Does anybody have any information regarding Liberty ships painted black and used to return war dead from Europe to the US after WW2?
Did such ships exsist? do you know the names?
Re: Black Liberty Ships
Posted by Rick Pitz on January 3, 2009, 5:57 pm, in reply to "Black Liberty Ships"
HI.
I did some checking in several books I have, and found a brief reference to this in Peter Elphick's "Liberty - The Ships that Won the War". In it, he says "The US Army Memorial Service converted some to carry home the bodies of the dead, each ship being fitted to carry 6000 caskets."
Unfortunately, that is the only reference Elphick makes. I'll keep poking around other sources, and see what I can come up with.
Rick, I have answered (to some degree) my own question. I googled US Army Memorial Service and evidently discovered a list of ships that were used - SS Joseph V. Connally, hull 3143 was one of them and the only ship I could independently verify as being used to return war dead. Since she was the very first ship used there is a good amount of info available. As a matter of fact, I discovered a picture of her dockside in Antwerp, Belgium 1947 loading remains and she appeared to be painted WHITE not black. Shoots that argument. The other liberties - Mary Kimbro, Barney Kirschbaum, Robert F Burns, and the John L McCarley I was unable to verify as being used although they were listed. I used Jaffe's Liberty Ships as a basic reference. Connally is mentioned but the others are not as being used as funeral ships.
If you google SS Joseph V Connally you can find much information about that first voyage in Oct 1947. BTW, she was lost due to fire on a return voyage from NY to Antwerp in 1948 carrying a load of 4,500 coffins for further repatriation.