When one sees the bright and charming colors of the tourist shops, restaurants, museums, and vintage streetcars at Fisherman’s Wharf, it is hard to believe that this site was once home to immigrant fishermen who had to work hard and fight the sea and the weather to earn their money. Under the baking sun or in misty fogs, the fishermen, mostly of Italian origin, caught and sold fish, sometimes right from their boats. Italian names are nothing unusual for this area: Many locals are great-grandsons and daughters of the first Italian immigrants, and some of the restaurants and squares still bear Italian names (e.g.,Alioto’s Restaurant, Ghirardelli Square).
The row of neat blue-, red-, or white-painted boats immediately strikes the eye. The colors chosen by owners are not always random: Blue and white are the colors of the fishermen’s patron, La Madonna del Lume. The Memorial Ceremony at Sea is held every year in honor of all the living and fallen fishermen. Originally it was a Sicilian tradition, butnow it has become an annual event atFisherman’s Wharf. Although the Wharf has become much more glamorous and exquisite than it was at the beginning of its history, it is still a home for thousands of fishermen whose workhas not changed much since the nineteenth century.
However, there is something more important than the traces of the history of the local fishermen. The SS Jeremiah O’Brien, the Liberty ship, is a great contrast to small and light fishing boats. She played a very important role in the history of the United States: The ship took part in the D-Day invasion and carried “beans, bullets, and black oil” to all the men and women fighting the war, as stated on the information plaque. She is not the only one of the Liberty ships that survived; the name of the other is the SS John W. Brown, and she resides in Maryland. Both of the ships were answers to the German U-Boats and were built extremely fast, in only 60 days. Their design—simple, but stern—originated in Britain. They were constructed of identical parts that were mass produced in American factories all over the country.
The Jeremiah O’Brienhas made seven voyages, and crossed the English Channel eleven times. Knowing this, it is even more stunning to understand that the ship is still operational. Her service during World War II ended in 1946, and she entered the Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay, California. The ship was brought back to life in 1979, when Merchant Marine veterans steamed her under her own power. The restoration was sponsored by many donations from a variety of individuals, firms, and companies. In 1994, the shipparticipated in the 50th anniversary of Operation Overlord in France, and then returned to the United States. The journey took six months, and during it the ship visited its hometown in South Portland, Maine. The ship is crewed entirely by volunteers who also took part in her restoration and maneuvering on the memorial voyage to Normandy.
The ship is now named the National Liberty Ship Memorial, and everyone is welcome aboard. It is not only a remarkable museum and memorial to all of the people who fought and died during the World War II, but also a functioning ship. Visitors can observe its powerful engine at work on the so-called Steaming Weekends. The Jeremiah O’Brienismoored at Pier 45 in San Francisco. It is both an attraction to tourists and an all-important historical landmark.