SS John M. Brooke

History
United States
Name	John M. Brooke
Namesake	John Mercer Brooke
Owner	War Shipping Administration (WSA)
Operator	North Atlantic & Gulf SS Co.
Ordered	as type (EC2-S-C1) hull, MC hull 1550
Builder	J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida
Cost	$1,355,928[1]
Yard number	32
Way number	4
Laid down	30 December 1943
Launched	24 February 1944
Completed	31 March 1944
Identification	Call Signal: KWBP [1]
Fate	Laid up in National Defense Reserve Fleet, James River Group, Lee Hall, Virginia, 19 May 1946 Sold for commercial use, 14 February 1947
Greece
Name	Stavros Coumantaros
Namesake	Stavros Coumantaros
Owner	J.S. Coumantaros
Acquired	14 February 1947
Fate	Scrapped, 1968
General characteristics [2]
Class and type	Liberty ship type EC2-S-C1, standard
Tonnage	10,865 LT DWT 7,176 GRT
Displacement	3,380 long tons (3,434 t) (light) 14,245 long tons (14,474 t) (max)
Length	441 feet 6 inches (135 m) oa 416 feet (127 m) pp 427 feet (130 m) lwl
Beam	57 feet (17 m)
Draft	27 ft 9.25 in (8.4646 m)
Installed power	2 × Oil fired 450 °F (232 °C) boilers, operating at 220 psi (1,500 kPa) 2,500 hp (1,900 kW)
Propulsion	1 × triple-expansion steam engine,  (manufactured by General Machinery Corp., Hamilton, Ohio) 1 × screw propeller
Speed	11.5 knots (21.3 km/h; 13.2 mph)
Capacity	562,608 cubic feet (15,931 m3) (grain) 499,573 cubic feet (14,146 m3) (bale)
Complement	38–62 USMM 21–40 USNAG
Armament	Varied by ship Bow-mounted 3-inch (76 mm)/50-caliber gun Stern-mounted 4-inch (102 mm)/50-caliber gun 2–8 × single 20-millimeter (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft (AA) cannons and/or, 2–8 × 37-millimeter (1.46 in) M1 AA guns

SS John M. Brooke was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after John Mercer Brooke, an early graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he perfected a "deep-sea sounding device", which was instrumental in the creation of the Transatlantic Cable. In 1861, he resigned his commission in the US Navy and joined the Confederate Navy where he was involved with the conversion of the ironclad CSS Virginia, the development of a new rifled naval gun, the Brooke rifle, and the establishment of the Confederate States Naval Academy.

John M. Brooke was laid down on 30 December 1943, under a Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 1550, by J.A. Jones Construction, Panama City, Florida; she was launched on 24 February 1944.^[3][1]

She was allocated to North Atlantic & Gulf SS Co., on 31 March 1944. On 15 May 1946, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, in the James River Group, in Lee Hall, Virginia. On 2 February 1947, she was sold her J.S. Coumantaros, Piraeus, Greece. She was renamed Stavros Coumantaros. She was scrapped in Taiwan, in 1968.^[4][5]