Liberty Ship in Combat

Trivia question: What was the first US ship to sink a German surface combatant in WWII? OK, I'll make it easier, what class of ship was it?

The surprising answer in the SS Stephen Hopkins, a Liberty Ship! The crew of this mass-produced, under-powered freighter found themselves in foggy conditions on their maiden voyage and stumbled into the German merchant raider Stier. When the more heavily armed German ship ordered the Hopkins to surrender, the crew refused. Volunteers replaced members of the 4-inch gun-crew as they were wounded in the ensuing fire-fight. The merchant marine crew managed to fatally damage the raider, though their own ship was lost as well.

Fifteen members of the crew of the Hopkins survived the ensuing 31-day trip in open life-boats to the coast of Brazil. For his part, captain Horst Gerlach of the Stier wrote in his report back to Germany that he had lost his ship to a "heavily armed cruiser."

Not bad for a ship designed to be built in 42 days!