Original Item. One-of-a-Kind. This is an outstanding original WWII ship-christening bottle from the Liberty ship S.S. Samadang, preserved in its original wooden presentation case with engraved silver plaque. The bottle was used by Mrs. Gertrude Bedard Forand, wife of U.S. Representative Aime J. Forand of Rhode Island, when she sponsored Samadang at the vessel’s launch from the New England Shipbuilding Corporation in South Portland, Maine, on April 22, 1944. The broken christening bottle remains inside its original red, white, and blue streamer wrapping, making this a particularly complete surviving artifact from the ship’s launching ceremony.

The bottle is housed within its original wooden case, measuring 4 ¼ x 4 ¼ x 13 ¾”, enclosed with a glass window lid secured by six screws. The bottle itself is still held within its red, white, and blue streamer wrapping, having been broken when Mrs. Forand christened the ship. Moving the box back and forth, you can hear the broken glass inside. Due to the construction of the box, very tiny shards of glass will fall out of the small crevices if the box is not handled properly. Handle this set with care!

The side of the box retains a silver plaque, engraved:

CHRISTENING BOTTLE
S.S. SAMADANG
MRS. GERTRUDE BEDARD FORAND
SPONSOR
APRIL 22-1944
NEW ENGLAND SHIPBUILDING CORPORATION
SOUTH PORTLAND, MAINE

We were able to find two photographs online of the SS Samadang on this very day, and a photograph of Mrs. Gertrude Forand on that day, holding in her arms what we believe to be this christening bottle!

S.S. Samadang was a standard EC2-S-C1 Liberty ship, New England Shipbuilding hull 3020. Her keel was laid at South Portland on March 13, 1944, and she was launched only forty days later on April 22, 1944, the exact date engraved on this christening-bottle case. She was completed and delivered on April 30, 1944.

The vessel was transferred under Lend-Lease to the British Ministry of War Transport, which placed her under the management of J. Robinson & Sons. She therefore belonged to the large group of American-built Liberty ships placed into British wartime merchant service.

These British-operated Liberty ships were commonly given names beginning with “Sam,” creating the familiar wartime category of SAM ships. The name has long been explained as “Superstructure Aft of Midships,” while other contemporary and later accounts associate the prefix with Uncle Sam, reflecting the ships’ American construction. Because both explanations appear in the historical literature, it is safest to describe “SAM ship” simply as the established collective term for these British-operated American Liberty ships rather than insist on one origin for the name.

The Samadang remained under British wartime control through the Ministry of War Transport and was operated by a British management company rather than as a conventional U.S.-crewed Liberty ship. She was returned to U.S. control in 1948, entered reserve at Beaumont, and was ultimately scrapped at New Orleans in 1968.

This grouping is particularly noteworthy for the combination of its documented April 22, 1944 launch date, named sponsor Gertrude Bedard Forand, original New England Shipbuilding Corporation presentation case, engraved silver plaque, surviving shattered christening bottle, and direct association with the British Ministry of War Transport Liberty ship S.S. Samadang. Unlike a generic launching souvenir, the plaque ties the artifact precisely to the ship, sponsor, shipyard, location, and launch date.