Bermuda -- but not just because it takes place only a few miles off the Island.

Liberty ships played an important role in Bermuda's involvement in the Second World War.

Between 1941 and 1945, the end of the war, 400 of the 2,751 Liberty ships visited Bermuda, on voyages between the United States and Europe.

A history of the Liberty ships is being compiled by historian and computer expert Mr. Keith A. Forbes as part of a larger work -- a history of Bermuda called the Essence of Bermuda -- due to be published next year.

And Mr. Forbes is hoping the three ships due to rendezvous close to the Island will be near enough for many Bermudians to see them.

As part of the events commemorating the 50th anniversary of D-Day, the ships S.S. Jeremiah O'Brien , S.S. John W. Brown and S.S. Lane Victory will sail to Europe.

Jeremiah O'Brien is sailing from San Francisco, Lane Victory from Long Beach, California, and John W. Brown from Baltimore. They are expected to meet close to the Island, but at present no-one is sure how close.

Mr. Forbes said: "I hope they get close enough that we can get out to see them. I am also hoping that The Royal Navy or the US Navy are able to sail out from Bermuda to greet them while they are close by. Just to wish them Bon Voyage.'' He added that out of the 2,751 Liberty ships built during the war only these three remain. They are now tourist attractions.

He said: "If all goes according to plan the ships will leave New York in May, rendezvous off Bermuda and then sail in convoy to Southampton, England, for what may be their penultimate adventure.

"Restored to their wartime appearance and staffed by volunteer crews, they will be open to the British public while preparing for the short trip across the English Channel to the beaches of Normandy.

"They will participate in the grand celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Operation Overlord, the invasion of Europe.

"Heads of states and hundreds of thousands of people, including Second World War veterans will be there to see the three ships representing so many others of their type that contributed so significantly and magnificently to the successful invasion of Europe and the retaking of the Pacific by the Allies in 1944 and the final defeat of the Axis powers in 1945.'' The Liberty ships, known as "ugly ducklings,'' were built following serious losses of Allied merchant shipping to German U-boats.

In order to build ships faster than the enemy could sink them President Franklin D. Roosevelt organised the emergency ship building programme.

Mr. Forbes said: "In doing so the American president bested the fabled Helen of Troy in legend. She had only a thousand ships launched by the Greeks in her defence.

"With his one speech Mr. Roosevelt introduced to the wartime world more than twice that number of ships.

"These ships touched the lives of many people and had more of an impact on world history than the fair Helen's navy, any other navy, or any other class of ship.'' One of the three remaining ships, John W. Brown visited Bermuda during three of five voyages between the US and ports in North Africa and Italy, including taking part in the invasion of Southern France.

Mr. Forbes said: "The Liberty ships were important in Bermuda, importing many of the materials used in the construction of the US Naval Air Station.

"One particular purpose was to pick up and return Royal Navy personnel who had been torpedoed at sea, and return them to their homes.

"Overall they removed around 14-16,000 RN personnel and their dependents who were in Bermuda, including many who had survived torpedo attacks on boats.'' Mr. Forbes is one of the few people alive who can claim to have travelled on a Liberty ship. As a young boy, he was one of the passengers on board the Marine Marlin travelling from the Caribbean to Europe on the ship which was also carrying German prisoners of war for repatriation.

He said: "One thing they didn't do was provide any degree of luxury for crew.

Another was their inability to give their crew a `smooth ride.' "They rode the water as if they were mutated goslings, not ducklings, finding every opportunity to pitch, roll and wallow, to make life perfectly miserable for those aboard who did not have cast-iron sea legs on first being posted to them.

"So you either loved them or cursed them in bad weather. Which may explain why many of the ships' officers, at any rate, were replaced within a year or two.'' LIBERTY UNDER STEAM -- The S.S. John W. Brown is depicted in this 1989 painting as she would have under steam in the Second World War. The ship paid at least three visits to Bermuda in the 1940s.