SS Timothy Bloodworth
Timothy Bloodworth was a standard Liberty ship, similar to SS John W. Brown, seen here.
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Timothy Bloodworth |
Namesake | Timothy Bloodworth |
Owner | War Shipping Administration[4] |
Operator | Lykes Brothers Steamship Company[4] |
Builder | Delta Shipbuilding Co, New Orleans |
Yard number | 44[3] |
Way number | 8[3] |
Laid down | 4 February 1943[3] |
Launched | 17 March 1943[3] |
Completed | 22 April 1943[3] |
Identification | |
Fate | Scrapped 1963, Portland, Oregon |
General characteristics [1] | |
Class and type |
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Tonnage | |
Length | |
Beam | 57 feet (17 m) |
Height | 34 ft 8 in (10.57 m) |
Draft | 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m) |
Propulsion |
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Speed | 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
Capacity |
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Crew | |
Armament |
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SS Timothy Bloodworth was a standard
The ship was
Design and construction
Timothy Bloodworth was 7,191
Wartime career
After Timothy Bloodworth's 22 April 1943 delivery to the War Shipping Administration,[3] she was assigned to the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company for operation out of her homeport of New Orleans.[4][2] Although details of Timothy Bloodworth's shakedown cruise and maiden voyage are not reported in sources, convoy records reveal she was at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on 8 June 1943 when she joined the New York-bound convoy GN 64. Timothy Bloodworth, fellow Liberty ships Henry George, Josiah Parker, and Moses Austin and the other 34 ships of the convoy reached New York uneventfully eight days later.[8]
After a week at New York, Timothy Bloodworth and her three sister ships from GN 64—all loaded with sugar for delivery to the United Kingdom—joined some 56 other ships departing in convoy HX 245, bound for Liverpool, on 23 June. Three days after departure, an additional 26 ships from Halifax joined the convoy, and two days after that another three joined from St. John's, Newfoundland. There were no reported attacks on the convoy, but on 1 July, the British merchant aircraft carrier Empire MacAlpine collided with Empire Ibex, which sank two days later.[9] Timothy Bloodworth and twelve other ships parted from HX 245 to sail to Loch Ewe in Scotland. There they were joined by two more ships to form convoy WN 451, headed to Methil, where they arrived on 9 July.[10]
After nearly a month at Methil, Timothy Bloodworth departed there on 4 August as a part of convoy EN 264 for Loch Ewe, and from the latter port, sailed as a part of the 78-ship convoy ON 196. Timothy Bloodworth is reported in convoy documents as destined for Halifax along with seven other ships,[11] but other records indicate that the ship arrived at New York with the majority of the convoy on 21 August.[12] Whatever her arrival port, she was recorded as sailing from Halifax on 22 August in convoy HF 72 and arriving at Saint John, New Brunswick two days later. She is next reported as sailing for Halifax on 16 September and then on to Liverpool as a part of convoy HX 257 on 18 September.[12] With her cargo of grain and other cargo,[13] Timothy Bloodworth arrived in Liverpool on 30 September, where she would remain for almost a month.[12]
On 27 October, Timothy Bloodworth departed from Liverpool as a part of the combined convoys OS 57 and KMS 31. On 9 November, west of Gibraltar, KMS 31, Timothy Bloodworth's convoy, parted company with the other ships and headed into the Mediterranean. Timothy Bloodworth, however, headed into Gibraltar and docked there on 10 November.[12][Note 1] The ship departed Gibraltar with convoy KMS 32 on 19 November and arrived at her destination of Malta on 24 November.[14]
Timothy Bloodworth had made her way to
Timothy Bloodworth, loaded with a cargo that included Motor Launches,[15] departed New York on 6 May as a part of convoy HX 290 for Liverpool. After an uneventful crossing, she made port at Liverpool on 19 May. After unloading her cargo over the next two weeks, she departed for New York in convoy ON 239 and arrived there on 22 June. Timothy Bloodworth departed again for Liverpool on 11 July as a part of HX 299 and arrived after thirteen days.[12]
The ship is next reported sailing from
Timothy Bloodworth weathered two attacks in the month of December 1944. In the first attack—which occurred on 16 December, the first day of the German
In the second December attack, Timothy Bloodworth was at anchor in
