URSABLOG: Liberty Belles

Yesterday morning found me standing on the tweendeck of number two hold on the beautifully preserved Hellas Liberty in the port of of Piraeus. The ship now serves as a museum ship, beautifully restored after being rescued from ignominious decay on the James River in Virginia, and towed to Piraeus in 2009. Anyone who has an interest in shipping, particularly in Greek shipping should know about Liberty ships.

Liberty ships were developed during the Second World War, when tonnage for the Allied cause was in desperately short supply. After the fall of France, and before the United States joined the war in 1941 the United Kingdom was isolated, under siege and being pummeled by the Nazi Luftwaffe. In order to survive and counterattack, Britain needed supplies, and the majority of these supplies came across the North Atlantic, from Canada and the US. The Battle of the Atlantic was eventually won by the allies, but at great cost: 3,500 merchant vessels were lost, together with the lives of 30,428 seamen, a death rate that was higher proportionately than in any of the armed forces. The Royal Air Force may have won the Battle of Britain in the air, but the Merchant Navy set up the fightback, from the invasion of Sicily and Italy in 1943, to the D-day landings in Northern France in June 1944 and beyond. Without the North Atlantic convoys bringing essential supplies, none of this could have happened.

One of the most important challenges that the Allies faced was a huge disbalance in supply and demand of ships. The demand was insatiable, but the supply of ships was problematic. The Luftwaffe mercilessly targeted British shipyards – back then the UK was the world’s preeminent shipbuilding nation - and in any case priority was given to warships, understandably enough. Merchant vessels were slow and easy targets for German submarines, and they were sunk with a deadly regularity. This included the Greek merchant fleet too; those that escaped Nazi capture were put into service in the Allied cause. They bravely shared the burden and suffered the consequences.

To counteract this shortage in 1940 the British ordered 60 “Ocean” class vessels from US shipyards. These ships were based on the British Sunderland Tramp design, dating back to 1879 and took a long time to construct, and deliver, mainly due to the fact that the steel plates were riveted together. The British needed ships immediately however, and they were not too fussy on the quality. They developed a new design that reduced the construction time by welding, a new technology; blocks were constructed and then welded together. They passed the design and the technology to the Americans, and the Liberty ship was born. The first ships took around 230 days to build, but eventually the average construction time dropped to 42 days. In the end over 2,700 were built at 18 shipyards in the US over a period of 4 years, a remarkable record.

As the Americans entered the war, the labour force decreased as the men went off to fight. What is often forgotten is that it was women that replaced the male workforce in the shipyards, and they weren’t typing and making coffee. By 1944 over 10,000 women were working in one shipyard alone: Kaiser Shipyards in Vancouver, Washington State. This was heavy work too: they were employed as welders and journeymen. Jobs that were traditionally seen as for men only were filled ably by women, doing the same work and more importantly being paid the same wages. As the men came back from the war they took back their jobs; women went back home or into more ‘traditional’ employment, usually for less pay.

A sign near the old Kaiser shipyard points out:

“Most female employees laboured under the double burden of balancing work and home responsibilities, made more difficult by rationing, lack of childcare, and other challenges. After the war, they had to reconcile a return to domestic life with the upheaval of traditional roles they had experienced during the intervening years. Regardless of the choices made by each individual woman, their response to homefront needs had changed the country’s social landscape forever.”

I was onboard Hellas Liberty to give a talk to 16-18 year olds on why shipping matters, and how to start a career in shipping. I was a bit nervous about it beforehand; I had never given a speech to a group so young. As it turned out it went well, and I had many thought provoking and intelligent questions from them. It was only after I had finished and as I was leaving that one young woman approached me quietly and said:

“How easy is it for girls to get into shipping? I’ve been told it’s a difficult job for us.”

I was not surprised to be honest; the question comes up again and again. There are dinosaurs amongst us that still view women as inferior and somehow problematic, these are probably a small minority. There are many others however who would rather not face the question, and take an easier route by just ignoring it. It is left to those women already in the industry to fight for their space and promote others. It depresses the hell out of me.

Men are allowed to shout and scream: it shows ‘strength’, but if a woman does the same they are seen as being weak. If a man is being tough, he is being a man, but if a woman is being tough, she is being a bitch. If a man is being emotional, he is being ‘real’ and in touch with his feelings; if a woman does the same you will hear mutterings about it being “the time of the month.” Men can bond together over a few drinks, women gossip.

The role of women prolonging the existence of the human race is seen as a good reason not to employ them. So what if women may have children if they choose? Are you so afraid of change within your business that you cannot think of a solution? We are in shipping for God’s sake, and adapting to change is what we do, otherwise we would not survive.  

So what was I to reply to the young woman who was thinking about shipping as a career? A sympathetic reply, saying yes it was tough but go for it? Or choose an area like the law, or finance, where women are better represented? Or forget it all together?

Maybe it was the voices of the women welders who worked on Hellas Liberty speaking to me through the steel, but the answer I came up with was perhaps the best:

“Tell those that advise you against shipping to ‘fuck off’ and then kick them in the balls.”

I did not mean for her to take it literally of course - although I am tempted to take the same course of action myself when I hear similar opinions - but I hope she got the message. It is not up to men to decide where women end up in shipping, and those that discourage women, or worse prevent them from fulfilling their potential are short-sighted and fearful specimens of the human race, because they don’t see the bigger picture.

Liberty ships were seen as problematic and a temporary solution to an immediate problem but they lasted a lot longer in service than many expected. Built in large part by women, they not only helped win the Second World War for the Allies but laid the foundations for the modern Greek fleet. Some were given as war reparation to those owners that had suffered disproportionate losses, many others purchased by Greek owners using loans with favourable terms from US banks. That the Greek merchant fleet is now the largest in the world is not coincidental but a direct consequence of this investment.

Liberty as a concept is given as well as fought for; however conservative and cautious the shipping community may be, it should not ignore or discourage the potential of women in the industry both at sea and onshore. More than that it should promote women to positions of real power and responsibility. It’s not just about survival, but about growth and development, and if we are afraid of that then maybe we don’t deserve liberty after all.

Simon Ward

www.ursashipbrokers.com