On this date in 1942, The SS Booker T. Washington was launched at Wilmington, Delaware.
It was the first U.S. Merchant Ship commanded by a Black captain, Hugh Mulzac. The SS Washington was the first of 17 Liberty Ships (out of 2,700) named for a Black man. Marian Anderson christened the SS Washington as its first honor.
Under Mulzac’s command, the SS Washington made 22 round-trip voyages between 1942-47, carrying 18,000 troops to Europe and the Pacific through dangerous waters.
