Liberty Ship
F1. Maritime HistoryDefinition
Mass-produced EC2-S-C1 emergency cargo ship of the Second World War, 2,710 built.
The Liberty ship was the mass-produced emergency cargo vessel, EC2-S-C1 design, built in the United States during the Second World War to replace tonnage sunk by U-boats. Based on a British tramp design and built with welded rather than riveted hulls in prefabricated sections, the program turned out 2,710 ships from 1941, one yard famously assembling SS Robert E. Peary in under five days. Cheap and quickly built, Liberties carried the Allied war effort despite early hull-cracking problems traced to welding and steel brittleness.