SS John W. Brown - Project Liberty Ship Museum (Baltimore, Maryland)
USA /
Maryland /
Baltimore /
Baltimore, Maryland
World
/ USA
/ Maryland
/ Baltimore
World / United States / Virginia
museum, ship, NRHP - National Register of Historic Places
One of 2,710 members of her class built during the Second World War, the SS John W. Brown is a Liberty Ship that was laid down at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore on July 28th, 1942 and launched on September 7th of that year. Fitted out for duty on September 19th, 1942, the SS John W. Brown departed Baltimore on her first wartime journey shortly thereafter, bound for the Persian Gulf by way of the South Pacific to avoid marauding German U-Boats.
By the cessation of hostilities in the Second World War, the Brown and her crew would successfully complete 13 round-trip voyages in support of Allied forces in Europe, their service typifying the unsung but vital and highly dangerous work of the Merchant Marine during the conflict. After spending the better part of 1945 and 1946 transporting cargo to assist in the reconstruction of shattered European cities, the Brown was transferred to the ownership of the City of New York, and was berthed on the Hudson River where she would serve as a maritime high school for the next 36 years.
Budget cuts in the New York City Dept. of Education led to the closure of the John W. Brown as a school in 1983, after which the non-profit group Project Liberty Ship, Inc. was formed to preserve the ship and her history. Initially unable to secure a berth for the ship by the end of her lease on her New York City berth, the Brown was repossessed by the US Maritime Administration and placed into the James River Reserve Fleet where she remained for the next 5 years. Working tirelessly with local officials, Project Liberty Ship was finally able to secure a berth in the Brown's birthplace and in September 1988 she arrived under tow from the James River at her new home in Baltimore and was formally dedicated as a museum ship.
Painstakingly restored to operational status and her post-WWII appearance by countless hours of volunteer labor, the John W. Brown steamed under her own power for the first time since 1946 in 1991, after which she embarked over 600 guests for her inaugural cruise in the Chesapeake Bay. Certified by the US Coast Guard for coastwise ocean voyages in 1994, the Brown returned to New York City and also made stops at Boston and Halifax, her first foreign port call since 1946. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, the John W. Brown is now one of only two remaining Liberty Ships in operation worldwide, the other being her counterpart SS Jeremiah O'Brien in San Francisco.
Today the Brown is usually docked at her berth and is open for tours. She still regularly makes Living History Day Cruises in the Chesapeake Bay and will make occasional long-range cruises as funding and manning permit.
www.ssjohnwbrown.org
www.hnsa.org/hnsa-ships/ss-john-w-brown
Pictures during her service life:
www.usmaritimecommission.de/pictures.php?code=B0312a
By the cessation of hostilities in the Second World War, the Brown and her crew would successfully complete 13 round-trip voyages in support of Allied forces in Europe, their service typifying the unsung but vital and highly dangerous work of the Merchant Marine during the conflict. After spending the better part of 1945 and 1946 transporting cargo to assist in the reconstruction of shattered European cities, the Brown was transferred to the ownership of the City of New York, and was berthed on the Hudson River where she would serve as a maritime high school for the next 36 years.
Budget cuts in the New York City Dept. of Education led to the closure of the John W. Brown as a school in 1983, after which the non-profit group Project Liberty Ship, Inc. was formed to preserve the ship and her history. Initially unable to secure a berth for the ship by the end of her lease on her New York City berth, the Brown was repossessed by the US Maritime Administration and placed into the James River Reserve Fleet where she remained for the next 5 years. Working tirelessly with local officials, Project Liberty Ship was finally able to secure a berth in the Brown's birthplace and in September 1988 she arrived under tow from the James River at her new home in Baltimore and was formally dedicated as a museum ship.
Painstakingly restored to operational status and her post-WWII appearance by countless hours of volunteer labor, the John W. Brown steamed under her own power for the first time since 1946 in 1991, after which she embarked over 600 guests for her inaugural cruise in the Chesapeake Bay. Certified by the US Coast Guard for coastwise ocean voyages in 1994, the Brown returned to New York City and also made stops at Boston and Halifax, her first foreign port call since 1946. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997, the John W. Brown is now one of only two remaining Liberty Ships in operation worldwide, the other being her counterpart SS Jeremiah O'Brien in San Francisco.
Today the Brown is usually docked at her berth and is open for tours. She still regularly makes Living History Day Cruises in the Chesapeake Bay and will make occasional long-range cruises as funding and manning permit.
www.ssjohnwbrown.org
www.hnsa.org/hnsa-ships/ss-john-w-brown
Pictures during her service life:
www.usmaritimecommission.de/pictures.php?code=B0312a
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_John_W._Brown
Nearby cities:
Coordinates: 39°15'54"N 76°34'12"W
- National Defense Reserve Fleet, Fort Eustis (James River Reserve Fleet) 237 km
- Ghost Ships : Staten Island Boat Graveyard 244 km
- Naval Submarine Base Kings Bay 1043 km
- Wreck of Soviet Submarine K-219 2157 km
- Port & Cruise Ship Terminal 2702 km
- puerto brisa approach channel 3126 km
- turning basin 3129 km
- Puerto Brisa - coal terminal 3129 km
- Future coal terminal of a Brasilian company 3130 km
- Balboa Port Terminal 3386 km
- Rukert Terminal 0.3 km
- Canton Industrial Area Waterfront 0.6 km
- North Locust Point Waterfront 1.9 km
- Locust Point Industrial Area 2.1 km
- Seagirt Marine Terminal 2.3 km
- Brooklyn 4.5 km
- Curtis Bay 4.6 km
- Brooklyn Park, Maryland 6 km
- Baltimore County, Maryland 19 km
- Anne Arundel County, Maryland 33 km