SS Jeremiah O'Brien, National Liberty Ship Memorial

10/17/2026

John Stokes Passes the Bar

Long time Jeremiah O'Brien volunteer passed away on October 13, just 2 months shy of his 102nd birthday. John was a WWII veteran and served on the Armed Guard on a Liberty Ship. After the war John wound up working for Sears eventually managing a store himself. His stories were always interesting. John also filled in as a chaplain on a few Memorial Cruises. "Fair Winds and Following Seas John" your friends aboard the O'Brien will miss your smile and your stories.

A service for John will be held on Wednesday, October 28th at 11:00, Calvary Lutheran Church, 17200 Via Magdalena, San Lorenzo, CA, 94580. After a light lunch, then on to Lone Tree Cemetery, 24591 Fairview Avenue, Hayward, CA 95541

10/16/2026

Shipkeeper, Past Bosun and Director of the Board...

A nice portrait of Phil O'Mera, Rich Reed and Bill Greig from FleetWeek aboard the SS Jeremiah O'Brien. Now these guys have the greatest stories to tell, if you get a chance to engage any one of them in conversation. It was nice to see Rex aboard.

We had about 1200 passengers aboard over the weekend for the FleetWeek show, even though we stayed put at Pier 35. And we would like to thank them for their continuing support of the O'Brien. It was disappointing that we did not sail but we made a bit of lemonade here with the lemons we had. And I can't say enough good things about our volunteer crew members, and our staff who rose to the occasion and delivered once again, making a great event even better for this weekend.

Photo credit: Volunteer crew member Joan Raphael

🛳️ 🛳️🛳️🛳️🛳️

10/10/2026

Yesterday's Parade of Ships:

FleetWeek is here, and although the O'Brien is not sailing, the ship is open and the show will go on, consider enjoying it all from the deck of our museum ship, we have set up extra chairs for your comfort. Gates open at 10:00 AM each day; the airshow runs 12:00–4:00 PM. Come aboard for our regular price of $20.

Tickets available at the Doghouse box office on Pier 35 the day of the event.
Soft drinks and water are free. B**r, w**e, and chips are available for purchase — no other food will be available aboard, so plan accordingly. The Museum and Gift Shop are open all three days. Upper decks are open via outside ladders. The Engine Room will be closed to the public, and interior ladders are closed or monitored by docents and cadets. Portable restrooms are available on board.

Photo credit volunteer crew member Joan Raphael

10/07/2026

A FAKE FACEBOOK PAGE claiming that the O'Brien is being scrapped is being circulated. PLEASE DO NOT ACCEPT NEW FRIEND REQUESTS OR FURTHER ANSWER MESSAGES FROM THAT FAKE ACCOUNT. THIS SHIP IS IN FINE CONDITION!
We have our experts working on this! 🧐

10/03/2026

Ahoy to the many crew and passengers of the Jeremiah O'Brien, we regret to inform you that our Fleet Week Cruises scheduled for Oct. 10th and 11th have been canceled due to circumstances beyond our control. We know this is last minute...
While we thank you all for your past and continued patronage please know that we will continue sailing this magnificent vessel in the future.
More information coming.
Look for us on Pier 35, we will be open for Dockside Viewing of the Airshow. This is a very recent development and there will be more information soon.
Ticketholders will be contacted.

10/02/2026

Job vs Skygate

Looking just to the right of the JOB, I had not noticed before that the large public art piece by Pier 39 lawn called Skygate has a very similar profile to the bow of the Jeremiah O'Brien. While the O'Brien is 82 years old, and built in Maine, 'Skygate' was built in Santa Rosa, and was installed in 1984. It's artist, Roger Barr has a navy connection, because he was a flier in WWII and was stationed on the USS Fanshaw. Funny to see that sometimes random things seem to have connections.

09/17/2026