Merchant Marine Stamp
More Liberty ship research notes September 18, 2015
A merchant marine stamp, designed by V.S. Closkey, Jr. was
issued on February 26, 1946 in the District of Columbia [Scott # 939]. It shows
a Liberty ship loading cargo
Merchant Marine Stamp of 1946, Steamship Stamp of 1944, and
First Day Covers
On December 8, 1941, the United States Congress officially
declared war on Japan and Germany. Americans were exhorted to enlist, recycle,
work hard, buy war bonds, and sacrifice to avenge Pearl Harbor. Patriotism was
in! Even ordinary postage stamps reminded Americans about the war effort.
Find out much more here; http://www.usmm.org/fdc.html
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And be sure to go here for much-much more information: http://www.nps.gov/nr/twhp/wwwlps/lessons/116liberty_victory_ships/116liberty_victory_ships.htm
Liberty Ships and Victory Ships, America's Lifeline in War
The officers and men
of the Merchant Marine, by their devotion to duty in the face of enemy action,
as well as natural dangers of the sea, have brought us the tools to finish the
job. Their contribution to final victory will be long remembered.
--General Dwight D.
Eisenhower on National Maritime Day, 1945¹
In the nearly 20 years
following the end of the World War I, America's merchant fleet, including its
cargo and passenger ships, was becoming obsolete and declining in numbers. A
shipbuilding program began with the passage of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936.
However, World War II provided the impetus to intensify those efforts
eventually leading to a ship-building program that produced 5,500 vessels.
Among them were 2,710 mass-produced ships known as Liberty ships. While
reviewing blueprints of the Liberty ships at the White House, President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, who loved naval vessels and had an eye for design, mused
aloud to Maritime Commission administrator Admiral Emory S. Land, "I think
this ship will do us very well. She'll carry a good load. She isn't much to
look at, though, is she? A real ugly duckling."² Thus, the Liberty ships
received their second nickname, "the ugly ducklings."
When the United States
entered World War II at the end of 1941, it had the beginnings of a great merchant
fleet. But the lethal U-Boats, submarines of the German Navy, prowled the
shipping lanes hunting American merchant ships. The Liberty ships proved to be
too slow and too small to carry the tons of supplies the United States and her
Allies would need to win the war. In 1943, the United States began a new
ship-building program. These new ships would be faster, larger, and able to
carry cargo long after the war was finished. These were the Victory ships.
The Liberty and
Victory ships fulfilled President Roosevelt's prophetic words, serving the
nation well in war and peace. Today, of the thousands of Liberty ships and
Victory ships built during World War II, only a handful remains.
¹ War Shipping Administration, Press Release 2277(W),
Maritime Day 1945--Military Leaders Praise Merchant Marine (18 May 1945).
² John G. Bunker, Liberty Ships: The Ugly Ducklings of World
War II (Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, 1972) p. 6.
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Research notes…
Find Kevin E. Dayhoff’s articles in the Baltimore Sun here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/search/dispatcher.front?target=all&spell=on&Query=Kevin%20Dayhoff&sortby=display_time%20descending#trb_search
Labels: Boats,
History
1939 1945 World War II, History
1939 1945 World War II Liberty ship John W. Brown, History
1939 1945 World War II Liberty ships - See more at: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2015/09/usmmorg-liberty-ships-built-by-united.html#sthash.uCOSHHBe.dpuf
U.S. Merchant Marine Academy https://www.usmma.edu/
Welcome aboard the Liberty Ship the S.S. JOHN W. BROWN
http://www.ssjohnwbrown.org/
Retrieved September 18, 2015
Welcome aboard S.S.
JOHN W. BROWN, one of only two remaining, fully operational Liberty ships that
participated in World War II. This wonderful piece of history provides an
educational and historical opportunity for the public to experience 1944 all
over again, without the dangers of being sunk by a submarine or a torpedo
bomber!
Through the efforts of
talented and dedicated volunteers, coupled with the generous financial support
of members and friends, S.S. JOHN W. BROWN continues to educate by operating as
a historic museum ship, furnishing visitors with a unique opportunity to
experience "living history" of the World War II merchant marine.
