SS Rutland Victory#Private use
{{short description|Victory ship of the United States}}
{{About|Merchant Navy ship|information about the US Navy ship |USS Rutland (APA-192)}}
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{{Infobox ship image |Ship image=File:OregonShipbuildingCorporation1944.jpg |Ship caption=Rutland Victory and sister ships at the Oregon Shipbuilding Company in Portland, Oregon }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header= | Ship country = United States | Ship flag = {{USN flag|1945}} | Ship name = SS Rutland Victory |Ship namesake=Rutland, Vermont | Ship owner = War Shipping Administration | Ship builder = Oregon Shipbuilding Company | Ship laid down = March 20, 1944 | Ship launched = May 9, 1944 | Ship completed = May 29, 1944 |Ship sponsor = Mrs. Ada May Brannon |Ship christened = May 19, 1944 | Ship in service = | Ship operator = United States Lines | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship fate = Sold to private use, sank in 1976 |
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Ship class=VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship
|Ship tonnage=7612 GRT, 4,553 NRT
|Ship displacement=15,200 tons
|Ship length={{convert|455|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|62|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship draft={{convert|28|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship power={{convert|8500|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=HP & LP turbines geared to a single {{convert|20.5|ft|m|adj=on}} propeller
|Ship speed=16.5 knots
|Ship boats=4 Lifeboats
|Ship complement=62 Merchant Marine and 28 US Naval Armed Guards
|Ship armament=*1 × 5 inch (127 mm)/38 caliber gun
|Ship notes={{Cite journal |author=Babcock & Wilcox |date=April 1944 |title=Victory Ships |journal=Marine Engineering and Shipping Review}}
}}
|}
The SS Rutland Victory was a Victory ship built during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. It was built and launched by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation on May 9, 1944, and completed on May 29, 1944. The ship's United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3 and hull number 104 (1020). The ship was Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation's 20th victory ship. The Maritime Commission turned it over for Merchant navy operation to a civilian contractor, the United States Lines.[http://shipbuildinghistory.com/merchantships/2victoryships.htm shipbuildinghistory.com Merchant ships Victory ships]
Mrs. Ada May Brannor, of La Grande, Oregon, christened the SS Rutland Victory. She worked at the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation yard on the swing shift. Mrs. Brannor was given a gold jewel case with her name and the ship engraved on it.La Grande Observer from La Grande, Oregon, Page 3, May 20, 1944[http://www.oregonlive.com/history/2014/12/1998_story_flood_of_change.html oregonlive.com Rutland victory]
World War II
In 1944, for the vessel's first mission, the Rutland Victory took ammunition from Washington, D.C., to Pearl Harbor.Dirk Perrefort (January 17, 2010), [http://www.newstimes.com/news/article/Merchant-Marine-vet-wants-people-to-remember-322104.php Merchant Marine vet wants people to remember]
On August 29, 1944, the Rutland Victory transferred cargo to and from the USS Massachusetts (BB-59) at Enewetak Atoll. Task force 38 was at the Enewetak Atoll in August 1944 and the Rutland Victory delivered cargo and goods to the Task force.Beans, Bullets, and Black Oil - The Story of Fleet Logistics Afloat in the WW2, August of 1944, By Rear Adm. Worrall Reed CarterThe U.S. Coast Guard in World War II, page 163, By Malcolm Willoughby
In May 1945, she traveled from California to Iwo Jima with 82 days-worth of supplies for the American troops stationed at Iwo Jima for the purpose of preparing them for the Battle of Okinawa, lasting from April 1 to June 22, 1945. After the war she moved to ports where supplies were required.
Honors
Rutland Victory earned Battle Stars for combat action from June 17, 1945, to June 30, 1945, at the Battle of Okinawa at Okinawa in the Pacific Ocean. On those days, the Rutland Victory used its deck guns to defend itself and other ships from Japanese Kamikaze plane attacks.[http://www.usmm.org/battle-n-z.html usmm.org U.S. Merchant Marine Ships whose Naval Armed Guard crews earned "Battle Stars" in World War II]
Film
A short film about the Panama Canal featured the Rushville Victory crossing was made entitled "Ocean to Ocean: Panama Canal"; it shows the crossing of the Rushville Victory through the Panama canal to demonstrate how the canal worked. The film is now part of a DVD titled [http://store.campbellfilms.com/products/usn-oil-tankers-supply-and-cargo-ships "USN Oil Tankers Supply and Cargo Ships"] by Campbell films, with a running time of 8:10 min.
Private use
In 1948, the SS Rutland Victory was sold to the American President Lines of San Francisco and renamed the SS President Fillmore. In 1962, the boat was sold to Victory Shipping Enterprises Inc. from Wilmington, Delaware and renamed SS Smith Victory. In 1965, Victory Shipping Enterprises renamed it the SS US Victory. The vessel was later sold to Transpacific Container Services of Liberia in 1969 and renamed the SS Oriental Arrow. In 1969, Transpacific Container Services converted it to a 7,511 g.t. container ship and in 1972, it was sold to Universal Enterprise Inc. of Monrovia, Liberia, and renamed the SS Oriental Ace.
In 1976, the Oriental Ace sank. The SS Oriental Ace, operating as a Liberian container ship, started to leak in rough seas on its way from Seattle to Kobe, Japan. The crew abandoned ship into the lifeboats and it sank on February 13, 1976 at 32.05N 152.43E, 600 miles East of Tokyo, Japan.
[http://www.wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?215542 Wreck "SS Rutland Victory"][http://wrecksite.eu/wreck.aspx?215539 Wreck SS Oriental Ace (+1976)]
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: [http://www.usmm.org/victoryships.html]
- Victory Cargo Ships [http://www.armed-guard.com/recbr2.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050922060615/http://www.armed-guard.com/recbr2.html |date=2005-09-22 }}
{{MARCOMships}}
{{WWII US ships}}
{{Victory ships}}
{{1976 shipwrecks}}
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Category:Ships built in Portland, Oregon