SS ''Bates Victory'' was a

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

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 slight ...

named after

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

in Maine. The ship was a standard Victory cargo type VC2-S-AP2 constructed by the California Shipbuilding Corporation, in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

for the

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 ...

(MC).

World War II

Her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid down on March 9, 1945. She was launched and christened as ''Bates Victory'' in Los Angeles Harbor at midnight on May 2, 1945. The ship was completed and 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 Co ...

(WSA) on May 26, 1945. The

General Steamship Corporation General Steamship Company was founded in 1920 in Houston, Texas, as a Private Company, and now goes by Gensteam since 1996. General Steamship Company has a fleet of cargo ships that operate worldwide. Gensteam has a ''Gensteam Operations Desk'' w ...

operated the ship under agreement with WSA until July 3, 1946. At that time the wartime operating agreement with General Steamship was changed to a bareboat charter to American Export Lines, first by WSA and when that organization was abolished after the war under MC auspices. On March 17, 1948, the ship was turned over under MC agreement to A. L. Burbank & Company and she laid up 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"; a ...

in the

Hudson River Reserve Fleet The Hudson River Reserve Fleet, formally the Hudson River National Defense Reserve Fleet and popularly the Mothball Fleet, was established by act of Congress in 1946 as a component of the National Defense Reserve Fleet. It was first located off T ...

Korean War

In support of the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

, the ''Bates Victory'' was brought out of the fleet in September 1950 and sold to Isbrandtsen Line on December 18, 1950.MARAD shows title to the ship passed at Jersey City, N.J. on December 10, 1950. The ship was renamed ''Remsen Heights'' and in 1964 Isbrandtsen merged with

American Export Lines American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, New York, was the leading US-flag shipping company between the U.S. east coast and the Mediterranean from 1919 to 1977, offering both cargo ship and passenger ship services, until it declared bankruptcy and was ...

to become

American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines American Export-Isbrandtsen Lines, New York, was the leading US-flag shipping company between the U.S. east coast and the Mediterranean from 1919 to 1977, offering both cargo ship and passenger ship services, until it declared bankruptcy and was ...

. On November 21, 1968, the ship was sold to Valmar Shipping Agency, New York, and renamed ''Eastern Star''. ''Eastern Star'' was sold to the Panamanian company Cia Comercial Transatlantica S.A., Panama and changed her

flag A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design empl ...

to Panamanian registry as ''Philomila''. In 1971 The ship was scrapped in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

in 1971.

Footnotes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bates Victory Victory ships Ships built in Los Angeles United States Merchant Marine 1945 ships World War II merchant ships of the United States Bates College