By Robert McCabe The Virginian-Pilot December 5, 2014

NORFOLK

An old friend is about to leave town again.

The John W. Brown, one of 2,710 Liberty ships built during World War II, has been undergoing repairs at Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk for the past month.

On Saturday, the vintage vessel, one of only two Liberty ships still in operation, is scheduled to steam up the Elizabeth River on its way back home to Baltimore.

There, it's operated as a museum and memorial to shipyard workers, merchant mariners and Navy Armed Guard members who built, crewed and manned the guns on the ships. Project Liberty Ship, a Baltimore-based nonprofit, acquired it in 1988.

"We think that those groups made an incredible contribution to the Allied victory because of the logistics involved in fighting a world war," said Mike Schneider, 75, a retired Navy captain and former chairman of the nonprofit.

Virtually all of the Liberty ships were named for prominent Americans who were dead. The John W. Brown honors the memory of a labor leader, not the abolitionist.

During the war, the ship sailed from Hampton Roads to the Mediterranean five times as part of convoys bearing thousands of troops, equipment such as tanks and Jeeps and supplies like food, gas and ammo.

It since has returned several more times for port calls or repair work, including a stop at Nauticus five years ago.

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One of last Liberty ships to leave town Saturday