SS Thomas Nelson
{{Short description|Liberty ship of WWII}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country=United States |Ship flag= {{USN flag|1949}} |Ship name= Thomas Nelson |Ship namesake=Thomas Nelson |Ship owner = War Shipping Administration (WSA) |Ship operator = Calmar Steamship Corporation |Ship awarded = 14 March 1941 |Ship ordered = as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 30 |Ship builder= Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland{{sfn|Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards|2008}} |Ship original cost= $1,140,510{{sfn|MARCOM}} |Ship yard number= 2017 |Ship way number= 4 |Ship laid down= 10 December 1941 |Ship launched= 4 April 1942 |Ship completed= 12 May 1942 |Ship sponsor= |Ship identification = *Call sign: KEWP
|Ship refit= converted to EC2-M-8b, 11 September 1956 |Ship motto= |Ship fate=
|Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header=title |Ship country=United States |Ship flag={{USN flag|1960}} |Ship name=Thomas Nelson |Ship namesake= |Ship owner= Military Sea Transportation Service |Ship operator= United States Lines |Ship original cost= $3,035,000 (refit cost) |Ship acquired= 12 September 1956 |Ship in service= 12 September 1956 |Ship out of service= 17 June 1960 |Ship renamed= |Ship reclassified= |Ship refit= |Ship struck= |Ship reinstated= |Ship homeport= |Ship identification = |Ship motto= |Ship nickname= |Ship honors= |Ship fate=
|Ship notes= |Ship badge= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption ={{plainlist|* {{sfn|Davies|2004|p=23}}
}} | Ship class ={{Liberty ship class}} | Ship type = EC2-M-8b (1956-) (refit) | Ship tonnage = {{Liberty ship tonnage}} | Ship displacement = {{Liberty ship displacement}} | Ship length =* {{cvt|441|ft|6|in}} oa
| Ship beam = {{Liberty ship beam}} | Ship draft = {{Liberty ship draft}} | Ship capacity = {{Liberty ship cargo capacity}} | Ship hold depth = | Ship power =* 2 × Oil fired {{cvt|450|F}} boilers, operating at {{cvt|220|psi}} (removed in refit)
| Ship propulsion =* 1 × triple-expansion steam engine, (manufactured by General Machinery Corp., Hamilton, Ohio) (removed in refit)
| Ship complement = {{Liberty ship complement}} | Ship armament = {{Liberty ship armament}} | Ship speed =* {{Liberty ship speed}}
| Ship notes = New cargo handling gear installed during refit }} |
SS Thomas Nelson was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Thomas Nelson, an American planter, soldier, and statesman from Yorktown, Virginia. He represented Virginia in the Continental Congress and was its Governor in 1781. He is regarded as one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He signed the United States Declaration of Independence as a member of the Virginia delegation and fought in the militia during the Siege of Yorktown.
Construction
Thomas Nelson was laid down on 10 December 1941, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 30, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; and was launched on 4 April 1942.{{sfn|Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards|2008}}{{sfn|MARCOM}}
History
She was allocated to Calmar Steamship Corporation, on 12 May 1942.{{sfn|MARAD}}
On 12 November 1944, Thomas Nelson was one of the victims of a Kamikaze attack, at {{coord|11|11|N|125|05|E|display=inline}}, near Leyte. A plane dropped a bomb then crashed into the after end of the ship. Two large explosions took place and fire broke out which could not be brought under control for two hours. The attack brought a frightful loss of life. Over 240 Army personnel were killed, wounded, or missing. Armed Guards also suffered casualties; three killed, two missing, and two wounded. But the Armed Guards continued to fight back at Japanese planes and, in fact, claimed the destruction of one plane on the afternoon of 12 November. In forty days the ship went through 241 air raids and alerts, destroyed two planes and helped bring down a third.{{sfn|DANFS}}
On 29 December 1949, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama. On 26 June 1952, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina. On 15 November 1956, she was withdrawn from the fleet for test conversion to diesel engine power. Bethlehem Steel, in Baltimore, performed the conversion and she was reclassified EC2-M-8b. Her hull was lengthened at the bow to {{cvt|467|ft|3|in}}, and new Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton diesel engines, producing {{cvt|3000|hp}} each, were installed. At trials, in August 1956, she ran {{cvt|17.5|kn}}, well above the requested {{cvt|15|kn}}.{{sfn|USMA}}
After conversion she was transferred to the Military Sea Transportation Service. She was operated by United States Lines under a bareboat charter on the same route as another converted Liberty ship, {{SS|Benjamin Chew}}. Benjamin Chew had been refit with steam turbines 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 17 June 1960, she was laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia. She was sold for nontransportation use on 28 March 1972, to Buckley & Company, Inc., for $115,001. She was removed from the fleet, 5 April 1972.{{sfn|MARAD}}
Buckley & Company converted her to a dredger and pipe laying ship and renamed her Beverley M. She was laid up in Hoboken, New Jersey, in 1976, and scrapped in 1981.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
Bibliography
{{refbegin}}
- {{cite web
| url = http://shipbuildinghistory.com/shipyards/emergencylarge/bethfairfield.htm
| title = Bethlehem-Fairfield, Baltimore MD
| publisher = www.ShipbuildingHistory.com
| date = 14 August 2008
| access-date = 20 February 2020
| ref = {{sfnRef|Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards|2008}}
}}
- {{cite web
|url= https://vesselhistory.marad.dot.gov/ShipHistory/Detail/4846
|title=Thomas Nelson
|author=Maritime Administration
|work=Ship History Database Vessel Status Card
|publisher=U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration
|access-date= 20 February 2020
|ref={{sfnref|MARAD}}
}}
- {{cite web
|last= Davies
|first= James
|url= http://www.ww2ships.com/acrobat/us-os-001-f-r00.pdf
|title= Specifications (As-Built)
|page=23
|date= May 2004
|access-date= 20 February 2020
}}
- {{cite web
|url= http://usmaritimecommission.de/query.php?datalist=1&typeofquery=Name%20of%20Ship&valueofquery=Thomas%20Nelson&code=B0030a
|title= SS Thomas Nelson
|access-date= 20 February 2020
|ref= {{sfnRef|MARCOM}}
}}
- {{cite web
|title = Liberty ship conversion and engine improvement program : cumulative report of progress as of November 1, 1957
|url = https://archive.org/details/USMALibertyShipConversionReport1957/mode/1up
|date = 1 November 1957
|access-date = 20 February 2020
|ref = {{sfnRef|USMA}}
}}
- {{cite DANFS
|url= https://www.history.navy.mil/research/library/online-reading-room/title-list-alphabetically/n/naval-armed-guard-service-in-world-war-ii/battle-of-the-philippines.html
|title= Battle of the Philippines
|date= 4 June 2014
|accessdate= 20 February 2020
|ref= {{sfnRef|DANFS}}
}}{{PD-notice}}
{{refend}}
{{Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas Nelson}}
Category:Ships built in Baltimore