SS ''Navajo Victory'' was 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 seas and oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. Cargo ships are usu ...

built during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. It was completed by the California Shipbuilding Company on June 30, 1944 and served in the Pacific during World War II. Victory Ship class vessels were designed to replace the Liberty Ship class. Victory Ships were designed to last longer and to serve the US Navy after the war. The Victory Ships were faster, longer, wider, and taller than the Liberty ships, and they 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 ...

as well as a long raised forecastle.

Launch

''Navajo Victory'' was christened by Mrs. Tom Price, wife of the general manager of Kaiser Shipyards; the matron of honor was Mrs. Frank Backman. ''Navajo Victory'' was the 15th Victory Ship built by the California Shipbuilding Corporation, it was one of 218 Victory Ships named after cities in the United States.

World War II

''Navajo Victory'' conducted supply operations in the Pacific Ocean throughout the war under the operation of the Luckenbach Line. On October 18, 1944, it entered Palau with another cargo ship, ''Sea Pike'', escorted by a Marshall Islands-based destroyer, , for protection. On November 29, 1944, ''Navajo Victory'' and ''Sea Pike'' delivered troops and supplies from

Ewa Villages, Hawaii Ewa or EWA may refer to: Places ; Ethiopia * Ewa (woreda) ; Nauru * Ewa District, Nauru ; United States * Eastern Washington, the portion of the state of Washington east of the Cascade Range * ʻEwa Beach, Hawaii, a census-designated place * E ...

, to Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323. ''Navajo Victory'' also delivered supplies for the

liberation of The Philippines Liberation or liberate may refer to: Film and television * ''Liberation'' (film series), a 1970–1971 series about the Great Patriotic War * "Liberation" (''The Flash''), a TV episode * "Liberation" (''K-9''), an episode Gaming * '' Liberati ...

, and for the , an American tank landing ship. On December 29, 1944, it supplied fleet ships at Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island. On January 16, 1945, it unloaded troop rations at New Guinea for the troops stationed there. It prepared for

Operation Downfall Operation Downfall was the proposed Allied plan for the invasion of the Japanese home islands near the end of World War II. The planned operation was canceled when Japan surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, th ...

, the invasion of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, from June 26 to August 15, 1945, with exercises at Leyte. The training exercises were halted after the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

on August 15.

Postwar

From 1946 to 1949, ''Navajo Victory'' was a relief ship, a fleet supply ship and as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet in

Astoria, Oregon Astoria is a port city and the seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Founded in 1811, Astoria is the oldest city in the state and was the first permanent American settlement west of the Rocky Mountains. The county is the northwest corne ...

Korean War

''Navajo Victory'' served as a United States Merchant Marine vessel during the Korean War. It made nine trips to Korea between November 18, 1950 and December 23, 1952 transporting mail, food, and other supplies, and assisted in the transport of the 140th Tank Battalion. Merchant marine ships transported roughly 75% of all personnel to Korea.

''Menestheus'' rescue

On April 16, 1953, ''Navajo Victory'' received a distress call from the motor ship , a 7,800-ton British freighter. ''Menestheus'' had left Balboa, Panama, on April 5 en route to Osaka with a cargo of rice. When ''Menestheus'' was about 90 miles northwest of

Magdalena Bay Magdalena Bay ( es, Bahía Magdalena) is a long bay in Comondú Municipality along the western coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. It is protected from the Pacific Ocean by the unpopulated sandy barrier islands of Isla Magdalen ...

and 130 miles west of Baja California, an auxiliary generator exploded in her engine room, starting a fire that forced the crew to abandon ship. The crew of 81 was in the lifeboats by the time ''Navajo Victory'' arrived. ''Navajo Victory'' rescued them and took them to San Diego. ''Navajo Victory'' towed ''Menestheus'' for nearly 500 miles, but was eventually forced to abandon her. ''Navajo Victory'' lay idle in Astoria, Oregon until 1966.

Vietnam War

In 1966 ''Navajo Victory'' was reactivated for the Vietnam War. It was operated by the

American Mail Line American Mail Line of Seattle, Washington was a commercial steamship service with routes to and from Seattle, Washington and the Far East. American Mail Line was founded in 1920, by Pacific Steamship Company also with a $500,000 investment from ...

. After the war in 1973, it was laid up in

Suisun Bay Suisun Bay ( ; Wintun for "where the west wind blows") is a shallow tidal estuary (a northeastern extension of the San Francisco Bay) in Northern California. It lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and San Joaquin River, forming the ent ...

as part of the National Defense Reserve Fleet as part of the Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet. It was

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 ...

at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1985.Mariners, The Website Of The Mariners Mailing List. Victory Ships
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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:Navajo Victory, SS Victory ships Ships built in Los Angeles United States Merchant Marine 1944 ships World War II merchant ships of the United States