SS Russell A. Alger

{{short description|World War II Liberty ship of the United States}}

{{Infobox ship begin}} {{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag= {{USN flag}} |Ship name=Russell A. Alger |Ship namesake=Russell A. Alger |Ship ordered= |Ship builder=Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, Portland, Oregon |Ship yard number=680 |Ship way number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship acquired=3 March 1943 (delivered WSA) |Ship in service=3 March 1943 |Ship out of service=9 June 1952 (final layup) |Ship struck= |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship homeport= |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honors= |Ship fate=Sold for scrap 9 May 1973 |Ship notes=*Official number: 242952 Signal: KFKG }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= Liberty ship |Ship tonnage={{GRT|7176}}, {{DWT|10844}} |Ship displacement= |Ship length= {{convert|441|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{convert|56|ft|11|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship draft= {{convert|27|ft|9|in|m|abbr=on}} |Ship depth= |Ship hold depth= |Ship propulsion=*Two oil-fired boilers Triple-expansion steam engine Single screw {{convert|2500|hp|0|abbr=on}} |Ship speed= {{convert|11|kn|lk=in}} |Ship range= |Ship capacity=9,140 tons cargo |Ship complement=41 |Ship armament=*1 × Stern-mounted 4-inch/50-caliber gun deck gun AA guns |Ship armor= |Ship notes= }}

SS Russell A. Alger, (MC hull 1754), was a Liberty ship named after Russell A. Alger, a Michigan Senator, Governor and U.S. Secretary of War.

The ship was a standard type EC2-S-C1 cargo ship ordered from the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, Portland, Oregon under contract number MA-6955 of {{GRT|7176}}, {{DWT|10844}} given the official number 242952, signal KFKG, and delivered to the War Shipping Administration (WSA) on 3 March 1943.{{cite web |url=https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/4244 |title=Russell A. Alger |author=Maritime Administration |date= |work=Ship History Database Vessel Status Card |publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration |accessdate=1 July 2019}}{{cite book |year=1944 |title=Merchant Vessels of the United States 1944 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=United States Department of Transportation, United States Coast Guard |page=68 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=osu.32435066706870&view=2up&seq=74 |accessdate=1 July 2019}}The reference given in previous versions, ShipbuildingHistory, Oregon Shipbuilding, Portland OR, contains a rare error. Russell A. Alger was placed under a standard WSA operating agreement with Union Sulphur Company at Portland, Oregon upon delivery. That operating agreement continued through the war until the ship was placed in the Reserve Fleet, Mobile on 18 October 1946.

On 19 February 1947 the ship was taken out of reserve pending bareboat charter to South Atlantic Steamship Line which took effect 14 June 1947 at New Orleans and was then converted to an agreement with the Maritime CommissionWSA ceased to exist as operator after the war with ownership and operation reverting to the MC. 9 September 1949 in preparation for layup 20 September 1949 at Beaumont, Texas. The ship was brought out of reserve a final time on for operation under an MC agreement by Pacific Far East Lines on 15 August 1951 before entering the reserve at Beaumont a final time on 9 June 1952. The ship was sold for $96,666 to Consolidated Steel for scrap on 9 May 1973 and physically withdrawn from the fleet on 16 May.