SS ''Cuba Victory'' was built and operated as

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 ...

class cargo ship which operated as a cargo carrier in

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 ...

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: ...

and

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

Construction

''Cuba Victory'' was laid down under

U.S. 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 ...

contract by

Permanente Metals Corporation Permanente Metals Corporation (PMC) is best known for having managed the Richmond Shipyards in Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was municipal corporation, incorpor ...

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a ...

, California on 31 March 1944, 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 on 27 June 1944 and was delivered to 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 ...

(WSA) on 19 August 1944. The SS ''Cuba Victory'' was used near the end of

. 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 P No. 1 (530), Victory #530. The Maritime Commission turned her over to a civilian contractor for operation. 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 WW2. Victory ships were designed to last longer and serve the US Navy after the war. The Victory ship differed from a Liberty ship in that they were: faster, longer and wider, taller, with 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 ...

World War II

During World War II ''Cuba Victory'' operated as a merchantman and was chartered to the Mississippi Shipping Company. With a civilian crew and

United States Navy Armed Guard United States Navy Armed Guard units were established during World War II and headquartered in New Orleans.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 2 ...

to man the ship guns. SS ''Cuba 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 ...

in World War II as part of the Pacific War. SS ''Cuba Victory'' Naval Armed Guard crews earned "Battle Stars" in World War II for the assault occupation of

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. ''Cuba Victory'' used its guns to defend herself and other ships at Okinawa. Three Victory ships at Okinawa sank:

SS Canada Victory The SS ''Canada Victory'' was one of 531 Victory ships built during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. She was launched by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation on January 12, 1944, and was completed on February 28, 1944. The s ...

SS Logan Victory SS ''Logan Victory'' was a cargo Victory ship built for World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. The ''Logan Victory'' was launched January 16, 1945, by Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California and completed on February 6 ...

and

SS Hobbs Victory 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, Richmond, California and completed on January ...

. ''Cuba Victory'' and other ships were attached April 27, 1945, in 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 ...

. On 12 May 1945 at night in fog on her way back home, the ''Cuba Victory'', about a 100 miles from the remote

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 ...

base at

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 ...

, collided with the

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 ...

SS ''Saginaw Victory''. The damage to both ships was substantial. The two ships went to the

Truk Island Chuuk Lagoon, previously Truk Atoll, is an atoll in the central Pacific. It lies about northeast of New Guinea, and is part of Chuuk State within the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). A protective reef, around, encloses a natural harbou ...

(now called Chuuk Lagoon) to have the damages checked. An escort ship took the two ships back to Ulithi. The ''Cuba Victory'' was repaired and put back into service.

Post World War II

Many wanting to escape the war damaged Europe and find new opportunities to work traveled to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

after World War II. The ''Cuba Victory'' made two trips from Europe to the

Port of Buenos Aires The Port of Buenos Aires ( es, Puerto de Buenos Aires) is the principal maritime port in Argentina. Operated by the ''Administración General de Puertos'' (General Ports Administration), a state enterprise, it is the leading transshipment point f ...

, Argentina. ''Cuba Victory'' docked at the port on 29 August 1946 and again on 4 January 1947 with new immigrants. After the war in 1948 the ''Cuba Victory'' was laid up at

Beaumont, Texas Beaumont is a coastal city in the U.S. state of Texas. It is the seat of government of Jefferson County, within the Beaumont– Port Arthur metropolitan statistical area, located in Southeast Texas on the Neches River about east of Houston ( ...

, in the

reserve fleet A reserve fleet is a collection of naval vessels of all types that are fully equipped for service but are not currently needed; they are partially or fully decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothballs" or "mothballed"; ...

there.

Korean War

For the Korean War the ''Cuba Victory'' was removed from the reserve fleet and put back in service. She was operated by the

Moore-McCormack The Moore-McCormack Lines was a series of companies operating as shipping lines, operated by the Moore-McCormack Company, Incorporated, later Moore-McCormack Lines, Incorporated, and simply Mooremack, founded in 1913 in New York City. It ceased tr ...

cargo line. SS ''Cuba Victory'' served as merchant marine naval ship supplying goods for the

. About 75 percent of the personnel taken 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 ...

for the Korean War came by the merchant marine ships. The SS ''Cuba Victory'' transported goods, mail, food and other supplies. About 90 percent of the cargo was moved by merchant marine naval to the Korean war zone. SS ''Cuba Victory'' made trips between 1950 and 1952 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 ...

. After the war she was returned to the reserve fleet.

Vietnam War

In 1966 the ''Cuba Victory'' was reactivated for the Vietnam War. On 24 May 1868 while unloading ammunition at Cat Lai in upper part of the

Saigon River The Saigon River ( vi, Sông Sài Gòn) is a river located in southern Vietnam that rises near Phum Daung in southeastern Cambodia, flows south and south-southeast for about and empties into the Soài Rạp, which in its turn empties into the ...

in the Nhà Bè District, she was hit by a Viet Cong artillery shell and suffered significant damage. The attack killed three

dockworker A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...

s and two

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...

crew. The USS ''Mataco'' (AT-86) a Navajo-class fleet tug towed her down the river. ''Cuba Victory'' returned to Beaumont reserve fleet. In The 1985 ''Cuba Victory'' was scrapped in Brownsville, Texas. SS Cuba Victory
/ref>

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:Cuba Victory Ships built in Richmond, California 1944 ships World War II merchant ships of the United States Victory ships