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21°48′S 153°42′E / 21.8°S 153.7°E / -21.8; 153.7\n”,”href”:”./Template:Infobox_ship”},”params”:{“infobox_caption”:{“wt”:”SS ''Francis Preston Blair''”},”section1″:{“wt”:”{{Infobox ship/image\n |image=\n |image_caption=\n }}”},”section2″:{“wt”:”{{Infobox ship/career\n |hide_header=\n |name= [[Francis Preston Blair]]\n |owner= [[War Shipping Administration]].\n |operator= [[Sudden & Christenson Company]]\n |registry=\n |route=\n |ordered=\n |builder=\n |original_cost=\n |yard_number=\n |way_number=\n |laid_down=\n |launched=3 January 1943\n |completed=\n |christened=\n |acquired=\n |maiden_voyage=\n |in_service=\n |out_of_service=\n |identification=\n |fate=Wrecked 15 July 1945\n |notes=\n }}”},”section3″:{“wt”:”{{Infobox ship/characteristics\n | hide_header = \n | header_caption = {{sfn|Davies|2004|p=23}}\n | class = {{Liberty ship class}}\n | tonnage = {{Liberty ship tonnage}}\n | displacement = {{Liberty ship displacement}}\n | length = {{Liberty ship length}}\n | beam = {{Liberty ship beam}}\n | draft = {{Liberty ship draft}}\n | capacity = {{Liberty ship cargo capacity}}\n | hold_depth = \n | power = {{Liberty ship power}}\n | propulsion = {{Liberty ship propulsion|8}}\n | complement = {{Liberty ship complement}}\n | armament = {{Liberty ship armament}}\n | speed = {{Liberty ship speed}}\n | notes = \n }}”}},”i”:0}}]}’>

SS Francis Preston Blair was an American Liberty ship, 7,196 tons stranded on Saumarez Reef in the Coral Sea during a cyclone in 1945. The ship has since deteriorated into a rusty heap. The wreck was used by Royal Australian Air Force F-111 aircraft for target practice during the 1980s.

The bronze propeller was salvaged by unknown persons between 1964 and 1970. Wreck was visited by Wild Kingdom who made a TV episode hosted by Marlin Perkins for USA and world distribution in 1971.

Francis Preston Blair was operated during World War II by Sudden & Christenson Company under charter ships from the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. She was unloading troops and supplies at off Queensland, Australia before the grounding.^[2]

• World War II United States Merchant Navy

• Davies, James (May 2004). ““Liberty” Cargo Ship – Feature Article” (PDF). ww2ships.com. Retrieved 3 February 2022.

• “No.1 SAUMAREZ REEFS – (21°38’S., 153°46’E.) LIBERTY SHIP”. 9 June 2012.