 Typical Victory Ship. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Brown Victory |
| Namesake | Brown University |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration (WSA) |
| Operator | Alaska Packers' Association |
| Builder | Oregon Shipbuilding CompanyPortland |
| Laid down | 12 January 1945 |
| Launched | 23 February 1945 |
| Completed | 27 March 1945 |
| History | |
| United States | |
| Name | Mormacpine 1947 |
| Owner | Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc., of New York |
| Fate | Scrapped in Taiwan 1970 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and 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] |
Brown Victory was aMaritime Commission type VC2-S-AP2Victory ship built duringWorld War II under theEmergency Shipbuilding program. The ship was built byOregon Shipbuilding CompanyPortland as Maritime Commission hull 171, yard number 1225.[2][3] Her keel was laid on 25 February 1945. She was named forBrown University and christened on 2 May 1945. The ship was completed and delivered to theWar Shipping Administration (WSA) with operation under WSA agreement by theAlaska Packers' Association on 27 March 1945. That agreement remained in effect until 2 July 1946.[2]
Victory ships were designed to replace the earlierLiberty Ships. Liberty ships were designed to be used just for WW2. Victory ships were designed to last longer and serve theUS Navy after the war. The Victory ship differed from a Liberty ship in that they were: faster, longer and wider, taller, a thinner stack set farther toward thesuperstructure and had a long raisedforecastle.
Brown Victory served in thePacific War duringWorld War II.Brown Victory took supplies to theBattle of Okinawa operations that lasted from 1 April until 22 June 1945.
On 28 May 1945, atIejima, nearOkinawa,Ryukyu Islands akamikaze plane hitBrown Victory.Tekesta andSpectacle under tow byTekesta shot down the kamikaze plane, but the plane hitBrown Victory on its way down in the attack. Two of the 27United States Navy Armed Guards were killed instantly in the attack. In the attack 18 crew members were injured. One of themerchant crew, Donald Lamont, 18, from Ahsahka, Idaho,[4] and one of the Armed Guards died of their wounds later. The Navy tugTekesta came to the aid ofBrown Victory, helping the crew put out the fire and gave medical aid to the wounded.Brown Victory was damaged, but managed to survive the attack and was able to take her cargo toSaipan before steaming home to Oregon for repairs.[5][6]
Brown Victory was awardedBattle Stars for the assault and occupation of Okinawa from 19 May 1945 to 6 June 1945. She used herdeck guns to defend herself and other ships from attacks.[7]
Brown Victory operation was changed to a bareboat charter toAmerican Export Lines on 2 July 1946, then to bareboat charter toMoore-McCormack Lines, Inc., of New York, New York, on 21 November. On 17 April 1947, Moore-McCormack, purchased the ship with the name changed toMormacpine.[2][8][9]
Mormacpine made a few trips to help with theKorean War between 17 September and 2 August 1953.[10]While departingSan Pedro on 27 September 1959, in foggy conditions, the bow ofMormacpine rammed the boatJane off the coast ofCape Flattery.Jane, a 49 foot wood fishing boat, was hit on her port side at about 3 or 4 knots and sank in about 3 minutes with the loss of two of her five crew members. It was ruled that the cause was twofold,Mormacpine was going too fast for the fog andJane had no forward lookouts at the time of the crash. The fog limited visibility to 500 to 1,000 yards.Jane did not show up onMormacpine radar due to her small size and wood hull.Mormacpine crew spottedJane 1,000 yards off her starboard bow and put her engines into full reverse that slowed her to about 3 to 4 knots. No fines were made due to the accident.[11][12][13][14]
On 28 March 1964, one ofMormacpine's holds caught fire. She was steaming fromSalvador, Bahia,Brazil toNew York City,New York with a load ofsisal fibre andcocoa beans. A Coast Guard plane saw the fire from the air and depatched the Coast Guard cutterHalf Moon to help. With no engines, she was towed toSt. George's, Bermuda and arrived after midnight. None of the 47 crew members were harmed due to the fire. In St. George's harbor her cargo hold fire was put out.
In June 1970, the ship ceased operation and was scrapped at Kaoshung,Taiwan shortly after.[2][15]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNaval History and Heritage Command.
