SS ''Swarthmore Victory'' (MCV-737) was a type VC2-S-AP2 Victory-class cargo ship built for the United States during

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 opposi ...

. The ship was built as part of 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 ...

by Permanente Metals Corporation in Yard 2 of the

Richmond Shipyards The four Richmond Shipyards, in the city of Richmond, California, United States, were run by Permanente Metals and part of the Kaiser Shipyards. In World War II, Richmond built more ships than any other shipyard, turning out as many as three shi ...

in Richmond, California. Named after Swarthmore College in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

. Caomplete on April 7, 1945 ''Swarthmore Victory'' delivered supplies for the Pacific War and was operated by the

United States Lines United States Lines was the trade name of an organization of the United States Shipping Board (USSB), Emergency Fleet Corporation (EFC) created to operate German liners seized by the United States in 1917. The ships were owned by the USSB and al ...

Post war

In 1948 Catalina Wild Life Expeditions, owned by Noel Rosefelt, hired ''Swarthmore Victory'' to import animals including elephants. The four baby

elephant Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae ...

s for Tom Packs Circus in New Orleans became known to the world before coming to America. ''Swarthmore Victory'' was delayed by two typhoons coming from

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. The ship ran out of hay for the elephants four days before landing and worms for the birds on board. So started ''Operation Haylift''. The ''Swarthmore Victory''s captain radioed the

Naval Air Station Alameda Naval Air Station Alameda (NAS Alameda) was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay. NAS Alameda had two runways: 13–31 measuring and 07-25 measuring . Two helicopter pads and a control tower were ...

that the ship had an emergency need of food for the hungry 6 four year elephants for a circus and tropical birds for zoos. The Navy sent a large flying boat, a

Martin JRM Mars The Martin JRM Mars is a large, four-engined cargo transport flying boat designed and built by the Martin Company for the United States Navy during World War II. It was the largest Allied flying boat to enter production, although only seven ...

named the ''Marshall Mars''. The plane dropped Hay and worms in waterproof bags into the ocean. The food was retrieved by the ship's crew. The November 1948 trip by the ''Marshall Mars'' was a round trip of . The six Elephants and tropical birds arrived safely in the United States. One elephant, Sue arrived at the

Sacramento Zoo The Sacramento Zoo is a zoo located in William Land Park in Sacramento, California. It opened on June 2, 1927, with 40 animals. At that time, it occupied , which remained the case until the early 1960s when the zoo expanded to its current . , the ...

in November 1948 and lived at the zoo until her death in April 1989. In 1950 she was laid up at the

United States Navy reserve fleets The United States Navy maintains a number of its ships as part of a reserve fleet, often called the "Mothball Fleet". While the details of the maintenance activity have changed several times, the basics are constant: keep the ships afloat and ...

in Astoria, Oregon.

Vietnam War

In 1966 she was removed from the Reserve Fleet and reactivated for

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by 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 Vietnam a ...

and operated by the

Pacific Far East Line Pacific Far East Line, also called PFEL in short, was a passenger and cargo shipping line founded in 1943 by Thomas E. Cuffe, in San Francisco, California. At the beginning he started by chartering foreign ships to run the lines in tramp trade. ...

. She delivered goods for the

United States Merchant Marine United States Merchant Marines are United States civilian mariners and U.S. civilian and federally owned merchant vessels. Both the civilian mariners and the merchant vessels are managed by a combination of the government and private sectors, an ...

Military Sea Transportation Service 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 US m ...

, and Military Sealift Command in Vietnam. In Vietnam, in 1969 ''Swarthmore Victory'' took several direct hits from an ambush.usmm.org, U.S. Merchant Marine, Military Sea Transportation Service, and Military Sealift Command in Vietnam
/ref> In 1973 she was laid up at

Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet The Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet is located on the northwest side of Suisun Bay (the northern portion of the greater San Francisco Bay estuary) in Benicia, California. The fleet is within a regulated navigation area that is about long and wide. It ...

. In 1988 she was scrapped at Kaohsiung.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Swarthmore Victory World War II merchant ships of the United States Victory ships 1945 ships

Post war

Vietnam War

See also

References