page_title: Union Sulphur Company
section_title: Service During World War II: Liberty Ships
hierarchical_section_title: Union Sulphur Company / Service During World War II: Liberty Ships
caption_attribution_description: Construction of a Liberty ship at Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards Inc., Baltimore, Maryland (USA) in February 1942: SS Richard Henry Lee and SS John Randolph are fitting out. The SS John Randolph was mined and sunk in an Allied minefield in the Denmark Strait on 5 July 1942. The forepart was salved but it broke from the tow and was wrecked at Torrisdale Bay, Sutherland, Scotland (UK). Original caption: “Liberty" ships. Here are two members of the Liberty Fleet lying at anchor in the basin of a large Eastern shipyard. Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards Inc., Baltimore, Maryland”
context_page_description: The Union Sulphur Company was an American sulfur mining corporation founded in 1896 by the famous inventor Herman Frasch. It utilized the Frasch Process to extract previously inaccessible sulfur deposits located beneath swampland in Louisiana. The Union Sulphur Company dominated the world sulfur market until its patents expired in 1908. Its success led to the development of the present-day city of Sulphur, Louisiana. After its sulfur patents expired, the company transitioned into oil and natural gas production and was renamed the Union Sulphur & Oil Company and later the Union Oil & Gas Corporation.
  During World War I, the company was a critical source of sulfur for the U.S. war effort. During World War II, the company operated at least twenty-seven Liberty Ships and was awarded a War Service Flag.
  In 1960, the company merged with the Texas Natural Gas Corporation to form the Union Texas Natural Gas Corporation. In 1962, Union Texas was acquired by Allied Chemical Corporation. Through a series of transactions, the Union Texas division eventually became part of multinational energy company BP.
context_section_description: During World War II, the Union Sulphur Co. operated at least twenty-seven Liberty Ships.  This was far more ships than the company had ever before operated.  The ships were owned by the U.S. government but operated by the company under a War Shipping Administration General Agency Agreement.  The company had to supply crews and equipment, maintain the ships, and operate them at sea.  The Union Sulphur Co. was awarded a War Service Flag by the War Service Administration.  Liberty Ships operated by the Union Sulphur Co. include:
  Ben Holladay, Benjamin H. Brewster, Benjamin F. Coston, Carter Braxton, Casper S. Yost, Chilton Seam, Cornelius Ford, Edward G. Acheson, Frederick C. Hicks, Fred C. Stebbins, F. Southall Farrar, Henry Ward Beecher, James W. Grimes, John Ball, John Randolph, Joseph A. Holmes, Moses Cleaveland, Robert Newell, Russell A. Alger, Samuel Colt, St. Olaf, Telfair Stockton, Thomas F. Hunt, Thomas Johnson, William Leroy Gable, William W. McKee, William Wolfskill.
  The Union Sulphur Co. also operated the Victory Ship Goucher Victory during World War II.
caption: The Union Sulphur-operated John Randolph (at right) under construction
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