SS Luxembourg Victory
A typical Victory ship
| |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | SS Luxembourg Victory |
Namesake | Luxembourg |
Owner | War Shipping Administration |
Operator | Lykes Brothers Steamship Company |
Builder | Oregon Shipbuilding Company Portland |
Laid down | December 26, 1943 |
Launched | February 28, 1944 |
Completed | April 5, 1944 |
Honors and awards | Battle Stars |
Fate | Sold to private company in 1951 |
United States | |
Name | SS Pennsylvania |
Owner | States Steamship Company of Tacoma, Washington |
Fate | Sank January 9, 1952 in the North Pacific, crew lost. |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship |
Tonnage | |
Displacement | 15,200 tons |
Length | 455 ft (139 m) |
Beam | 62 ft (19 m) |
Draft | 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] |
SS Luxembourg Victory was a
Victory ships were designed to replace the earlier
SS Luxembourg Victory serviced in the
World War II
SS Luxembourg Victory survived a typhoon in June 1944 on her maiden trip. Along with SS Mayfield Victory, she serviced the tank landing ships USS LST-865 and USS LST-868 in July 1944 at Buckner Bay.[3] She supplied cargo for the Battle of Guam from July 21 to August 10, 1944.[4] Luxembourg Victory survived her second typhoon in December 1944. At the Battle of Leyte, Luxembourg Victory used her deck guns to fire at enemy planes on November 12 and 24, 1944 to defend both herself and other ships. She was at Leyte for 33 days and had 156 air alerts.[5][6] Luxembourg Victory took supplies to support the troops at the Battle of Okinawa from April 1 to June 22, 1945. She had repair work at sea after the Battle of Okinawa on July 1, 1945.[7][8] After ending her World War II service, Luxembourg Victory steamed from Apra Harbor, Guam to Portland, Oregon, arriving on August 27, 1947.
In 1949, she was laid up in Suisun Bay in California as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet.
Korean War
In 1950, she was put back in service for the
Honors
Luxemburg Victory earned
Private use
In 1951 she was sold to the States Steamship Company of Tacoma, Washington and renamed SS Pennsylvania.[11] On January 9, 1952, Pennsylvania departed
The 45-man crew lowered and boarded the four 26-foot (7.9 m) lifeboats in 40-foot (12 m) waves, while the abandoned ship sank. About 75 miles (65 nmi; 121 km) southwest of their position, the Japanese ship
Pennsylvania hull crack was similar to the structural failures, which had been a problem with other World War II welded steel ships. However, the problem was more noted in older Liberty ships, not Victory ships.
Court cases and new laws over Pennsylvania sinking continued for 22 years after the disaster.[15][16][17][18][19]
References
- ^ Babcock & Wilcox (April 1944). "Victory Ships". Marine Engineering and Shipping Review.
- ^ usmm.org Battle Pacific
- ^ Chapter XXX Okinawa After 1 July 1945, Operations Under Service Squadron Twelve--The Move to Buckner Bay and Service Activities There the Remaining Days of the War
- ^ "Command summary of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN : Nimitz "Graybook" : 7 December 1941-31 August 1945: Volume 6 (1 January 1945 to 1 July 1945): pages 2486 – 3249"
- ^ navy.mil, Battle of the Philippines
- ^ War Diary, 6/1-30/45, Page 3
- ^ On the War path in the Pacific: Admiral Jocko Clark and the Fast Carriers, By Clark Reynolds
- ^ Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil - The Story of Fleet Logistics Afloat, By Rear Adm. Worrall Reed Carter
- ^ Korean War Educator, Merchant Marine, Accounts of the Korean War
- ^ Small United States and United Nations Warships in the Korean War, page 191, By Paul M. Edwards
- ^ a b c Mariners, The Website Of The Mariners Mailing List., Victory Ships
- ^ shipbuildinghistory.com Merchant ships Victory ships
- ^ Camp Colt to Desert Storm: The History of U.S. Armored Forces, edited by George F. Hofmann, Donn A. Starry, page 228
- ^ Over the Beach: US Army Amphibious Operations in the Korean War, By Donald W. Boose, page 230
- ^ sailors.org, Sinking of the Pennsylvania, all lives lost
- ^ Magellan - The Ships Navigator, Sinking of the Pennsylvania
- ^ law.justia.com, States Steamship Company, a Corporation, Appellant, v. United States of America, Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, Pacific National Fire Insurance Company and the Dominion of Canada, Appellees.atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, Appellant, v. States Steamship Company, a Corporation, United States of America and the Dominion of Canada, Appellees.pacific National Fire Insurance Company, Appellant, v. States Steamship Company, a Corporation, United States of America and the Dominion of Canada, Appellees.united States of America, Appellant, v. States Steamship Company, Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, Pacific National Fire Insurance Company and the Dominion of Canada, Appellees.the Dominion of Canada, Appellant, v. States Steamship Company, Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company, Pacific National Fire Insurance Company and the United States of America, Appellees, 259 F.2d 458 (9th Cir. 1958)
- ^ Case 15131, STATES STEAMSHIP COMPANY v. UNITED STATES
- ^ STATES STEAMSHIP COMPANY v. UNITED STATES, case summary
Sources
- Sawyer, L.A. and W.H. Mitchell. Victory ships and tankers: The history of the 'Victory' type cargo ships and of the tankers built in the United States of America during World War II, Cornell Maritime Press, 1974, 0-87033-182-5.
- United States Maritime Commission: [1]
- Victory Cargo Ships [2]
- Appleman, Roy E. (1998), South to the Naktong, North to the Yalu: United States Army in the Korean War, ISBN 978-0-16-001918-0p. 259