Jump to content

Victory ship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Korrigan (talk | contribs) at 17:26, 14 August 2008 (fr:Victory ship). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Victory ship SS Red Oak Victory, now a museum ship
SS Red Oak Victory, now a museum ship.
Class overview
NameLiberty ship
Builders6 shipyards in the USA
Planned615
Completed534
Cancelled81
General characteristics
Class and typeCargo ship
Tonnage7200 (gross), 4300 (net), 10,600 (deadweight)[1]
Displacement15200 tons (at 28-foot draft)[1]
Length455 feet (139 m)[1]
Beam62 feet (19 m)[1]
Draft28 feet (7.6 m)[1]
Depth of hold38 feet (11.5 m)[1]
Speed15 to 17 knots (28 to 31 km/h)

The Victory ship was a type of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace shipping losses caused by German submarines. Based on an earlier design, the Liberty ship, 534 Victory ships were built.

VC2 design

Victory cargo ships are lined up at a U.S. west coast shipyard

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 (Load Waterline Length between 400 and 450 feet), 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 1943.[1]

They were an enhancement of the previous Liberty ship design that was 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 reciprocating 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 auxiliary equipment rather than steam powered. 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 also had strengthened hulls compared to Liberty ships since a few 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 28 feet (7.6 m) draft (loaded).[1] With a fine raked bow and a 'cruiser' stern, to help achieve the higher speed, they had a quite different appearance to Liberty ships.

The VC2-S-AP2,VC2-S-AP3, and VC2-M-AP4 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 VC2-S-AP5 Haskell-class attack transports were armed with the 5 inch (127 mm) stern gun, one quad 40mm Bofors cannon, four dual 40mm Bofors cannon, and ten single 20mm cannon. The Haskells were operated and crewed exclusively by US Navy personnel.

Construction

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 incorporating 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. The AP5 type attack transports were named after US counties, without "Victory" in their name, with the exception of USS Marvin H. McIntyre (APA-129), which was named after President Roosevelt's late 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 3 were completed in 1946 for the Alcoa Steamship Company, making a total built in the United States of 534, made up of:

War Shipping Administration photo showing early 1944 Victory ship construction with a May, 1945 war tonnage production chart
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 of these were of the standard cargo variant and 117 were attack transports.[1] 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. Baton Rouge Victory was sunk in the Mekong delta by a Viet Cong mine in August 1966 and temporarily blocked the channel to Saigon.[1]

Many saw postwar conversion and various uses for years afterward. The single VC2-M-AP4 diesel-powered Emory Victory operated in Alaskan waters for the Bureau of Indian Affairs as North Star III.[1] AP3 types South Bend Victory and Tuskegee Victory were converted in 1957-58 to ocean hydrographic surveying ships USNS Bowditch (T-AGS-21) and USNS Dutton (T-AGS-22), respectively.[1] Dutton aided in locating the lost hydrogen bomb following the Palomares hydrogen bombs incident.[2]

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. USS Sherburne (APA-205) was converted in 1969-70 to the range instrumentation ship USNS Range Sentinel (T-AGM-22) for downrange tracking of ballistic missile tests.[1]

Four Victory ships became fleet ballistic missile cargo ships transporting torpedoes, Poseidon missiles, packaged petroleum, and spare parts to deployed submarine tenders:[1]

In the 1960s two Victory ships were reactivated and converted to technical research ships by the U.S. Navy with the hull type AGTR. SS Iran Victory became the USS Belmont (AGTR-4) and SS Simmons Victory became the USS Liberty (AGTR-5). The Liberty was attacked and severely damaged by Israeli forces in June 1967 and subsequently decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Register. The Belmont was decommissioned and stricken in 1970.

Shipyards

The Victory ship were constructed in six west coast and Baltimore emergency shipyards that sprang up in World War II to build Liberty, Victory, and other ships. The Victory ship design was prepared to acccommodate the smallest capacity crane at these shipyards.[1] In addition to the American construction, some ships were also built in British and Canadian yards.

US Shipyard Production of Victory Ships[3][4]
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 engine variant
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
Permanente/Kaiser Yard #1 Richmond, California 53   VC2-S-AP3 10   525-534
VC2-S-AP2 43   535-550, 581-596, 702-711
Permanente/Kaiser Yard #2 89   VC2-S-AP5 22   552-573
VC2-S-AP2 67   574-580, 597-601, 712-766

Status of remaining Victory ships

Several are now museum ships:

A few are laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet.

Status indicated is as of 2008-07-31 MARAD inventory.

At Beaumont Reserve Fleet:

At James River Reserve Fleet:

At Suisun Bay:

At Brownsville, Texas:

See also

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.

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Culver, John A., CAPT USNR "A time for Victories" United States Naval Institute Proceedings February 1977 pp. 50-56
  2. ^ Melson, Lewis B., CAPT USN "Contact 261" United States Naval Institute Proceedings June 1967
  3. ^ "WWII Construction Records - Private-Sector Shipyards that Built Ships for the U.S. Maritime Commission". Retrieved 2006-11-03.
  4. ^ "Victory Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission during World War II - Listed by Shipyard". Retrieved 2006-11-04.

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Victory_ship&oldid=231938503"