Liberty Ships, Italy, March 31st, 1948. Photo taken by Tony
Linck, Time Life. http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2015/09/liberty-ships-italy-march-31st-1948.html
Find Kevin E. Dayhoff’s articles in the Baltimore Sun here: http://www.baltimoresun.com/search/dispatcher.front?target=all&spell=on&Query=Kevin%20Dayhoff&sortby=display_time%20descending#trb_search
Labels: Boats,
History
1939 1945 World War II, History
This Day in History 0331 - See more at: http://kevindayhoffwestgov-net.blogspot.com/2015/09/liberty-ships-italy-march-31st-1948.html#sthash.ogxGU1Mn.dpuf
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And go here, http://www.usmm.org/faq.html
for frequently Asked Questions about the Merchant Marine
Click on these links at http://www.usmm.org/quotes.html for quotes
about American Merchant Marine by Presidents, Military Leaders, National
Figures, and others http://www.usmm.org/quotes.html
Quotes about American Merchant Marine by Presidents
Franklin
D. Roosevelt, George
Washington, John
Adams, Thomas
Jefferson, John Tyler, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Calvin Coolidge, James K. Polk, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester Arthur, Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland, William McKinley, Herbert Hoover, William Howard Taft, Warren G. Harding, Harry S. Truman, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, Jimmy Carter
Quotes about American Merchant Marine by Military Leaders
Dwight
D. Eisenhower, Douglas
MacArthur, Jonathan
Wainwright, George
C. Marshall, Chester
W. Nimitz, Ernest
J. King, Alexander
A. Vandegrift, T.
C. Kinkaid, Sir
Bernard Montgomery, Edward Macauley, Harold R. Stark,Howard L. Vickery, Paul W. Tibbets, Colin Powell, John M. Shalikashvili, Henry H. Shelton, Georgi K. Zhukov, B. H. Ramsay, Royal E. Ingersoll, John J. Pershing Admiral Alfred Thayer Mahan
Quotes about American Merchant Marine by World and National
Leaders
Winston
S. Churchill, Rufus
King, James G.
Blaine, Nelson
Dingley, Thomas
Benton, Elihu
Root, Wesley
L. Jones, Herbert
Hoover, Lewis
B. Hershey, Ellis
Arnall, Cordell
Hull, Eleanor Roosevelt, Fisher Ames, Emery S. Land
Quotes about American Merchant Marine from Newspapers
Quotes about American Merchant Marine by Famous People
Proclamations,
Resolutions, and Statements on National Maritime Day by Presidents,
Governors, and National leaders
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U.S. Navy Armed Guard and U.S. Merchant Marine in World War
II - A Little-Known Story
The U.S. Navy Armed Guard was
a service branch of the United States Navy that was responsible for defending
U.S. and Allied merchant ships from attack by enemy aircraft, submarines and
surface ships during World War II. The men of the Armed Guard served primarily
as gunners, signal men and radio operators on cargo ships, tankers, troop ships
and other merchant vessels. Disbanded following the end of the war, the Armed
Guard is today little known or remembered by the general public, or even within
the Navy. But without the courage and sacrifice of the men of the Armed Guard,
victory in World War II would have been much more difficult and taken much
longer.
The merchant marine is
collectively those non-naval ships that carry cargo or passengers or provide
maritime services, and the civilian crewmen and officers who sail those ships.
During World War II the ships and men of the United States merchant marine
transported across the oceans of the world the vast quantities of war materiel,
supplies, equipment, and troops needed to fight and win that war. The men of
the U.S. merchant marine were civilian volunteers who nonetheless died
proportionally in numbers that rivaled or exceeded any branch of the uniformed
military. Like the Armed Guard with whom they sailed, the men of the merchant
marine made possible the Allied victory in World War II.
The Armed Guard and
the merchant marine were uniquely dependent upon one another; they were
literally in the same boat. One cannot tell the story of one without telling
the story of the other.
Read more here: http://www.armed-guard.com/
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