SS Arthur M. Huddell

SS Arthur M. Huddell is a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II and is now a museum ship, SS Hellas Liberty, in Greece. She was named after Arthur M. Huddell, an American union leader. Huddell had been president of the Boston Central Labor Union, vice president of the International Engineers’ Union, and president of the International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE). From delivery on 18 December 1943, the ship was operated by an agent for the War Shipping Administration until laid up in September 1945, with a brief operating period in 1947. Between October 1947 and February 1956, the ship was in long-term layup. In 1956, Arthur M. Huddell began operations as a cable transport for the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T). The Historic American Engineering Record for the ship notes its significance as an existing Liberty ship example, its role in Operation PLUTO (pipeline-under-the-sea), its later work as a cable transport for the AT&T communications cable installations, and for the installation of the Sound Surveillance System (SOSUS) until 1983. In 2009, Arthur M. Huddell was donated to Greece to serve as the museum ship Hellas Liberty. The fully restored ship is on display in the Port of Piraeus, Athens.