Cliffs Victory
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name |
|
| Owner | War Shipping Administration (1945–1950) |
| Operator |
|
| 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 | |
| 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 (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph) |
| 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 | |
| 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 (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| General characteristics (after 1957 lengthening) | |
| Tonnage | |
| 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 SS Cliffs Victory was a cargo vessel, originally built as a
History
The ship was built in 1945 by
Great Lakes service
Her adaptation left her with a unique profile.
She was towed from the yard where she was converted, in Baltimore, Maryland to Chicago, Illinois, 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 Great Lakes. She held this record until surpassed by the SS Edmund Fitzgerald on June 7, 1958.
On December 21, 1971 large machinery damage discovered. The estimated cost of repairs was $100,000.
Retirement
In 1985, her registry was changed to Panama and was briefly renamed SS Savic. She was sold for scrap the same year to Hai International Corp. in Taiwan.[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. ISBN 9780814343371. Retrieved 2020-01-03.