SS Joseph Hewes

SS Joseph Hewes (MC contract 217) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Joseph Hewes, Secretary of the Naval Affairs in the 2nd Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence for North Carolina.

History
United States
Name:	Joseph Hewes
Namesake:	Joseph Hewes
Builder:	North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, North Carolina
Yard number:	26
Way number:	7
Laid down:	22 September 1941
Launched:	29 March 1942
General characteristics
Type:	Liberty ship
Tonnage:	7,000 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Length:	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam:	56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft:	27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)
Propulsion:	Two oil-fired boilers Triple expansion steam engine Single screw 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)
Speed:	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Capacity:	9,140 tons cargo
Complement:	41
Armament:	1 × Stern-mounted 4 in (100 mm) deck gun AA guns

The ship was laid down by North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in their Cape Fear River yard on September 22, 1941, and launched on March 29, 1942.[1] She was chartered to A.H. Bull and Company upon completion in 1942 by the War Shipping Administration. This was renewed in May 1947. In August of that year it was chartered to the States Marine Corporation. It was briefly operated in October 1948 by the South Atlantic Steamship Company before being laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Beaumont, Texas. It was sold for scrap in 1967.[2]