The SS Patrick Henry was the first Liberty ship launched. The ships initially had a poor public image and to try to assuage public opinion, 27 September 1941 was designated Liberty Fleet Day, and the first 14 "Emergency" vessels were launched that day. The first of these (with hull number 14) was Patrick Henry, launched by President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland.
In the speech which he delivered when launching the vessel, referred to Patrick Henry's speech of 23 March 1775 which Henry finished with the words "Give me liberty or give me death". Roosevelt said that this new class of ships would bring liberty to Europe, which gave rise to the name Liberty Ship.
She survived the war but was seriously damaged when she went aground on a reef off Florida in July 1946. She was scrapped at Baltimore in 1960.