 A typicalVictory ship | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | SSPratt Victory |
| Namesake | Pratt Institute |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration |
| Operator | Waterman Steamship Company |
| Builder | California Shipbuilding (Calship) |
| Yard number | 272 |
| Laid down | 22 February 1945 |
| Launched | 14 April 1945 |
| Acquired | 9 May 1945 |
| In service | 1945 |
| Fate | Sold 1961, resold 1965 & 1968, scrapped 1972 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | VC2-S-AP2Victory ship |
| Tonnage | 10,750 long tonsdeadweight (DWT) |
| Length | 455 ft (139 m) |
| Beam | 62 ft (19 m) |
| Draft | 28 ft 6 in (8.69 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) |
| Range | 23,500 mi (20,400 nmi; 37,800 km) |
| Capacity | 500,000 cu ft (14,000 m3) (approx.) |
| Complement | 62United States Merchant Marine andUnited States Navy Armed Guard |
| Armament |
|
SSPratt Victory was a United StatesVictory ship which served in thePacific Theater of Operations during the last few months ofWorld War II. The ship'sUS Maritime Commission (MARCOM) designation was VC2-S-AP3, hull number 782 (V-782). SSPratt Victory was named afterPratt Institute inNew York City. It was built in 76 days at theCalifornia Shipbuilding Yard (Calship) inLos Angeles, California, and was delivered on 9 May 1945.
SSPratt Victory was the 782nd of the 10,500-ton class known as Victory ships, built under theEmergency Shipbuilding Program. Victory ships were designed to replace the earlierLiberty ships. Liberty ships were designed to be used solely for World War II. Victory ships were designed to last longer and serve theUS Navy after the war. The Victory ship differed from a Liberty ship in that it was faster, longer, wider, taller, and had a thinner stack set farther toward thesuperstructure and a long raisedforecastle.[1][2][3]
SSPratt Victory delivered supplies in the island-hopping campaigns towards theEmpire of Japan. She served as aUS Merchant Marine ship operated by the Waterman SS Company. As a Merchant Marine ship, she had a civilian crew to man the ship andUS Navy Armed Guards to man thedeck guns.
ThePratt Victory wastorpedoed on her starboard side into the number 2 cargo hold on 27 July 1945.Pratt Victory was south ofIe Shima island nearOkinawa Island when the aerial torpedo hit her.[4][5] The torpedo sank thetank landing craftLCT-1050 that was being supplied by thePratt Victory at that time.LCT-1050 was later raised and salvaged.[6] The torpedo did not kill any of thePratt Victory crew, and the ship was able to complete delivery of cargo from the intact holds.[7] At the time of thesurrender of Japan on 15 August 1945, the damage to thePratt Victory was not completely repaired. One of her cargo holds remained flooded; a metal patch was placed on the torpedo hole, but only above thewater line. In this conditionPratt Victory could not make her normal top speed of 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph) but was still as fast as aLiberty ship at 11 knots (20 km/h; 13 mph). She was transferred from the United States Merchant Marine to the US Navy for special assignment.
After the surrender of Japan the SSPratt Victory served on what was called the "Guinea Pig Squadron". The "Guinea Pig Ships", sometimes called "ghost ships" due to their reduced crews, steamed the sea wheremines had been laid to make certain that the explosives were no longer a menace to shipping. Of particular concern were pressure mines which, unlike magnetically- or acoustically-activated mines, were designed to detonate by a large change in the water pressure, such as that from the passage of an 8,000- to 10,000-ton ship. They were thus difficult to sweep. The US Navy laid many pressure mines in bays and sea ways of Japan, dropping many fromBoeing B-29 Superfortress bombers. These mines had been designed to stop functioning over time, on schedule for a planned US invasion of Japan calledOperation Downfall.
The SSPratt Victory swept for mines with two other damaged ships: the Liberty ship SSJoseph Holt which had taken damage from a grounding atBuckner Bay,Okinawa, in a typhoon and former troopship SSMarathon which had taken torpedo damage at Buckner Bay. The three ships steamed about 150 yards (140 m) apart in the sea ways near Japan.Pratt Victory was modified with remote controls for the engines and boilers so that no one had to be below deck, had empty cargo holds so she would float high in the water, and the decks and operation rooms of the ship were lined with mattresses. The crew was small, about 22 men, all volunteers for the dangerous assignment. All three ships completed their sweeps without detonating a mine; theUS Navyminesweepers had cleared the sea way completely and many mines had stopped working as planned.[8][9]
The volunteer crew were awarded several medals: The Navy and Marine Corps Medal and the Bronze Star. Semon Leroy Teague, who served on thePratt Victory, received the Bronze Star, with a citation that states:
Volunteering for the hazardous assignment of steaming through suspected pressure mined waters, Lieutenant, Junior Grade, Teague courageously made check sweep runs over entrance channels and anchorages known to have been mined by our forces and contributed materially to the safe entry of United States occupational forces to the Empire of Japan.[10]
Pratt Victory was laid up in theJames River in 1945, as part of theNational Defense Reserve Fleet. She was repaired and put back in service as a new war started in theFar East.
SSPratt Victory served as merchant marine naval supplying goods for theKorean War. She helped to move the 140th Medium Tank Battalion. About 75 percent of the personnel and 90 percent of the cargo taken to the Korean War zone were delivered by merchant marine ships. SSPratt Victory transported goods, mail, food and other supplies. SSPratt Victory made trips between 18 November 1950 and 23 December 1952.[11][12]
In 1961 she was sold to the West Coast Steamship Company inPortland, Oregon, and renamedPortland Victory. In 1965 she was sold to Saxis Steamship Company ofWilmington, Delaware, and renamedColumbia Victory. In 1968 she was sold to Columbia SS Company and renamedColumbia Trader. On 24 November 1971 she was damaged by an underwater explosion atChalna Port (now called Port of Mongla) inBangladesh. She was scrapped atKaohsiung,Taiwan in 1972.[13]
