 Typical Victory Ship. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | SSBaton Rouge |
| Namesake | City ofBaton Rouge |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration |
| Operator | American Export Line andIsthmian SS Corporation |
| Builder | Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard,Baltimore |
| Laid down | 21 June 1945 |
| Launched | 22 August 1945 |
| Completed | 24 Sept. 1945 |
| Fate | Scrapped at Hualien, Formosa in 1967, after hitting a mine. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship |
| Tonnage | 7612GRT, 4,553NRT |
| Displacement | 15,200 tons |
| Length | 455 ft (139 m) |
| Beam | 62 ft (19 m) |
| Draught | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
| Installed power | 8,500 shp (6,300 kW) |
| Propulsion | HP & LPturbines 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] |
TheSSBaton Rouge was a cargoVictory ship built duringWorld War II under theEmergency Shipbuilding program. TheBaton Rouge (MCV-846) was a type VC2-S-AP2 Victory ship built byBethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards. TheMaritime Administration cargo ship was the 846rd ship built. Her keel was laid on June 21, 1945. She was launched on August 22, 1945, and completed on September 24, 1945. The 10,600-ton ship was constructed for the Maritime Commission. TheAmerican Export Line and later theIsthmian Steamship Company operated her under theUnited States Merchant Marine act for theWar Shipping Administration.[2]
Victory ships were designed to supersede the earlierLiberty Ships. Unlike Liberty ships, Victory ships were designed to serve theUS Navy after the war[3] and also last longer. The Victory ship differed from a Liberty ship in that they were: faster, longer and wider, taller, and had a thinner stack set farther toward thesuperstructure. They also had a long raisedforecastle.
Completed on September 24, 1945, theBaton Rouge did not operate during World War operations, as thesurrender of Imperial Japan was announced on August 15, 1945.Baton Rouge transported cargo that was not delivered to theEast Coast of the United States andWest Coast of the United States due to the shortage of ships during the war. In March, 1946 she docked at Newport, Rhode Island with 1,000,000 feet of Douglas fir and western hemlock lumber from Canada. Due to World War II there had been a shortage of lumber from Canada.[4] On 29 November 1946 the SSBaton Rouge Victory collided in thick fog with the freighter SSSea Centaur at the harbor near theSan Pedro Breakwater, near the entrance toLos Angeles Harbor at night. Visibility was 150 feet that night. TheSea Centaur, owned by theMatson Navigation Company, was inbound from San Francisco. TheSea Centaur had damage to her bow above the water line from the ramming of the Isthmian Steamship Company'sBaton Rouge Victory.Baton Rouge Victory had just steamed in from theGolden Gate. TheBaton Rouge Victory captain, J. A. Keerson, reported on the damage to the deck andflying bridge.[5] After World War II, in 1947, she was laid upJames River in theNational Defense Reserve Fleet.
In 1950 she was reactivated for theKorean War. She made eight trips to Korea between 6 March 1951 and 28 March 1952.[6] She helped American forces engaged againstCommunist aggression inSouth Korea.[7] About 75% of the personnel taken to Korea for the Korean War came by merchant marine ships. SSBaton Rouge transported goods, mail, food and other supplies. About 90% of the cargo was moved by merchant marine ships to the war zone.[8][9] After the Korean War she was laid up in 1952 atSuisun Bay reserve fleet.[10][11]
In 1966 it was reactivated for theVietnam War and operated by the SS United States.[12]
The ship had departed the San Francisco Embarcadero on 28 July 1966 with a crew of 45, loaded with military trucks and tractors, automobiles, mail, and general cargo.[13][14][15][16]
On August 26,Baton Rouge Victory was attacked by two 2,400-pound limpet mines while proceeding along theLòng Tàu River, about 22 miles (35 km) southeast ofSaigon.[17] The explosions killed seven American civilian sailors on board and tore a 16-by-45-foot (4.9 by 13.7 m) hole in the ship's hull, forcing the captain to run theship aground to avoid sinking and blocking the shipping channel. The number 3 cargo hold flooded quickly. The ship was refloated on 30 August 1966 with the assistance ofHarbor Clearance Unit One and towed toVũng Tàu.[18]
In 1967 the ship was scrapped at Hualien, Formosa, now calledTaiwan.[19]
The seven American civilian merchant Seamen killed in Vietnam are remembered on the Vietnam Service, American Merchant Seamen Memorial in San Francisco. The attack on the SSBaton Rouge Victory was largest single loss of life due to enemy action for merchant mariners in the Vietnam War.[20]
