Cliffs Victory
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name |
|
| Operator | U.S. Navy (1945—1950) Cliffs Natural Resources (1950—1985) |
| Builder | Oregon Shipbuilding Corp. |
| Yard number | 247522 |
| Laid down | 26 January 1945 |
| Launched | 9 March 1945 |
| Acquired | 6 April 1945 |
| Notes | Rebuilt as a freighter, 1950 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap, 1985 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship |
| Tonnage | 7606 GRT, 4,549 NRT |
| Displacement | 15,200 tons |
| Length | 439 ft (134 m) |
| Beam | 62 ft (19 m) |
| Draught | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Installed power | 8,500 shp (6,300 kW) |
| Propulsion | HP & LP turbines geared to a single 20.5-foot (6.2 m) propeller |
| Speed | 16.5 knots |
| Boats & landing craft carried | 4 Lifeboats |
| Complement | 62 Merchant Marine and 28 US Naval Armed Guards |
| Armament | |
| Notes | [1] |
| General characteristics (after 1950 rebuild) | |
| Type | Lake freighter |
| Tonnage | 9,305 GRT, 6,203 NRT |
| Displacement | 15,200 tons |
| Length | 604 ft (184 m) |
| Beam | 62 ft (19 m) |
| Draught | 34 ft (10 m) |
| Installed power | 8,500 shp (6,300 kW) |
| Speed | 17 knots |
| General characteristics (after 1957 lengthening) | |
| Tonnage | 11,151 GRT, 7,309 NRT |
| Displacement | 15,200 tons |
| Length | 700 ft (210 m) |
| Beam | 62 ft (19 m) |
| Draught | 34.33 ft (10.46 m) |
| Installed power | 8,500 shp (6,300 kW) |
| Speed | 17 knots |
| Notes | [2] |
The Cliffs Victory was a cargo vessel, originally built as a Victory ship, during World War II, as the Notre Dame Victory, and subsequently lengthened and converted to a lake freighter for the Cleveland-Cliffs Inc.[3]
History
U.S. Navy
The ship was built in 1945 by Oregon Shipbuilding Company in Portland, Oregon. She had been mothballed, following her brief World War II service, and, when the Korean War required more vessels on the Great Lakes, she was purchased by Cleveland Cliffs, who planned to adapt her for service on the Lakes.[3] According to Mark Thompson, author of Queen of the Lakes, these plans triggered skepticism. But the conversion took only 90 days.
Great Lakes service
Her adaptation left her with a unique profile.[3] Her original bridge and central superstructure were removed and a new bridge and accommodation was built in the bows, as with all other lake freighters. Her engines were left midships, and the second superstructure, that other lake freighters had above their engines, in the stern was built above her engines in their midship locations. Her hull was lengthened by 165 feet (50 m). But unlike every other lake freighter she still had holds abaft her engine rooms.
She was towed from the yard where she was converted, in Baltimore, Maryland to Chicago, and special provisions had to be made so she could travel under the bridges she encountered.[3] She passed under one bridge with only five inches of clearance.
At 620 feet (190 m) she was too long for the final lock on the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal.[3] The lockmaster agreed for her bow to be tied in place, right up against the upstream doors to the lock, with her stern sticking out of the open lower doors. He then opened the upstream doors, and the vessel was hauled upstream far enough for the downstream doors to be closed.
Once she began carrying cargo on the lake, at 20 miles per hour (17 kn), she was the fastest freighter on the lakes.[3] When she was lengthened a second time, in 1957, by a further 96 feet (29 m), she became Queen of the Lakes - the longest ship on the Lakes. She held this record until surpassed by the Edmund Fitzgerald on June 7, 1958.
Retirement
In 1985, her registry was changed to Panama and was briefly renamed Savic. She was sold for scrap the same year to Hai International Corp. in Taiwan.[2]
Accidents and incidents
21 December 1971: Large machinery damage discovered; estimated cost of $100,000.[2]
20 April 1975: Collided with the SS Benson Ford while attempting to break the latter vessel free from ice; Went into Fraser Shipyards for port bow repairs and was returned to service on April 24.[2]
9 December 1976: Ran aground near Johnson Point in the St. Marys River while downbound in heavy ice conditions. Freed December 11. Incident later became known as the "worst traffic jam in the river in fifty years", with about seventy vessels delayed by the incident. Assistance of three tugs and a Coast Guard icebreaker required to free Victory. During inspection, it was discovered that the rudder had been lost in the incident.[2]
References
- ^ Babcock & Wilcox (April 1944). "Victory Ships". Marine Engineering and Shipping Review.
- ^ a b c d e "NOTRE DAME VICTORY". bgsu.edu/. Retrieved 23 March 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f
Mark L. Thompson (1994). Queen of the Lakes. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814343371. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
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