SS ''Hobbs Victory'' was a cargo Victory ship built for World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. ''Hobbs Victory'', was launched on January 9, 1945 by

Permanente Metals Corporation Permanente Metals Corporation (PMC) is best known for having managed the Richmond Shipyards in Richmond, California, owned by one of industrialist Henry J. Kaiser's many corporations, and also engaged in related corporate activities. These four ...

Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a Richmond, California City Council, city council.

and completed on January 9, 1945. She was built in just 87 days. She was operated by the Sudden & Christenson for the United States Maritime Commission.

Service history

SS ''Hobbs Victory'' steamed from San Francisco, California in 1945 to join the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, stopping at Ulithi Atoll on her way to Okinawa. ''Hobbs Victory'' had the job of delivering 6,000 pounds of

ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

for troops in the Pacific during World War II.

Okinawa, kamikaze strike

''Hobbs Victory'' loaded with 6,000 pounds of ammunition and steamed to Okinawa for the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

, from 1 to 6 April 1945. On April 6, 1945, she was anchored off Kuba Island, just off

Tokashiki Island is the largest of the Kerama Islands, a group of Japanese islands southwest of Okinawa in the Pacific Ocean. The island is administered as the village of Tokashiki in Shimajiri District, Okinawa Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa ...

and Aka Island near Okinawa, part of Naval Base Okinawa. , that was near ''Hobbs Victory'', also loaded with 6,000 pounds of ammunition, was hit and sunk by a kamikaze that struck her

superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...

. ''Hobbs Victory'' steamed away from ''Logan Victory,'' at 15 knots. A second kamikaze struck ''Hobbs Victory'' at 6:50 pm, port side near #4 lifeboat on the boat deck. It spread flames that exploded the port boiler, stopping the engine. Some lifeboats were lowered into the sea and the order to abandon ship was given. Due to the flames, some jumped

overboard Overboard may refer to: * Man overboard, a situation where a person goes over the side of a ship or boat into the water, possibly needing rescue * ''Overboard'' (1987 film), a 1987 movie starring Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell * ''Overboard'' (2018 f ...

into the sea.

Ammunition explodes in cargo hold

A US Navy fireboat fought the flames, but the next morning there was a large ammunition explosion in her cargo and she sank at . In the plane attack and fire 12 of the crew were killed, 11 of the civilian crew and one armed guard. The US Navy minesweeper rescued the survivors of ''Hobbs Victory'' and later transferred them to the attack transport . In an earlier attack off Kuba Island the Landing Ship, Tank also sank. was able to shoot down one plane and move away from the burning ships. All these

ammunition ship An ammunition ship is an auxiliary ship specially configured to carry ammunition, usually for naval ships and aircraft. An ammunition ship's cargo handling systems, designed with extreme safety in mind, include ammunition hoists with airlocks bet ...

s: ''Hobbs Victory'', ''Logan Victory'', ''Pierre Victory'' and ''LST-447'' were firing their deck guns and were able to stop some of the kamikaze planes attacking. The Victory ships used their 3"/50 caliber guns, 20 mm Oerlikon cannons, and at longer range, 5 inch guns. The LST also had 20 mm Oerlikon cannons to use against the attackers. These ships with over 18,000 pounds of ammunition were anchored off Kuba Island, so they would not be anchored next to the other fleet ships at Okinawa. They were called in as needed to resupply the fleet and shore troops with ammunition. SS ''Canada Victory'' also sank at Okinawa on April 27, 1945. The loss of the three Victory ships ''Logan Victory'', ''Hobbs Victory'' and ''Canada Victory'', each sunk by kamikaze attacks during the invasion of Okinawa, severely hurt the combat forces during the invasion of Okinawa. The Victory ships were carrying a total of 24,000 tons (54 million pounds) of ammunition. This including most of the 81 mm mortar shells needed for the invasion. The ammunition ship arrived April 12, 1945 at Okinawa to replace the ammunition lost on ''Hobbs Victory'', ''Logan Victory'' and ''Canada Victory''. More ammunition ships were not needed, as the war came to an end without the invasion of Japan, called

Operation Downfall Operation Downfall was the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of the Japanese home islands near the end of World War II. The planned operation was canceled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, th ...

. The other ammunition ship at Okinawa was the SS ''Berea Victory''. ''Hobbs Victory'' was one of forty-seven ships sunk by kamikaze attack during World War II.

Honors

Crew of naval armed guard on SS ''Hobbs Victory'' earned " Battle Stars" in World War II for war action during the assault occupation of Okinawa on 6 April 1945. She used her deck guns to defend herself and other ships."Battle Stars" in World War II.
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References

Sources

* Sawyer, L.A. and W.H. Mitchell. ''Victory ships and tankers: The history of the ‘Victory’ type cargo ships and of the tankers built in the United States of America during World War II'', Cornell Maritime Press, 1974, 0-87033-182-5. * United States Maritime Commission

* Victory Cargo Ship

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobbs Victory, SS Victory ships Ships built in Richmond, California 1945 ships World War II merchant ships of the United States Ships sunk by kamikaze attack Ammunition ships of the United States Navy

Service history

Okinawa, kamikaze strike

Ammunition explodes in cargo hold

Honors

See also

References

Sources