The four Liberty ships named for oil pioneers, SS Edwin L. Drake, SS Orville P. Taylor, SS Lewis Emery, JR, and SS Patrick C. Boyle, made many voyages across the seven seas during the war and all escaped sinking by Axis submarines and bombings.

The record of the war service of these ships, as furnished by the United States Maritime Commission, is an interesting piece of history associated with the Pennsylvania and New York oil fields.

Colonel Edwin L. Drake drilled the historic Drake well at Titusville in 1859; Orville P. Taylor, after several failures, drilled the first commercial oil well in Allegany County in 1879; Lewis Emery, Jr. was a pioneer oil producer, refiner, and able Pennsylvania legislator, and Patrick C. Boyle was one of the most brilliant and best-known pioneer oil editors and publishers.

The Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard delivered the SS Edwin L. Drake in September 1943. She sailed successively to the following ports: Norfolk, Alexandria (Egypt), Port Said, Gibraltar, New York, U. K., Clyde, Loch Ewe, Molotovsk, Kola, U. K. Barry, Avonmouth, Omaha Beach (France), Spithead, New York, Solent, Le Havre, Swansea, Milford Haven, Cardiff, New York, Clyde, Molotocsk, Kola, U. K., New York, Cape Henry, Baltimore, Norfolk, Gibraltar, Naples, Salerno, Naples, Gibraltar, San Juan Cristobal, to the Pacific, Buckner Bay, Okinawa, Tokyo, Balboa, Cristobal, New York, Philadelphia, Downs, Antwerp, Falmouth, Halifax, Kirkwall, Danzig, and carried cargo for UNRRA. The International Freighting Corp., Inc., New York operated the SS Edwin L. Drake for the War Shipping Administration, and three captains commanded the vessel.

Bethlehem-Fairfield delivered the SS Orville P. Taylor in September 1943. She was lend-leased to Great Britain, which renamed her Samothrace. The British Ministry of War Transport operated the Samothracey. She sailed to the following ports: Norfolk, Alexandria, Port Said, New York, Augusta, Naples, Taranto, New York, Norfolk, Suez, Karachi, Bombay, Colombo, Calcutta, Aden, U.K., Port Said, Aden, Cape Town, Rosario, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Casablanca, U.K., Gibraltar, Naples, Suez, Bombay, Calcutta, Singapore, Madras, Vizagapatam, Rangoon, Port Swettenham, Padang, Belawan, Colombo, Singapore, Batavia. She was last reported under repair at Calcutta. Because the ship was operated by the British, the names and numbers of her masters are not available.

Following delivery from the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, in October 1943, the SS Lewis Emery, Jr., proceeded to New York to begin carrying military cargo. She sailed to the United Kingdom, Kola Bay, Back to Belfast, New York, Philadelphia, Cape Henry, Gibraltar, Suez, Aden, Bandar Shapur, Bahrein, Port Sudan, back to New York, U.K., Murmansk, Baltimore, U.K., Molotovsk, Kola, Belfast, Le Havre, Rouen, Solent, Flushing, Ghent, London, New York, Galveston, Gibraltar, Marseille, Cristobal, Panama Canal to the Pacific, Lingayen Gulf, Manila, Cebu, Pearl Harbor, San Francisco, San Pedro. She was in the Temporary Reserve Fleet moored in Suisun Bay, California. The Merchants and Miners Transportation Co, Baltimore operated her for the War Shipping Administration and was commanded by three different masters.

The Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard delivered the SS Patrick C. Boyle in September 1943. Boland & Cornelius of New York operated her for the War Shipping Administration. On her first voyage, she carried Lend-Lease and commercial cargo, to the Persian Gulf. She visited other ports including Bahrein, Karramshar, Abadan, and Port Sudan. During later voyages, she traveled to Marseille, Oran, Naples, Algiers, Loch Ewe, Toulon, Antwerp, Le Havre, Ghent, Manila, and Eniwetok. The Captain, Peter L. Hickey, reported that on several occasions, particularly while at anchor in Egypt, and while discharging cargo at Antwerp, the ship was under enemy attack. The vessel was in the service of the army at Yokohama.[1]

[1] John P. Herrick, “Liberty Ships Named For Oil Pioneers Eluded Axis Submarines,” https://www.alleganyhistory.org/culture/stories-and-folklore/original-stories/3146-liberty-ships-named-for-oil-pioneers-eluded-axis-submarines