USAT ''Liberty'' was a

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torpedoed by in January 1942 and beached on the island of

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. She had been built as a Design 1037 ship for the

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and had served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

in that war as animal transport USS ''Liberty'' (ID-3461). She was also notable as the first ship constructed at

Federal Shipbuilding The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard, active from 1917 to 1948. It was founded during World War I to build ships for the United States Shipping Board. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Go ...

, Kearny, New Jersey. In 1963 a volcanic eruption moved the ship off the beach, and ''Liberty''s wreck is now a popular

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site.

World War I

''Liberty'' was launched on 19 June 1918 by the

Federal Shipbuilding Company The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company was a United States shipyard, active from 1917 to 1948. It was founded during World War I to build ships for the United States Shipping Board. During World War II, it built ships as part of the U.S. Gov ...

in Kearny, New Jersey, and acquired by the

on 7 October 1918 and commissioned the same day. Assigned to the

Naval Overseas Transportation Service Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all US m ...

, ''Liberty'' departed the

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on 24 October 1918, arriving at

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, with her cargo of

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s on 8 November. Over the next 6 months, ''Liberty'' made two additional cruises from New York to France discharging both animal and general cargo at French ports. Loaded with 436 tons of U.S. Army cargo and 2,072 tons of steel rails, ''Liberty'' arrived at

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, on 30 April 1919 from her final cruise. She was decommissioned there on 7 May and was returned to the

the same day.

Between the wars

On 20 October 1929, ''Liberty'' collided with the French

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. ''Dogue'' sank with the loss of two crew members. On 23 November 1933, ''Liberty'' collided with the American

in the

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. ''Ohioan'' was consequently beached near the West Bank Light.

World War II

By 1939, ''Liberty''—although owned by the

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(a successor to the USSB)—was employed by the Southgate-Nelson Corporation of

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. Southgate-Nelson was the operator of several

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, including the

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, the

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, and the

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, but

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s do not indicate for which of these services ''Liberty'' sailed. In November 1940, ''Liberty'' was one of ten ships taken up by the

for defense service.The other nine ships taken up by the

were , , , , , , , , and . (see ref #4) At the time of the United States' entry into World War II in December 1941, USAT ''Liberty'' was in the Pacific. In January 1942, she was en route from

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to the

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with a cargo of railway parts and rubber. On 11 January, ''Liberty'' was torpedoed by about southwest of the

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, near position . US

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and Dutch destroyer took the damaged ship in tow attempting to reach Celukan bawang harbour at

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, the Dutch port and administrative centre for the

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, on the north coast of

. However she was taking too much water and so was beached on the eastern shore of Bali at

Tulamben Tulamben is a small fishing village on the north-east coast of Bali. It is among the most popular dive sites on Bali since the wreck of the , a US Army Transport ship torpedoed by a Japanese submarine in 1942 lies just off shore. During high-season ...

so that the cargo and fittings could be salvaged. In 1963 the tremors associated with the eruption of Mount Agung caused the vessel to slip off the beach, and she now lies on a sand slope in of water, providing one of the most popular dive sites off Bali. The wreck of USAT ''Liberty'' is often misidentified as USAT ''Liberty Glo'' was a

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built at the end of

, but survived World War II to be scrapped in

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, in November 1950. or identified by the misnomer, USS ''Liberty''. The wreck is sometimes incorrectly referred to as a Liberty ship, through confusion of the ship's name with the class of World War II-built standard design cargo ships.

Dive site

''Liberty''′s wreck rests about from the beach in Tulamben, Bali,

. The highest point of the wreck is at a depth of about and the lowest point sits at about . The wreck is a great display of how nature creates life everywhere and great coral formations can be observed on the wreck's guns.

Gallery of wreck pictures

File:Liberty-wreck1.JPG, front 6-inch-gun File:Liberty-wreck2.JPG, loading boom File:Liberty-wreck3.JPG, partly collapsed hold File:Liberty-wreck4.JPG, rail profiles heavily covered by corals

Explanatory notes

Citations

General and cited references

Diving at the USAT ''Liberty''
* *
Info with photo and map of the ''Liberty'' at Tulamben

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Liberty (ID-3461) 1918 ships Buildings and structures in Bali Design 1037 ships of the United States Navy Maritime incidents in 1929 Maritime incidents in 1933 Maritime incidents in January 1942 Ships built in Kearny, New Jersey Ships sunk by Japanese submarines Transport ships of the United States Army World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean Maritime incidents in 1963 Wreck diving sites Design 1037 ships Underwater diving sites in Indonesia