SS Andrew G. Curtin

History
United States
Name	Joseph P. Bradley, before 14 October 1942 Andrew G. Curtin, renamed 14 October 1942
Namesake	Joseph P. Bradley Andrew G. Curtin
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	Calmar Steamship Corp.
Ordered	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MCE hull 934
Awarded	30 January 1942
Builder	Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland[1]
Cost	$1,075,088[2]
Yard number	2084
Way number	15
Laid down	9 December 1942
Launched	18 January 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. Warren R. Roberts
Completed	31 January 1943
Identification	Call sign: KKGC [2]
Fate	Torpedoed and sunk in Barents Sea, 26 January 1944
General characteristics [3]
Class & type	Liberty ship type EC2-S-C1, standard
Tonnage	10,865 LT DWT 7,176 GRT
Displacement	3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light) 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max)
Length	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa 416 feet (127 m) pp 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam	57 feet (17 m)
Draft	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa) 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion	1 × triple-expansion steam engine,  (manufactured by Ellicott Machine Corp., Baltimore, Maryland) 1 × screw propeller
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m3) (grain) 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m3) (bale)
Complement	38–62 USMM 21–40 USNAG
Armament	Varied by ship Bow-mounted 3-inch (76 mm)/50-caliber gun Stern-mounted 4-inch (102 mm)/50-caliber gun 2–8 × single 20-millimeter (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or, 2–8 × 37-millimeter (1.46 in) M1 AA guns

SS Andrew G. Curtin was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after Andrew G. Curtin, an American lawyer and politician. He served as the 15th governor of Pennsylvania, during the American Civil War, helped defend his state during the Gettysburg Campaign, and oversaw the creation of the National Cemetery and the ceremony in which Abraham Lincoln delivered his famous Gettysburg Address.

Andrew G. Curtin was laid down on 9 December 1942, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 934, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; she was sponsored by Mrs. Warren R. Roberts, and was launched on 18 January 1943.^[1][2]

She was allocated to Calmar Steamship Corp., on 31 January 1943.^[4]

On 26 January 1944, while traveling in a Convoy JW 56A to Murmansk, Russia, from Loch Ewe, Scotland, she was struck by a torpedo, fired from U-716, at her forward hold on the starboard side. She was struck at 0022, ordered to abandon at 0030, and sunk at 0300. The torpedo struck between the #2 and #3 hold which caused the deck to crack ahead of the #3 hold. Andrew G. Curtin had been carrying 9,000 long tons (9,100 t) of general cargo, steel, and deck cargo of two locomotives and two PT Boats, at the time. Her ship crew consisted of eight officers, one radioman, and thirty-four unlicensed sailors, and a gun crew of one officer and twenty-seven enlisted seamen. Two of the ships crew were drowned and one of the gun crew died in the explosion. The survivors made it to lifeboats or rafts and were picked up by HMS Inconstant.^[4][5]

Wreck location: 73°25′N 25°16′E / 73.417°N 25.267°E / 73.417; 25.267^[4]