Inside The Baltimore Shipyard That Produced 384 WWII Vessels At Rapid Speed, 1941-1945

In 1941, the United States Maritime commission decided to establish the emergency shipyards to build affordable and as rapid possible cargo ships for the U.S. and Britain to replace the losses from German torpedoes. The Bethlehem-Airfield Shipyard on Baltimore Harbor was established in February and quickly set 27,000 employees to work building these new “Liberty ships.” Each Liberty ship was designed to carry over 10,000 tons of cargo but often carried far more to meet wartime needs. On Sept. 27, 1941, the first Liberty ship, SS Patrick Henry, was launched from Bethlehem-Airfield. Over the next four years, the shipyard churned out 384 Liberty ships, plus 94 larger and faster Victory ships and 45 amphibious landing ships.

#1 A pipefitter

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#2 shipyard worker

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#3 The SS John W. Brown is launched. This ship is one of only two Liberty ships remaining in operation today

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#4 Workers gather to watch a launching ceremony

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#5 Britishshipyards wwii

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#6 Liberty ships at anchor await final fitting and rigging

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#7 Workers climb a ladder on the outfitting pier

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#8 Hiiumaa Island in Estonia

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#9 An arc welder

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#10 A worker welds a floor to a vertical keel

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#11 Erecting bottom shell plates

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#12 A chipper removes excess metal from a welded seam aboard the Liberty ship Frederick Douglass

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#13 Way No. 8 of the shipyard, with the Frederick Douglass in the early stages of construction

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#14 Storing miscellaneous bulkheads in a stockyard

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#15 Working on interbottom units

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#16 Shaft alley sections

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#17 Burning off excess steel plate

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#18 The bow of a nearly completed ship

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#19 A welder rests during his lunch hour

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#20 A shipyard worker

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#21 A shipyard worker shows off a war bond

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#22 A welder enjoys some ice cream

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#23 monochrome

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#24 building under construction black and white

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#25 Shipyard

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#26 Erecting bottom shell plates

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#27 Erecting a flat keel

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#28 Workers tighten bolts with a pneumatic wrench in the belly of the Frederick Douglass

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#29 A worker with a personal monogram on his overalls

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#30 Rod welders work on the Liberty ship Frederick Douglass

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#31 Rivet heater Willie Smith poses in a porthole on the Frederick Douglass

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#32 Men work on the Frederick Douglass

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#33 Electric welders

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#34 A welder on the night shift

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#35 Workers gather for a ship launching ceremony

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#36 monochrome

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#37 Workers grease the outboard end of a way before a launching

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#38 The bow of a vessel just before a launching party

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#39 Construction

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#40 After a launch, workers fill the way and prepare to build another ship

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