SS ROBERT ROGERS was one of a fleet of more than 2,700 virtually identical Liberty ships, which was the largest single class of ship ever built, and the most common merchant marine ship that served in World War II. ROBERT ROGERS was constructed by the New England Shipbuilding Company of South Portland, Maine, in 67 days between May 25 and July 31, 1943. She survived the war and was laid up in the reserve fleet (“mothballed”) in the James River near Norfolk before being scrapped in 1972 in Burriana, Spain. See http://www.shipbuildinghistory.com/history/shipyards/4emergencylarge/wwtwo/newengland.htm and scroll to hull number 281. Also see http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/LibShipsR.html and scroll to the name of the ship.
The ship was named after Robert Rogers (1731-1795), an American colonial frontiersman and the leader of Rogers Rangers in the French and Indian War, 1754-1763.
As to a photograph, please see this web page for a list of sources of World War II-era merchant vessels: http://usmm.org/photosource.html. Note that the second source on that list, Mr. Hultgren, is no longer managing his collection or supplying photographs of ships, due to his advanced age. That is particularly unfortunate in that Mr. Hultgren’s collection focused on Liberty ships.
As to the other sources on the list, it's hit or miss. If you try to contact the library at the Mariners' Museum in Newport News, be aware that the listed links are no longer valid. Send an e-mail to library@marinersmuseum.org instead.
Also see:
Old Ship Picture Galleries http://www.photoship.co.uk/
V.H. Young & L.A. Sawyer
Black and white ship negative collection http://www.ship-photos.dynamic-site.net/
MaritimeDigital Archive Encyclopedia http://www.ibiblio.org/maritime/media/index.php
John H. Marsh Maritime Research Centre http://rapidttp.co.za/museum/jmmrc.html
Atlantic Fleet Sales http://atlanticfleetsales.com/
Steamship Historical Society of America’s “Image Porthole”
http://www.sshsaimageporthole.org/
Obtaining a photograph via any of the sources above will involve payment on your part, if an image of ROBERT ROGERS is available.
Good luck.
Ron Carlson, Webmaster
Armed Guard / Merchant Marine website
www.armed-guard.com
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