USS Liberty (AGTR-5)
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USS Liberty (AGTR-5) in Chesapeake Bay, 29 July 1967
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | SS Simmons Victory |
| Namesake: | Simmons College in Boston |
| Owner: | War Shipping Administration |
| Operator: | Coastwise, Pacific Far East Line |
| Builder: | Oregon Shipbuilding Corp. |
| Laid down: | February 23, 1945 |
| Launched: | April 6, 1945 |
| Completed: | May 4, 1945 |
| Fate: | Transferred to US Navy in 1964 |
| History | |
 United States
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| Name: | USS Liberty |
| Acquired: | 1964 |
| Commissioned: | 1 December 1964 |
| Decommissioned: | 1 June 1968 |
| Out of service: | June 1967 |
| Struck: | 1 June 1970 |
| Homeport: | Norfolk, Virginia |
| Fate: | Damaged beyond economical repair by Israeli attack in June 1967 and subsequently sold for scrap 1973 |
| Badge: |  |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 7725 tons (light displacement) |
| Length: | 139 m (456 ft) |
| Beam: | 18.9 m (62 ft) |
| Draft: | 7 m (23 ft) |
| Propulsion: | Westinghouse steam turbines, single shaft, 8500 horsepower (6.3 MW) |
| Speed: | 17.5 knots (32.4 km/h) maximum sustained, 21 knots emergency |
| Range: | 12,500 nm at 12 knots |
| Complement: | 62 Merchant Marine and 28 US Naval Armed Guards as Victory ship. *358 officers and men for USS Liberty |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | none |
| Aviation facilities: | none |
| Notes: | |
USS Liberty (AGTR-5) was a Belmont-class technical research ship (electronic spy ship) that was attacked by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) during the 1967 Six-Day War. She was built and served in World War II as the SS Simmons Victory, as a Victory cargo ship.
A Victory Ship, her keel was laid down on 23 February 1945, as Simmons Victory, a Maritime Commission-type (VC2-S-AP3) hull, under a Maritime Commission contract at Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation of Portland, Oregon. She was delivered to the Maritime Commission on 4 May 1945, and chartered to the Pacific Far East Line of San Francisco.
The SS Simmons Victory had the dangerous job of delivering ammunition for troops. On SS Simmons Victory loaded with 6,000 pounds ammunition as an ammunition ship at Port Chicago Naval Magazine in Port Chicago, California and traveled to Leyte in the Philippines for the Battle of Leyte from 17 October - 26 December 1944. Simmons Victory loaded up on ammunition to prepare for the Operation Downfall the Invasion of Japan. With the war ending, we waiting 3 months in Leyte, before returning her ammo to Port Chicago. From Port Chicago she took supplies to Baltimore though the Panama Canal. SS Simmons Victory served as merchant marine naval supplying goods for the Korean War. About 75 percent of the personnel taking to Korean fro the Korean War came by the merchant marine. SS Simmons Victory transported ammunition, mail, food and other supplies. About 90 percent of the cargo was moved by merchant marine naval to the war zone. SS Simmons Victory made nine different trip between 18 November 1950 and 23 December 1952 helping American forces engaged against Communist aggression in South Korea.
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