them in the 1970's

[@lbbradley55]

KD I even ran out of Air 1 Fri Night under the Liberty Ship Edwards 12:30 AM Ha.. I Dove at night for Flounder alot during those years. 20 yrs ago. We would take a pole spear & stick them stack them up like pancakes. I was 105 ft deep & bout 20 ft back under it. Many factors led up to why I ran out. Complacency ect but it was a experience I won't forget. Lol..

[@masterbates2658]

Great documentary. Another era. Another America.

[@joeblogs4701]

Liberty ships were designed at Thompson's shipyard on the river Wear - Sunderland, Co. Durham, UK. Its managing director - a Mr Thompson, was sent by the UK government to the USA to meet Mr Kaiser and present him with the blueprints. Kaiser shipyards duly built them. Sunderland was once "the biggest shipbuilding town in the world". Today there is no sign a single ship was ever built there.

[@adityaisfahani123]

Is there any connection to max kaiser familiy?

[@leehotspur9679]

I think 6 vessels were made at Tyneside Britain did not have the industrial production might, as did the US or the manpower Many other designs went to US, Radar, VT Fuse Bombsights technology

[@jsimm4587]

My dad spent 2 weeks on one in 1945 going to occupy Japan . They Welded on the ship the entire way over then back home . He was sea sick all the way over and all the way back . Thanks for your service Dad .

[@dukethomas95]

Lots of safety glasses and an impressive number of pairs of safety boots I see. I especially liked the guys standing almost under the multi tonne pieces of ship being hoisted about.

[@johnobrien2207]

I think the safety boots or glasses would help much if one of the pieces landed on him..

[@artherr2843]

Grew up in Richmond, 7th and Ohio ave and other streets … watched lot of workers with steel hat… mom worked in defense factory and cannery… no babysitter so sis and I roamed freely …

[@JohnShields-xx1yk]

I grew up literally nextdoor to the Quincy, Mass. shipyard 1960's, 70's, they were building LNG tankers then, huge ships with giant spheres on them. We'd use the foreriver bridge to jump and swim/fish, I thought I was the luckiest kid in the world. Such a great history of building all types of WW2 ships, including the aircraft carriers Lexington and Wasp 🇺🇸 God bless America.

[@jaminova_1969]

Look at the diversity! Kaiser was great! I worked for the company building ships in San Diego before it was sold.

[@emjayay]

Many black people including many women went from the Jim Crow South to Kaiser shipyards. They really had no choice but to train anyone willing to work. Of course there was a lot of resistance from the male shipbuilders.

[@jlloyd2004mcs]

My grandfather served on the Francis C. Harrington. I believe her hull number was 1825. RIP, PawPaw Jack.

[@verasmith1387]

My father was a crane operator.

[@jaminova_1969]

I bet that job had it's ups and downs! Ha ha! 😂👍👎👌

[@neglesaks]

@Donna Jones I get the runs after too much coffee.

[@donbenson2099]

The house is also a Victory ship. At 45:32 it shows the rudder hanging from a crane that is a Victory ship rudder with the off set Liberty ships did not have an off set rudder. By the way I fired boilers on the Red Oak Victory documented.

[@tommyhauck8597]

spent four hours on a tour of a liberty ship, the size alone of the engine was impressive, the moving parts of the engine was like looking at a living breathing soul. it proves one thing, the brains of those days cannot compare to today, today kids cannot even write their names, in the 1940's you needed a brain and guts to build a ship like this. but it also was not complicated, this was the days when a son could follow his father into a good paying blue collar job. personally i prefer the liberty ship over the victory ship only because the liberty had triple expansion steam but the victory had turbine steam, but at least they where steam!

[@neglesaks]

The people of that day had the advantage of being in close proximity to their product instead of awash with abstractions and design fads.

[@tommyhauck8597]

@@neglesaks AMEN TO THAT, i live in pennsylvania, another down in the mouth state, not far from steelton pa, its a shadow of what it was, but you see the mill, and on the other side of main street there are churches, small row homes, a knights of columbus council and when i see this i think of the many men who worked there, walked home maybe stopped off for a beer at the K of C, then went home to a family. then on sundays went to mass as a family, then back to work on monday carrying a lunch box and clocking in. strong jobs, strong family, strong faith in God!

[@emjayay]

Actually one reason for using the Liberty design was that it could be built using mainly low skilled workers after taking a welding class. It didn't take brains.

