War Factories | Episode 7: US Ships | Free Documentary History

War Factories – The Secret History of WW II: Episode 7 – US Ships | History

Documentary Watch ‘War Factories – Episode 8’ here: • War Factories | Episode 8: Russia | F…

The story of America’s ‘Liberty Ships’ is one of the most remarkable of World War Two. Ships had never been produced in this number, and at this speed, ever before. As German U-Boats wreaked havoc upon the British merchant ships in the Battle of the Atlantic, a radical solution was needed to stem the unsustainable loss of vessels.

Known as Liberty ships, they became the Model T Fords of the ocean. Made in record time by workers with no ship building experience, these prefabricated vessels would roll off the production line in their thousands. As yards competed with each other to increase production rates, one yard was able to build a ship in an astonishing time of 4 days and 15 hours. When Imperial Japan’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbour devastated the U.S. battle fleet, America harnessed its full industrial might and took mass production of shipping to a whole new level.

Within weeks of the attack U.S. shipyards had built 13 new warships, and went into production with 15 battleships, 11 carriers, 193 destroyers and 73 submarines. Over the course of the war American shipyards produced more than 100,000 ships for the U.S. Navy. As one Japanese general warned, ‘we have woken a sleeping giant.’ The United States started the war with a fleet half the size of the Royal Navy. By the end it will be larger than the combined fleets of the entire world.

By Johnny ParatrooperPublished On: October 26, 2023Categories: Uncategorized2 Comments

About the Author: Johnny Paratrooper

Born and Raised in Baltimore City, Maryland. History Degree. 8 Years Airborne Infantry and Scouts Platoon. Iraq Veteran. 4-5 Years as a doorman, bar back, and bouncer in Baltimore. Worked in Construction, Heavy Equipment Demolition, Corporate Security, Sales, Forest Service contractor, and the Hospitality Industry. Raised Catholic. Hobbies are race cars and sport bikes. Side projects are HAM radio credentials and long range shooting. MY EMAIL IS [email protected]. Founder of Green Dragon Academy https://www.patreon.com/GreenDragonAcademy

2 Comments

James Carpenter aka "Felix" October 26, 2023 at 20:52

We currently have neither the industrial base nor workforce to leap as far as fast.
Could we jumpstart anywhere close to the previous mark if our fellow Americans were faced with the realities?
Never mind tattoos, nose rings and veganism – BS thought patterns have a way of being deleted when the chips are down. And no offense to tattoos, nose rings or even veganism – _if_ that’s your bag – great – just be able to f***ing wire, weld and show up on time – EVERY DAY.
Won’t know until we go.
- Johnny Paratrooper October 27, 2023 at 18:01
  
  Obviously all the welders, electricians, engineers, and fabricators would switch from the private sector to the government contractor sector.
  
  We have a larger workforce than ever. Metal is hard to come by, but we could do it.
  
  We can also use our Navy and Marines to acquire ships from less than friendly nations.
  
  We do have the Mk48 Torpedo and they have nought.