History
United States
Name	Bernard Carter
Namesake	Bernard Carter
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	American South African Line, Inc.
Ordered	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 55
Awarded	14 March 1941
Builder	Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland[1]
Cost	$1,086,055[2]
Yard number	2042
Way number	6
Laid down	6 June 1942
Launched	29 July 1942
Sponsored by	Mrs. C.E. Walsh Jr.
Completed	8 August 1942
Identification	Call sign: KGFB [2]
Fate	Laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, 1 June 1946 Sold for scrapping, 18 September 1958, withdrawn from fleet, 27 January 1960
General characteristics [3]
Class and type	Liberty ship type EC2-S-C1, standard
Tonnage	10,865 LT DWT 7,176 GRT
Displacement	3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light) 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max)
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 Worthington Pump & Machinery Corp, Harrison, New Jersey) 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	38–62 USMM 21–40 USNAG
Armament	Varied by ship Bow-mounted 3 inches (76 mm)/50 caliber gun Stern-mounted 4 inches (102 mm)/50 caliber gun 2–8 × single 20 millimeters (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or, 2–8 × 37 millimeters (1.46 in) M1 AA guns

SS Bernard Carter was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Bernard Carter, a lawyer, professor, and politician from Maryland. Carter was corporate attorney in Baltimore and a professor at the University of Maryland.^[4]

Construction

Bernard Carter was laid down on 6 June 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 55, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; she was sponsored by Mrs. C.E. Walsh Jr., the wife of the chief of the procurement division of MARCOM in Washington DC, and was launched on 29 July 1942.^[1][2]

History

She was allocated to American South African Line, on 8 August 1942. On 1 June 1946, she was laid up in the James River Reserve Fleet, Lee Hall, Virginia, with approximately $100,000 in damage to her bottom. She was sold for scrapping on 18 September 1958, to Bethlehem Steel Co., for $76,191. She was withdrawn from the fleet on 27 January 1960.^[4]

References

Bibliography