[@tommyhauck8597]

@@emjayay have you ever been on a liberty ship? i have, it took skill to run those engines, and make sure that they where oiled properly, water level at a safe level. none of those workers in the merchant marines where low skill, they had brains and most of all GUTS. today if some low skill worker cannot find it on a "smart phone" they just give up! heck the brains of today cannot even write their name, just print. i laugh at those professional protesters out in the street, if they where told to find the twin cities, i doubt they could find it without the help of a GPS.

[@larryaljets5699]

All done with nothing more complicated than a SlideRule!

[@cyberp0et]

One ship every four hours :D

[@emmgeevideo]

I’ve lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 41 years and never knew this story. What a monumental achievement. I need to learn more. The last 5 minutes of this video tell the real story - average people coming to work every day helped win the war every bit as much as people who put on a uniform. The geniuses who created the assembly line process here and figured out the thousands of process steps to create these ships are unsung heroes. The healthcare system was one genius idea. I’ll bet no one then called it “socialism”. It was just good old plain American common sense.

[@billydonaldson6483]

They were originally designed by J L Thompson’s of Sunderland, England. It was a pre war standard ship design that was originally riveted. The steam engines were an old design from the North East Marine another Sunderland manufacturer. The steam engines were easier and quicker to manufacture than turbines or Diesel engines. The Americans originally didn’t want the engines but were eventually persuaded because of the time factor. Sunderland was the largest shipbuilding town in the world at that time, they built over 1,000,000 tons of shipping during WW2, 25% of the nations output. The British ships had the forename Empire, the Canadians used Park or Fort. Being on the North Sea coast, Sunderland was under constant attack from German aircraft but luckily for the yards they weren’t very accurate and destroyed or damaged 90% of the towns housing instead. The US was the ideal place to mass production for these vessels as they didn’t have to worry about air raids. It was a valiant effort by the US yards. The ‘Eppleton Hall’ a steam paddle tug boat was originally used on the River Wear (pronounced weir) in Sunderland, she is now in San Francisco. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fpfRiZ5no8iWh9U

[@onceANexile]

The deco concrete wharehouse is still there and looks great and out of place. Now i know what it was.

[@emjayay]

The Bay Model in Sausalito is in a WWII warehouse.

[@robertv8851]

We need to start building ship yards now,we need three or four more.

[@jaminova_1969]

To export what? Corporate America has already outsourced most industry.

[@mamadiana1]

who are you planning a world war against to warrent that amount of shipping

[@jaminova_1969]

@@mamadiana1 I was thinking shipping, for which there isn't much of a demand, not warships.

[@emjayay]

Yes, because container ship companies will be so happy to pay way more for their ships.

[@BTW...]

What for... ships to fight in the next American Civil War... coming soon to you ?

[@artyzinn7725]

By the end of WW2 and despite the idea that these ships were good for only 1 trip, ~ 2700 Liberty ships were made, and 2400 were still working and whatever problems found during construction and subsequent use, were fixed. ~ 530 Victory ships were made and nearly all were still working at wars end. Liberty and Victory ships continued to work for far over 20 years, since they were built. Many were refitted and modernized. The history of most every ship, from its birth to demise, is available at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Liberty_ships en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Victory_ships Doesn't sound too bad for the workmanship put in it. After WWII, ship were constructed following the way Liberty ships were made and continue to this day, all welded, with sections made elsewhere and assembled at the dock.

[@edchester1773]

My mother was a welder in the shipyards during the war, she welded galvanized steal below decks, at the end of the day they gave milk to the welders to counteract the galvanization's effects on their lungs......................

[@jaminova_1969]

Your Mother and others like her are my heroes!

[@donaldparlettjr3295]

Simply put "Built in the USA"

[@emjayay]

A British design from 50 years before that.

[@parkerbranaa5718]

@@emjayay um no

[@b.w.9244]

@@parkerbranaa5718 Reading a book about Liberty ships now. Not sure about 50 yrs before, but definitely British design.

[@tonyquigley6543]

"Budding Rembrandt's used their brushes with... questionable effect" hahah love it, ALL older footage was comically sped up, why didn't they just slow it down during playback lol

[@clayz1]

Tony Quigley It has to do with the filming frames per second. Older movies were shot at fewer frames per second than new and current films. When you play the old films on new equipment it gets sped up.

