Wikipedia

Victory ship

This article is about the American World War II cargo ship class. For ships named Victory, seeVictory (disambiguation) § Ships.

TheVictory shipwas aclassofcargo shipproduced in large numbers byAmericanshipyardsduringWorld War IIto replace losses caused byGermansubmarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlierLiberty ship,were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engines, giving higher speed to allow participation in high-speed convoys and make them more difficult targets for GermanU-boats.A total of 531 Victory ships were built in between 1944 and 1946.[3][4]

SSRed Oak Victory,now a museum ship
Class overview
NameVictory ship
Builders6 shipyards in the US
CostUS$2,522,800 (1943)[1]per unit
Planned615
Completed534
Cancelled81
Preserved3
General characteristics
Class and typeCargo ship
Tonnage
Displacement15,200 tons (at 28-foot draft)[2][clarification needed]
Length455 ft (138.7 m)[2]
Beam62 ft (18.9 m)[2]
Draft28 ft (8.5 m)[2]
Depth of hold38 ft (11.6 m)[2]
Propulsion
  • Oil-fired boilers
  • Steam engine
  • Single screwpropeller
Speed15–17 knots (28–31 km/h; 17–20 mph)

VC2 design

edit
Victory cargo ships are lined up atCalifornia Shipbuilding Corporationin Los Angeles, California.
USSSarasotaatLingayen Gulfon 8 January 1945

One of the first acts of the United StatesWar Shipping Administrationupon its formation in February 1942 was to commission the design of what came to be known as the Victory class. Initially designated EC2-S-AP1, where EC2 = Emergency Cargo, type 2 (Load Waterline Length between 400 and 450 feet (120 and 140 m)), S = steam propulsion with AP1 = one aft propeller (EC2-S-C1 had been the designation of theLiberty shipdesign), it was changed to VC2-S-AP1 before the name "Victory Ship" was officially adopted on 28 April 1943. The ships were built under theEmergency Shipbuilding program.[2]

The design was an enhancement of the Liberty ship, which had been successfully produced in extraordinary numbers. Victory ships were slightly larger than Liberty ships, 14 feet (4.3 m) longer at 455 feet (139 m), 6 feet (1.8 m) wider at 62 ft (19 m), and drawing one foot more at 28 feet (8.5 m) loaded.[2]Displacement was up just under 1,000 tons, to 15,200. With a raisedforecastleand a more sophisticated hull shape to help achieve the higher speed, they had a quite different appearance from Liberty ships.

To make them less vulnerable toU-boatattacks, Victory ships made 15 to 17knots(28 to 31 km/h), 4 to 6 knots (7.4 to 11.1 km/h) faster than the Libertys, and had longer range. The extra speed was achieved through more modern, efficient engines. Rather than the Libertys' 2,500horsepower(1,900 kW)triple expansion steam engines,Victory ships were designed to use eitherLentz typereciprocating steam engines (one ship only, oil fired),Diesel engines(one ship) orsteam turbines(the rest, all oil fired) (variously putting out between 6,000 and 8,500 hp (4,500 and 6,300 kW)). Another improvement was electrically powered auxiliary equipment, rather than steam-driven machinery.

To prevent the hull cracks that many Liberty ships developed—making some break in half—the spacing between frames was widened from 30 inches (760 mm) to 36 inches (910 mm), making the ships less stiff and more able to flex. Like Liberty ships, the hull was welded rather than riveted.[5]

The VC2-S-AP2, VC2-S-AP3, and VC2-M-AP4 were armed with a5-inch (127 mm)/38 caliber stern gunfor use against submarines and surface ships, and a bow-mounted3-inch (76 mm)/50 caliber gunand eight20 mm cannonfor use against aircraft. These were manned byUnited States Navy Armed Guardpersonnel. The VC2-S-AP5Haskell-classattack transportswere armed with the 5-inch stern gun, one quad40 mm Bofors cannon,four dual 40 mm Bofors cannon, and ten single 20 mm cannon. TheHaskells were operated and crewed exclusively by U.S. Navy personnel.

The Victory ship was noted for good proportion of cubic betweenholdsfor a cargo ship of its day. A Victory ship's cargo hold one, two and five hatches are single rigged with a capacity of 70,400, 76,700, and 69,500bale cubic feetrespectively. Victory ships hold three and four hatches are double rigged with a capacity of 136,100 and 100,300 bale cubic feet respectively.[6] Victory ships have built-inmast,booms andderrickcranesand can load and unload their own cargo withoutdockside cranes organtryif needed.[7]

Model of a Victory ship'ssuperstructureand center cranes. The engine room is located below the superstructure. This model is on display at the American Merchant Marine Museum in Kings Point, New York.

