 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Namesake | American University |
| Builder | California Shipbuilding Yard,Los Angeles, California |
| Yard number | 272 |
| Laid down | 30 March 1945 |
| Launched | 24 May 1945 |
| Acquired | 20 June 1945 |
| In service | 1945 |
| Out of service | 1969 (Final) |
| Identification | IMO number: 5014680 |
| Status | Museum Ship, Tampa, Florida |
| Notes | Ship radio callsign: KKUI |
| 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) (approximate) |
| Complement | 40-62United States Merchant Marine plus 25United States Navy Armed Guard (during WWII only). |
| Sensors & processing systems | Modern Surface Search Radar, fitted in 1980s |
| Armament | |
SS American Victory | |
| Location | 705 Channelside Dr, Berth 271,Tampa, Florida |
| Coordinates | 27°56′38″N82°26′39″W / 27.94389°N 82.44417°W /27.94389; -82.44417 |
| Built | 1945, in just three months |
| Built by | California Shipbuilding Corporation, Terminal Island, Los Angeles, CA |
| NRHP reference No. | 01001533[1] |
| Added to NRHP | 4 February 2002 |
SSAmerican Victory is aVictory ship which saw service during the final months ofWorld War II in thePacific Theater of Operations, theKorean War from 1951 to 1954, and theVietnam War from 1966 to 1969. Built in June 1945, she carried ammunition and other cargo from Los Angeles to Southeast Asia, then ferried cargo, equipment and troops back to the U.S. after the war ended. She survived two typhoons and one hurricane.[2]
American Victory spent part of the period between 1946 and 1966 chartered to commercial carriers and the other part in two stints in U.S. reserve fleets. From 1966 to 1969 she delivered cargo to Southeast Asia in theVietnam War, then three decades again in reserve.
In April 1999, she was turned over to a preservation organization to serve as amuseum ship.[2] Today she is the main feature of theAmerican Victory Ship & Museum, also known as theAmerican Victory Mariners Memorial & Museum Ship inTampa, Florida'sChannel District.
Named after theAmerican University inWashington, D.C., the ship was built at theCalifornia Shipbuilding Yard (Calship) inLos Angeles, California, launched after just 55 days, "fitted out" for another month, and was then delivered to theWar Shipping Administration (WSA) on 20 June 1945.[3][4]American Victory, aUnited States Merchant Marine ship, was operated for WSA under a general agency agreement byHammond Shipping Co. Ltd.[4] She loadedUnited States Army cargo atFort Mason then took on cargo at Los Angeles and other west coast ports before steaming toManila in thePhilippines. She was in Manila when the war ended. She took her remaining cargo toShanghai,China, and spent the next two months sailing theSouth China Sea andBay of Bengal.
In November 1945,American Victory sailed toCalcutta andPort Said,Egypt and numerous other ports, loaded with military cargo to be returned to the United States. She arrived in New York in January 1946, and unloaded her cargo, having completed her first cruise. At the end of the war she ferried more cargo, equipment and troops stateside.[2][3]
From 29 June 1946 until November 1947,American Victory was bareboat chartered byAmerican Export Lines.[4] The ship carried foodstuffs and machinery exported from the United States to Europe,Russia, and theNear East under theMarshall Plan, the Post-War reconstruction of the European Continent. Some of herPorts of call were:Trieste,Italy,Constanza,Romania,Piraeus,Greece, andAntwerp,Belgium. DepartingOdesa,Ukraine, for Boston, in January 1947, theBlack Sea had already iced up. Not waiting for theSovieticebreakerTurgenev to clear the ice, Captain, A. D. Cushman, knowingAmerican Victory decided to use her as an icebreaker, backed up and rammed the ice so both her and other ships could depart the Black Sea. She was then laid up in theHudson River Reserve Fleet until she was again chartered by commercial shipping lines,United States Navigation Company, during the Korean War, from 1951 until January 1954, when she entered theSabine River Reserve Fleet inTexas.[5]
In 1963, plans were made to convertAmerican Victory and 14 other ships in her class to "forwarddepot" vessels, to be loaded withmateriel and stationed near potential flashpoints to provide American forces with pre-positioned supplies. This scheme was cancelled in February 1966, after only three conversions had been carried out. HadAmerican Victory been converted, she would have been renamed USNSCarthage and assignedhull classification symbol AG 185.
American Victory was removed from the Sabine River Reserve Fleet in 1966, and chartered to the Hudson Waterways Corporation which used her to ferry military equipment to American forces inSouth Vietnam. She was deactivated again in October 1969, and placed in theJames River Reserve Fleet inLees Hall, Virginia, where she remained until 1985.American Victory was then renovated as part of a program to determine the efforts needed to reactivate mothballed Victory ships. In June, after US$2.5 million had been spent to bring her up to fully operational condition, she sailed for just 26 hours before returning to the Naval Reserve Fleet.[5][6][7]
One of several World War II Victory ships due to be scrapped in the late 1990s,American Victory was rescued by preservation efforts which began in October 1998. She arrived at Tampa, Florida, under tow to begin her new life as a museum ship and memorial on 16 September 1999.
Following extensive overhaul with the ship brought to fully operational status in 2003, she is now on display and included on theNational Register of Historic Places. Guided and self-guided tours of the ship are available, though some areas are off-limits for safety reasons, such as the lower areas of the engine room (which is visible from a catwalk). Most of the ship's spaces are open, such as officer, crew, and gunners quarters, galley and crew mess, three forward holds, wheelhouse and chartroom, radio room, hospital, and food cold storage, have been restored and are decorated in original period memorabilia.[8]
American Victory has been upgraded with modern VHF radio and radar (visible on the bridge deck) and other modern electronics have been added to the electricians' quarters and radio room.American Victory is generally historic form, with her3-inch (76 mm) bow-mounted deck gun in a reconstructed gun tub, as well as the5-inch (130 mm) stern gun plus an additional 3-inch gun next to it.[citation needed]
American Victory is a fully operational, seaworthy vessel. With considerable preparation, she can cruise in Tampa Bay, and the next cruise is planned for 2023. TheU.S. Coast Guard performs a safety inspection of the ship twice per year, she would not be open to the public without passing.[citation needed]
Of the 534 Victory ships completed, only three are open to the public:American Victory at Tampa,SS Lane Victory at Los Angeles, andSS Red Oak Victory atRichmond, California.[9]
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The ship has many notable exhibits in the No.3 cargo hold, which was converted to a museum exhibit area and receptionist desk.[10] It includes an original submarine propeller from theGerman submarine U-352, sunk in May 1942, by the U.S. Coast Guard cutterUSCGC Icarus, and recovered in 1979. It includes photos of the shipwreck, a mannequin of aKriegsmarine sailor in uniform, and a diagram ofGerman submarine U-505. She also has numerous ship models, including aClemson-classdestroyer, aFletcher-class destroyer, and a GermanType VII U-boat.
There are also numerous vintage Merchant Marine recruiting posters, and a collection of Victory and Liberty ship's plaques, all of them sunk or scrapped. There is also a mock-up of the ships wheelhouse, and a lifeboat and Maritime Signal Flag exhibit.
