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NavSource Online:
Identification Numbered Vessels Photo Archive

Liberty (YFB 53)
ex-Grampus (ID 1708)
ex-Boothbay (ID 1708)



Deepwater call sign (1933):
King - Mike - William - Roger

Liberty call sign (1948):
King - Mike - William - Roger
Ferry:

  • The fourth Grampus was built in 1907 by Neafie and Levy, Philadelphia, PA
  • Acquired by the Navy 14 December 1917 from the Eastern Steamship Corp. of Boston, Massachusetts and commissioned USS Boothbay (ID 1708) the same day
  • Renamed Grampus 15 November 1920
  • Decommissioned 11 December 1930
  • Struck from the Navy list 30 December 1930
  • Sold to the Buxton Line of Norfolk, VA
  • Renamed Deepwater in 1931
  • Registered in 1933 to the Virginia Navigation Co. of Norfolk as the passenger vessel Deepwater
  • Acquired by the Navy 12 April 1944 and renamed USS Liberty (YFB 53)
  • Struck from the Navy list 21 January 1946
  • Registered in 1948 to the Circle Line-Statue of Liberty Ferry, Inc. of New York, NY as the passenger vessel Liberty
  • Registered in 1965 to the New Bedford Bay Lines, Inc. of New Bedford, MA as the passenger vessel Liberty
  • Renamed Provincetown in 1966
  • Renamed St. Thomas in 1967
  • No history after 1981
  • Fate unknown.

    Specifications:

  • Displacement 334 t.
    1948 - 413 t.
    1965 - 243 t.
  • Length 126'
  • Beam 33'
  • Draft 10'
  • Complement 28
    1933 - Eight
    1948 - Seven
  • Speed 12 kts.
  • Propulsion: One single ended boiler, one 600hp vertical triple-expansion steam engine, one shaft
    1946 - One diesel engine.
    Click on thumbnail
    for full size image    		 Size Image Description Source
    SS Boothbay
    Boothbay 88k Photographed prior to her Navy service
    U.S. Navy photo NH 89789    		 Naval Historical Center
    Boothbay 118k Shown before World War I with her bow mostly open
    Shipscribe photo    		 Mike Green
    USS Boothbay (ID 1708)
    Boothbay 159k Washington Navy Yard, District of Columbia. Aerial view of the main part of the Navy Yard, looking north (and a little west) from over the Anacostia River, 18 December 1918. Photographed from a Naval Air Station Anacostia airplane. Note construction work in the Yard's eastern extension, to the right. Ferry steamer Boothbay, which was later renamed Grampus, is in the lower right center
    U.S. Navy photo 80-G-454990    		 Naval Historical Center
    USS Grampus (ID 1708)
    Boothbay 86k Shipscribe photo Mike Green
    View the Grampus (ID 1708)
    DANFS history entry located on the Naval History and Heritage Command website
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    This page created by Joseph M. Radigan and maintained by David Wright
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