SS Minot Victory
Typical Victory Ship.
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | SS Minot Victory |
| Owner: | War Shipping Administration |
| Operator: | Isbrandtsen Line |
| Builder: | Oregon Shipbuilding Company |
| Laid down: | October 27, 1944 |
| Launched: | December 4, 1944 |
| Completed: | February 1, 1945 |
| Fate: | Scrapped 1985 |
| 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: | |
The SS Minot 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 October 7, 1944 and completed on February 1, 1945. The ship's United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3 and hull number 149 (1203). The Maritime Commission turned it over for Merchant navy operation to a civilian contractor, the Isthmian Steamship Company under the United States Merchant Marine act for the War Shipping Administration. She was named after Minot, Maine and Minot, North Dakota.
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. Compared to Liberty ships, Victory ships were faster, longer, wider, taller, and had a thinner stack which was set further up towards the superstructure. They also had a long, raised forecastle.
For World War II the Minot Victory was operated by Isbrandtsen Line, and had United States Navy Armed Guard to man the deck guns. The Minot Victory arrived at Okinawa on April 11, 1945 in a fleet of 15 merchant ships serving in the Pacific War. The ship was a supplier for operations in the Battle of Okinawa lasting from the April 1 until June 22, 1945. On April 12, 1945 at 2:55pm while anchored at Hagushi, the fleet came under attack, the Minot Victory shot down a Japanese plane which had strafed her. The Kamikaze plane nevertheless crashed into her number 4 king post mast, all told wounding five of the crew on board. At the time she had a 57-man merchant crew, consisting of 27 USN Armed Guard sailors and 9 civilians. She was then repaired and put back in service shortly.Minot Victory's international radio call letters were A N G P. In 1948 she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet, first at Wilmington, North Carolina and later transferred to Beaumont, Texas.
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