SS Ponce De Leon

SS Ponce De Leon was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Ponce De Leon, a Spanish explorer and conquistador known for leading the first official European expedition to Florida and the first governor of Puerto Rico.

History
United States
Name: Ponce De Leon
Namesake: Ponce De Leon
Owner: War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator: Waterman Steamship Corp.
Ordered: as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 1193
Builder: St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida[1]
Cost: $2,680,640[2]
Yard number: 1
Way number: 1
Laid down: 15 August 1942
Launched: 14 March 1943
Sponsored by: Mrs. J.C. Merrill
Completed: 30 April 1943
Identification:
Fate: Laid up in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama, 11 April 1947
Status: Sold for scrapping, 10 September 1962, removed from fleet, 9 October 1962
General characteristics [3]
Class and type:
Tonnage:
Displacement:
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 General Machinery Corp., Hamilton, Ohio)
  • 1 × screw propeller
Speed: 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity:
  • 562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m3) (grain)
  • 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m3) (bale)
Complement:
Armament:

Construction

Ponce De Leon was laid down on 15 August 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1193, by the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company, Jacksonville, Florida; she was sponsored by Mrs. J.C. Merrill, the wife of the president of the St. John's River SB Corp., she was launched on 14 March 1943.[1][2]

History

She was allocated to Waterman Steamship Corp., on 30 April 1943. On 11 April 1947, she was laid up in the, National Defense Reserve Fleet, Mobile, Alabama. She was sold for scrapping, on 10 September 1962, to Gulf Shipyard Industrial Park Co., for $49,799. She was removed from the fleet on 9 October 1962.[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 15 December 2019.
  • Maritime Administration. "Ponce De Leon". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 15 December 2019.
  • Davies, James (May 2004). "Specifications (As-Built)" (PDF). p. 23. Retrieved 15 December 2019.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • "SS Ponce De Leon". Retrieved 15 December 2019.


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