Victory ship
SS Red Oak Victory, now a museum ship
| |
Class overview | |
---|---|
Name | Victory ship |
Builders | 6 shipyards in the US |
Cost | US$2,522,800 (1943)[1] per unit |
Planned | 615 |
Completed | 534 |
Cancelled | 81 |
Preserved | 3 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Cargo ship |
Tonnage | |
Displacement | 15,200 tons (at 28-foot draft)[2][clarification needed] |
Length | 455 ft (138.7 m)[2] |
Beam | 62 ft (18.9 m)[2] |
Draft | 28 ft (8.5 m)[2] |
Depth of hold | 38 ft (11.6 m)[2] |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 15–17 knots (28–31 km/h; 17–20 mph) |
The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty 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 German U-boats. A total of 531 Victory ships were built in between 1944 and 1946.[3][4]
VC2 design
One of the first acts of the United States
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 raised forecastle and 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 to
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 a
The Victory ship was noted for good proportion of cubic between
Construction
The first vessel was
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:
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 Japanese kamikaze attack in April 1945.
Many Victory ships were converted to
Some 184 Victory ships served in the
Starting in 1959, several were removed from the
Four Victory ships became fleet ballistic missile cargo ships transporting torpedoes,
- USNS Norwalk, built as SS Norwalk Victory
- USNS Furman, built as SS Furman Victory
- USNS Victoria, built as SS Ethiopia Victory
- USNS Marshfield, built as SS Marshfield Victory
In the 1960s two Victory ships were reactivated and converted to
Cost
According to the War Production Board minutes in 1943, the Victory Ship had a relative cost of $238 per deadweight ton (10,500 deadweight tonnage) [1] for $2,522,800, equivalent to $35,500,000 in 2023.
Shipyards
Most Victory ships were constructed in six West Coast and one Baltimore emergency 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]
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 | |||
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
- United States Merchant Marine, 414 SS Victory cargo ships. World War II, some used in the Korean War and Vietnam War.
- 97 Victory ships temporarily converted to World War II troopship.[20]
- One ship SS Pratt Victory with engineering spaces converted to unmanned operation and used with a reduced Navy crew as a temporary minesweeper in 1945 and 1946.[21][22]
- Seagoing cowboys ships, 1946 to 1947 temporary conversion of 46 Merchant Marine Victory ships to transport relief livestock.
- US Navy conversions
- Haskell-class attack transports (APA), 117 built.
- Boulder Victory-class cargo ships (AK), 20 built.
- Greenville Victory-class cargo ships (AK), 9 Victory ships under US Navy ownership for Korean War.
- Lt. James E. Robinson-class aircraft transports (AKV), 1950 conversion of two ships: USNS Lt. James E. Robinson and USNS Sgt. Jack J. Pendleton
- Denebola-class stores ships (AF), 3 Victory ships that came under US Navy ownership in 1952: USNS Asterion, would be converted to this class in 1961.
- Bowditch-class survey ships (AGS), 1957 conversion of 3 ships: Bowditch, Dutton, Michelson.
- Watertown-class missile range instrumentation ships (T-AGM), 1960 conversion of 3 ships: Watertown, Huntsville and Wheeling
- Longview-class missile range instrumentation ships (T-AGM), 1960 conversion of 3 ships: Longview, Private Joe E. Mann and Dalton Victory
- Kingsport telemetry ship (AG), 1961 conversion of one ship, USNS Kingsport.
- Sigint: USS Belmont and USS Liberty
- T-AK-282
- Range Sentinel telemetry ship (AGM), 1971 conversion of one ship: USS Sherburne
Survivors
Three are preserved as museum ships:
- SS American Victory (Tampa, Florida)
- SS Lane Victory (Los Angeles, California)
- SS Red Oak Victory (Richmond, California)
See also
- Empire ships
- Liberty ship
- List of Victory ships
- Port Chicago disaster
- T2 tanker
- Type C1 ship
- Type C2 ship
- Type C3 ship
- U.S. Merchant Marine Academy
- Murmansk Run
- World War II United States Merchant Navy
- Away All Boats about Victory Attack transport
- USMS North Star III
Notes
- ^ a b Civilian 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.
- ^ 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
- ^ 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.
- ^ MARAD, Victory Ship, U.S. Maritime Commission design type VC2-S-AP2
- ^ "Victory Ship Design". GlobalSecurity.org. 22 July 2011. Archived from the original on 16 November 2012.
- ^ "An Analysis of General Cargo Handing Problems, Developments, and Proffered Solutions, BY L. H. QUACKENBUSH, ASSOCIATE". Archived from the original on 9 January 2017. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ "Cargo hold tour, SS Lane". Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ This can be compared with British and Canadian practices, which respectively often used "Fort" and "Park" for their own ships.
- ^ Chapter 2 After ASTP, Across the Atlantic to England Under Siege, By Lester Segarnick
- ^ "ww2troopships.com crossings in 1945". Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
- ^ "Troop Ship of World War II, April 1947, pp. 356–357" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
- ^ "69th infantry division, newsletter, 1986" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 27 August 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2016.
- ^ The Nebraska State Journal from Lincoln, Nebraska, 26 December 1945, p. 4
- ^ Binghamton NY Press Grayscale 1945 – Fulton History, Oct. 15, 1945
- ^ "usmm.org Korean War ships". Archived from the original on 9 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
- ^ "usmm.org Vietnam War ships". Archived from the original on 20 January 2013. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
- ^ Melson, Lewis B., CAPT USN "Contact 261" United States Naval Institute Proceedings June 1967
- ^ "WWII Construction Records – Private-Sector Shipyards that Built Ships for the U.S. Maritime Commission". Archived from the original on 23 October 2006. Retrieved 3 November 2006.
- ^ "Victory Ships built by the United States Maritime Commission during World War II – Listed by Shipyard". Archived from the original on 25 October 2006. Retrieved 4 November 2006.
- ^ usmm.org Troopships
- ^ Looking for trouble, the Guinea Pig Squadron
- ^ Pratt Victory photo, mine Hunter
References
- SS American Victory Web site
- SS Lane Victory Web site
- U-Boat net
- United States National Park Service document on historical significance of SS Red Oak Victory
- Lane, Frederic, Ships for Victory: A History of Shipbuilding under the U.S. Maritime Commission in World War II. Johns Hopkins University Press, 2001. ISBN 0-8018-6752-5
- 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. Cambridge, Maryland: Cornell Maritime Press, 1974
- Heal, S. C., A Great Fleet of Ships: The Canadian Forts and Parks. Vanwell, 1993 ISBN 978-1551250236
- All About Victory Ships at TAGS Ship Web Site
External links
- Liberty Ships and Victory Ships, America's Lifeline in War – a lesson on Liberty ships and Victory ships from the National Park Service's Teaching with Historic Places
- "Victory Ship Makes 15 knots, Outstrips Liberty" Popular Mechanics, December 1943