Liberty Ship is the name given to Type EC2 ships designed by the United States Maritime Commission during World War II as part of the “Accelerated Shipbuilding Program”. Between 1941 and 1945, eighteen American shipyards built as many as 2710 units of these standardized ships.
The simplified design gave a big advantage in the form of a very short assembly time. However, many of the Liberty’s ships had serious design flaws and many weaknesses. This often even resulted in unexpected cracks in their hulls.
Film:
How Transport Ships Helped Win World War II : A History of Liberty Ships.
SS Kalliopi (formerly Robert Dale Owen)
After World War II, many Greek shipowners bought cargo ships from American war surpluses. The Robert Dale Owen was one such ship. In 1946, Panagos D. Pateras bought this retired Liberty ship and gave it a new name from Greek mythology – Kalliopi.
After more than a year of her new service, SS Kalliopi embarked on her last voyage from Charleston, South Carolina (USA) to Rijeka (Croatia). At that time, the route through the Vela Vrata canal (Croatia) was still not fully cleared of mines after the war…
In the early morning of December 20, 1947, the crew of the SS Kalliopi heard and felt an explosion somewhere in the middle of the ship’s hull. It was a mine that tore the hull apart and caused the vessel to sink. Thanks to the quick evacuation, almost all crew members survived. According to records, one person who was in the engine room at the time of the explosion tragically lost his life.
The wreck of the SS Kalliopi is broken into three parts. The middle part with the superstructure, funnel and engine room lies on the port side at a maximum depth of 62 m. The starboard side area begins at a depth of 42m. The bow part lies upside down about 20 m from the amidships of the wreck. The aft section is located further away from the rest and is not a popular diving destination.
The following photos were taken during the project’s dives in June 2022. We focused on documenting the main bridge (wheelhouse) and the rooms behind the bridge. We were able to identify some interesting details from the navigation cabin and the captain’s cabin.
Photos taken by: Adam Jaworski, Alana Dempsey, Bartek Trzciński.
A-M Bresser, Adam Jaworski, Alana Dempsey, Bartek Trzciński, John Zwoferink, Joost van Mil, JP Bresser, Mario Arena, Maurizio Grbac, Piotr Berlinski, Richard Hakse, Sven Nelles, Tom Nicolaes
JP Bresser, Maurizio Grbac
