Greenville Victory-class cargo ship
The Greenville Victory-class cargo ship was a cargo ship design used for shipping during the Korean War by the United States Navy. Greenville Victory-class cargo ships were built for use during World War II. The Greenville Victory-class ships are the same as the Victory ships built of the World War II United States Merchant Navy. A total of nine Greenville Victory-class ships were built in 1944 and 1945. The ships were built under the Emergency Shipbuilding program for the War Shipping Administration for World War II. Some of the Greenville Victory class were launched as merchant ship Victory ships and then acquired by the United States Navy for the Korean War effort. The lead ship of the class, was commissioned on 30 March 1948. The Greenville Victory build was complete on 7 July 1944, she took part in Battle of Okinawa from 27 May to 19 June 1945 as a merchant ship. Some of the Greenville Victory class also saw service in the Vietnam War, 21 years after construction. Some of the vessels were acquired by the United States Army and used in the U.S. Army Transportation Service.
Ships in class
A total of nine Greenville Victory-class cargo ships were built and commissioned:- , built as SS Aberdeen Victory, scrapped in 1975 after US Navy service and merchant ship service and general stores issue ship service.
- , built as SS Appleton Victory, scrapped in 1982 after U.S. Army Transportation Service, US Navy service and merchant ship service.
- , built as SS Colombia Victory, scrapped in 1976 after merchant ship service and Military Sea Transportation Service.
- / Sunnyvale, scrapped in 1975 after U.S. Army Transportation Service, US Navy service and merchant ship service.
- scrapped in 1983 after U.S. Army Transportation Service, Military Sea Transportation Service and merchant ship service.
- / Longview, scrapped in 1976 after merchant ship service, U.S. Army Transportation Service, and Military Sea Transportation Service.<
- / Kingsport, scrapped in 1992 after merchant ship service, U.S. Army Transportation Service, Military Sea Transportation Service and miscellaneous auxiliary ship service.
- , built as Nampa Victory, scrapped in 1992 after merchant ship service, US Navy cargo and stores issue ship.
- , built as Rockland Victory, scrapped in 1970 after merchant ship service, US Navy cargo ship service.
Design
Victory ships replace the numerous built Liberty ships. Victory ship/Greenville Victory-class cargo ships were as fast as and better built than the Liberty ship, with a top speed of. Liberty ships had a top speed of only. Victory ships had more powerful steam turbine engines compared to the Liberty ship's triple-expansion steam engine. Victory ships were also slightly larger than the Liberty ships. Both Liberty ships and Greenville Victory-class ships had large hatches on the holds, and kingpost with large capacity boom cranes. This allowed the ships to unload and load without a dock crane. Most of the Greenville Victory-class cargo ships were upgraded to have a helicopter deck added to the stern deck in place of the original dual-purpose gun. Some ships had a twin hangar on the read deck to protect the embarked helicopters from bad weather. Advanced radar was also added. The 50-caliber dual-purpose guns were replace by four or eight Bofors anti-aircraft guns.- The USNS Provo was later changed to be a Phoenix-class auxiliary ship in 1960.
- The USNS Dalton Victory and USNS Haiti Victory were later upgraded to Longview-class missile range instrumentation ships in 1960.
- The USNS Kingsport Victory was upgraded to a Kingsport-class telemetry ship in a 1961 conversion.
- While no Greenville Victory-class cargo ship survived being scrapped, three Victory ships became museum ships:, and the.
Builders
- Two were built by Permanente Metals at Richmond Shipyards in Richmond, California.
- Four were built by Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation in Portland, Oregon
- Three were built by California Shipbuilding at Terminal Island in Los Angeles, California.
- Other shipyards built merchant Victory ships.