The SS Roger B. Taney was a Liberty ship built in Baltimore, Maryland, in 1942 during World War II. The ship was named after Roger Brooke Taney, the fifth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. The SS Roger B. Taney was torpedoed by German submarine U-160 in the south of the Atlantic Ocean and sunk on 8 February 1943. From 1941 to 1945, the United States increased its shipbuilding capacity and produced over 2,700 Liberty Ships.
Liberty ships carried a crew of about 44 and 12 to 25 Naval Armed Guards. Useful properties like tensile strength and resistance to heat and chemical damage made asbestos a valuable commodity for shipbuilders. Navy builders, technicians, mechanics, engineers, and other navy personnel were put into harm’s way on a daily basis before the Navy stopped using it.
760-621-6147