[@neglesaks]

@@clayz1 Earth's Atmosphere contained more Helium back in the days.

[@kiwitrainguy]

The faster shots were probably filmed at 16 or 18 frames per second with no sound but film with sound needs 24 frames per second. They would've recorded the sound onto film at 24 frames per second using the other footage (16 or 18 frames per second) played at the same speed (24 frames per second).

[@jcceloto]

FROM BRAZIL Meu Deus, quanta superação e determinação. América tool of Lord. 🇺🇸🇧🇷🙏

[@jcceloto]

SEMPER FI

[@Mondo762]

I had 5 uncles that worked at Marinship (Sausalito, CA) across the bay from Richmond. I believe they built T2 tankers there. One of them died from lead poisoning from working there.

[@emjayay]

@Damo Not a lot of worker safety back then. The Good Old Days.

[@JDAbelRN]

@@emjayay you know when world domination is at stake, corners are cut, or we be living under fascist rule. Hell Cali can get a high speed train built in less than 20 years under budget due to excessive work rules unions environmental hysteria and global warming. In fact, it is my prediction never completed.

[@Conn30Mtenor]

The forgotten casualties of WW2- the war workers who died of industrial disease.

[@donbenson2099]

They are building a victory ship confirmed. See that steel plate on an angle by where the anchor is, at 35:32 the anchor is not there yet, only Victory ships had that.

[@Conn30Mtenor]

A question directed at the Axis powers- "What the hell were you thinking?"

[@KingRoseArchives]

Good question. Delirium took over.

[@kiwitrainguy]

In order to be able to win, they would have to have the capability to bomb these shipyards and all the other factories in the US that were turning out the implements of war.

[@CharitoBaker]

Across the bay at Western Pipe and Steel, dad was a welder and mom an electrician.

[@kathrynw3]

This is why they are called the greatest generation, we will never see the like of these great Americans again.

[@stevecraig3004]

The Japanese and Germans must have taken one look at this and known they were doomed.

[@Conn30Mtenor]

They were thinking that they'd win on the basis of being Japanese and German.

[@danor6812]

Actually there were News reals, movie shorts that reported this all over America. Both the Germans and Japanese wrote it off a propaganda. Believing it impossible to build a ship, and get it 90% complete and launching it in less than 5 days.

[@kiwitrainguy]

In order to be able to win, they would have to have the capability to bomb these shipyards and all the other factories in the US that were turning out the implements of war.

[@edjohnson4660]

We didn't have the best equipment but we were the fastest with the mostist

[@lance8080]

Americans need to build like this again, stop buying imports.

[@jaminova_1969]

We can't compete in shipbuilding with Asia. It doesn't help either that we have members of Congress trying to undo the Jones Act which offers some protection to US shipbuilders and workers.

[@Pfsif]

Health Care cost will make exports way too expensive.

[@dukethomas95]

It would be nice if it would or could it between foreign owned companies, unions, safety standards, politicians, special interest groups, international agreements....it's a wonder Subway can build a sandwich never mind a company building a ship.

[@Will-tm5bj]

I'd rather not be in a state of total war

[@Will-tm5bj]

@Micheal Williamson I'm aware of that, we have been at a constant state of war for a long time. We are not, however, in a state of TOTAL war. There is a difference.

[@MrRockydee07]

Thay have a Victory ship at the old Kaiser shipyards in Richmond .ca 🇺🇸

[@jaminova_1969]

I remember seeing one that was grounded off the coast of New England when I was a little girl!

[@Mondo762]

The ship in Richmond is the SS Red Oak Victory.

[@stanthology]

56,000 piles were driven. I bet a lot of them are still good since they were driven into mud flats.

[@donbenson2099]

At 44:16 you can see the angled plate and the anchor chain.

[@tktkdiamond]

We owe are existence to these men or like my grandfather who faught in WW2 says Americans would be speaking German now

[@chief3378]

This was a great video like to know what year it was made

[@johnburns4017]

In 1941 the _Empire Liberty_ was launched in Sunderland, England, to a standard modular design by a local shipyard. The first _Liberty ship_ was born. British shipyards were expanding, but running 24/7 unable to meet supply. The British needed more ships so used idle American industry to make them to a standard, simple, and quick to make Sunderland design. They visited many US companies and sites for shipyards which they would set up. They went to Kaiser in late 1940, who had a small shipyard in Seattle. The British came up with $96 million to secure a deal building the Liberty design which would include the financing by Hunter of Sunderland of the building of two new shipyards. The US embarked on a programme of merchant ship building so adopted the British Liberty design, which was being made in the USA in new British financed shipyards. The official history of North American supply states that this was the most monumental supply deal of WW2.

