No. 2 Cargo Hatch

No. 2 Cargo hatch is the largest of all the ship’s hatch openings. Its corresponding ‘tween and lower holds below are also the largest on the ship. Designed to transport up to 10,000 tons of cargo and matériel to keep the theaters of war equipped and our allies supplied, a Liberty Ship’s cargo included everything from bombs to beans, toilet paper and toothpicks, jeeps, tanks, trucks, and troops.

As a rule, holds were fully loaded; shipping companies would maximize loads to a ship’s Plimsoll line by carrying cargo on top of the main deck and its hatches, sometimes beyond capacity. The main deck carried items such as vehicles, tanks, airplanes, and locomotives along with landing craft, PT, or Patrol Torpedo, boats, and other general cargo.

Whenever cargo was transported on the hatch tops and decks, wooden catwalks were constructed by the ship’s carpenter to facilitate movement about the deck.