Liberty ships and welded merchant vessel failures (WWII)

Tom reads from the postwar damage report — 4,694 ships, 970 with fracture casualties, 24 complete hull fractures, 26 lives lost. Frames the rest of the lecture as the story of how welding technology had to be invented to support mass-produced welded ships.

So I did find the part in the report. 4,694 [Liberty ships] floated — literally ships born to join the war effort. 970 of these vessels suffered casualties involving fractures, 24 sustained complete fracture of the hull, one sustained complete fracture at the bottom, eight were lost or broken due to brittle fracture, 26 lives were lost. The fractures came from a combination of low temperatures and stress.