Image courtesy of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society.
By 1942, German U-boats had destroyed more than five hundred million tons of Allied shipping. The loss of desperately-needed cargo ships led the U.S. Maritime Commission to select sixteen sites, including Brunswick, Georgia, to build Liberty ships. These vessels were designed to be quickly constructed and carry 10,000 tons of cargo. Between 1943 and 1945, the J.A. Jones Construction Company, at shipyards near present day Sidney Lanier Bridge, employed 16,000 workers to build and launch ninety-nine cargo ships, 85 of which were Liberty
ships. More Liberty ships were built (2,700) than any other ship design in history.
In November 1944, responding to an acute need for additional vessels, the Maritime Commission challenged each of the nation’s “six-way” shipyards (including Brunswick, where six ships could be built simultaneously), to accomplish a formidable task: deliver six, 441-foot Liberty ships by the end of the year. At the Brunswick shipyard, the J.A. Jones workers more than rose to the challenge, committing to build seven
ships by year’s end!
In a 1986 article in the Jacksonville Times-Union (“Brunswick Beat ‘Em All in Shipbuilding”), Ralph Blackwell, a former Brunswick shipyard foreman, recounted the epic December 1944 achievement. “Our boys over there battling for their lives won’t have any merry Christmas,” Ralph said at lunch one day, referring particularly to the American soldiers fighting in the Battle of the Bulge. “Why don’t we show them our appreciation by working Christmas Day for nothing?”
The workers enthusiastically agreed, and nearly 1,200 reported for duty on Christmas Day. The cafeteria provided free turkey dinners, served by Santa. Since the law wouldn’t allow them to work for no pay, J.A. Jones Construction Company gave each worker a separate check for the day’s wages. The workers immediately endorsed their checks over to the Federal government for the war effort. The amount totaled $16,080, which the shipyard matched.
And, as promised by the men and women of the Brunswick shipyard, the seventh Liberty Ship was launched December 30, 1944. The workers’ gift was a spontaneous outpouring of patriotism that captured widespread attention and appreciation.
This month’s image, from the archives of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, shows a newly christened Liberty Ship being launched from the J.A. Jones shipyard in Brunswick during World War II.
Our monthly images in SSI Archives are from the vast archives of the Coastal Georgia Historical Society. The Society’s mission includes the “administration, restoration and maintenance of historic facilities and resources … preserved as a living part of the historical and cultural foundations of our coastal community.” Society facilities include the St. Simons Lighthouse and Museum, the A.W. Jones Heritage Center, and the Maritime Center (formerly the U.S. Coast Guard Station). To learn more about the Society, its diverse programs, and the benefits of Society membership, please call (912) 638.4666, or visit www.saintsimonslighthouse.org.
