Model of World War II Liberty Ship <i>Benjamin Rush</i>
date: label: date made
content: 1946
name: label: maker
content: Boucher, Fred
notes: label: Description
content: This is a model of the World War II Liberty Ship, <i>Benjamin Rush</i>, built in 1941. It measured 441 feet 6 inches in length, 56 feet 10 inches in beam, and 10,920 tons. It was delivered from the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore on July 11, 1942 and sailed from Norfolk, Virginia on its maiden voyage on August 2, 1942 to the United Kingdom. According to a letter from the War Shipping Administration dated June 4, 1945, it made nine successful voyages and completed a circumnavigation, having called at many ports carrying war materials, foodstuffs, etc. to Hull and Liverpool in England; Casablanca, Safi and Oran in Africa; Fremantle in Australia, Khorramshahr in Iran, and many others. It was scrapped in 1954.
label: Description
content: Between 1941 and 1945, more than 2,700 Liberty ships were produced – ‘the cargo carrying key to victory.’ By the time the program ended in 1945, eighteen shipyards on the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf participated in the effort. Two-thirds of all WW2 cargo that left the United States was transported in Liberty ships. Two hundred of the vessels were sunk, but there were so many at sea that the enemy could not stop Allied shipping.
label: Description
content: This model was built by Boucher Models of New York after World War II and first appears in the collection of the Insurance Company of North America around 1950.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
topic: label: Subject
content: Maritime
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Maritime
label: See more items in
content: Transportation
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of CIGNA Museum and Art Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2005.0279.083
label: accession number
content: 2005.0279
label: catalog number
content: 2005.0279.083
objectType: label: Object Name
content: ship model
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: wood (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 14 1/2 in x 56 in x 7 in; 36.83 cm x 142.24 cm x 17.78 cm