By Nancy Gandy
On July 4, 1943, at one o’clock in the afternoon, the eighth Liberty ship was launched from the St. Johns River Shipbuilding Company. This ship, the SS John Philip Sousa, was named in honor of the great composer, who was a Lieutenant Commander in charge of music at the Great Lakes Naval Training Station during WWI. On this historic day of celebration, Kenneth Merrill, vice president of the St. Johns River Shipbuilding, was the master of ceremonies.
When this ship was launched July 4, 1943, the first Liberty ship, the SS Ponce De Leon, had just completed a voyage to a war zone across the ocean and right past Nazi subs. From the twelve to fifteen thousand shipyard workers who helped build, plan and complete the execution of this construction, this was good news. The audience was the largest to witness a christening since the first Liberty ship.
William S. Johnson, general manager of the Chamber of Commerce, gave the address. In keeping with wartime restrictions, attendance was limited to invited guests, officials of the company and workers in the vicinity of the way in which the ship was cradled. One of those guests was Senator Claude Pepper. In his speech, Johnson stated, “As the John Philip Sousa slides down the way into the waters of the St. Johns River, thence to the outfitting docks and in a short time to a pier where she will be loaded with vital war materials, may the thrilling strains of such marches as ‘Spirit of Liberty,’ ‘Hands Across the Sea,’ and ‘Liberty Bell,’ and other Sousa creations play in the hearts and minds and souls of all those who witness this great ceremony. John Philip Sousa left a rich heritage of martial music which carries a message of freedom, courage and love of country.”
After the speech, Mrs. Kenneth Merrill, the acting sponsor, proceeded to christen the ship and sent champagne streaming down the bow of the vessel. The shipyard band, made up of professional musicians who were now dockworkers, played a concert of Sousa famous marches and directed by Frank Morris. On that day, the men and women who built that ship had finished their job. The SS John Philip Sousa went on to complete her mission. This ship was laid down on March 29, 1943; was launched on July 4, 1943; and delivered on August 6, 1943. She was later sold for commercial use on October 15, 1946, withdrawn from that fleet on November 1, 1946. While being towed to Montreal in 1965, she ran aground in Lake Ontario and suffered damages. She ran aground again at the mouth of the S. Lawrence River, and she was declared a constructive total loss and scrapped in 1966. The cost to build this ship was $2,279,886.00.
From the Navy Log, Navy Memorial by CDR Roy A. Mosteller, USNR (RET) we learned that at 13, Sousa’s father enlisted him as a “boy” apprentice musician in the U.S. Marine Corps. He reenlisted in 1872 and served in the band until 1875. He left the Marine Corps at age 20, then rejoined the Marine Band in 1880 as its conductor. As Sergeant Major, Sousa earned $83 a month as “Leader of the Band.” The Marine Band became the premier military band in the United States under his leadership. After conducting a farewell concert at the White House in 1892, he was discharged from the Marine Corps the following day to organize his own band. With the outbreak of WWI, as a Lieutenant in the Naval Reserve, Sousa returned to active duty and led the Naval Reserve Band at the Naval Station in Great Lakes, Illinois.
With his $1 per month salary, he donated the rest of his salary to the Sailors’ and Marines relief fund. At the end of the war in 1918, he was discharged from active duty. He returned to conducting his own band but continued to wear his naval uniform for many of his concerts.
Scheduled to conduct a band concert, John Philip Sousa died on March 6, 1932, at Reading, PA. His body was brought to his native Washington, D.C., to lie in state in the Band Hall at the Marine barracks. Four days later, two companies of marines and sailors, the Marine Band, and honorary pallbearers from the Army, Navy and Marine Corps, headed the funeral cortege from the Marine barracks to the Congressional Cemetery in Washington where Sousa was buried. The bell from the SS John Philip Sousa is used by the United States Marine Band in Concerts, especially in the piece called “The Liberty Bell.”
On this 4th of July, we celebrate the eighth Liberty Ship, the SS John Philip Sousa, and the men who served on her during the war. Kenneth Merrill stated, “In those days we did not have the radio to dramatize our fighting forces to the general public. We had to rely almost entirely upon direct appeal either through parades, band concerts, or personal appearances of great public figures.” John Philip Sousa was that public figure and his music was what the country needed, and we are still enjoying his inspiring music today. He published 137 marches.
Nancy Gandy
Merrill House Museum Coordinator