The Liberty ship represented the design solution that would fill the need for an emergency type of simple, standardized cargo steamer. The result was the emergency fleet program, which introduced the assembly-line production of standardized ships – the Liberty ships – in 1941. With continental Europe under German control, and Great Britain under devastating air attack, President Franklin Roosevelt decided to increase the pace of production to provide ships to America’s British allies. When war broke out in Europe in September 1939, the American merchant fleet was caught unprepared to handle a massive sealift of war material. The Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard on Baltimore Harbor was established in February and quickly set 27,000 employees to work building these new “Liberty ships”. Workers gather to watch a launching ceremony.
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