(click to zoom)  ISBN 0-931675-02-2 |
Liberty Ships Eastward
(Sail With a Mainer on Maine-built Ships during World War Two) By George Elliott 112 pages, drawings, photographs,
maps, bibliography, index, CIP. $12.50 |
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Share the adventures of a young graduate of Castine's Maine Maritime Academy aboard South Portland-built Liberty ships plunging through storms and U-boat infested waters on the dreaded run to Murmansk in Northern Russia and in other convoys to deliver priceless food, clothing, medicine, tanks, locomotives and munitions to our Allies in England and Scotland and in the Mediterranean. Includes details and observations of life back on the home front in Maine.
"Portland was overrun with sailors and shipyard workers..."
"War fever and the disruption of normalcy changed the lives of most. The struggle in the Pacific and in Europe brought solemn casualty figures to the home front. A wide spread attitude of 'live for today' was apparent. Who could predict what tomorrow might bring?
"Housewives, restaurants and institutions were struggling to prepare innovative foods in spite of shortages. Gasoline rationing allowed twenty five gallons per month, enough fuel for about 300 miles. Meat and sugar were among the hundreds of items strictly rationed. Cigarettes, candy, nylons and Scotch Whiskey were prime items on the black market. Every individual was participating in the war effort in one way or another. People not directly employed in the war effort volunteered their time as air raid wardens, backup fire fighters, hospital assistants and U.S.O. participants. Never had our country been so totally mobilized, or as completely unified in a single cause. Optimism in the outcome of the war was strong." --George Elliott, Liberty Ships Eastward
"I managed to be in the wheelhouse during the peak of the hurricane, watching the drama of nature..."
"Seas were estimated to be fifty to sixty feet. The crests of waves, mixed with the rain, were blowing horizontally in sheets. I watched other ships plummet over the crests with propellers spinning wildly, then totally disappear. With each plunge, our ship shuddered and shook.
"You could feel the vibration of the engine racing throughout the ship when the propeller left the water. The main seawater intake, located in the center of the ship's bottom, was sucking air as the hull pitched over the cresting waves. This caused the condenser vacuum to drop and the engine to slow without warning, at a moment when engine power was essential to keep us from broaching sideways to the wind and waves. Without warning, it became relatively calm with dull sunshine and was oppressively humid and warm. The roar of the storm was replaced with an unearthly quiet. We were in the very eye of the hurricane. Several other ships were still with us in this strange environment. Ahead of us, we could see a wall of water." --George Elliott, Liberty Ships Eastward
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