SS ''Nathanael Greene'' ( MC contract 146) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. She was named after Nathanael Greene,

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

general famous for his service in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. She was operated by the United States Lines under

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

with the

Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

and

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime Co ...

. The ship was laid down by

North Carolina Shipbuilding Company North Carolina Shipbuilding Company was a shipyard in Wilmington, North Carolina, created as part of the U.S. Government's Emergency Shipbuilding Program in the early days of World War II. From 1941 through 1946, the company built 243 ships in all ...

in their

Cape Fear River The Cape Fear River is a long blackwater river in east central North Carolina. It flows into the Atlantic Ocean near Cape Fear, from which it takes its name. The river is formed at the confluence of the Haw River and the Deep River (North Carol ...

yard on May 22, 1941, then launched on January 17, 1942. She was operated by United States Lines for the

. In September 1942 ''Greene'' was part of the heavily escorted Arctic

Convoy PQ 18 Convoy PQ 18 was an Arctic convoy of forty Allied freighters from Scotland and Iceland to Arkhangelsk in the Soviet Union in the war against Nazi Germany. The convoy departed Loch Ewe, Scotland on 2 September 1942, rendezvoused with more ships an ...

. When fellow merchant ship SS ''Mary Luckenbach'' was struck by an aerial torpedo, its cargo of TNT detonated. One member of the Naval Armed Guard detachment assigned to the ''Greene'' was killed and the ship damaged. For her conduct during the convoy, the ''Greene'' and crew received the Gallant Ship Citation. She was struck by a torpedo off Oran, Algeria February 23, 1943 and beached. Survey declared her a total loss the next day. She remained in Algeria until sold to an Italian salvage company and was scrapped in 1948.

References

Liberty ships Ships built in Wilmington, North Carolina 1942 ships {{liberty-ship-stub