LIFE ABOARD A WARTIME LIBERTY SHIP

Liberty Ships were Cargo ships built by the Americans for the British to run cargo during World War 2. They were initially commissioned to replace those ships lost in early U-Boat raids.

From 1943 until 1951, Ian Malcolm was a radio officer/purser with Alfred Holt and Co., owners of the Blue Funnel Line and the Glen Line. The voyages on the Liberty Ships Samite and Samforth, described in the book, were made in wartime and followed by a year on the Samnesse: trading mainly between Italy and East Africa. Subsequent voyages were made to the Continent, Far East, Australia and Indonesia.

His first ship was, on two occasions, prevented from passing through the Mediterranean. These incidents are, of course, described, but the book deals mainly with life on board his ships and how he spent the sometimes prolonged spells in port. The story begins with his entrance into the Merchant Navy as a radio officer and crossing to Canada on the Queen Elizabeth to join the Samite, in Baltimore. During the Samite's fifteen-month voyage, she called at various ports in the USA and North Africa while his next ship, the Samforth, on her ten-month voyage, visited Canada, the USA, Egypt, Arabia, India, Mozambique, Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil, Norway and Finland.