Victory ship
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The Victory ship was a type of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. Together with an earlier design, the Liberty ship, about 2400 were built in the United States and over 300 were built in Canada.
Image:Victory cargo ships are lined up at a U.S. west coast shipyard.jpg One of the first acts of the United States War Shipping Administration when it was formed in February 1942 was to commission the design of the class, initially designated EC2-S-AP1, where EC2 = Emergency Cargo, type 2, S = steam propulsion with one propeller (EC2-S-C1 had been the designation of the Liberty ship design). It was changed to VC2-S-AP1, and the title Victory Ship officially adopted on 28 April 1944.
They were an enhancement of the previous Liberty ship design that were produced in much greater numbers, in particular they had a higher speed of 15 to 17 knots (28 to 31 km/h) compared to 11 knots (20 km/h) and longer range. The higher speed was particularly important because it made them less easy prey to U-boats, and was achieved by using improved engines over the Liberty's triple expansion steam engine — Lenz type reciprocating steam engines, steam turbines or diesel engines with a power output between 6000 and 8500 horsepower (4.5 and 6 MW). It also had electrically powered auxilary equipment rather than steam powered. Unlike their predecessors they were oil fired, although some Canadian vessels were completed with both bunkers and oil tanks so that they could use coal or oil.
They were also strengthened hulls compared to Liberty ships since many of the latter had suffered fractured hulls. To improve the hull flexibility (to reduce stresses), the frames were 36 inches (914 mm) apart as opposed to 30 inches (762 mm). Victory ships were slightly larger than Liberty ships, at 455 feet (139 m) long and 62 feet (19 m) wide with 25 feet (7.6 m) draft. With a fine raked bow and a 'cruiser' stern, to help achieve the higher speed, they had a quite different appearance to Liberty ships.
They were armed with a 5 inch (127 mm) stern gun for use against submarines, a bow-mounted 3 inch (76 mm) anti-aircraft gun and eight 20 mm cannon, also for use against aircraft. These weapons were manned by United States Naval Armed Guard personnel, members of the United States Navy.
The first vessel was SS United Victory launched at Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation on 12 January 1944 and completed on 28 February 1944, and had her maiden voyage a month later. American vessels frequently had a name incorporting the word "Victory". The British and Canadians used Fort and Park respectively. After United Victory, the next 34 vessels were named after allied countries, the following 218 after American cities, the next 150 after educational institutions and the remainder given miscellaneous names.
Although initial deliveries were slow — only 15 had been delivered by May 1944, by the end of the war 531 had been constructed. The Commission cancelled orders for a further 132 vessels, although 3 were completed in 1946 for the Alcoa Steamship Company, making a total built in the United States of 534, made up of:
- 272 VC2-S-AP2, 6,000 hp (4.5 MW) general cargo vessels
- 141 VC2-S-AP3, 8,500 hp (6.3 MW) vessels
- 1 VC2-M-AP4, Diesel
Of the wartime construction, 414 of these were of the standard cargo variant and 117 were attack transports. Because the Atlantic battle had been won by the time that the first ships appeared, only two were sunk by U-boats. These were Fort Bellingham and Fort St. Nicholas. Three more were sunk by Japanese Kamikaze attack in April 1945, Logan Victory, Hobbs Victory and Canada Victory. In addition to the American construction, some ships were also built in British and Canadian yards.
Many saw postwar conversion and various uses for years afterward. Starting in 1959, several were removed from the reserve fleet and refitted for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. One such ship was the SS Kingsport Victory, which was renamed USNS Kingsport and converted into the world's first satellite communications ship. Another was the former Haiti Victory, which recovered the first man-made object to return from space, the nose cone of Discoverer 13, on 11 August 1960.
Several are now museum ships:
A few are laid up in the United States Navy reserve fleet.
- SS Maritime Victory - Hull number 821, type VC2-S-AP2 / WSAT
- SS Furman Victory - Hull number 174, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Hattiesburg Victory - Hull Number 809, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Occidental Victory - Hull Number 784, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Tuskegee Victory - Hull Number 682, type VC2-S-AP2 (later known as the AGS22 SS Dutton)
- SS Catawba Victory - Hull Number 706, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Lauderdale Victory - Hull Number 145, type VC2-S-AP5
- SS Marshfield Victory - Hull Number 106, type VC2-S-AP3
- SS Wayne Victory - Hull Number 793, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Earlham Victory - Hull Number 763, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Hannibal Victory - Hull Number 579, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Pan American Victory - Hull Number 746, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Queens Victory - Hull Number 789, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Rider Victory - Hull Number 777, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Sioux Falls Victory - Hull Number 70, type VC2-S-AP2
- SS Winthrop Victory - Hull Number 790, type VC2-S-AP2
See also
External link
See Liberty Ships and Victory Ships, America's Lifeline in War for a lesson on Liberty ships and Victory ships from the National Park Service's Teaching with Historic Places.