[@JDAbelRN]

So how many ships do you figure you responsible for? What documentary is available about this euro bs?😀😄😄😁😆😆😅😅🤣

[@johnburns4017]

@@JDAbelRN What don't you understand about what was written?

[@JDAbelRN]

@@johnburns4017 great Britain trying to take credit for Liberry Shipx, majority made in USA, just because of minimal contributions made by the UK. Obviously, the United States built majority of ships and planes in ww2, saving UK from being conquered by Axis powers. Now you understand?

[@johnburns4017]

@@JDAbelRN *In 1941 the Empire Liberty was launched in Sunderland, England, to a standard modular design by a local shipyard. The first Liberty ship was born.* What don't you understand about what I wrote?

[@woltews]

I wonder what those yard's look like today

[@granskare]

I recall that as a kid, I bought the war stamps!

[@kejay74]

@ 35:20 This is the bow of a Victory ship, not a Liberty.

[@Mondo762]

They were building a Victory ship. When they lowered the reduction gear casing into the engine room it was obvious. Reduction gears are for turbines. Liberties don't have turbines.

[@kejay74]

@@Mondo762 I noticed that also. ;

[@johnwayne7476]

The Union Jack 🇬🇧. Kinda looks like the Southern Battle Flag only in reverse color patterns? To bad War is always accompanied by prosperity:-(. Great viewing , almost like it was written before it happened. 🤔

[@bobbrooks80]

I don't think the American people could do that today!

[@GameMaker3_5]

these ships remind me of how you can mass produce units in RTS games -AKA- (Ex. StarCraft)

[@bobbrooks80]

That ambulance at 15:37 is sitting in my yard right now.

[@carlleavey]

The very same vehicle?

[@donbenson2099]

At 46:44 they talk about 6000 HP Liberty's had 2500 HP, Victory's 6000 and 8500 HP

[@jameskeith7608]

I read somewhere that welded ships had a habit of breaking in two, and were nowhere as durable as rivetted vessels

[@Hannah_Em]

It was less about the welding, and more about A) the design of the ships themselves (designed when welding was a fairly new technique, so lessons that had been learned for riveted construction were yet to be learned for welded construction, e.g. square hatch corners coinciding with welded seams was a common place where cracks formed, because the square corner and the weld seam acted as stress concentrators), which allowed fatigue cracks to propagate for long distances, B) the fact that they operated in cold water in the Atlantic which caused the steel to become more brittle than expected, allowing cracks to start and propagate more easily, and C) the fact that due to the desperate circumstances of war, they were often overloaded, worsening the stresses on the hulls. In fact, it was more than just liberty ships which suffered from these problems at the time; 3 liberty ships were lost due to the hull suddenly breaking apart, but I believe the number is 9 more ships (of other designs) which also suffered the same problem. Lessons were learned from those early welded ship hulls though, including the liberty ships, and Liberty ships were given upgrades/reinforcements/design updates to strengthen both new and existing ships. Those lessons were also carried forward into the design of the Victory ships (which succeeded the Liberty ships), and indeed to all modern welded hull vessels

[@melbro62]

The Titanic was riveted, my grandfather worked on them. In COLD waters , they became brittle, and consequences happened.

[@xaenon]

@@melbro62 On Titanic, one of the contributing factors was the poor grade of steel used. From what I understand, it wouldn't even be acceptable today for wrought-iron lawn furniture. And yes, in cold water, the steel became ridiculously brittle. There was considerable speculation that if Titanic had been built of better steel, she would probably have survived. I cannot comment either way, since I'm not an expert in metallurgy or engineering.

[@Mondo762]

The riveted section was to stop any tears in the hull.

[@emjayay]

@@Hannah_Em Also steel mills cranking out as much steel as possible. Oddly, it was square windows that took down the postwar British jet air liner the Comet. Later ones have rounded windows, but the 707's came along by then and that was it for them.

[@jayfelsberg1931]

Try doing this today

[@fw1421]

Many of these ships didn’t last more than a couple of months before being torpedoed. Truly disposable ships.

