Name/Title
Aboard SS Arthur RiggsEntry/Object ID
2016x.17.01Description
A black and white photo taken from the deck of the SS Arthur Riggs, a US Liberty Ship.
The Liberty ships were a class of cargo ships built during World War II. British in concept, the design was built by the United States. It was a simple, low-cost, mass-produced vessel. A total of 2,710 Liberty ships were built between 1941 and 1945 (an average of three ships every two days), easily the largest number of ships ever produced to a single design.
The immensity of the effort, the number of ships built, the role of female workers in their construction, and the survival of some far longer than their original five-year design life combine to make them Legendary vessels.