 Typical Victory Ship. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | SSDrexel Victory |
| Namesake | Drexel University inPhiladelphia |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration |
| Operator | Oliver J. Olson & Company |
| Builder | Permanente Metals,Richmond, California |
| Yard number | Richmond Shipyards #2 |
| Laid down | February 25, 1945 |
| Launched | April 7, 1945 |
| Acquired | May 2, 1945 |
| Fate | Sank on the Columbia Bar on January 20, 1947 |
| 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] |
TheSSDrexel Victory was aVictory-class cargo ship built duringWorld War II. The SSDrexel Victory (MCV-712), was a type VC2-S-AP2 victory ship built byPermanente Metals Corporation, Yard 2, ofRichmond, California under theEmergency Shipbuilding program. TheMaritime Administration cargo ship was the 744th victory ship. Her keel was laid on February 25, 1945. The ship was christened on May 2, 1945. The ship was named in honor ofDrexel University inPhiladelphia, one of 150 educational institutions that had Victory ships named after them.[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.
Drexel Victory had difficulty from the start, on May 2, 1945, the not yet complete SSDrexel Victory side-swiped thewaterfrontloading dock of the Ford plant as she was being moved bytugboats from Kaiser's Richmond shipyard no. 2. The damage stopped work at the Richmond Tank Depot as thegantry crane that served the Ford dock was damaged. As the gantry crane fell it damaged thebrick wall of theFord Motor Company Assembly Plant. The wall fell on an interior overhead crane. The falling debris damaged fivemilitary vehicles near the crane and wall.[3][4]
Drexel Victory did not see combat action as the war was near the end by the time she was completed. She was laid down on February 25, 1945, during the time World War II was still active in thePacific War. But, with thesurrender of Japan on 15 August 1945, she was not needed to help with the bloodyinvasion of Japan's mainland. She was operated byOliver J. Olson & Company as aUnited States Merchant Marine ship and helped bring supplies home and take supplies to help war-torn Pacific nations under theMarshall Plan.
On September 26, 1946, theDrexel Victory ran aground inTokyo Bay near Fort No. 2. TheSSProtector helped pull theDrexel Victory free.[5]
Drexel Victory departedPortland, Oregon, forYokohama,Japan on January 20, 1947. As part of Marshall Plan she was loaded with more than 5,000 tons ofgrain. As she streamed down theColumbia River, she struck theColumbia Bar hard and began breaking up between in her middle, between cargo holds 4 and 5. Captain Canute Rommerdahl was operating the ship for Olson & Company under the U.S. Maritime Commission. What theDrexel Victory hit is still a mystery as the charts for the area she hit recorded the channel at 57 feet deep.Drexel Victorywater line was only at a depth of 30 feet. But, shifting sand bars are known to happen anytime. A large swell could have put her on a bar. She may have struck a submergedshipwreck. She was refloated and towed to sea by theUSCGC Onondaga (WPG-79), but she sank 5 miles fromCape Disappointment due west of buoy #6. She lays at about 210 feet under the surface water at Latitude: 46.31232. Longitude: -124.1596. TheDrexel Victory was abandoned without loss of life in the fog and darkness. The US Coast Guard reported the ship sank at 3:35 am. The lifeboats were lowered, and the crew of 30 loaded boarded as the ship started to break up. The US Coast Guard picked up the crew 2 hours later with the shipUSCGC Triumph. The crew and lifeboats were found near the SSColumbia by a river pilot schooner. Columbia river pilots ship program started in 1846, to help ships safety cross the treacherous Columbia River Bar. The Liberty ship SSJoseph Gale picked up some of the crew before the US Coast Guard ship arrived.[6][7][8][9][10]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNaval History and Heritage Command.