The V-2 damage to Timothy Bloodworth was considered slight,[4] so it did not prevent her from sailing from Antwerp two days later.[12] On 30 December, she left Liverpool for New York and arrived on 13 January 1945. The cargo ship headed south to Hampton Roads and departed for Gibraltar on 7 February. She put in at Gibraltar on 23 February and sailed for Oran. From that port she returned to Hampton Roads on 24 March in convoy GUS 76. Timothy Bloodworth next sailed from New York for Liverpool, Southend, and Antwerp, arriving at the latter port on 30 April. She was at Antwerp on Victory in Europe Day. Timothy Bloodworth's last reported movement was in convoy ATM 168 from Antwerp to Southend on 28/29 May.[12]
Postwar career
After the German surrender, the
Timothy Bloodworth was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet on 6 July 1954. It is not reported where the ship went or whether it was under her own power, but she reentered the fleet on 17 July, loaded with grain. On 29 October 1956, after a little more than two years, she was again withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet to unload the grain, and was returned empty on 6 November.[19]
On 18 September 1963, the
The bow section of Timothy Bloodworth, like that of all Liberty ships, was reinforced with concrete for strength. During the scrapping process, however, these sections were not reusable. Timothy Bloodworth's bow section was one of nearly 150 buried in the private Liberty Ship Memorial Park on the banks of Portland's Willamette River. In 2006, the park was razed when the land was sold for commercial development.[20][21]
Notes
- ^ The convoy that Timothy Bloodworth departed, KMS 31, came under attack by German bombers which sank three convoy ships on 11 November. See: Beale, Nick. "The attack on "UNTRUE" (KMS-31), 11 November 1943". Ghost Bombers. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Zidell Explorations purchased a lot of three ships for $135,000 under contract PD-X-646. The other two ships' names are unreported on the Disposal Card. See: "Disposal Card (front)" (scan of record). Property Management & Archive Record System (PMARS). United States Maritime Administration. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
References
- ^ a b "Disposal Card (front)" (scan of record). Property Management & Archive Record System (PMARS). United States Maritime Administration. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- ^ Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Register of Ships (1945–46 ed.). London: Lloyd's Register of Shipping. Scan of page "Til–Ten" (pdf) hosted at Plimsoll Ship Data. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g Colton, Tim. "Delta Shipbuilding Company, New Orleans LA". Shipbuildinghistory.com. The Colton Company. Archived from the original on 29 August 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d e Browning, pp. 467–68.
- ^ a b c d "Timothy Bloodworth". Miramar Ship Index. R.B.Haworth. Retrieved 30 December 2008.
- ^ a b c King and Kutta, p. 279.
- ^ Cressman, p. 283.
- ^ "Convoy GN.64". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Lawson, Siri. "Convoy HX 245". Ships in Atlantic Convoys. Warsailors.com. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ "Convoy WN.451". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ "Convoy ON.196". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Port Arrivals/Departures: Samuel Huntington". Arnold Hague's Ports Database. Convoy Web. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ "Convoy HX.257". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ "Convoy KMS.32". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ "Convoy HX.290". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ "Convoy FBC.75". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. ConvoyWeb. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ "Chronological List of U.S. Ships Sunk or Damaged during 1944". American Merchant Marine at War. USMM.org. 21 February 2007. Retrieved 25 December 2008.
- ^ a b "Custody Card (front)" (scan of record). Property Management & Archive Record System (PMARS). United States Maritime Administration. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ "Custody Card (back)" (scan of record). Property Management & Archive Record System (PMARS). United States Maritime Administration. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Davis, Dan (2006). "Liberty Ship Memorial Park". Indio Design. Retrieved 28 December 2008.
- ^ Maskus, Frank (27 January 2008). "Liberty Ship Memorial Park". Retrieved 28 December 2008.
Bibliography
- Browning, Robert M. (1996). U.S. Merchant Vessel War Casualties of World War II. OCLC 32310902.
- Cressman, Robert (2000). The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. OCLC 41977179.
- King, Benjamin; Timothy J. Kutta (2003) [1998]. Impact: The History of Germany's V-Weapons in World War II (1st Da Capo Press ed.). OCLC 52396112.