SS Pierre Victory

The SS Pierre Victory was a Victory ship built during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding program. It was laid down and launched by the Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, and completed on February 5, 1945. The ship's United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3 and hull number 150. The Maritime Commission turned it over for merchant navy operation to a civilian contractor, the United States Lines under the United States Merchant Marine act for the War Shipping Administration.[2] She was named after Pierre, South Dakota, the capital of the US state of South Dakota. The sponsor and christening of the SS Pierre Victory on Dec. 6, 1944 was Mrs. Emma S. Jassmann of Pierre, she had five sons who served during World War II,. The city of Pierre and the Pierre Chamber of Commerce sent Mrs. Jassmann to Oregon. The Mayor of City of Pierre, John B. Griffin, was also at the christening with other Pierre residents. [3] [4]She was built in only 98 days. Victory ships were designed to supersede the earlier Liberty ships. Unlike Liberty ships, Victory ships were designed to serve the US Navy after the war and to last longer.[5] Compared to Liberty ships, Victory ships were faster, longer, wider, taller, and had a thinner stack which was set further forward on the superstructure. They also had a long, raised forecastle. SS Pierre Victory survived three separate kamikaze attacks by the Japanese in 1945.[6]

Typical Victory ship
History
United States
Name: SS Pierre Victory
Namesake: Pierre, South Dakota
Owner: War Shipping Administration
Operator: United States Lines
Builder: Oregon Shipbuilding Company
Laid down: Oct. 30, 1944
Launched: December 6, 1944
Completed: February 5, 1945
Fate: Scrapped Taiwan in 1971
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)
Draft: 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:
Notes: [1]

World War II

For World War II the Pierre Victory was operated by United States Lines and had United States Navy Armed Guard to man the deck guns. The Pierre Victory was used for the dangerous job of being an ammunition ship. She was loaded up with 6,000 pounds of ammunition at the Beaver ammunition dump near Clatskanie, Oregon on the Columbia River. She depart the states and arrived at Okinawa on April 12, 1945 in a fleet of merchant ships serving in the Pacific War. Due to her cargo she was not allowed to anchor with the main fleet, but at Kerama Retto, a tiny group of islands 15 miles west of Okinawa, Japan. The Pierre Victory was a supplier of ammunition for operations in the Battle of Okinawa lasting from the April 1 until June 22, 1945. On April 6, 1945 the ammunition ships SS Logan Victory and SS Hobbs Victory where set a blaze and sank after kamikaze attack planes hit them. Pierre Victory was credited with shooting down one of the kamikaze planes that hit the water about 60 yards off her starboard side. While the Logan Victory and Logan Victory were ablaze, the Pierre Victory raise anchor and moved away from the two burning ships. Her only other close call came on April 27 when artillery shells landed within 100 yards of her. On April 27, 1945 the ammunition ship SS Canada Victory, sank after a kamikaze attack. The loss of the three ammunition Victory ships severely hurt the combat forces. These ships were carrying a total of 24,000 tons (54 million pounds) of ammunition; including most of the 81 mm mortar shells needed for the invasion. Pierre Victory ammunition ship survived, she was able to unload all her ammunition over 12 days with the help of a Naval Construction Battalion. DUKW amphibious truck, Landing Ship, Tank (LST), an Landing craft tank (LCT) and Landing Craft Mechanizeds (LCMs) were used to unload the ammunition. [7][8][9][10] More ammunition ships were not needed as the war came to an end without the invasion of Japan, called Operation Downfall.[8] Forty-seven ships were sunk by kamikaze attacks during World War II.[11][10] [12][13][14]

End-of-War activity

Pierre Victory ported at Wake Island on 24 October 1945. A heavy storm hit on 28 and 29 October. Pierre Victory mooring buoys were ripped loose and she hit a coral reef. The USS Rinehart a destroyer escort helped get the Pierre Victory off the reef and into safe water to ride out the storm. [15] [16]

War Relief and Seacowboys
Main article: Seagoing cowboys

In 1946 after World War II the Pierre Victory was converted to a livestock ship, also called a cowboy ship. From 1945 to 1947 the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration and the Brethren Service Committee of the Church of the Brethren sent livestock to war-torn countries. These "seagoing cowboys" made about 360 trips on 73 different ships. The Heifers for Relief project was started by the Church of the Brethren in 1942; in 1953 this became Heifer International.[17] The SS Pierre Victory was one of these ships, known as cowboy ships, as she moved livestock across the Atlantic Ocean. Pierre Victory Victory made 6 trips she took 780 horses, several thousand baby chicks and hay bales to on each trip to Poland and Greece. Pierre Victory Victory moved horses, heifers, and mules as well as a some chicks, rabbits, and goats.[18] [19] [20][21][22]

In 1948 with her war and relief work done Pierre Victory was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Wilmington, North Carolina and later transferred to Astoria, Oregon.

