STEEL TRAVELER and ANNISTON CITY were not Liberty ships; the other three were. Liberty ships were built in the period 1941-1945 but STEEL TRAVELER and ANNISTON CITY were both built in the 1920s.
STEEL TRAVELER was a general cargo ship built by Federal Shipbuilding Company, Kearny, New Jersey, in 1922. She was sunk by a mine in the Schelde River, on 18 December 1944, with the loss of two lives. See http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/1major/inactive/federal.htm and scroll to hull number 68.
ANNISTON CITY was a general cargo ship built by Chickasaw Shipbuilding, Chickasaw, Alabama, in 1921. She was sold and renamed several times before being scrapped in 1958. See http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/2large/inactive/chickasaw.htm and scroll to hull number 10.
Isthmian Steamship Company owned both STEEL TRAVELER and ANNISTON CITY. Photographs of the two ships, and details about their careers, are available at http://www.isthmianlines.com/ships.htm. Isthmian later owned a second ship named STEEL TRAVELER but she did not receive that name until 1947 and should not be confused with the first ship of that name, in which your father served.
ANSON JONES was a Liberty ship built by Todd Houston Shipbuilding, Houston, Texas, in April and May 1943. She was sold to a private shipping company in 1947 (or 1946 per a different source) and scrapped in 1969. See http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/toddhouston.htm and scroll to hull number 60. Also see http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibshipsA.html#AndrewM and scroll to the name of the ship.
THOMAS CRESAP was a Liberty ship built by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland, in January-March 1943. She was sold to a private shipping company in 1947 (or 1951, again sources differ) and scrapped in 1968. See http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/bethfairfield.htm and scroll to hull number 2098. Also see http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibshipsT.html and scroll to the name of the ship. She was built to carry both cargo and troops.
FRANCIS DRAKE was a Liberty ship built by the California Shipbuilding ("Calship"), Los Angeles, California, in June-August 1942. After the war she was placed in the reserve fleet (“mothballed”) and probably never sailed again, before being scrapped in 1971. See http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/kcalifornia.htm and scroll to hull number 54. Also see http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibshipsF.html and scroll to the name of the ship.
For sources of Liberty ship photographs, see this page: http://www.usmm.org/photosource.html. Mr. Hultgren in particular specializes in Liberty ship photographs. He is quite elderly but at last report was still actively managing his collection.
I am going to make an educated guess that your father was named Fay Irving Bemiss, Jr. The subscription website Ancestry.com (www.ancestry.com), more commonly used for genealogical research, has databases of the names of crewmen of merchant ships that arrived in certain U.S. ports of entry after voyages that began in foreign ports, with the records of ships arriving in New York being particularly extensive. Searching that website for persons named Bemiss during World War II, I find Fay Irving Bemiss, Jr. (or Fay I. Bemiss), born 1922, serving in STEEL TRAVELER for three voyages in 1942-1944 variously as a Merchant Marine Academy cadet and later as third assistant engineer, and in THOMAS CRESAP for two voyages in 1945 as first assistant engineer. I do not find records of him serving in ANSON JONES or FRANCIS DRAKE but this may possibly be because the ships returned to ports other than New York for which Ancestry.com does not have records available.
With considerable effort, I could provide the names of his shipmates on the five voyages. Be aware that on merchant ships it was quite usual for there to be nearly a 100% turnover in crew from voyage to voyage, especially among the younger, non-officer seamen. Officers sometimes remained on the same ship for several or many voyages, as was the case with your father. But your father no doubt served with many different officers and seamen during the war, possibly several hundred. However I would have no way of knowing whether any of his shipmates are still living, nor would I have contact information for any who are.
Of possible interest, your father sailed with and probably knew both of the men who lost their lives when STEEL TRAVELER sank in 1944, a voyage your father almost certainly did not make although he may have been on the immediately preceding voyage. The two casualties were William C. Weldon, the chief mate, and Joaquin Iglesias, a fireman/water tender (an engine crew position).
You may wish to obtain a short-term subscription to Ancestry.com and make the same search I made. A one-month subscription can be had for $23. Subscription options are available from the Ancestry.com homepage. Or let me know and I can come up with a complete list for the five voyages at no charge to you, although it will take some time.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
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