SS Brainerd Victory
Victory ship of the United States / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The SS Brainerd Victory was a Victory-class cargo ship built during World War II.
Typical Victory ship | |
History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | SS Brainerd Victory |
Namesake | Brainerd, Minnesota |
Owner | War Shipping Administration |
Operator | Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company |
Builder | Oregon Shipbuilding |
Laid down | July 25, 1945 |
Launched | October 24, 1945 |
Completed | November 23, 1945 |
Fate | Sank 1964 with loss of 4 crewmen near Bermuda |
Notes | Last Victory Ship built at Oregon Shipbuilding |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship |
Tonnage | 7612 GRT, 4,553 NRT |
Displacement | 15,200 tons |
Length | 455 ft (139 m) |
Beam | 62 ft (19 m) |
Draught | 28 ft (8.5 m) |
Installed power | 8,500 shp (6,300 kW) |
Propulsion | HP & LP turbines geared to a single 20.5-foot (6.2 m) propeller |
Speed | 16.5 knots |
Boats & landing craft carried | 4 Lifeboats |
Complement | 62 Merchant Marine and 28 US Naval Armed Guards |
Armament |
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Notes | [1] |
Brainerd city Mayor Frank Johnson wrote to the Oregon Shipbuilding Company: The naming of a ship for Brainerd is greatly appreciated by our citizens. Boys of this community who formed a tank company fought, died and were taken prisoner on Bataan and naming of the S.S. Brainerd Victory stands as a tribute to them. The ship was christened by Mrs. J.A. McEachern, wife of the corporation's president John Alexander McEachern. The Brainerd Victory was sponsored by Oregon Shipbuilding Company shipyard employees to let them share in the last Victory ship built under government contract.[2] She was operated by Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company during the war.
In a letter to Mayor Johnson, Robert Horton, the public relations director for the United States Maritime Commission wrote: It is a pleasure to advise you that the Maritime Commission is naming one of the new Victory ships in honor of the city of Brainerd, Minnesota. This vessel is one of a series going into service during 1945, which will be named after cities of the United States.
Victory ships were designed to replace the earlier Liberty ships. Liberty ships were designed to be used just for World War II. 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, had a thinner stack that was set farther toward the superstructure and had a long raised forecastle.
As the war was over, the Brainerd Victory steamed the West Coast, delivering goods to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Suisun Bay.