| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Daniel Chester French |
| Namesake | Daniel Chester French |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration (WSA) |
| Operator | Stockard Steamship Corp. |
| Ordered | as type (EC2-S-C1) hull,MCE hull 924 |
| Awarded | 30 January 1942 |
| Builder | Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard,Baltimore, Maryland[1] |
| Cost | $1,061,765[2] |
| Yard number | 2074 |
| Way number | 14 |
| Laid down | 12 October 1942 |
| Launched | 12 November 1942 |
| Sponsored by | Mrs. Conrad Fretzer |
| Completed | 30 November 1942 |
| Identification | |
| Fate | Struck a mines and sunk offBizerta, Tunisia, 6 March 1944 |
| General characteristics[3] | |
| Class & type |
|
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 57 feet (17 m) |
| Draft | 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 11.5knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Complement | |
| Armament |
|
SSDaniel Chester French was aLiberty ship built in theUnited States duringWorld War II. She was named afterDaniel Chester French, anAmericansculptor in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fromNew Hampshire.
Daniel Chester French was laid down on 12 October 1942, under aMaritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MCE hull 924, by theBethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard,Baltimore, Maryland; she was sponsored by Mrs. Conrad Fretzer, and was launched on 12 November 1942.[1][2]
She was allocated toStockard Steamship Corp., on 30 November 1942.[4]
On 6 March 1944, while traveling in aConvoy UGS 33 toBandar Shapur fromPhiladelphia, she struck twomines at her forward holds on the starboard side. She was struck at 0820, ordered to abandon at 0835, and sunk at 0900.Daniel Chester French had been carrying general cargo, munitions, and 86 troops at the time, in addition to her ship crew of eight officers, one radioman, and thirty-five unlicensed sailors, and her gun crew of one officer and twenty-seven enlisted seamen. Thirty-seven men, thirteen of the ships crew, and 24 troops, were drowned.[4]
Wreck location:37°18′N10°22′E / 37.300°N 10.367°E /37.300; 10.367[4]
