USS Liberator (1918)

History
The USS Liberator was a United States Navy ship originally built as the Wichita in 1918 by Union Iron Works in San Francisco, California. She was launched on March 24, 1918, and acquired by the Navy on July 2, 1918, being commissioned the same day. Her service during World War I was brief, as she was decommissioned on October 4, 1919, at Bayonne, New Jersey, and subsequently returned to the United States Shipping Board.

In 1933, the ship was sold to the Lykes Brothers Steamship Company of New Orleans, Louisiana, and renamed SS Liberator. On March 19, 1942, while en route from Galveston, Texas to New York carrying 11,000 tons of sulfur, the SS Liberator was struck by a torpedo from German submarine U-332. The attack occurred approximately 3 miles west of Diamond Shoals. The torpedo hit the port side at the aft end of the engine room, demolishing it and resulting in the deaths of five crew members. The ship sank within 21 minutes of the attack.

The 31 survivors of the SS Liberator were rescued by the USS Umpqua (ATO-25) at 1125 Eastern War Time (EWT) and taken to Morehead City, North Carolina. Notably, on the evening prior to the sinking, the gun crew of the Liberator mistakenly fired at and hit the USS Dickerson (DD-157), which was conducting an anti-submarine patrol. The friendly fire incident resulted in three fatalities aboard the Dickerson and the mortal wounding of its commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander J. K. Reynold, who died shortly before the destroyer docked at the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth, Virginia.

Despite the tragic events surrounding its final voyage, the crew of the Liberator reported having engaged and sunk a German U-boat in battle before their own ship was torpedoed and sunk.