SS ''Dalton Victory'' was built as

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 ...

used as a

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

for

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 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. Maritim ...

. She was launched by the

California Shipbuilding Company __NOTOC__ California Shipbuilding Corporation built 467 Liberty and Victory ships during World War II, including ''Haskell''-class attack transports. California Shipbuilding Corporation was often referred to as Calship. History In 1916 the ' ...

on 6 June 1944 and completed on 19 July 1944 as a ''Greenville Victory''-class cargo ship. The ship’s

United States Maritime Commission The United States Maritime Commission 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, 1950. The co ...

designation was VC2- S- AP3, hull number 21. She was acquired by the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...

in 1950 and renamed the USNS ''Dalton Victory'' (T-AK-256). In 1960 she was renamed USNS ''Sunnyvale'' (T-AGM-5) and rebuilt and placed in service as a

missile range instrumentation ship A tracking ship, also called a missile range instrumentation ship or range ship, is a ship equipped with antennas and electronics to support the launching and tracking of missiles and rockets. Since many missile ranges launch over ocean areas for ...

, and assigned to the Pacific Missile Range, where she performed missile tracking duties.

Constructed in Los Angeles, California

''Dalton Victory'' (T-AK-256) was built by

California Shipbuilding Corporation __NOTOC__ California Shipbuilding Corporation built 467 Liberty and Victory ships during World War II, including ''Haskell''-class attack transports. California Shipbuilding Corporation was often referred to as Calship. History In 1916 the ' ...

, Los Angeles, California, and was completed in 1944.

World War II

SS ''Dalton Victory'' served in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

in World War II. She was a

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 ...

ship. She was operated by Sudden & Christenson Inc from 19 July 1944 to 27 May 1946. On 27 May 1946, her operations was transferred to the Moore McCormack Lines, Inc till 3 October 1947. As a Merchant Marine ship she had a Merchant Marine crew and a

United States Navy 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. Merc ...

to man the

deck gun A deck gun is a type of naval artillery mounted on the deck of a submarine. Most submarine deck guns were open, with or without a shield; however, a few larger submarines placed these guns in a turret. The main deck gun was a dual-purpose w ...

s. ''Dalton Victory'' had enemy attacks from the air, subs and ships. She was placed 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 ...

in the

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 ...

on 3 October 1947. One 2 April 1948, she was removed from 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 Ship decommissioning, decommissioned. A reserve fleet is informally said to be "in mothba ...

and put under the US Army Transportation Service. During the War the SS ''Dalton Victory'' too supplies to Pacific War. She was at the

Battle of Leyte The Battle of Leyte (; ; ) in the Pacific campaign of World War II was the amphibious invasion of the island of Leyte in the Philippines by American forces and Filipino guerrillas under the overall command of General Douglas MacArthur, who fou ...

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa Island, Okinawa by United States Army and United States Marine Corps forces against the Imperial Japanese Army during the Pacific War, Impe ...

and

Battle of Iwo Jima The was a major battle in which the United States Marine Corps (USMC) and United States Navy (USN) landed on and eventually captured the island of Iwo Jima from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) during World War II. The American invasion, desi ...

. During and after the war she had the difficult task of returning the bodies of fallen troops back to the US.

Acquired by MSTS as a cargo ship

''Dalton Victory'' was acquired by the Navy and assigned to the

Military Sea Transportation Service The Military Sealift Command (MSC) is an organization that controls the replenishment and military transport ships of the United States Navy. Military Sealift Command has the responsibility for providing sealift and ocean transportation for all U ...

(MSTS) as a ''Greenville Victory''-class cargo ship in a noncommissioned status on 9 August 1950. SS ''Dalton Victory'' served as cargo ship supplying goods 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 ...

. SS ''Dalton Victory'' transported goods, mail, food and other supplies, making trips between the US and Korea.Small United States and United Nations Warships in the Korean War, By Paul M. Edwards

Assigned as a missile tracking ship

On 27 October 1960 ''Dalton Victory'' was reconfigured as a

and renamed USNS ''Sunnyvale'' (T-AGM-5). USNS ''Sunnyvale'' carried out a multitude of duties in the Pacific Ocean through 1962, including operations in support of the Pacific Missile Range,

Point Mugu Point Mugu (, Chumash: ''Muwu'') is a cape or promontory within Point Mugu State Park on the Pacific Coast in Ventura County, near the city of Port Hueneme and the city of Oxnard. The name is believed to be derived from the Chumash India ...

, California. Two other ships were reconfigured in to this new class, ''Longview-class missile range instrumentation ship'', the '' USNS Private Joe E. Mann (T-AK-253)'' and the ''

USNS Longview (T-AGM-3) SS ''Haiti Victory'' (T-AGM-238) was originally built and operated as Greenville class cargo Victory ship which operated as a cargo carrier in both the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean during World War II . In 1960 she was renamed USNS ''L ...

''.

Inactivation

''Sunnyvale'' was placed out of service at an unknown date, and was struck from the

Navy List A Navy Directory, Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval authorities of a co ...

on 15 December 1974. She was disposed of by the U.S. Maritime Administration on 17 July 1975.

In arts and popular culture

* ''Sunnyvale'' appears in Season 5 Episode 1 of the television crime drama ''

The Streets of San Francisco ''The Streets of San Francisco'' is an American television crime drama filmed on location in San Francisco and produced by Quinn Martin, with the first season produced in association with Warner Bros. Television (QM produced the show on its ow ...

'' at about 24'05". The episode is titled "The Thrill Killers: Part 1" and it aired on 30 September 1976 in the US, according to ''

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''.

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton Victory (T-AK-256) Victory ships Ships built in Los Angeles 1944 ships World War II merchant ships of the United States Ships of the United States Army Greenville Victory-class cargo ships Missile range instrumentation ships of the United States Navy

Sunnyvale Sunnyvale () is a city located in the Santa Clara Valley in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States. Sunnyvale lies along the historic El Camino Real and Highway 101 and is bordered by portions of San Jose to the north, ...

Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States Dalton, Georgia