SS August Belmont

SS August Belmont was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after August Belmont, a German-American politician, financier, foreign diplomat, and party chairman of the Democratic National Committee during the 1860s. Belmont was an U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands and U.S. Consul-General to the Austrian Empire and later a horse-breeder and racehorse owner. He was the founder and namesake of the Belmont Stakes.

History
United States
Name:	August Belmont
Namesake:	August Belmont
Owner:	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator:	South Atlantic Steamship Lines, Inc.
Ordered:	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 2474
Awarded:	23 April 1943
Builder:	St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida[1]
Cost:	$1,109,608[2]
Yard number:	38
Way number:	2
Laid down:	1 March 1944
Launched:	23 April 1944
Sponsored by:	Mrs. W.H. Slappey
Completed:	4 May 1944
Identification:	Call sign: KWWQ [2]
Fate:	Laid up in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina, 30 May 1948 Laid up in the, James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, 20 February 1958
Status:	Sold for scrapping, 24 July 1970, removed from fleet, 19 August 1970
General characteristics [3]
Class and type:	Liberty ship type EC2-S-C1, standard
Tonnage:	10,865 LT DWT 7,176 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:	562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m^3) (grain) 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m^3) (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

Construction

August Belmont was laid down on 1 March 1944, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 2474, by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida; she was sponsored by Mrs. W.H. Slappey, the sister of Max and Kenneth Merrill, the president and vice president of St. John's River SB, and was launched on 20 April 1944.[1][2]

History

She was allocated to the South Atlantic Steamship Lines, Inc., on 30 April 1944. On 30 May 1948, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Wilmington, North Carolina. On 20 February 1958, she was laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia. She was sold for scrapping, 24 July 1970, to I.C.E. Chemicals, Inc., for $113,099. She was removed from the fleet on 19 August 1970.[4]

References

1. St. John's River SBC 2010.
2. MARCOM.
3. Davies 2004, p. 23.
4. MARAD.

Bibliography

• "St. John's River Shipbuilding, Jacksonville FL". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
• Maritime Administration. "August Belmont". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
• Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 21 January 2020.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• "SS August Belmont". Retrieved 21 January 2020.