The SS ''Baton Rouge'' was a cargo

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by American shipyards during World War II. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slightly larger and had more powerful steam turbine engin ...

built during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. The ''Baton Rouge'' (MCV-846) was a type VC2-S-AP2 Victory ship built by Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyards. The

Maritime Administration Maritime administrations, or flag state administrations, are the executive arms/state bodies of each government responsible for carrying out the shipping responsibilities of the state, and are tasked to administer national shipping and boating issu ...

cargo ship was the 846rd ship built. Her keel was laid on June 21, 1945. She was launched on August 22, 1945, and completed on September 24, 1945. The 10,600-ton ship was constructed for the Maritime Commission. The American Export Line and later the

Isthmian Steamship Company The Isthmian Steamship Company was a shipping company founded by US Steel in 1910. Isthmian Steamship was the brainchild of US Steel President James A. Farrell, who had connections with the maritime industry through his father's trade as a ship ...

operated her under the

United States Merchant Marine The United States Merchant Marine is an organization composed of United States civilian sailor, mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of ...

act for the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

. Victory ships were designed to supersede the earlier

Liberty Ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

s. Unlike Liberty ships, Victory ships were designed to serve the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

after the war and also last longer. The Victory ship differed from a Liberty ship in that they were: faster, longer and wider, taller, and had a thinner stack set farther toward the

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 ...

. They also had a long raised

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck (ship), deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is t ...

World War II

Completed on September 24, 1945, the ''Baton Rouge'' did not operate during World War operations, as the surrender of Imperial Japan was announced on August 15, 1945. ''Baton Rouge'' transported cargo that was not delivered to the

East Coast of the United States The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, the Atlantic Coast, and the Atlantic Seaboard, is the region encompassing the coast, coastline where the Eastern United States meets the Atlantic Ocean; it has always pla ...

and

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

due to the shortage of ships during the war. In March, 1946 she docked at Newport, Rhode Island with 1,000,000 feet of Douglas fir and western hemlock lumber from Canada. Due to World War II there had been a shortage of lumber from Canada. On 29 November 1946 the SS ''Baton Rouge Victory'' collided in thick fog with the freighter SS ''Sea Centaur'' at the harbor near the San Pedro Breakwater, near the entrance to Los Angeles Harbor at night. Visibility was 150 feet that night. The ''Sea Centaur'', owned by the Matson Navigation Company, was inbound from San Francisco. The ''Sea Centaur'' had damage to her bow above the water line from the ramming of the Isthmian Steamship Company's ''Baton Rouge Victory''. ''Baton Rouge Victory'' had just steamed in from the

Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by ...

. The ''Baton Rouge Victory'' captain, J. A. Keerson, reported on the damage to the deck and flying bridge. After World War II, in 1947, she was laid up

James River The James River is a river in Virginia that begins in the Appalachian Mountains and flows from the confluence of the Cowpasture and Jackson Rivers in Botetourt County U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowli ...

in the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of Ship, ships of the United States, mostly Merchant ship, merchant vessels, that have been Reserve fleet, mothballed but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during nationa ...

Korean War

In 1950 she was reactivated for the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. She made eight trips to Korea between 6 March 1951 and 28 March 1952. She helped American forces engaged against

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

aggression in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. About 75% of the personnel taken to Korea for the Korean War came by merchant marine ships. SS ''Baton Rouge'' transported goods, mail, food and other supplies. About 90% of the cargo was moved by merchant marine ships to the war zone. After the Korean War she was laid up in 1952 at

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the e ...

reserve fleet.

Vietnam War

In 1966 it was reactivated for the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

and operated by the SS United States. The ship had departed the San Francisco Embarcadero on 28 July 1966 with a crew of 45, loaded with military trucks and tractors, automobiles, mail, and general cargo. On August 26, ''Baton Rouge Victory'' was attacked by two 2,400-pound limpet mines while proceeding along the

Lòng Tàu River Lòng Tàu River, () also known as Lòng Tảo is a river in the Southeast (Vietnam), Southeast of Vietnam. Description Long Tau River is a distributary of the Đồng Nai River, Đồng Nai river that runs through Cần Giờ district and feed ...

, about southeast of

Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...

. The explosions killed seven American civilian sailors on board and tore a hole in the ship's hull, forcing the captain to run the ship aground to avoid sinking and blocking the shipping channel. The number 3 cargo hold flooded quickly. The ship was refloated on 30 August 1966 with the assistance of

Harbor Clearance Unit One Harbor Clearance Unit One, a United States Navy unit, was commissioned in February 1966 with the mission "....to provide salvage repair; diving and rescue services in rivers and restricted waters and to conduct harbor and river clearance operations ...

and towed to

Vũng Tàu Vũng Tàu (''Hanoi accent:'' , ''Saigon accent:'' ) is an important port city in southern Vietnam. It serves as the maritime port of Ho Chi Minh City, the largest city in Vietnam. Vũng Tàu covers of area and consists of 16 urban wards and on ...

. In 1967 the ship was scrapped at Hualien, Formosa, now called

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

Memorial and honors

The seven American civilian merchant Seamen killed in Vietnam are remembered on the Vietnam Service, American Merchant Seamen Memorial in San Francisco. The attack on the SS ''Baton Rouge Victory'' was largest single loss of life due to enemy action for merchant mariners in the Vietnam War.usdot, On Memorial Day, DOT honors fallen Merchant Mariners, May 29, 2012
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References

Sources