Korean War

SS Pierre Victory served as merchant marine ship supplying goods for the Korean War. About 75 percent of the personnel taking to Korea for the Korean War came by the merchant marine ship. SS Pierre Victory transported goods, mail, food and other supplies. About 90 percent of the cargo was moved by merchant marine naval to the war zone. SS Pierre Victory made trips between 1950 and 1952, helping American forces engaged against Communist aggression in South Korea. In 1952 she was returned to the National Defense Reserve Fleet.[23][24]

Vietnam War
Main article: SS Columbia Eagle incident

In 1967, she was sold to the Columbia Steamship Company, Wilmington, Delaware and renamed SS Columbia Eagle. In 1970 she was hijacked with cargo of ammunition, the hijackers took her to Cambodia. The ship was under contract with the Military Sea Transportation Service to carry napalm bombs to be used by the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and was originally bound for Sattahip, Thailand. The two mutineers hijackers requested political asylum from the Cambodian government which was initially granted but they were later arrested and jailed. Columbia Eagle was returned to U.S. control in April 1970.[25][26][27][28][29][30][31] The Pierre Victory/Columbia Eagle. was scrapped in 1971 at Kaohsiung, Taiwan.[32]

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See also

References
  1. Babcock & Wilcox (April 1944). "Victory Ships". Marine Engineering and Shipping Review.
  2. shipbuildinghistory.com Merchant ships Victory ships
  3. USS Pierre has State Historical Society remembering other Pierre vessels
  4. drgnews.com, USS Pierre has State Historical Society remembering other Pierre vessels, February 11, 2019, by Jody Heemstra
  5. "Liberty Ships and Victory Ships --Setting the Stage". www.nps.gov. Retrieved 2017-03-17.
  6. Pierre Victory and landlock state, 14 February 2019
  7. US Navy, Action at Okinawa
  8. US Navy, Armed Guard Service
  9. "kamikaze Attacks".
  10. "47 Ships Sunk by Kamikaze Aircraft".
  11. "kamikaze Attackes".
  12. US Navy, Armed Guard Service, Action at Okinawa
  13. armed-guard.com, The Pierre Victory In, Enemy Action - April 6, 1945, By Charles C. Bartley
  14. railsoft, Hobbs Victory
  15. US Navy Typhoons and Hurricanes: Pacific Typhoon at Okinawa, October 1945
  16. usmm, damaged ships 1945
  17. Heifer International
  18. Sea going cowboys
  19. Seacowboys report
  20. Who were the Seagoing Cowboys, by Jackie Turnquist
  21. Seagoing Cowboys, S. S. Pierre Victory, by Peggy Reiff Miller
  22. Swarthmore library, Seagoing Cowboys
  23. Korean War Educator, Merchant Marine, Accounts of the Korean War
  24. Small United States and United Nations Warships in the Korean War, By Paul M. Edwards
  25. Andrews, Evan, "6 Famous Naval Mutinies," November 6, 2012, History in the Headlines newsletter, retrieved March 1, 2018 from History.com .
  26. Cronkite, Walter, and Nelson Benton, "Columbia Eagle / Mutiny / Cambodia," segment #208707, in transcript: CBS Evening News for 1970-03-16, from the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, Vanderbilt University, retrieved March 1, 2018.
  27. Hoffman, Fred S., Associated Press, "U.S. Bomb Ship Seized in Mutiny: Anchored Off Cambodia", March 16, 1970, San Bernardino Sun, San Bernardino, California, Volume 76, Number 137, pp.1-2, photocopy at retrieved March 1, 2018 from OCR transcription in California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  28. "Mutiny Involved 5: Captain,", March 19, 1970, Nashville Tennessean, Page 13 retrieved March 1, 2018 from OCR transcription in Newspapers.com .
  29. "U.S. Asks Return of Ship," March 25, 1970, (appended to end of subsequent March 26, 1970 article "Two Who Say They Support S.D.S. Tell How They Hijacked Ship,") in New York Times archives, retrieved March 1, 2018.
  30. Emery, Fred, "Two Who Say They Support S.D.S. Tell How They Hijacked Ship," March 26, 1970, New York Times archives, retrieved March 1, 2018.
  31. Associated Press, "2 American Ship Hijackers Want to Quit Cambodia," written July 3, 1970, published July 4, 1970, New York Times, retrieved March 1, 2018 from the Harold Weisberg Archive, Hood College, Maryland.
  32. Mariners, Victory Ships - P

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 Ships
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