SS Timothy Bloodworth SS " Timothy Bloodworth " was a standard Liberty ship built for the United States Maritime Commission during World War II . The vessel was built by Delta Shipbuilding Company of New Orleans in 1943 . She was named in honor of Timothy Bloodworth , an American teacher who made musket s and bayonet s during the American Revolutionary War , then went on to become a statesman in North Carolina . The ship was laid down in February 1943 , launched in March , and delivered in April . Powered by a triple expansion steam engine manufactured by the Hamilton Engine Company , she was capable of a speed of 11 knots . She served in many transatlantic convoys supporting the buildup for and supply of the Allied invasion of Western Europe . On 24 December 1944 , SS " Timothy Bloodworth " became the first ship to be damaged by a German V - 2 rocket . Postwar , her periods of active service alternated with time in reserve , until she was sold for scrap in 1963 . Design and construction . Liberty ships were a type of cargo ship with a uniform design intended to be quickly built for wartime needs during World War II . In general , Liberty ships were named after famous Americans , and " Timothy Bloodworth " was named for Timothy Bloodworth , a teacher and statesman from North Carolina . The ship was the 44th of 188 Liberty ships built by Delta Shipbuilding Company of New Orleans . " Timothy Bloodworth " ( hull number 1033 ) was laid down on 2 February 1943 on way number 8 . She was launched on 17 March after spending 41 days on the ways . " Timothy Bloodworth " was completed on 22 April , after 36 days fitting out on the water . Her total construction time from keel laying to delivery was 77 days . " Timothy Bloodworth " was and was long ( length overall ) and abeam . She was electrically welded , and had a deadweight tonnage of . Like all Liberty ships , she had a single triple - expansion steam engine that drove a single screw propeller . " Timothy Bloodworth " s engine was built by the Hamilton Engine Co . of Hamilton , Ohio , and propelled the freighter at speeds of up to . Her boilers were oil - fired . Wartime career . After " Timothy Bloodworth " s 22 April 1943 delivery to the War Shipping Administration , she was assigned to the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company for operation out of her homeport of New Orleans . Although details of " Timothy Bloodworth " s shakedown cruise and maiden voyage are not reported in sources , convoy records reveal she was at Guantanamo Bay , Cuba , on 8 June 1943 when she joined the New York - bound convoy GN 64 . " Timothy Bloodworth " , fellow Liberty ships , , and and the other 34 ships of the convoy reached New York uneventfully eight days later . After a week at New York , " Timothy Bloodworth " and her three sister ships from GN 64 — all loaded with sugar for delivery to the United Kingdom — joined some 56 other ships departing in convoy HX 245 , bound for Liverpool , on 23 June . Three days after departure , an additional 26 ships from Halifax joined the convoy , and two days after that another three joined from St . John ' s , Newfoundland . There were no reported attacks on the convoy , but on 1 July , the British merchant aircraft carrier collided with " Empire Ibex " , which sank two days later . " Timothy Bloodworth " and twelve other ships parted from HX 245 to sail to Loch Ewe in Scotland . There they were joined by two more ships to form convoy WN 451 , headed to Methil , where they arrived on 9 July . After nearly a month at Methil , " Timothy Bloodworth " departed there on 4 August as a part of convoy EN 264 for Loch Ewe , and from the latter port , sailed as a part of the 78 - ship convoy ON 196 . " Timothy Bloodworth " is reported in convoy documents as destined for Halifax along with seven other ships , but other records indicate that the ship arrived at New York with the majority of the convoy on 21 August . Whatever her arrival port , she was recorded as sailing from Halifax on 22 August in convoy HF 72 and arriving at Saint John , New Brunswick two days later . She is next reported as sailing for Halifax on 16 September and then on to Liverpool as a part of convoy HX 257 on 18 September . With her cargo of grain and other cargo , " Timothy Bloodworth " arrived in Liverpool on 30 September , where she would remain for almost a month . On 27 October , " Timothy Bloodworth " departed from Liverpool as a part of the combined convoys OS 57 and KMS 31 . On 9 November , west of Gibraltar , KMS 31 , " Timothy Bloodworth " s convoy , parted company with the other ships and headed into the Mediterranean . " Timothy Bloodworth " , however , headed into Gibraltar and docked there on 10 November . The ship departed Gibraltar with convoy KMS 32 on 19 November and arrived at her destination of Malta on 24 November . " Timothy Bloodworth " had made her way to Augusta by early December when she was recorded making a roundtrip to Brindisi between 6 and 21 December . By early January 1944 , she had made her way to Bizerta , and from there