With all of the hazards they faced during wartime these lifeboats were a critical item for the crew of a Liberty ship. Merchant seaman received thorough training in launching lifeboats and survival skills such as safely swimming through burning oil. The ship’s lifeboat capacity was only sized for the Merchant Marine crew, as the Navy deemed rafts to be sufficient for its personnel.
The boats on a Liberty ship are deployed using a hand cranked mechanism, and launching them from their stowage cradles takes several minutes. To avoid this delay the boats were swung out and made ready for lowering as soon as the ship left port. Once the boats had been lowered the remaining crew used large chain and wood ladders called Jacob’s ladders, that spanned most of the length of the boat to climb down.
Jacob’s ladders can still be seen on the main deck today. At least one boat had a motor, and all boats were fitted with oars as well as sails for longer journeys. Escort ships were often unable to stop and pick up survivors, so it was not uncommon for crews to sail their lifeboats to the nearest land which could take several weeks. Even after such voyages merchant seamen were incentivized to get back to sea, as their pay stopped from the moment they abandoned ship.
Explore this Station's Gallery
Walk forward alongside the Lifeboats on the exterior port side deck. Pause forward of the two Lifeboats to view the Lyle Gun.