Cargo Carrier Named the USS Fluor Spar

 

***

The USS FLUOR SPAR - Hog Island, Pa. June 7, 1919

Marion and Crittenden County, Kentucky received high honors at Hog Island, Pa., the world's largest shipyard, this morning, when the Fluor Spar, a 7,8000 ton cargo carrier, was successfully launched. The vessel was christened by Miss Frances Marshall Gray, of Marion. The vessel was named and the sponsor chosen by the Crittenden County Loan Committee as a reward for the excellent work done by citizens of Crittenden County Liberty Loan drives.

 

The launching of the Fluor Spar made a total of twenty-one ships launched at Hog Island since February 21 last. The vessel was launched with her hull one hundred per cent complete and her outfittings in excess of sixty-five percent.

 

The vessel was named and the sponsor chosen by the Crittenden County Kentucky Liberty Loan Committee. Crittenden County received the honor for the excellent response of its citizens to the call of the Government for subscriptions to the Liberty Loans.

 

Marion, the home of the sponsor was the home of the late United States Senator Ollie James. Mrs. James was to have attended the launching but was delayed in Washington.

 

Fluor Spar the name chosen for the vessel by the Liberty Loan Committee, is a mineral mined in the vicinity of Marion and is used in the manufacture of high grade steel. It was an appropriate name for a steel cargo carrier, as it is used by the steel mills in the manufacture of the plated used in the construction of ships. 

 

The sponsor was accompanied by her brother, E. D. Gray also of Marion. Frances and E. D. Gray were the son and daughter of George Curtis Gray and Mildred Jenkins Gray of Marion. 

 

Frances and her parents are buried at Mapleview Cemetery.

(Hog Islanders is the slang for ships built to Emergency Fleet Corporation designs number 1022 and 1024. These vessels were cargo and transport ships, respectively, built under government direct and subsidy to address a shortage of ships in the Untied States Merchant Marine during World War I.)