on 8 January for Naples , where she arrived three days later . The cargo ship sailed from that port on 29 January , touching at Augusta the next day , and then joining convoy GUS 29 for Hampton Roads , Virginia . Sources show " Timothy Bloodworth " arriving at Hampton Roads on 15 February but do not report any movements until early May , when she is shown sailing for Liverpool . " Timothy Bloodworth " , loaded with a cargo that included motor launch es , departed New York on 6 May as a part of convoy HX 290 for Liverpool . After an uneventful crossing , she made port at Liverpool on 19 May . After unloading her cargo over the next two weeks , she departed for New York in convoy ON 239 and arrived there on 22 June . " Timothy Bloodworth " departed again for Liverpool on 11 July as a part of HX 299 and arrived after thirteen days . The ship is next reported sailing from Southend to the Solent on 4 August , and from Portland to Seine Bay on 6 August . " Timothy Bloodworth " sailed from Seine Bay to Southampton from 5 to 6 September . The next day , she is recorded sailing from the Solent to the Bristol Channel , a week before sailing again for New York . After arriving at New York at the end of September , " Timothy Bloodworth " made her way to Boston over the next two weeks . Sailing from there on 14 October , she first sailed to Halifax and then on to Liverpool , where she arrived on 29 October . The freighter ' s movements over the next two months are not reported in sources . " Timothy Bloodworth " weathered two attacks in the month of December 1944 . In the first attack — which occurred on 16 December , the first day of the German Ardennes Offensive — the ship suffered two casualties among her Naval Armed Guard detachment . The location of the ship , manner of attack , and circumstances of the two casualties are unspecified in secondary sources . In the second December attack , " Timothy Bloodworth " was at anchor in Antwerp later in the month awaiting a New York - bound convoy . At about 14 : 10 on 24 December , a German V - 2 rocket exploded overhead , showering the ship with shrapnel . A short time later , a second rocket hit nearby and more fragments pelted the ship , this time damaging the starboard side of the ship at the number one cargo hold . Although " Timothy Bloodworth " had a total of 68 people aboard — 8 officers , 33 crewmen , 26 Armed Guard , and 1 passenger — no one was injured in either attack . Authors Benjamin King and Timothy J . Kutta , in their book " Impact : The History of Germany ' s V - Weapons in World War II " , report that " Timothy Bloodworth " was the first ship to be hit by V - 2 fragments during the war . The V - 2 damage to " Timothy Bloodworth " was considered slight , so it did not prevent her from sailing from Antwerp two days later . On 30 December , she left Liverpool for New York and arrived on 13 January 1945 . The cargo ship headed south to Hampton Roads and departed for Gibraltar on 7 February . She put in at Gibraltar on 23 February and sailed for Oran . From that port she returned to Hampton Roads on 24 March in convoy GUS 76 . " Timothy Bloodworth " next sailed from New York for Liverpool , Southend , and Antwerp , arriving at the latter port on 30 April . She was at Antwerp on Victory in Europe Day . " Timothy Bloodworth " s last reported movement was in convoy ATM 168 from Antwerp to Southend on 28 / 29 May . Postwar career . After the German surrender , the War in the Pacific continued for another three months , but no secondary sources report any participation by " Timothy Bloodworth " , nor any of the ship ' s movements or whereabouts over the next two years . At 13 : 00 on 26 June 1947 , " Timothy Bloodworth " entered the Reserve Fleet at Astoria , Oregon , where she would remain for most of the next 16 years . " Timothy Bloodworth " was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet on 6 July 1954 . It is not reported where the ship went or whether it was under her own power , but she reentered the fleet on 17 July , loaded with grain . On 29 October 1956 , after a little more than two years , she was again withdrawn from the reserve fleet to unload the grain , and was returned empty on 6 November . On 18 September 1963 , the United States Maritime Administration ( a successor agency to the ) began accepting bids for the scrap sale of " Timothy Bloodworth " . The sealed bids were opened on 9 October , and Zidell Explorations , Inc . , with its bid of $ 45 , 000 , was awarded the sale on 10 October . On 14 November , " Timothy Bloodworth " was withdrawn from the reserve fleet for scrapping in Portland , Oregon . The bow section of " Timothy Bloodworth " , like that of all Liberty ships , was reinforced with concrete for strength . During the scrapping process , however , these sections were not reusable . " Timothy Bloodworth " s bow section was one of nearly 150 buried in the private Liberty Ship Memorial Park on the banks of Portland ' s Willamette River . In 2006 , the park was razed when the land was sold for commercial development .