The details required to succeed at any complex task often disappear into the mists of time, but the Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O’Brien, docked at Pier 35, prevents that disappearance. It is a living museum of the Bay Area’s crucial role in the massive production efforts required to equip the WWII Allies and keep them supplied under adverse wartime circumstances.

Launched on June 19, 1943, from the New England Shipbuilding Corporation in South Portland, Maine, the SS Jeremiah O’Brien is one of the last survivors of the 2,710 Liberty ships which were built—and the only one that remains completely unaltered and fully operational. She carried troops and supplies across dangerous wartime seas, completing seven voyages to destinations as far-flung as Northern Ireland, India, Australia and South America. She also made 11 crossings to the Normandy beachhead during the D-Day landings—a critical component of the largest seaborne invasion in history.

In 1994, she journeyed through the Panama Canal and across the Atlantic Ocean to take part in the 50th anniversary of D-Day. She was the only Liberty ship—and the only vessel from the original invasion fleet — to return to the beaches of Normandy. Her voyage, widely celebrated in Europe and the United States, cemented her status as a symbol of courage, endurance, and historical fidelity.

And every year she still sails a few times on the Bay—always for May Memorial Cruise and for Fleet Week.

Join us to hear about the fascinating history of the SS Jeremiah O’Brien and the details of keeping a war machine’s supply chains open and effective. And then join us tomorrow for a private tour of the ship. See what Rosie the Riveter and Wendy the Welder helped create. Experience the ship as she was in 1943, tour her historic decks, and explore her engine room (powered by a functioning triple-expansion steam engine similar to the one used on the Titanic—and which was filmed in action by James Cameron for use in his 1997 movie).