Final answer:
During World War II, the U.S. built over 2,700 Liberty Ships as part of a massive expansion of its merchant fleet to support the war effort, employing a strategy that maximized materials and greatly increased its manufacturing capabilities.
Step-by-step explanation:
During World War II, the United States built and manned an impressive fleet of merchant ships to aid in the war effort. The country implemented several critical steps to ensure the rapid expansion of its naval capabilities, which included exempting shipyard workers from military service, public relations campaigns to increase shipyard labor, standardizing parts for quicker fabrication of ships, and federal government control over commercial vessels. The Liberty Ships, which were massive cargo vessels integral to the U.S. war strategy of material supremacy, were produced at an astonishing rate. By the end of the war, more than 2,700 Liberty Ships had been constructed, representing three times the cargo capacity of the merchant ships sunk by German forces.
The mobilization of America's industrial resources was pivotal in the nation's contribution to World War II. Against the backdrop of a previously struggling economy, the U.S. rapidly transformed from a consumer-based industrial capacity to a leading provider of wartime production. This shift not only pulled America out of the Great Depression but also resulted in the country manufacturing over half of the world's armaments. American factories were churning out military equipment at unprecedented rates, including thousands of tanks, aircraft, and bullets, dominating the global production landscape by the war's conclusion.