SS ''Rufus King'' was a standard

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

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 opposing ...

. She was named after

Founding Father The following list of national founding figures is a record, by country, of people who were credited with establishing a state. National founders are typically those who played an influential role in setting up the systems of governance, (i.e. ...

Rufus King, and was wrecked in July 1942, upon Amity Bar South of

Moreton Island Moreton Island (Mulgumpin) is an island on the eastern side of Moreton Bay on the coast of South East Queensland, Australia. The Coral Sea lies on the east coast of the island. Moreton Island lies northeast of the Queensland capital, Brisban ...

and north of

North Stradbroke Island North Stradbroke Island ( Jandai: ''Minjerribah''), colloquially ''Straddie'' or ''North Straddie'', is an island that lies within Moreton Bay in the Australian state of Queensland, southeast of the centre of Brisbane. Originally there was onl ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

, Australia. She was operated by International Freighting Corporation under charter 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 C ...

. Cargo included nine crated bombers and medical supplies for twelve hospitals totaling 4,000 beds. The loss of the medical cargo would have been disastrous for medical service to forces in Australia. More than 85% of that cargo was salvaged by Australian salvage crews and U.S. Army medical personnel. Ownership of the bow section was transferred to the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

, salvaged and converted in Australia into a repair facility for supporting the U.S. Army Small Ships Section water craft and vessels and dubbed "Half Rufus"Some Australian sources use a reversed "Rufus Half" instead. serving at Milne Bay and

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U.S ...

during the New Guinea Campaign through 1945. The stern section remains in place and is now a dive site.

''Rufus King''

''Rufus King'' was a standard Liberty (EC2-S-C1) ship laid down 6 October 1941 as Maritime Commission hull 280, yard hull number 14, at California Shipbuilding Corporation (CalShip), Los Angeles, California. The ship was launched 11 March 1942 and delivered to the

(WSA) on 29 May after 156 days on the ways, 79 in the water fitting out for a total construction time of 235 days. The ship, U.S. Official Number 241607, was operated at delivery for WSA by its agent,

Pacific Far East Line Pacific Far East Line, also called PFEL in short, was a passenger and cargo shipping line founded in 1943 by Thomas E. Cuffe, in San Francisco, California. At the beginning he started by chartering foreign ships to run the lines in tramp trade. ...

, Coastwise entity under a General Agency Agreement (GAA). ''Rufus King'' operated under charter through WSA by the

Army Transport Service The United States Army Transport Service (ATS) was established as a sea-going transport service that was independent of the Navy Department. ATS operated army transport ships for both troop transport and cargo service between United States ports ...

. The ship, inward bound to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

from Los Angeles, was wrecked 7 July 1942 on Amity Bar between Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island, Queensland, Australia after apparently mistaking the south passage for the north west passage around the island. The cargo, including surgical equipment to equip nine station and three general hospitals, totaling 4,000 beds, and nine crated B-25 Mitchell bombers,Photo of ship before salvage of deck cargo shows crates on after decks. was salvaged and there was no loss of life. A disastrous effect on Army medical services in the

South West Pacific theater The South West Pacific theatre, during World War II, was a major theatre of the war between the Allies and the Axis. It included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies (except for Sumatra), Borneo, Australia and its mandate Territory ...

was avoided when high seas abatement made salvage possible. An Australian salvage crew of over 200 with U.S. Army medical personnel salvaged more than 85% of the 17,200 boxes of medical cargo which then had to be dried and rehabilitated at the Brisbane medical supply depot.

Bow section transfer to U.S. Army

Title to the bow section was passed to the Army which was billed $12,500. The bow was salvaged by the Commonwealth Marine Salvage Board, taken over by the U.S. Army Small Ships Section and equipped with coal bunkers and a vertical boiler for power. A machine shop for repairing equipment and vessels and fuel oil bunkers for refueling other vessels was installed. The salvaged bow was given the Small Ships Section number S-129 and dubbed "Half Rufus" then it was towed to Milne Bay, arriving 21 June 1944. After being moved to

repair equipment was transferred to a barge in April 1945 and the bow section then used as a coal hulk.

Wreck

The wreck of the stern portion lies just outside the breakers on the western side of the south passage between Moreton Island and North Stradbroke Island attracting fish and divers. A local seafood market in Amity Point and Brisbane is apparently named for the ship.

Footnotes

References

External links

Launch ceremony, officials and sponsor.

* ttps://books.google.com/books?id=ya1hfhIOxxUC&pg=PA410 Photo, ''Medical Supply in World War II'', showing salvage operation and crated aircraft on stern section. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rufus King Liberty ships 1942 ships Maritime incidents in 1942 South West Pacific theatre of World War II