Worker Wednesday

On 16 May 1942, the Liberty Ship SS Abraham Baldwin, was launched by Delta Shipbuilding Co. in New Orleans.

We have two photographs in our collection that form a “before and after” of the launch.

Gift of Earl and Elaine Buras, 1999.060.013    

Gift of Jack Hirsch, 2003.022.003 

Decades after dodging German U-boats in the Gulf, Liberty ships were intentionally sunk as part of an artificial reef project. The SS Abraham Baldwin was one of the first WWII vessels to be used in such a project in the Gulf of Mexico. She was stripped and sunk off of the coast of Mississippi’s Horn Island in 1976. Artificial reefs, although somewhat contested, have been shown to provide a stable platform for the growth of marine life and aquatic organisms. For more information about Liberty ships serving as artificial reefs see the article, Texas’ Liberty Ships: From World War II Working-class Heroes to Artificial Reefs

Post by Curator Kimberly Guise.