The SS ''Bluefield Victory'' was the 16th

Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were slig ...

built during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

under the

Emergency Shipbuilding program The Emergency Shipbuilding Program (late 1940 – September 1945) was a United States government effort to quickly build simple cargo ships to carry troops and materiel to allies and foreign theatres during World War II. Run by the U.S. Maritime ...

. She was launched by the California Shipbuilding Company on May 9, 1944, and completed on June 30, 1944. The ship’s

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, which was passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and was abolished on May 24, 195 ...

designation was VC2- S- AP3, hull number 15 (V-15). SS ''Bluefield Victory'' served in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...

during World War II and was operated by the

Mississippi Shipping Company Mississippi Shipping Company (also called Delta Line) of New Orleans, Louisiana was a Passenger ship, passenger and cargo ship, cargo steamship company founded in 1919. In 1961 officially changed its name to the Delta Line. The Mississippi Shipp ...

. The 10,500-ton Victory ships were designed to replace 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. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost constr ...

s. Liberty ships were designed to be used just for World War II. Victory ships were designed to last longer and serve the

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

after the war. The Victory ship differed from a Liberty ship in that they were: faster, longer and wider, taller, 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 ...

, and had a long raised

forecastle The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper 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 the phrase " b ...

Christened

SS ''Bluefield Victory'' was christened by Mrs. Monroe Jackson of

Oakland, California Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. The SS ''Bluefield Victory'' was launched into the waters of

Wilmington, Los Angeles Wilmington is a neighborhood in the Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, covering . Featuring a heavy concentration of industry and the third-largest oil field in the continental United States, this neighborhood has a high percentage of L ...

. She was part of a group of 218 Victory Ships were named for American cities. SS ''Bluefield Victory'' took part in the

Battle of Leyte A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

from June 1944 to January 1945.

World War II

SS ''Bluefield Victory'' steamed into the Pacific to bring supplies to the Pacific War troops. On October 20, 1944, the SS ''Bluefield Victory'' had the dangerous job of delivering

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 weapo ...

for troops. The ammunition was for the US Central Philippine Attack Force. ''Bluefield Victory'' downed a plane on December 11, 1944 and had a bomb miss her by about 50 feet. She was in a

convoy A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be use ...

of ships that anchored at

Naval Base Kossol Roads Palau on the globe, Kossol Roads is at the north end of islands in redNaval Base 1944–1945 Naval Base Kossol Roads also called Naval Base Kossol Passage was major United States Navy base at Kossol Roads in northern Palau in the western Ca ...

in October 1944. Because of her dangerous cargo, she stayed in Kossol Roads away from the main fleet until called on to deliver supplies. The convoy included:

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: ''Meridian Victory, SS Iran Victory, SS Bluefield Victory'' and ''Kishwaukee''. It was escorted by the

destroyer escort Destroyer escort (DE) was the United States Navy mid-20th-century classification for a warship designed with the endurance necessary to escort mid-ocean convoys of merchant marine ships. Development of the destroyer escort was promoted by ...

s: '' Lovelace, Neuendorf, Thomason'', under the command of Comcortdiv Thirty-Seven. She supplied the destroyer

USS Fletcher (DD-445) USS ''Fletcher'' (DD/DDE-445), named for Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher, was the lead , and served in the Pacific during World War II. She received fifteen battle stars for World War II service, and five for Korean War service. ''Fletcher'' was ...

with ammunition on February 20, 1945, at

Mangarin Bay Mangarin Bay is a bay of the South China Sea, on the west coast of Mindoro island, in Occidental Mindoro Province of the Philippines. The bay is shoal, and sheltered from the wind by Mangarin Point to the east and by Ilin Island. Magarin Point ...

In March 1945 the SS ''Bluefield Victory'' anchored at the

Ulithi Ulithi ( yap, Wulthiy, , or ) is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about east of Yap. Overview Ulithi consists of 40 islets totaling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest ...

atoll and supplied ammunition to a number of ships at the

Leyte-Samar Naval Base Leyte-Samar Naval Base was a large United States Navy base in the Philippines on the Islands of Leyte and Samar. The Base was built during World War II to support the many naval ships fighting and patrolling in the South West Pacific theatre of ...

for the

and other actions.

Post-war

In 1948 the SS ''Bluefield Victory'' was laid up in the

National Defense Reserve Fleet The National Defense Reserve Fleet (NDRF) consists of ships of the United States of America, mostly merchant vessels, that have been "mothballed" but can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping during national military emergencies ...

at Mobile, Alabama. In 1950 she was reactivated to take supplies to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republi ...

Korean War

SS ''Bluefield Victory'' (V-4377, ID 246004) served as Merchant Marine Naval ship supplying goods for the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

. She made nine trips to

. She help move the 140th Medium Tank Battalion. About 75 percent of the personnel taken to Korea for the Korean War came by the Merchant Marine Ships. SS ''Bluefield Victory'' transported goods, mail, food and other supplies. About 90 percent of the cargo was moved by Merchant Marine Naval to the Korea War Zone. SS ''Bluefield Victory'' made trips between the US and Korea helping American forces engaged against

Communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

aggression in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

Private cargo service

In 1951 she was sold to the Pacific Far East Line of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

. and was renamed the SS ''Alaska Bear''. In 1957 she was sold to the Trans-Pacific Company of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

and kept her name. On June 7, 1957, the SS ''Alaska Bear'' ran aground and was taking on water near the entrance to

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

Bay. The

USS Current USS Current (ARS-22) was a ''Diver''-class rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels. ''Current'' (ARS-22) was launched 25 September 1943 by Basalt Rock Compan ...

, a

rescue and salvage ship Rescue and salvage ships (hull classification symbol ARS) are a type of military salvage tug. They are tasked with coming to the aid of stricken vessels. Their general mission capabilities include combat salvage, lifting, towing, retraction of gro ...

came to her aid, and pumped water out of flooded cargo holds. They unload the cargo and then towed the ''Alaska Bear'' to deeper water. The USS Current worked on her for days. Then towed her to the

Port of Yokosuka The lies to the south of the Port of Yokohama on Tokyo Bay. Under the Ports and Harbors Law of Japan it is classified as an Important Port. The city of Yokosuka administers the port. The Port of Yokosuka has 100 berths of length 4.5 m or ...

Yokohama is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

, Japan on June 21, 1957. In 1960 she was sold and kept her name to the Long Island Tankers Corporation of

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington (Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christin ...

In 1962 she was sold back to the Pacific Far East Line of San Francisco and kept her name. In 1969 she was sold to the Columbia Steamship Company of San Francisco and renamed the SS ''Columbia Wolf''. In 1970 she was towed to

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and

scrapped Scrap consists of recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap has monetary value, especially recovered me ...

.Mariners, The Website Of The Mariners Mailing List., Victory Ships

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:Bluefield Victory, SS Victory ships Ships built in Los Angeles Merchant ships of the United States 1944 ships World War II merchant ships of the United States