US Army Chapter 3

LIBERTY SHIP
SS Woodrow Wilson-0893
Chapter 3

My orders were to report to Fort Dix New Jersey for ship assignment to Bremmerhaven, Germany. Ft. Dix is a lost memory, but we didn’t stay more than two days. We left Dix early on a train to the super fast ferry, to the ship staging center in New York City. I remember the SS Wilson as being Navy Grey and not as large as I’d like for a cruise across the North Atlantic the first week in April 1952.

My bunk was down three deck levels between the deckhouse and the second cargo hole. We went to mess by invitation over the loudspeaker. We did everything by invitation over the loudspeaker.

I met SFC Francis (Frank) Neary in the next bunk from mine. He was going back to Germany for his second tour since serving in France during the war. Frank was assigned to the Quartermaster Corps on the beaches of France after the invasion. He was part of moving the supplies from the ships to shore. Frank liked the Liberty Ships. He said the Liberty was the workhorse for supplies. They could self unload three cargo holes at the same time. While he was in France he married a pretty young French lass, who wanted to go to America. She didn’t like America and went home to France and her momma. Frank had asked to return to France but could only get assigned to Germany. He hoped she would join him there.

We docked in Liverpool, England to unload autos. That was as close as I got to England.
The cars and trucks at the dock looked like England. There was construction as far as the eye could see. Liverpool was bombed severely so all the unloading cranes were the most modern. Our Liberty ship no longer had self-loading and unloading cranes aboard. It was slick to see how the cars were unloaded.

We set sail early in the morning for Germany up the English Channel. Frank came to get me from below to see the White Cliffs of Dover. He said it was a sight to see and not to be missed. The Cliffs were beautiful. I thought came to me, the next time I see them I’ll be on my way home.

We arrived in Bremmerhaven in two days. The North Sea was rough water most of the way and those seasick were really sick. Some hadn’t eaten anything since we left New York.

Bremmerhaven was being rebuilt and their docks were the most modern I had ever seen. Made the New York docks look like antique dark ages. But then Bremmerhaven had been totally removed from the earth during the war, so anything higher than six inches above the ground was new. We had one last meal on board the SS Wilson and were moved out on a train directly from the dock.

German trains were beautiful and a real pleasure. Compartments heated for six soldiers each. We didn’t hear the clickedy-clack or anything outside. Smooth and quiet all the way to Southern Germany in the Bavarian Mountains. I don’t remember where we went for staging for assignment, but it was beautiful in the snowy mountains. It was another of Hitler’s SS troop recreation areas.

The German SS had some of the best facilities ever for their troops. The food and beds were really good. That was the first time I saw German civilians working as kitchen staff and custodial service. German civilians were everywhere doing the chores privates usually had to do. I liked that part.

Frank and I were separated during assignment and I thanked him for his friendship and hoped he would have a happy reunion with his wife.

I re-met Junior who had been in my class in Monmouth. He was a nice kid from Chicago area. Junior looked like a 22 year old named Junior. He was company. Junior got his assignment changed from Photographer to US Army Post Office (APO) in Nuremberg. My assignment came to report to the Signal Corp Photo Lab in Nuremberg. We would be going together to the city where the Nuremberg Military Trials had taken place.

The next day we were on our way by first class train to Nuremberg. Every city we went through on the train from Bremmerhaven, to the SS resort, to Nuremberg were destroyed. We had never seen such destruction nor could we have imagined it so. But the war hadn’t been over long, and we felt the Germans deserved it, considering how they destroyed England, North Africa, and the rest of Europe.

Liberty ships were mass-produced for the Merchant Marine from 1941 to 1945 to replace all the ships sunk by German submarines. It took 42 days to make a Liberty from start to finish. The Liberties had five cargo holes, two forward of the deckhouse and three aft. The Liberty and the Victory Ship were made from the same hull design. Liberty was designed for troop and cargo while the Victory was designed for cargo only. Both were armed with deck guns during the war. One even sunk a German submarine on the surface.
The Woodrow Wilson was the 893rd Liberty built. North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, North Carolina was the builder.

Liberty Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II
"Liberty ship" was the name given to the EC2 type ship designed for "Emergency" construction by the United States Maritime Commission in World War II. Liberty ships were nicknamed "ugly ducklings" by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The first of the 2,751 Liberty ships was the SS Patrick Henry, launched on Sept. 27, 1941, and built to a standardized, mass produced design. The 250,000 parts were pre-fabricated throughout the country in 250-ton sections and welded together in about 70 days. One Liberty ship, the SS Robert E. Peary (http://www.usmm.org/peary.html) was built in four and a half days. A Liberty cost under $2,000,000.
The Liberty was 441 feet long and 56 feet wide. Her three-cylinder, reciprocating steam engine, fed by two oil-burning boilers produced 2,500 hp and a speed of 11 knots. Her 5 holds could carry over 9,000 tons of cargo, plus airplanes, tanks, and locomotives lashed to its deck. A Liberty could carry 2,840 jeeps, 440 tanks, or 230 million rounds of rifle ammunition.
http://www.usmm.net/l/southe.html#1222