I do not know who started it, but he had to be a landlubber or some ARMY dude trying to start trouble, but whomever started it, they got in a shot that is hard to put down. It grates at the truth like a rusty hack saw and throws a shadow of muck upon one of the proudest ships ever to sail the seas of this earth.
Someone said the USS Hector (AR-7) was a "Modified Liberty Ship".
This stain upon her name and history has been very hard to clean off. I'm not trying to throw any mud on the name "Liberty Ship" either! They were a fine ship and served the purpose for which they were built very well, and they were also a very important contribution to the vast war effort to the second world war.
The first liberty ship was launched on September 27, 1941 and continued until construction began on the "Victory Ships" , which were bigger and faster than the Liberty Ships. 2,751 Liberty ships were built. Some were converted to other types of ship, such as ARG's which were smaller types of repair ships and were designated to repair gasoline and diesel engines. Examples of an ARG are the USS Tutuilla and USS Mindanao, both of which served beyond World War II and had good records. Photos of these ships are available to show that even thought they were converted to a "Repair Ship", there is NO MISTAKE that they were indeed a Liberty Ship first. Same lines and size.
Liberty Ships also were an all WELDED construction, and had ONE three cylinder RECIPROCATING (pistons and crankshaft) engine, ONE screw type propeller, and were 441 feet long and had a beam of 56 feet. The first Liberty Ship was named SS Patrick Henry. Liberty ships cost about 2 million dollars to build.
The USS Hector (AR-7) was a VULCAN CLASS REPAIR SHIP. This means it was built as a repair ship from the keel up. "Vulcan Class" means, as the Navy designates, the FIRST ship of a particular type gives its name to that class, which was the USS Vulcan (AR-5). The other ships of the class were USS Ajax (AR-6) and USS Hector (AR-7). The USS Jason was originally designated as (ARH-1) and was in its own class until it was redesignated as (AR-8), and then became the last of the "Vulcan Class" Repair Ships.
As ANYONE who ACTUALLY served aboard Hector can attest, Hector was made of plates held together with RIVETS. She had very little welded construction. And she had two engine rooms complete with four boilers feeding steam to two sets of turbine engines and sending that power out to two massive four bladed screw type propellers. Hector, as well as the other Vulcan's, were 530 feet long and 73 feet wide. At this size an entire Liberty Ship could fit INSIDE Hectors dimensions!
ALSO, it has been thought that the Repair Ships such as Hector were alike with the AD and AS ships of the same lineage. These can be seen to be different if one looks at the smoke stacks or "uptakes" which are far apart on the repair ships to make room for the large foundry and lower electric rewind shop, where as the AD and AS ships, the uptakes are closer together and farther aft than the repair ship stacks were. The AD and AS ships did not have the big foundries as the AR ships had.
I sure don't know who started this nasty rumor about the Hector being a Liberty Ship, but by golly, they sure didn't have a clue about ships. I will be HAPPY to argue this point, as I know I will win, and that will be a blessing to me after losing so many arguments with my wife,.
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