SS John Burke

SS John Burke on May 10th 1944 north west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
History
United States
Name:	SS John Burke
Namesake:	John Burke (February 25, 1859 – May 14, 1937), the 10th Governor of North Dakota.
Builder:	Oregon Shipbuilding Company, Portland, OR
Laid down:	20 November 1942
Launched:	15 December 1942
Acquired:	23 December 1942
Fate:	Lost 28 December 1944 off Mindoro, P.I. due to Kamikaze strike
General characteristics
Type:	Liberty ship
Displacement:	14,245 long tons (14,474 t)
Length:	422 ft 10 in (128.88 m)
Beam:	57 ft 0 in (17.37 m)
Draft:	27 ft 10 in (8.48 m)
Depth of hold:	34 ft 10 in (10.62 m)
Propulsion:	Two oil-fired boilers, triple-expansion steam engine, single screw, 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)
Speed:	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Complement:	40 crew, 28 Armed Guard, 68 total
Armament:	2 X 3 in (76 mm), 8 X 20 mm guns

SS John Burke (MC hull number 609) was an American Liberty Ship built during World War II, one of the 2,710 type 'EC2-S-C1' ships that carried all kinds and types of dry cargo during the war. The ship was named for John Burke (February 25, 1859 – May 14, 1937), the 10th Governor of North Dakota. Burke was built at Kaiser Shipbuilding Company's Oregon Shipbuilding yard in Portland, Oregon. Burke's keel was laid November 20, 1942 and the hull was launched on December 13. After fitting-out, Burke was delivered to the US Maritime Commission on December 23, just 33 days after construction began. The War Shipping Administration then placed Burke under management of the Northland Transportation Company.

On December 28, 1944, while transporting ammunition to Mindoro, Philippines, Burke was hit by a Japanese kamikaze aircraft, and disintegrated in a tremendous explosion.John Burke was one of three Liberty Ships and one of forty-seven ships sunk by kamikaze attack during World War II.

John Burke was powered by two oil-fired boilers and a single 2,500 hp (1,864 kW) vertical type, triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine. The machinery space (dark blue in the picture) was located at the middle of the ship. The single propeller was driven through a long propeller shaft that ran through a tunnel (lower green area in the picture) under the aft cargo holds. The propeller rotated at 76 rpm, giving a speed of about 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph). There were two decks running the full length of the ship, with seven watertight bulkheads dividing the machinery space and five cargo holds (light blue in the picture), three ahead of the machinery space and two aft. Crew accommodations were provided in a large three-deck structure located in the middle of the ship (medium blue in the picture) directly above the machinery space, and in a small structure (medium blue in the picture) located at the stern. The bridge, radio room and Captain's quarters were located on the top deck (yellow in the picture) of the three-deck structure. The fuel for the boiler was carried in several tanks (red in the picture) located throughout the ship. Ship's storage (light green in the picture) was located at the bow and above the machinery space. Gun crew quarters and the ship's hospital were located in the stern structure. When the ship was armed, the gun 'tubs' (white in the picture) were located at the bow, stern and above the bridge. These could be any mixture of 5 in (130 mm) caliber gun|5 inches (130 mm)]], 4 inches (101.60 mm), 3 in (76 mm) caliber gun|3 inches (76 mm)]], 40 millimetres (1.57 in), 20 millimetres (0.79 in) and/or .5 inches (12.70 mm) caliber guns.