SS William Gaston

History
United States
Name	William Gaston
Namesake	William Gaston
Builder	North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, Wilmington, North Carolina
Yard number	15
Way number	3
Laid down	23 May 1942
Launched	19 July 1942
Fate	Sunk 1944
General characteristics
Type	Liberty ship
Tonnage	7,000 long tons deadweight (DWT)
Length	441 ft 6 in (134.57 m)
Beam	56 ft 11 in (17.35 m)
Draft	27 ft 9 in (8.46 m)
Propulsion	Two oil-fired boilers Triple expansion steam engine Single screw 2,500 hp (1,864 kW)
Speed	11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Capacity	9,140 tons cargo
Complement	41
Armament	1 × 5 in (130 mm) deck gun, 1 x 3-inch/50-caliber gun, and 8 x .30 caliber machine guns

SS William Gaston (MC contract 159) was a Liberty ship built in the United States during World War II. She was named after William Gaston, member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina, author of the North Carolina state song, and namesake of Gaston County, North Carolina.

The ship was laid down by North Carolina Shipbuilding Company in their Cape Fear River yard on May 23, 1942, then launched on July 19, 1942. She was operated by the American West Africa Line for the War Shipping Administration.

On July 23, 1944 while traveling between Buenos Aires, Argentina and Baltimore, Maryland Gaston was torpedoed by the German submarine U-861. Two torpedoes struck the vessel ten minutes apart. Gaston rolled over and sank three minutes after the second torpedo without loss of life. The survivors were picked up on July 25, 1944 by USS Matagorda and taken to Florianópolis, Brazil.