SS Benjamin Chew

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|Ship country=United States

|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1948}}

|Ship name= Benjamin Chew

|Ship namesake=Benjamin Chew

|Ship owner = War Shipping Administration (WSA)

|Ship operator = Calmar Steamship Corp.

|Ship awarded = 14 March 1941

|Ship ordered = as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 58

|Ship builder= Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland{{sfn|Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards|2008}}

|Ship original cost= $1,075,732{{sfn|MARCOM}}

|Ship yard number= 2045

|Ship way number= 7

|Ship laid down= 15 June 1942

|Ship launched= 10 August 1942

|Ship completed= 21 August 1942

|Ship sponsor= Mrs. Andrew L. Jorgensen

|Ship identification = *Call sign: KGJP

{{ICS|Kilo}}{{ICS|Golf}}{{ICS|Juliet}}{{ICS|Papa}}{{sfn|MARCOM}}

|Ship refit= converted to EC2-S-8a, July 1956

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|Ship fate=* Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Astoria, Oregon, 20 May 1948

Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina, 2 June 1952
Transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service, 22 August 1956

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|Ship country=United States

|Ship flag={{USN flag|1969}}

|Ship name=Benjamin Chew

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|Ship owner= Military Sea Transportation Service

|Ship operator= United States Lines Co.

|Ship original cost= $1,079,000 (refit cost)

|Ship acquired= 22 August 1956

|Ship in service= 22 August 1956

|Ship out of service= 31 October 1958

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|Ship fate=* Laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, 31 October 1958

Laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama, 21 July 1969
Sold for scrapping, 28 October 1971, withdrawn from fleet, 8 February 1972

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{{Infobox ship characteristics

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| Header caption ={{plainlist|* {{sfn|Davies|2004|p=23}}

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| Ship class ={{Liberty ship class}}

| Ship type = EC2-S-8a (1956-) (refit)

| Ship tonnage = {{Liberty ship tonnage}}

| Ship displacement = {{Liberty ship displacement}}

| Ship length = {{Liberty ship length}}

| Ship beam = {{Liberty ship beam}}

| Ship draft = {{Liberty ship draft}}

| Ship capacity = {{Liberty ship cargo capacity}}

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| Ship power =* 2 × Oil fired {{cvt|450|F}} boilers, operating at {{cvt|220|psi}}

{{cvt|2500|hp}}
{{cvt|6000|hp}} (refit)

| Ship propulsion =* 1 × triple-expansion steam engine, (manufactured by General Machine Corp., Hamilton, Ohio) (removed in refit)

2 × Steam turbines (refit)
1 × Geared reduction drive (refit)
1 × screw propeller

| Ship complement = {{Liberty ship complement}}

| Ship armament = {{Liberty ship armament}}

| Ship speed =* {{Liberty ship speed}}

{{cvt|15|kn}} (refit trial)

| Ship notes = New cargo handling gear installed during refit

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SS Benjamin Chew was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Benjamin Chew, a fifth-generation American, a Quaker-born legal scholar, a prominent and successful Philadelphia lawyer, head of the Pennsylvania Judiciary System under both Colony and Commonwealth, and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the Province of Pennsylvania. Chew was well known for his precision and brevity in making legal arguments as well as his excellent memory, judgment, and knowledge of statutory law. Chew lived and practiced law in Philadelphia, four blocks from Independence Hall, and provided pro bono his knowledge of substantive law to America's Founding Fathers during the creation of the United States Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Construction

Benjamin Chew was laid down on 15 June 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 58, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; she was sponsored by Mrs. Andrew L. Jorgensen, the wife of a yard employee, and was launched on 10 August 1942.{{sfn|Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards|2008}}{{sfn|MARCOM}}

History

She was allocated to Calmar Steamship Company, on 21 August 1942.{{sfn|MARAD}}

On 20 May 1948, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Astoria, Oregon. On 2 June 1952, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina. On 27 November 1954, she was withdrawn from the fleet for test conversion to steam turbine power. Ira S. Bushey & Sons, Inc., Brooklyn, New York, performed the conversion and she was reclassified EC2-S-8a. She had her reciprocating steam engine removed and a {{cvt|6000|shp}} steam turbine, connected directly to the ship's propeller through double reduction gear, installed. At trials she ran above the requested {{cvt|15|kn}}.{{sfn|USMA}}

After conversion she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS). She was operated by United States Lines under a bareboat charter on the same route as another converted Liberty ship, {{SS|Thomas Nelson}}. Thomas Nelson had been refit with diesel engines in order to compare efficiencies of various conversions. While both ship were able to run on Bunker C fuel oil, Thomas Nelson consumed less than half of Benjamin Chew while traveling at a higher speed and carrying more cargo.{{sfn|USMA}}

On 31 October 1958, she was laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia. She was removed from the fleet on 3 September 1966, for use by the MSTS. On 21 July 1969, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama. She was sold for scrapping on 28 October 1971, to Union Minerals & Alloys Corp., along with three other ships, for $127,500. She was removed from the fleet, 8 February 1972.{{sfn|MARAD}}