The Three Lives of the John W. Brown by Michael J. Schneider
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he was born in rhe dark days of W orld War II . H er firsr cargo was arms for rhe Sovier fo rces beleaguered in Sralingrad by rhe Germ an W ehrmachr in !are 1942. The Sovier army prevailed and srarred rheir drive wesrward, which in anorher rwo and a half years broughr rhe Russians ro Berlin . She also served in rhe liberarion oflraly and Fran ce, rhen, ar wa r's end, cam e back ro New Yo rk ro embark on a new missio n. T he j ohn W Brown's second career began in D ecember 1946 when rhe vessel was loaned ro rhe Board of Educarion , C iry of N ew York, ro serve as a floaring maririm e high school. For 36 years, rhousands of hi gh school srudenrs srudied and worked aboard her learning and pracricing rhe maririme rrades-acri viries rh ar preserved rhe sh ip in an operarional condirion. In 1982 rhe Board ofEducarion rerurned her ro rhe M ari rime Adminisrrarion. Effo rrs ro save rhe Brown had begun back in 1978 when a seminar on Liberry ship preservarion was held aboard rhe rhenschoolship. Wirh rhe backing of rh e N arional Maritime Historical Sociery, a group was fo rmed ro work roward saving rhej ohn W Brown. \Vhen her career as a schoolsh ip ended, the group, called Proj ecr Liberry Ship, had been unable ro find a home fo r rhe ship in New York. T hey co uld only wa rch as she was rowed ro rhe Reserve Fleer in rhe Jam es River in July 1983. Bur rhe Proj ecr's volunreer sraff had accomplished imporranr sreps ro support rhe furure preservarion of rhe ship . A law was passed in Congress rransferring ride of rhe Brown from rhe Maririme Adminisrrarion ro Proj ect Liberry Ship . She was enrolled in rhe N arional Regisrer ofHi sroric Places, making her one of rhe few Narional Regisrer ships. Perhaps mosr impo rranr, rhis small group was able ro grow and keep alive rheir dream of saving rhe ship . In late 1987, rhe search for a new hom eporr shifted ro Balrimore, M aryland, where rhe ship had been launched some 45 years before. In January 1988, abou r for ry people artended a meering ar rhe Balrimore M useum oflndusrry ro discuss preserving rhe ship in rhar porr. T heir goal was achieved larer rhat yea r when rhe j ohn W Brown, srripped of much of her original operating equipmenr and srill wirh rhe inrernal modificarions made for her role as a high school, was rowed rriumphanrly back ro Baltimore.
Above, the Brown on 17 July 1999 with her decks crowded with supporters and well-wishers during one of her "Living Histo ry Cruises. " Major resro rarion wo rk was needed ro ger rhe ship operaring and resrored ro her WWII configuration. T his work was underraken by an enrhusias ric group of volunreers dedicared ro seeing the ship sailing again. Cargo gear was replaced and made operarional, defensive armamenr was found and reinstalled o n the ship, boilers and sea valves received much-needed repairs, and rhe rudder was repl aced with one from another Liberry in rhe Reserve Fleer. T he internal config urari on was gradually returned ro rhe original Liberry ship layo ur. T he resroration progressed and rhe volunreer wo rk fo rce grew, bringing a broad spectrum of maritime ralenr ro work on the Brown. While the experience and capabilities of the volunreers was diverse, rhe elemenr shared by all was their dedication to the ship. Finally in August 1991 , SS john W Brown gor underway on her own power fo r a sea rrial, al most 49 years after her original builder's trials. Like the first rrial, this one was successful. H owever, there was still a grear deal of work ro be done ro make her a museum ship and that efforr conrinued without pause. The mission of Proj ect Liberry Ship h as been ro preserve and opera re the j ohn W Brown as a museum ship and living memorial ro the men and women of American indusrry who built the great Liberry fleet and ro the merchanr mariners and naval armed guard who sailed and defended these ships on all the sea lan es of World War II. Mainraining the ship so it can sail ro other porrs and helping visirors experience a parr of living hisrory are major steps roward fu lfilling this mission.
SEA HISTORY 104, SPRING/SUMMER 2003
T he Brown has visited sixteen porrs on rhe East Coast as well as eighr porrs in rhe Great Lakes and co nducred 53 Living Hisro ry C ruises in Baltimore and elsewhere. T hese unique six- hour cruises rake passe ngers back in time fo r a glimpse of conditions on a merchanr ship during wa rtime. T he ship activelyeducares young people abour our merchanr marine and maritime hisro ry th rough ro urs, overnigh r visits, training in maritime skills, and rhe opporruni ry ro ralk with the ve terans in our crew. Project Liberry also makes the Brown available fo r organizations training maririme personnel in securi ry and anri-rerro rism. To make the ship and its museums more access ible ro the general public, iris essenri al rhat Proj ecr Liberry Ship find a suirable permanenr berth in Balrimore. While this is our primary goal for rhe near term, rhe Proj ect conrinues ro improve and expand the displays onboard and ro welcome a growing number of visirors. Mainraining a qualified operaring crew and attracting new volunreers are viral ro our mission and our abiliry ro sail ro other pons. In 2003 rhe Brown has visired No rfolk, Virginia, ro be parr of rhe naval armed guard veterans national reunion in April and N ew London, C onnecticut, in M ay ro parricipate in M aritime D ay ceremonies at the fo rmer merchanr marine rraining fac iliry at Fort T rumbull.
..t ..t ..t Mr. Schneider is chairman ofProject Liberty Ship. (PIS, PO Box 25846, H ighlandtown Station, Baltimore M D 2 1224-0546,¡ 4 10 661-15 50; web site: www.Liberty-ship.com) 13