A LENS ON VANCOUVER'S PAST
Photography by Walter Frost
U.S. LIBERTY SHIPS
S.S. AMSTELDIEP [at dock]
March 5, 1958
CVA 447-3310
​
Ten years after the war, Liberty ships like the AMSTELDIEP (former THOMAS A. HENDRICKS) which had brought building materials to Europe were bringing manufactured goods such as British-built motor cars to Vancouver as Dutch-flagged cargo ships. Note the crated cars on her fore and afterdecks. ​
​
Eighteen U.S. shipyards built 2,710 Liberty ships between 1941 and 1945, easily the largest number of ships ever produced to a single design.
Unfortunately, the Liberty ships proved to be too small to carry the tons of supplies needed to win the war and too slow – German submarines sank them almost as fast as they were being built.
​Many of these Liberty ships would provide over 20 years of service – nearly four times their 5-year design life.