Liberty Ships Eastward [Paperback]

George Elliott (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Provincial Pr (November 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0931675022
• ISBN-13: 978-0931675027
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,588,218 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars tribute to the Liberty Ship, January 1, 2001

By 

Chapulina R (Tovarischi Imports, USA/RUS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Liberty Ships Eastward (Paperback)

"We Can Do It!" Everybody knows the biceps-flexing World War ll icon of Rosie the Riveter, but how many Americans remember what it was that Rosie and her coworkers *did*? They built the ships which helped win the War! Nearly three thousand of those were the Liberty freighters manufactured by Kaiser Steel. Cheap and fast to produce, spartan and relatively simple to operate, these were the ideal vessel for the convoys, the desperately-needed supply-line to the beleagered Allies. Unfortunately, they were also very slow. The ships described by FDR as "Ugly Ducklings" often became "sitting ducks" for wolfpacks of German U-boats and torpedo planes. The Liberty Ship earned the nickname bestowed by its valiant crews of US Merchant Marine and Naval Armed Guard: "Kaiser Coffin". Happily, the young Merchant Marine officer who authored "Liberty Ships Eastward" survived his Murmansk Run with a minimum of danger. His is a light-hearted memoir, anecdotally written, somewhat remniscent of "Mister Roberts". Like Mr. Roberts' Pacific Island run between "Tedium" and "Apathy", Mr. Elliot's Murmansk Run was distinguished by its unprecidented lack of combat action. In his words, his crew faced the more serious risk of going "berzerk with boredom" in the nearly deserted North Russian port. There are no imperiled palm trees in this sailor's yarn; his convoy's only casualties its dog and cat mascots, prey to the aging -- and hungry! -- female stevadores who populated Murmansk. This is a fun, fast-reading little book, complemented by the author's own delightful illustrations. It's a tribute to the humble, long-forgotten Liberty Ship from a seaman who remembers it with affection.