SS Dwight W. Morrow

History
United States
Name	Dwight W. Morrow
Namesake	Dwight W. Morrow
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	Sprague Steamship Co.
Ordered	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 1206
Builder	St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida[2]
Cost	$1,766,458[1]
Yard number	14
Way number	2
Laid down	5 July 1943
Launched	21 September 1943
Sponsored by	Elizabeth Cutter Morrow
Completed	5 October 1943
Identification	Call sign: KTNV [1]
Fate	Laid up in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama, 13 October 1945 Laid up in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina, 28 August 1948 Sold for scrapping, 4 April 1968, removed from fleet, 16 May 1968
General characteristics [3]
Class and type	Liberty ship type EC2-S-C1, standard
Tonnage	10,865 LT DWT 7,176 GRT
Displacement	3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light) 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max)
Length	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa 416 feet (127 m) pp 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam	57 feet (17 m)
Draft	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa) 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion	1 × triple-expansion steam engine,  (manufactured by General Machinery Corp., Hamilton, Ohio) 1 × screw propeller
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m3) (grain) 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m3) (bale)
Complement	38–62 USMM 21–40 USNAG
Armament	Varied by ship Bow-mounted 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber gun Stern-mounted 4 inches (102 mm)/50 caliber gun 2–8 × single 20 millimeters (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or, 2–8 × 37 millimeters (1.46 in) M1 AA guns

SS Dwight W. Morrow was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Dwight W. Morrow, an American businessman, diplomat, and politician. Morrow was a partner in J.P. Morgan & Co., served as United States Ambassador to Mexico from 1927–1930, and was a US Senator from New Jersey from 1930–1931.

Construction[edit]

Dwight W. Morrow was laid down on 5 July 1943, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1206, by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida; she was sponsored by Elizabeth Cutter Morrow, the widow of the namesake, she was launched on 21 September 1943.^[2][1]

History[edit]

She was allocated to Sprague Steamship Co., on 5 October 1943. On 13 October 1945, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama, with an estimated $37,500 in damage. She was laid up in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina, 28 August 1948. She was sold for scrapping, on 4 April 1968, to Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation. She was listed as removed from the fleet on 16 May 1968. A telegram dated 27 February 1970, declares that she wasn't removed until this date, and sold to Horton Industries, Inc. The telegram goes on to say that with the removal of Dwight W. Morrow, the last ship remaining at Wilmington, the service of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Wilmington was complete after twenty-three and a half years.^[4]

References[edit]

Bibliography[edit]