SS John Owen

SS John Owen (MC contract 1970) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after John Owen, Governor of North Carolina from 1828 to 1830.

History
United States
Name:	SS John Owen
Namesake:	John Owen
Builder:	North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, North Carolina
Laid down:	15 April 1943
Launched:	10 May 1943
Fate:	Scrapped 1964
General characteristics
Type:	Liberty ship
Tonnage:	7,000 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Length:	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam:	56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft:	27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)
Propulsion:	Two oil-fired boilers Triple expansion steam engine Single screw 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)
Speed:	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Capacity:	9,140 tons cargo
Complement:	41
Armament:	1 × Stern-mounted 4 in (100 mm) deck gun AA guns

The ship was laid down by North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in their Cape Fear River yard on April 15, 1943, and launched on May 10, 1943.[1] Owen was chartered to the William J. Rountree Company most of World War II. First stored at the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet, she was transferred to the Astoria Reserve Fleet in 1949. While there, Owen was part of the United States Department of Agriculture grain storage program, holding 7,000 tons of grain[2] from 1954 to 1957.[3] It was sold for scrap in 1964.

On March 10, 1944, somewhere in the vicinity of Midway, SS John Owen's master, Robert Ogg, "drowned accidentally at sea."[4] A certified master, A. H. Hammet, was sent to Midway to take command of the ship.

References

1. "North Carolina Shipbuilding". shipbuildinghistory.com. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
2. Van Horn, W.H.; Freund, D. (1963). Civil Defense Utilization of Ships and Boats (PDF). Retrieved February 17, 2006.
3. "John Owen". MARAD Vessel History Database. Retrieved 2019-11-06.
4. "ROBERT R. OGG, CAPT, USMS". USNA Virtual Memorial Hall. Run To Honor, Inc. Retrieved 27 April 2020.