Today marks the 65th anniversary of the launch of World War II liberty ship, the S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien, which is now docked at Pier 45 and houses the National Liberty Ship Memorial. The ship was constructed in 52 days in Portland, Maine, as part of a fleet of 2700 liberty ships built to carry supplies to the Allies. The Jeremiah O’Brien made eleven Normandy D-Day landings during World War II, which was very remarkable since the liberty ships were not built to last. After 33 years of storage, the ship was fully restored in the '90s and is run by volunteers and on donations.

Here are a few events marking this occasion:

• Today at Noon, there will be a champagne toast as San Francisco’s fireboat, Phoenix, joins with other area ships, including the amphibious WWII-era “ducks” of Bay Quackers in a “Parade of Ships” along the waterfront of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf. (sorry for the late notice -- SFist!)
• Until 5 p.m. today, onboard tours are free to the public, including the engine room -- the ship's unique reciprocating engines were featured in Titanic.
• On Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. the ship will be taken for a cruise around the Bay, $100 per person.
• The Jeremiah O'Brien will be featured in an upcoming episode of the History Channel's new "Hero Ships" series, air dates to be determined.

Here more about the show after the jump!

We attended a special screening of the show onboard the ship on Tuesday evening. We learned that the Jeremiah O'Brien was called the "Ugly Duckling" because it was built so quickly, the merchant marine contractors who helped fight the war deserved much praise, and at the time, the navy was much more dangerous than the army, especially when the liberty ships were transporting ammunition. Also, the sailors made moonshine onboard the ship. We salute you, S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien.