Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1945
Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in July 1945 | |
|---|---|
| Shipwrecks |
|
| Other incidents |
|
21°48′S 153°42′E / 21.8°S 153.7°E
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Francis Preston Blair |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration. |
| Operator | Sudden & Christenson Company |
| Launched | 3 January 1943 |
| Fate | Wrecked 15 July 1945 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Class and type |
|
| Tonnage | |
| Displacement | |
| Length | |
| Beam | 57 feet (17 m) |
| Draft | 27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Complement | |
| Armament |
|
SS Francis Preston Blair was an American Liberty ship, 7,196 tons stranded on Saumarez Reef in the Coral Sea during a cyclone in 1945. The ship has since deteriorated into a rusty heap. The wreck was used by Royal Australian Air Force F-111 aircraft for target practice during the 1980s.
The bronze propeller was salvaged by unknown persons between 1964 and 1970. Wreck was visited by Wild Kingdom who made a TV episode hosted by Marlin Perkins for USA and world distribution in 1971.
Francis Preston Blair was operated during World War II by Sudden & Christenson Company under charter ships from the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. She was unloading troops and supplies at off Queensland, Australia before the grounding.[2]
