SS Joseph V. Connolly

History
United States
Name	Joseph V. Connolly
Namesake	Joseph V. Connolly
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	South Atlantic Steamship Lines, Inc.
Ordered	as type (EC2-S-C5) hull, MC hull 3143
Builder	J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida
Cost	$845,073
Yard number	103
Way number	4
Laid down	25 May 1945
Launched	9 July 1945
Completed	8 August 1945
Identification	Call sign: AOEO; ;
Fate	Caught fire and abandoned, 12 January 1948; Sunk in tow, 29 January 1948;
General characteristics
Class and type	Liberty ship; type EC2-S-C5, boxed aircraft transport;
Tonnage	10,600 LT DWT; 7,200 GRT;
Displacement	3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light); 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max);
Length	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa; 416 feet (127 m) pp; 427 feet (130 m) lwl;
Beam	57 feet (17 m)
Draft	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa); 2,500 hp (1,900 kW);
Propulsion	1 × triple-expansion steam engine, (manufactured by Filer and Stowell, Milwaukee, Wisconsin); 1 × screw propeller;
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	490,000 cubic feet (13,875 m3) (bale)
Complement	38–62 USMM; 21–40 USNAG;
Armament	Varied by ship; Bow-mounted 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber gun; Stern-mounted 4 inches (102 mm)/50 caliber gun; 2–8 × single 20 millimeters (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or,; 2–8 × 37 millimeters (1.46 in) M1 AA guns;

SS Joseph V. Connolly was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Joseph V. Connolly.

Construction[edit]

Joseph V. Connolly was laid down on 25 May 1945, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 3143, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida; she was launched on 9 July 1945.^[2]^[1]

History[edit]

She was allocated to South Atlantic Steamship Lines, Inc., on 8 August 1945.^[4]

In March 1947 Connolly was specially converted for the transportation of United States' war dead at the Hoboken Shipyard of the Bethlehem Steel Company.^[5] On 26 October 1947 she arrived at New York carrying the first 6,248 war dead from Europe.^[6]

On 12 January 1948, while transporting 6,445 empty metal coffins from New York to Antwerp, she caught fire and was abandoned 900 mi (1,400 km) east of New York. All 46 crewmen onboard were rescued.^[6] She was taken in tow on 24 January, but broke loose and sank on 29 January.^[7]

Wreck location: 40°47′N 52°48′W / 40.783°N 52.800°W / 40.783; -52.800

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c MARCOM.
^ ^a ^b J.A. Panama City 2010.
^ Davies 2004, p. 23.
^ MARAD.
^ "CONNOLLY CARRIED FIRST OF WAR DEAD". The New York Times. 13 January 1948. p. 3.
^ ^a ^b "ALL 46 SAVED AT SEA AS FIRE DESTROYS ARMY TRANSPORT". The New York Times. 13 January 1948. p. 1.
^ Wrecksite.

Bibliography[edit]

"Jones Construction, Panama City FL". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 13 October 2010. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
Maritime Administration. "Joseph V. Connolly". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
"SS Joseph V. Connolly". Retrieved 13 December 2019.
"SS Joseph V. Connolly". www.Wrecksite.eu. 12 June 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2019.

[FOOTNOTEMARCOM-1] MARCOM.

[FOOTNOTEJ.A._Panama_City2010-2] J.A. Panama City 2010.

[FOOTNOTEDavies200423-3] Davies 2004, p. 23.

[FOOTNOTEMARAD-4] MARAD.

[5] "CONNOLLY CARRIED FIRST OF WAR DEAD". The New York Times. 13 January 1948. p. 3.

[NYT-6] "ALL 46 SAVED AT SEA AS FIRE DESTROYS ARMY TRANSPORT". The New York Times. 13 January 1948. p. 1.

[FOOTNOTEWrecksite-7] Wrecksite.

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v t e MARCOM ships built by Jones Construction, Wainwright Shipyards, Panama City, Florida, during World War II
Type EC2-S-C1 ships "Liberty Ships"	E. Kirby Smith Newton D. Baker John Bascom William J. Bryan Joseph M. Medill Elihu Root John Hay Dwight L. Moody Peter Zenger Harriet Hosmer Duncan U. Fletcher Dolly Madison Robert Lansing Victor Herbert Julius Rosenwald Walter L. Fleming Salvador Brau Harold T. Andrews Russell Sage William W. Loring Minnie M. Fiske John W. Griffiths Augustus Saint-Gaudens John M. Brooke Rebecca Lukens Alanson B. Houghton Samuel G. French Thomas LeValley Josephine Shaw Lowell Richard V. Oulahan James H. Kimball Stephen Furdek Jean Ribaut LeBaron Russell Briggs Howard Gray H. H. Raymond T. A. Johnston M. Michael Edelstein William D. Bloxham Nick Stoner William E. Dodd J. H. Drummond William L. Watson John R. McQuigg Carl E. Ladd Pedro Menendez George Ade Edward K. Collins C. Francis Jenkins Raymond V. Ingersoll Benjamin F. Coston William P. Duval Stepas Darius Alexander E. Brown Chief Osceola Richard Halliburton Samuel G. Howe Granville S. Hall Stephen Smith Charles D. Walcott Art Young Charles H. Marshall Ransom A. Moore Soter Ortynsky Bjarne A. Lia Wendell L. Willkie
Type Z-EC2-S-C2 ships "Army tank transports"	Mary Ball John Barton Payne Frederic C. Howe William B. Wilson Sarah J. Hale Nathan B. Forrest Stephen R. Mallory Edgar E Clark
Type Z-EC2-S-C5 ships "Boxed aircraft transports"	Frederick E. Williamson Michael James Monohan Charles A. Draper Rafael R. Rivera James W. Wheeler Raymond Van Brogan William J. Riddle Dudley H. Thomas John L. McCarley Vernon S. Hood Edwin D. Howard Wesley W. Barrett Warren P. Marks Frank O. Peterson Barney Kirschbaum Mary Cullom Kimbro James G. Squires James F. Harrell Claude Kitchin Francis J. O'Gara Frank Flowers Edwin H. Duff Joseph V. Connolly Walter W. Schwenk Charles H. Cugle Robert F. Burns Edward Burton Ora Ellis
Type T1-M-BT2 ships Tonti-class gasoline tankers	Tancred Tandora Tannadice Tantallon Tanova Tannaquil