[@jrt818]

Designed to last 5 years, yet many lasted decades.

[@wtxrailfan]

They went along with all the disposable men.

[@psilvakimo]

Not many were torpedoed after 1943. The battle of the Atlantic had already been won.

[@nicolasbouyiouclis4726]

@@wtxrailfan for not a good reason really...

[@bobbyculpepper845]

I was on a library ship in the gulf war

[@barryhopesgthope686]

Imagine if they had industrial lasers back then.

[@alanhughes1262]

Used piano wire to line up and old dumpy level to level each unit still in practice today ,but a little higher tech .

[@neglesaks]

Average of 4 riders per vehicle. In the US today it would be like... 1,5 ?

[@xaenon]

The reality of a full-bore wartime economy. Virtually everything was being rationed, including gasoline, rubber, metals, bakelite, meat, etc. You cooperated with your neighbors to stretch resources, pretty much to the breaking point. And that included what we know today as carpooling or ridesharing pretty much as a matter of course.

[@emjayay]

@@xaenon Not much choice when you couldn't buy new tires or many gallons of gas.

[@xaenon]

@@emjayay Indeed. I'd be curious to see if (and how!) people would cope with such a situation today. Since our infrastructure is so very different than it was in the 1940s.

[@JDAbelRN]

@@xaenon take BART OR A BUS

[@xaenon]

@@JDAbelRN In my area, it's TARTA, and between it and good ol' 'basic transportation Mk I (aka 'shoe leather), I get around pretty darn good. And I'm closin in fast on 60...

[@mmcguire3909]

More volume please?

[@edjohnson4660]

We didn't have the best equipment but we were the fastest at building most equipment we supplied the Russians and the British with equipment

[@donbenson2099]

Liberty ships were not steam turbine, I worked ship repair for years inn the 1960's..

[@TJ-USMC]

"Semper-Fi"

[@PaulHigginbothamSr]

these liberty ships did as much to win the war as the P51d mustang. Can't really say the same about the B17, which could have been replaced by the Mosquito which hauled as much bomb load and flew as fast as the fastest German fighter. The USA Army Air Force did not push for the jet engine because our leadership never realized what speed could really do.

[@gkprivate433]

agree. the b 17 was a poor bomber over all. Required a large crew. Carried a relatively small bomb load. It would have been better to use Lancaster heavy bombers.

[@JDAbelRN]

@@gkprivate433 except the English could not produce bombers on the scale or usa did, 🤔so who built most you suppose?

[@MrWoodii]

@@gkprivate433 No. The B-17 was not a "poor plane". It was very tough, and had a highly advanced bomb sight, allowing bombs to be dropped with *slightly* more accuracy than something like a Lancaster. It also had phenomenal range for an aircraft of it's time.

[@MrWoodii]

The idea that the daylight bombing campaign could have been performed by Mosquitos instead of B-17s and B-24s is laughable. The jet engine was not a viable technology in WW2. The few jet aircraft used in combat (ME262, AR234, Meteor) had major reliability issues and were rushed into action long before they were ready.

[@northerniltree]

Great ship until a torpedo comes along.

[@jarikinnunen1718]

Liberty ships have terrible reputation in use. They rolling badly and even broken to two pieces at middle, in heavy sea. Welding technique was new and workers was low skilled. It wasn't bad as concrete hull ships, which was made in same purpose.

[@bajawaste5702]

In this historial pensé k jaimito no comprende nada de industrias

[@johnmesser522]

I fear that we might not be able to muster this level of effort and devotion, today.. People have grown lazy & separated from Patriotism

[@danr5105]

Rather than stressing how fast you can build the ship how about slowing down and including design features that make crew survivability after attack possible? The crews on these ships were treated just as expendable as the ship. This idea was shortsighted (the idea to not harden the ship) as training a new crew and remanufacturing all the goods at the bottom of the sea is costly.

[@danr5105]

@Daniel Bao Are you speaking about "slowing it down" in regards to how fast the ship was (I was not). These Liberty ships were constructed with a design feature that would allow the ship to bend, then break in front of the wheelhouse. After several sinkings the design was modified so as this was less likely to happen. I am talking about not stressing how fast you can build the ship and including some design features that may help save the lives of the crew. Treating the crew as expendable, just like the ship is counter productive. Merchant Marine Seamen really got the short end of the stick in WWII.

