 Typical Victory Ship. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | SSGainesville Victory |
| Namesake | Gainesville, Florida |
| Owner | War Shipping Administration |
| Operator | Seas Shipping Company |
| Builder | California Shipbuilding Company,Los Angeles |
| Laid down | April 11, 1944 |
| Launched | June 9, 1944 |
| Completed | July 22, 1944 |
| Identification | IMO number: 5125336 |
| Fate | 1994 scrapped Alang, India |
| 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) |
| Draft | 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] |
TheSSGainesville Victory was the 22ndVictory ship built duringWorld War II under theEmergency Shipbuilding program. She was launched by theCalifornia Shipbuilding Company on June 9, 1944, and completed on July 22, 1944. The ship’sUnited States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3, hull number 22 (V-22). She was operated by theSeas Shipping Company. SSGainesville Victory served in thePacific Ocean during World War II. SSGainesville Victory was number one of the new 10,500-ton class of ships, known as Victory ships. Victory ships were designed to replace the earlierLiberty Ships. Liberty ships were designed to be used just for WW2, while Victory ships were designed to last longer and serve the US Navy after the war. The Victory ships differed from the Liberty ships in that they were faster, longer, wider, taller, had a thinner stack set farther toward thesuperstructure, and had a long raisedforecastle.
SSGainesville Victory waschristened by Mrs. Margaret Mansuy ofLong Beach, California, the wife of Calshlp's acting comptroller, Frank Mansuy.[2]
Gainesville Victory steamed into the Pacific to bring supplies to thePacific War troops. She took supplies for theLiberation of The Philippines and theBattle of Leyte from April 1 until April 6, 1945.
From 1945 to 1947 theUnited Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and the Brethren Service Committee of theChurch of the Brethren sentlivestock to war-torn countries.In 1942, theChurch of the Brethren started a program called,Heifers for Relief project, which in 1953 becameHeifer International.[3] The SSGainesville Victory was one of the ships, known as acowboy ships, as she moved livestock across the Atlantic Ocean. TheGainesville Victory movedhorses,heifers,mules,chicks,rabbits, andgoats. In February 1946, she arrived inGermany with livestock. This relief effort was also part of theMarshall Plan.[4][5][6][7] She made three relief trips toPoland in 1946 and one trip toCzechoslovakia.[8]
After the war and war relief in 1948, theGainesville Victory was laid up inBeaumont, Texas, in theNational Defense Reserve Fleet. A new war was starting in theFar East so she was then removed from theReserve Fleet.
SSGainesville Victory served as merchant marine ship supplying goods for theKorean War. About 75 percent of the personnel taking toKorea for the Korean War came by the merchant marine ship. SSGainesville Victory transported goods, mail, food and other supplies. About 90 percent of the cargo was moved by merchant marine naval to the war zone. SSGainesville Victory made trips between 18 November 1950 and 23 December 1952, helping American forces engaged againstCommunist aggression inSouth Korea.Gainesville Victory made eighteen trips to Korea.Gainesville Victory participated in theHungnam redeployment and took supplies toPusan.[9][10][11]
Gainesville Victory was reactivated again as part of the buildup of naval forces for theVietnam War. She was operated by theStates Marine Line as aUnited States Merchant Marine ship. On August 1, 1965 theGainesville Victory was removed from the National Defense Reserve Fleet at theJames River. She was moved to theNorfolk, Virginia, and dry-docked for repair.[12] In 1967, she was operated by the States Marine Lines. On 1 February 1966, while returning from Vietnam, theGainesville Victory came to the aid of a distress call northwest of theHawaiian Islands. The seas were stormy, and the SSRockport, a Liberian-registry freighter, was foundering. While firing a rescue line to theRockport, one of theGainesville Victory crew were hurt. TheUSNSGeneral Walker also came to help in the rescue. All 27 men on theRockport were removed from the sinking ship.[13][14][15]
In 1994,Gainesville Victory was scrapped atAlang, India.[16]
