¹ War Shipping Administration, Press Release 2277(W), Maritime Day 1945-Military Leaders Praise Merchant Marine (). Today, of the thousands of Liberty ships and Victory ships built during World War II, only a handful remain. The Liberty and Victory ships fulfilled President Roosevelt's prophetic words, serving the nation well in war and peace. These new ships would be faster, larger, and able to carry cargo long after the war was finished. In 1943, the United States began a new ship-building program. The Liberty ships proved to be too slow and too small to carry the tons of supplies the United States and her Allies would need to win the war. But the lethal U-Boats, submarines of the German Navy, prowled the shipping lanes hunting American merchant ships.
When the United States entered World War II at the end of 1941, it had the beginnings of a great merchant fleet. She isn't much to look at, though, is she? A real ugly duckling."² Thus, the Liberty ships received their second nickname, "the ugly ducklings." Land, "I think this ship will do us very well. Roosevelt, who loved naval vessels and had an eye for design, mused aloud to Maritime Commission administrator Admiral Emory S. While reviewing blueprints of the Liberty ships at the White House, President Franklin D. Among them were 2,710 mass-produced ships known as Liberty ships. However, World War II provided the impetus to intensify those efforts eventually leading to a ship-building program that produced 5,500 vessels. A shipbuilding program began with the passage of the Merchant Marine Act of 1936. In the nearly 20 years following the end of the World War I, America's merchant fleet, including its cargo and passenger ships, was becoming obsolete and declining in numbers. Eisenhower on National Maritime Day, 1945¹ Their contribution to final victory will be long remembered. The officers and men of the Merchant Marine, by their devotion to duty in the face of enemy action, as well as natural dangers of the sea, have brought us the tools to finish the job.
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