What about the Merchant Marines?

[southern or]

I saw the post about the WWII submariners, but I can't help and think about the merchant marines. In terms of WWII service and subs, the got the raw end of the deal. Plus we have more WWII subs preserved (one really good german in the US) then we do of the Liberty or Victory Ships. I can think of 3 US and German subs in or by museums, but I can only think of the Jeremiah O'Brien when it comes to the merchant fleet. I really don't want to think about how terrifying it must have been waiting for a U-Boat attack.

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

Re: What about the Merchant Marines?

You might enjoy this list which is incomplete. I am still looking.

Sorry, I have not researched surface ships.
Many surfaces ships are displayed along side various submarines but those are mostly military war ships and not cargo carriers.

Submarines An Obsession

[JWLaRue]

Re: What about the Merchant Marines?

There's the Liberty ship John W. Brown in Baltimore harbor...

http://www.ssjohnwbrown.org

-Jeff

[chips]

Re: What about the Merchant Marines?

There are a few Victory ships around.

SS AMERICAN VICTORY in Tampa, FL.
SS LANE VICTORY in San Pedro, CA.
SS RED OAK VICTORY in Richmond, CA.

[southern or]

Re: What about the Merchant Marines?

That's pretty cool. I didn't think any Victory ships survived.

[southern or]

Re: What about the Merchant Marines?

I was wondering, does anyone have any Merchant Marine stories? A lot of stuff I've come across over the years seems to link the silent service and the merchant fleets together. I mean, is it true that during the cold war subs would use freighters to avoid detection? Plus I'd love to know more about the Q ships that were supposed to be ASW.

Lets have some argument free discussions. Any thoughts, stories, etc?

Also, side note that I'm not sure is related or not, what was the purpose of the Soviet trawlers that always seemed to be with their subs in home waters? Were those Merchant or Navy? Also, are the US sub tender ships Merchant (USNS right?) or regular Navy. What exactly do they use the tenders for in modern times anyways?

[wlambing]

Re: What about the Merchant Marines?

Don't forget Jeremiah O'Brien, at Fishermans Wharf, SF, just astern of USS Pamanito.
The Soviets are Intelligence vessels, run by the KGB, or whatever they call themselves this week. They don't fish, and they are armed.
Sub tenders are USN, straight up. They fix everything, and nowadays, for all class ships. There are only two.

B^)

[Ralph --- SSBN 598]

Re: What about the Merchant Marines?

Here is a little article on the fishing trawlers.
No one seems to know how many were built.
This may be the only test vessel built.
Maybe not!
Then there are articles that say there were as many as 80 built.

Cold War Tech

[southern or]

Re: What about the Merchant Marines?

Oh, the torp test boat. There are articles saying that boat was a Q-ship but there is a ton of info out there to counter that. She flew a navy pennant and even the USN have similar boats. If you look closely at the tubes, they're different sizes. I was thinking that a few of them were tenders though as they were clearly marked as navy boats and seemed to trail the subs when they were surfaced near port. Maybe they function like the USS Skylark did? The USN ran a lot of spy boats too, see USS Pueblo. They all did a lot of "fishing" for things like radar transmissions and other broadcasts.

I thought the USN tender boats were merchant manned? Learned something new. I know Sealift Command has merchants crewing the USS Ponce during its great experiment.

Still would like to know if freighter shadowing is/was a real thing.

Thanks so far!

[bwi]

Re: What about the Merchant Marines?

Here is a little article on the fishing trawlers.
No one seems to know how many were built.
This may be the only test vessel built.
Maybe not!
Then there are articles that say there were as many as 80 built.

Cold War Tech

That is completely new for me......I'm intrigued....there goes my Sunday.

Grtz,
Bart

[southern or]

Re: What about the Merchant Marines?

Anybody got anything else?