Wilmington marks 82 years since launching first Liberty Ship from shipyard
WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — It’s been 82 years since Wilmington launched its first ship from the shipyard.
The SS Zebulon B. Vance was sent into the Cape Fear River on December 6, 1941 — a day before the attack at Pearl Harbor.
It was the first Liberty Ship produced by the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in Wilmington.
Over the course of World War II, 242 other ships were constructed there.
