SS ''Claymont Victory'' was a type

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 ...

-based VC2-S-AP2

troop transport Troop transport may be: * Troopship * Military Railway Service (United States) * Military transport aircraft A military transport aircraft, military cargo aircraft or airlifter is a military aircraft, military-owned transport aircraft used ...

built for the U.S. Army Transportation Corps late in

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 ...

. Launched in November 1944, it saw service in the

European Theater of Operations The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a Theater (warfare), theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It command ...

during 1945 and in the immediate post-war period repatriating U.S. troops. After being briefly laid up in the U.S. ''Claymont Victory'' was purchased by Vereenigde Nederlandsche Scheepvaartmaatschapppij of the Netherlands and renamed ''Mariekerk''. In 1966 she was sold to Kavo Compañia Naviera S.A., of Greece and renamed ''Kavo Longos''. She was scrapped at

Whampoa Dock Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock was a Hong Kong dockyard, once among the largest in Asia. History The Hong Kong and Whampoa Dock Company was founded in 1866 by Douglas Lapraik and Thomas Sutherland. It was located on the west Kowloon coast betwee ...

, Hong Kong, in 1971.

History

Construction and operation

SS ''Claymont Victory'' was laid down on September 25, 1944, as a U.S. MARCOM

Type C2 ship Type C2 ships were designed by the United States Maritime Commission (MARCOM) in 1937–38. They were all-purpose cargo ships with five holds, and U.S. shipyards built 328 of them from 1939 to 1945. Compared to ships built before 1939, the C2s we ...

-based VC2-S-AP2 hull by

Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard The Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard of Baltimore, Maryland, was a shipyard in the United States from 1941 until 1945. Located on the south shore of the Middle Branch of the Patapsco River which serves as the Baltimore Harbor, it was owned by the Be ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the List of United States ...

. Launched on November 18, 1944, she was then converted into a dedicated troopship, and delivered on December 15, 1944. She was operated on behalf of USAT by

Eastern Steamship Lines Eastern Steamship Lines was a shipping company in the United States that operated from 1901 to 1955. It was created through successive mergers by Wall Street financier and speculator Charles W. Morse.Robert F. Bruner and Sean D. Carr, ''The Panic ...

World War II

As a transport allocated to the U.S. Army USAT ''Claymont Victory'' was crewed by

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 ...

s, protected by a contingent of the US

Naval Armed Guard The United States Navy Armed Guard was a force of United States Navy gunners and related personnel established during World War II to protect U.S. merchant shipping from enemy attack.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merch ...

s, and had a complement of the US Army Transportation Corps (Water Division) aboard for troop administration. She was armed with a 5 inch (127 mm) stern gun for use against submarines and surface ships, a bow-mounted

3"/50 caliber gun The 3-inch/50-caliber gun (spoken "three-inch fifty-caliber") in United States naval gun terminology indicates the gun fired a projectile in diameter, and the barrel was 50 Caliber (artillery), calibers long (barrel length is 3 in × 50 = ). ...

and eight

20 mm cannon 20 mm caliber is a specific size of popular autocannon ammunition. The dividing line between smaller-caliber weapons, commonly called "guns", from larger-caliber "cannons" (e.g. machine gun vs. autocannon), is conventionally taken to be the 20 m ...

for use against aircraft.

Units transported

Units transported by the SS ''Claymont Victory'' include: * 289th Engineer Combat Battalion, which departed

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

, Belgium August 14, 1945, for deployment to the

Pacific Theater 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 the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

in preparation for the

invasion of Japan An invasion is a military offensive of combatants of one geopolitical entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory controlled by another similar entity, often involving acts of aggression. Generally, invasions have objectives o ...

. The ''Claymont Victory'' was abreast the

White Cliffs of Dover The White Cliffs of Dover are the region of English coastline facing the Strait of Dover and France. The cliff face, which reaches a height of , owes its striking appearance to its composition of chalk accented by streaks of black flint, depo ...

in the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

when the announcement of the Japanese surrender on

VJ Day Victory over Japan Day (also known as V-J Day, Victory in the Pacific Day, or V-P Day) is the day on which Imperial Japan surrendered in World War II, in effect bringing the war to an end. The term has been applied to both of the days on wh ...

, August 15, was broadcast to all aboard. The transport was then re-routed to the United States, and arrived at

Boston Port of Embarkation The Boston Port of Embarkation (BPOE) was a United States Army command responsible for the movement of troops and supplies from the United States to overseas commands. In World War I it was a sub-port of the New York Port of Embarkation. During ...

on August 28. * 1269th Engineer Combat Battalion, August 1945.

Post-war

After being briefly laid up in the U.S., SS ''Claymont Victory'' was purchased in 1947 by Vereenigde Nederlandsche Scheepvaartmaatschapppij (the United Netherlands Navigation Company) of The Hague and renamed ''Mariekerk''. In 1966 she was sold to Kavo Compañia Naviera S.A. of Greece, and registered in

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

as ''Kavo Longos''. In 1971 she was scrapped at

, Hong Kong.

References