Construction

edit

The first vessel wasSSUnited Victorylaunched atOregon Shipbuilding Corporationon 12 January 1944 and completed on 28 February 1944, making her maiden voyage a month later. American vessels frequently had a name incorporating the word "Victory".[8]AfterUnited Victory,the next 34 vessels were named afterallied countries,the following 218 after American cities, the next 150 aftereducational institutionsand the remainder given miscellaneous names. The AP5 type attack transports were named afterUnited States counties,without "Victory" in their name, with the exception ofUSSMarvin H. McIntyre,which was named afterPresidentRoosevelt'slate personal secretary.

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 three were completed in 1946 for the Alcoa Steamship Company, making a total built in the United States of 534, made up of:

War Shipping Administrationphoto showing early 1944 Victory ship construction atCalifornia Shipbuilding Corporationwith a May 1945 war tonnage production chart
Vic ship engine room
US Victory ship production
Quantity
Built 		Type Notes
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
117 VC2-S-AP5 Haskell-class attack transports
3 VC2-S-AP7 Post war completion

Of the wartime construction, 414 were of the standard cargo variant and 117 were attack transports.[2]Because the Atlantic battle had been won by the time the first of the Victory ships appeared none were sunk by U-boats. Three were sunk by Japanesekamikazeattack in April 1945.

Many Victory ships were converted totroopshipsto bring US soldiers home at the end of World War II as part ofOperation Magic Carpet.A total of 97 Victory ships were converted to carry up to 1,600 soldiers. To convert the ships the cargo hold were converted tobunk bedsandhammocksstacked three high forhot bunking.Mess hallsandexerciseplaces were also added.[9]Some examples of Victory troopship are:SSAiken Victory,SSChanute Victory,SSCody Victory,SSColby Victory,SSCranston Victory,SSGustavus Victory,SSHagerstown Victory,SSMaritime Victory,andSSU.S.S.R. Victory.[10][11][12][13][14]

Some 184 Victory ships served in theKorean Warand a 100 Victory ships served in theVietnam War.[15][16]Many were sold and became commercial cargo ships and a few commercialpassenger ships.Some were laid up in theUnited States Navy reserve fleetsand then scrapped or reused. Many saw postwar conversion and various uses for years afterward. The single VC2-M-AP4 Diesel-poweredMVEmory Victoryoperated in Alaskan waters for theBureau of Indian AffairsasNorth Star III.[2]AP3 typesSouth Bend VictoryandTuskegee Victorywere converted in 1957–58 to ocean hydrographic surveying ships USNSBowditchandDutton,respectively.[2]Duttonaided in locating the losthydrogen bombfollowing the1966 Palomares B-52 crash.[17]

Starting in 1959, several were removed from thereserve fleetand refitted for theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.One such ship wasSSKingsport Victory,which was renamedUSNSKingsportand converted into the world's first satellite communications ship. Another was the formerHaiti Victory,which recovered the first man-made object to return from orbit, the nose cone ofDiscoverer 13,on 11 August 1960.USSSherburnewas converted in 1969–1970 to the range instrumentation shipUSNSRange Sentinelfor downrange tracking of ballistic missile tests.[2]

Four Victory ships became fleet ballistic missile cargo ships transporting torpedoes,Poseidon missiles,packaged petroleum, and spare parts to deployedsubmarine tenders:[2]

In the 1960s two Victory ships were reactivated and converted totechnical research shipsby theU.S. Navywith thehull typeAGTR.SSIran VictorybecameUSSBelmontand SSSimmons VictorybecameUSSLiberty.Libertywasattacked and severely damagedby Israeli forces in June 1967 and subsequently decommissioned and struck from theNaval Register.Belmontwas decommissioned and stricken in 1970.Baton Rouge Victorywas sunk in theMekongdelta by aViet Congminein August 1966 and temporarily blocked the channel toSaigon.[2]

Cost

edit

According to the War Production Board minutes in 1943, the Victory Ship had a relative cost of $238 per deadweight ton (10,500deadweight tonnage)[1]for $2,522,800, equivalent to $35,500,000 in 2023.