[@bsa45acp]

The Liberty Ships were not constructed with a design feature that would allow them to bend or flex, instead the hull crack ing was due to the increased rigidity of welded hull plates ( a new technology at that time) as opposed to riveted hull plates which allowed for a certain flexibility and thus NOT cracking. By welding the hull plates instead of riveting them, about 700 tons of weight was saved and thus permitted an extra 700 tons of cargo to be carried. Having the corners of the cargo hatches meet at 90 degrees instead of a gentle curve concentrated the flex stresses at those points. That issue was a quick and easy fix and after those minor modifications there were NO Liberty ships lost to hull cracking. If you are ever in San Francisco or Baltimore Maryland, visit the two remaining Liberty ships in those cities, the SS Jeremiah O'Brien and the SS John W. Brown. @@danr5105

[@danr5105]

@@bsa45acp All ships must bend, or they break. Liberty ships broke even when allowed to bend. My initial point was to not concentrate so much on how fast you can build one while forgetting items that will keep the ship afloat.

[@Thor_Odinson]

The objective was to replace ships faster than they could be sunk....to move the supplies and win the war.. The cruel calculus was that the ships and crew lost due to a basic design that was fast to build were considered acceptable losses. The sacrifice by those in the merchant marine was a key part of winning WW2.

[@soulscanner66]

@@Thor_Odinson It wasn't sacrifice by the merchant marines, it was the death of the merchant marines. Sacrifice is when you interrupt your life to serve in the army. When you are killed, it's death. There is nothing noble in it, it's just tragic. You're just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Never lie about or soften the real cost of war,

[@readyxxi]

Kaiser was a car manufacturer

[@stephenarling1667]

after ww2

[@larryaljets5699]

My parents only new car, was a 1948 Kaiser sedan. 4 dr. Continental flathead 6, 3-on-the-tree. A big roomy car. My mother loved it! Wish I had it today!!!

[@djangorheinhardt]

And they charged the UK for them down to the last cent.After the war because America built ships quickly by welding sections and cheaper they took over the ship building trade.England built ships to last by riveting metal,a slower process which costs more.We were screwed,as usual,by the septic tanks.

[@garygraham4679]

Oh PLEASE!! Riveting is utterly inferior to welding even by the welding standards back then!

[@F_Tim1961]

Riveting leads to joints which don't pull up full and either require caulking or reriveting. The issue with welding in WWII was that some steel was not brittle fracture proof at winter Atlantic temperatures. A crack in a plate could run through a weld and into an adjacent plate. So in cold weather a riveted ship was generally safer than a fully welded ship. Several fully welded Liberty ships broke their backs in cold but mild weather on Atlantic crossings.

[@leehotspur9679]

@@F_Tim1961 Also welding design failure Not staggering plate joints and hatch opening corners cut at right angles without radius's and other stress raising points But you learn by your mistakes , Riveting was a slow process Welding in the end far superior

[@brainwashingdetergent4128]

@@F_Tim1961 that was probably because of crappy welding jobs by losers calling themselves welders. it happens all the time.

[@F_Tim1961]

@@brainwashingdetergent4128 No that's not the case. The steel used did not have the fracture toughness required for duty in the Atlantic over winter . Typically 27 J is required by Charpy test at the temperature of operation. It was not necessarily cheap rush war steel. The issue was that a crack in a riveted plate stopped at the plate boundary. A crack in a fully welded hull potentially could run right around the hull transversely. If you look at the film you can see that Kaiser yards made an effort to make the welding as easy as possible .

[@paradisemace1]

Trump may make America great again, but the American people will never be this great... ever again . We just don't have it in us.

[@mindtouchone]

Now it would take 10 years of battling lawsuits by environmentalists over the possible habitats of bugs to even be able to remove one scoop of dirt .

[@KingRoseArchives]

A real example of how the country was unified during WWII and up to the last few years. Finding ways to break down those barriers and join hands in creating a better future for us all is the big challenge. We have stop demonizing each other and listen more than we talk.

[@emjayay]

It was war time. Nothing was done about pollution or worker safety anywhere yet. These are not bad things.

[@gunvorcederholm7203]

Backgroundspeaker-! Ha ha deepvoice & transformers pc data language cp cp cp sailing 1945

[@clayz1]

Gunvor Cederholm What an odd and poorly articulated thought.

[@davidroberts5958]

Legal 420 now 🇺🇸