SS Robert E. Peary
| History | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Name: | SS Robert E. Peary |
| Namesake: | Robert Peary |
| Builder: | Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard No. 2, Richmond, California |
| Laid down: | November 8, 1942 |
| Launched: | November 12, 1942 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. James F. Byrnes |
| Acquired: | November 15, 1942 |
| Commissioned: | November 15, 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | December 1946 |
| Fate: | Scrapped at Baltimore, Maryland, June 1963 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Type EC2-S-C1 Liberty ship |
| Displacement: | 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) |
| Length: | |
| Beam: | 57 ft (17 m) |
| Draft: | 27 ft 9 in (8.46 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph) |
| Range: | 20,000 nmi (37,000 km; 23,000 mi) |
| Capacity: | 10,856 t (10,685 long tons) deadweight (DWT) |
| Crew: | 81 |
| Armament: |
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SS Robert E. Peary was a Liberty ship which gained fame during World War II for being built in a shorter time than any other such vessel. Named after Robert Peary, an American explorer who claimed to have been the first person to reach the geographic North Pole, she was launched on November 12, 1942 just 4 days, 15 hours and 29 minutes after the keel was laid down.
The SS Robert E. Peary was built at the Permanente Metals Corporation No. 2 Yard in Richmond, California and was the 47th ship built at the yard. The record set in her construction was the result of a competition between shipyards to see which could build a Liberty ship the fastest. The Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation had built another Liberty ship, the SS Joseph N. Teal, in only ten days between September 13 and September 23, 1942. The yard's owner, Henry J. Kaiser (who also owned the Richmond Shipyards), was asked by a reporter if it could have been done quicker. He replied that it could have been constructed in eight days but had been delayed to allow President Franklin D. Roosevelt to attend.
Roosevelt agreed to a proposal to build a ship in half the time. To meet the deadline, the Richmond Shipyard prefabricated as much of the vessel as possible at its No. 2 Yard and pre-positioned the sections to enable the workers to assemble it with maximum efficiency. The keel was laid at 12:01 am on November 8, 1942. The rest of the ship was built from prefabricated 250-ton sections with the engines already in place. The bottom shell unit was installed first, followed by the inner-bottom unit to support the boiler, engine and pump. The boilers were put in place by mid-morning, followed by transverse bulkheads and the shaft tunnel. The upper deck was completed on the second day, with the installation of the lower forepeak, more bulkheads and the fantail. The masts, derricks and superstructure were installed on the third day. During the final day the wiring, welding and painting was completed along with the installation of the forward gun platform and the inner stack. She was launched at 3:27 pm on November 12 after around 250,000 individual parts weighing 14,000,000 lb (6,400,000 kg) had been assembled. After 26 minutes of speeches, Mrs. James F. Byrnes, the wife of the head of Roosevelt's Economic Stabilization Office, christened the ship and it was sent down the slipway into San Francisco Bay. It was delivered for service on November 15, setting an additional record of 7 days, 14 hours and 32 minutes from laying the keel to delivery.
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