Shipyards

edit

Most Victory ships were constructed in sixWest Coastand oneBaltimoreemergency shipyards that were set up in World War II to build Liberty, Victory, and other ships. The Victory ship was designed to be able to be assembled by the smallest capacity crane at these shipyards.[2]

US shipyard production of Victory ships[18][19]
Shipyard Location Quantity
Yard 		Type Quantity
Type 		MCV Hull Numbers Notes
Bethlehem Fairfield Baltimore, Maryland 94 VC2-S-AP2 93 602–653, 816–856 23 more cancelled
VC2-M-AP4 1 654 Diesel enginevariant
California Shipbuilding Wilmington, California 131 VC2-S-AP3 32 1–24, 27, 29, 31–33, 37, 41, 42
VC2-S-AP5 30 25, 26, 28, 30, 34–36, 38–40, 43–62 63–66 Transferred to Vancouver as 812–815
VC2-S-AP2 69 67–84, 767–811, 885–890 10 more cancelled
Kaiser Shipbuilding Vancouver, Washington 31 VC2-S-AP5 31 655–681, 812–815 17 more cancelled
Oregon Shipbuilding Portland, Oregon 136 VC2-S-AP3 99 85–116, 147–189, 682–701, 872–875 19 more cancelled
VC2-S-AP5 34 117–146, 860–863 12 more cancelled
VC2-S-AP7 1 866 Originally AP5
VC2-S1-AP7 2 876, 877 Originally AP3
Kaiser Richmond No. 1 Yard Richmond, California 53 VC2-S-AP3 10 525–534
VC2-S-AP2 43 535–550, 581–596, 702–711
Kaiser Richmond No. 2 Yard 89 VC2-S-AP5 22 552–573
VC2-S-AP2 67 574–580, 597–601, 712–766

Ships in class

edit
Main article:List of Victory ships
SSAmerican Victoryin Tampa, Florida

Survivors

edit
SSAmerican Victoryship starboardsuperstructure

Three are preserved asmuseum ships:

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^abCivilian Production Administration Bureau of Demobilization (1946).Minutes of the War Production Board January 20, 1942 - October 9, 1945.Historical Reports on War Administration: War Production Board. Documentary Publication. U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 234.
  2. ^abcdefghijklmnoCulver, John A., CAPT USNR "A time for Victories"United States Naval Institute ProceedingsFebruary 1977 pp. 50–56
  3. ^Jaffee, Capt. Walter W.,The Lane Victory: The Last Victory Ship in War and in Peace,2nd ed., p. 14, The Glencannon Press, Palo Alto, CA, 1997.
  4. ^MARAD, Victory Ship, U.S. Maritime Commission design type VC2-S-AP2
  5. ^"Victory Ship Design".GlobalSecurity.org.22 July 2011.Archivedfrom the original on 16 November 2012.
  6. ^"An Analysis of General Cargo Handing Problems, Developments, and Proffered Solutions, BY L. H. QUACKENBUSH, ASSOCIATE".Archivedfrom the original on 9 January 2017.Retrieved9 January2017.
  7. ^"Cargo hold tour, SS Lane".Archived fromthe originalon 2 August 2016.Retrieved9 January2017.
  8. ^This can be compared with British and Canadian practices, which respectively often used"Fort" and "Park"for their own ships.
  9. ^Chapter 2 After ASTP, Across the Atlantic to England Under Siege, By Lester Segarnick
  10. ^"ww2troopships crossings in 1945".Archivedfrom the original on 11 February 2017.Retrieved24 December2016.
  11. ^"Troop Ship of World War II, April 1947, pp. 356–357"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on 22 December 2016.Retrieved24 December2016.
  12. ^"69th infantry division, newsletter, 1986"(PDF).Archived(PDF)from the original on 27 August 2017.Retrieved24 December2016.
  13. ^The Nebraska State Journal from Lincoln, Nebraska, 26 December 1945, p. 4
  14. ^Binghamton NY Press Grayscale 1945 – Fulton History, Oct. 15, 1945
  15. ^"usmm.org Korean War ships".Archived fromthe originalon 9 August 2022.Retrieved25 August2022.
  16. ^"usmm.org Vietnam War ships".Archived fromthe originalon 20 January 2013.Retrieved25 August2022.
  17. ^Melson, Lewis B., CAPT USN "Contact 261"United States Naval Institute ProceedingsJune 1967
  18. ^"WWII Construction Records – Private-Sector Shipyards that Built Ships for the U.S. Maritime Commission".Archived fromthe originalon 23 October 2006.Retrieved3 November2006.
  19. ^"Victory Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission during World War II – Listed by Shipyard".Archivedfrom the original on 25 October 2006.Retrieved4 November2006.
  20. ^usmm.org Troopships
  21. ^Looking for trouble, theGuinea Pig Squadron
  22. ^Pratt Victory photo, mine Hunter

References

edit
edit
Wikimedia Commons has media related toVictory ships.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Victory_ship&oldid=1235816132"