Image - the SS Jeremiah O’Brien
San Francisco

Private Tour of the Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O’Brien

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Join us at the North End of Pier 35 for a private tour of the SS Jeremiah O’Brien. See what Rosie the Riveter and Wendy the Welder helped create, and hear about the ship’s fascinating history and the details of keeping a war machine’s supply chains open and effective. 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).

The Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O’Brien, permanently docked at Pier 35, 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 that 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.

Organizer
George Hammond
Notes

This program is in-person only. 

The Commonwealth Club of California is a nonprofit public forum; we welcome donations made during registration to support the production of our programming.

A Humanities Member-led Forum program. Forums at the Club are organized and run by volunteer programmers who are members of The Commonwealth Club, and they cover a diverse range of topics. Learn more about our Forums.

In association with the Liberty Ship SS Jeremiah O’Brien Foundation

Photo supplied by the Liberty Ship Jeremiah O’Brien website.

Commonwealth Club World Affairs is a public forum. Any views expressed in our programs are those of the speakers and not of Commonwealth Club World Affairs.

All ticket sales are final and nonrefundable.

Fri, Apr 10 / 11:00 AM PDT

SS Jeremiah O'Brien
North End of Pier 25
1454 The Embarcadero
San Francisco, CA 94133
United States

Speakers

See details in event description

Format

10:45 p.m. arrive at Pier 35
11 a.m.–1 p.m. program
(all times Pacific Time)

COST

In-person: 
$25 members
$30 nonmembers
$20 Leadership Circle members and students