SHIP NAME:  Mormacowl

OFFICIAL NO: 

SHIP DESIGN:   C2-S-B1

BUILDER: Moore Drydock, Oakland, Calf. Hull 245

KEEL LAID:   

CHRISTENED BY: 

LAUNCH  DATE: 

COMPLETION DATE:

OVERALL LENGHT:  520 feet.

SPEED: 

PASSENGERS:

OUTSTANDING POINTS:    

PRIOR HISTORY: Launched as the White Swallow.  Purchased by Moore-McCormack Lines in 1947.

SUBSEQUENT HISTORY:  Scrapped in 1969.

Have you ever wondered what it was like to travel along the the coast of South American on a freighter in the 1950s?  Two ladies did just that in 1953.  Katharine Gerken and her sister, Dr. Helen Woodbridge spent two months on the freighter Mormacowl stopping at various port down the west coast of North and South America.  Katharine's daughter, Ginger Gerken Laplante compiled the story  based on letters, trip photographs and postcards from her mother.  You can take the trip with them in the photos below and Katharine's letters.  (The photos and Katherine's letters are copyrighted by her daughter, Ginger Gerken Laplante, who retains all rights to them.)

Swimming pool. (L-R Katherine Gerken, Lee Fields, Dr. Helen Woodbridge)  A note of interest:  These pools did not stay on the ships very long.  It was found out that they tended to cause the deck beneath them to rest very fast.