Apparently Pier 45 in San Francisco was heavily damaged by a huge fire Saturday Morning. The Fire Department kept one fire-boat on scene just to protect the Liberty Ship. There's also a WWII submarine there too, and it is also OK. It's unknown (at least by me) if the ship will have to find another location.
https://cdn.trainorders.com/attachments ... b9ca83.jpg

Critical preservation "save" by SFFD. Thanks for posting.

SS Jeremiah O'Brien is a WWII Liberty Ship; specifically a US Maritime Commission Class EC2-S-C1 freighter that was operated by a civilian crew with a USN Armed Guard to man the defensive guns aboard. She is 441' 6" long, beam 56' 10.75", draft 27' 9.25", displacement 14,245 long tons, speed 11-11.5 knots with two oil fired boilers and one 2500 HP vertical triple-expansion steam engine.

The ship is maintained in operating condition and periodically cruises San Francisco harbor but is currently laid up with the COVID-19 shutdowns.

One newscast refers to the ship as "USS Jeremiah O'Brien" and says she is a destroyer. As it happened, the USN had two destroyers during WWII named for the same Jeremiah O'Brien of the Massachusetts Navy.

USS O'Brien (DD-415) was a Sims Class destroyer that was torpedoed in the Pacific on September 15, 1942, received in-theatre repairs, but sank October 16, 1942 while enroute to the USA for full repairs.

USS O'Brien (DD-725) was a Sumner Class destroyer commissioned February 25, 1944, provided gun support to the Normandy Invasion, then transferred to the Pacific. She had a long career and was finally decommissioned February 18, 1972.

Phil Mulligan

Here is a link to one of the San Francisco TV stations about the fire and the Jeremiah O'Brien (text and video):

SFFD fire boat spares World War II Liberty Ship U.S.S. Jeremiah O’Brien from fire on Pier 45

The Fox News feed is one of those that confuses the US Maritime Commission Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O'Brien with the US Navy Destroyer O'Brien (DD-725).

Curiously, they are both named for Captain Jeremiah O'Brien, born 1744 in Kittery, Province of Massachusetts Bay. The destroyers were also named for Jeremiah's five brothers, Gideon, John, William, Dennis and Joseph, who had captured HMS Margaretta on June 12, 1775 during the American Revolution. The O'Briens sailed in the Massachusetts Navy, before there was a US Navy. Kittery is now Kittery Maine, since that former part of Massachusetts became a State in 1820. Both SS Jeremiah O'Brien and USS O'Brien were built in Maine.

Equally curiously, both ships participated in the Normandy Invasion, each in its respective capacity. Gunfire from destroyers such as O'Brien provided vital close-in artillery support to the invading troops against German targets. And cargo ships such as Jeremiah O'Brien delivered the supplies needed by the troops ashore. The USN built artificial harbors on the beach to handle the big ocean-going ships. I don't know if the crew of either ship knew the other was there.

Liberty Ship Jeremiah O'Brien returned to Normandy in 1994 for the 50th anniversary of Operations Overlord (Army) and Neptune (Navy) and was the only large ship from the original fleet to return 50 years later.
. . . _

Phil Mulligan

Folks,
I have visited and been under way aboard the Liberty Ship JOB. She has the largest steam engine i have ever seen in operation. What a sight and sound it is! You will never forget it!

If you live near San Francisco or Baltimore, Maryland, the home of the other Liberty Ship John Brown try to visit and support them to remember the Merchant Marine on this Memorial Day Weekend.

Ted 66

Thanks, Ted.

SS Jeremiah O'Brien's engine represents RMS Titanic's engines in the movie Titanic. [Titanic had two 4-cylinder triple expansion engines; there were two low pressure cylinders; JOB has one 3-cylinder triple expansion engine]

Phil Mulligan

And what's even more stunning is, the O'brien's engines used in the film are actually small in comparison to "Titanic's" actual engines!

SFFD was also able to keep the fire away from an adjacent warehouse that contains a fantastic array of operating arcade machines.

https://museemecanique.com/

While the family was distracted in the arcade, I was able to spend more time visiting the nearby USS O'Brien.

The Jeremiah O'Brien was reloacted to Pier 35 onTuesday (5/26).

Will she need painted on the side facing the fire?

Phil Mulligan

Newsclip of Fireboat 3 effort and move to Pier 35


https://cbsloc.al/3dhtJyI

I recall reading a report the day after the fire that paint had blistered.

An article in today's San Francisco Chronicle

has several good views of the fire and the damage to the piers.

There are no detailed photos of damage to the ship, but in summary the fire