SS Enid Victory

The SS Enid Victory' (MCV-712), was a type VC2-S-AP2 victory ship built by Permanente Metals Corporation, Yard 2, of Richmond, California. The Maritime Administration cargo ship was named after Enid, Oklahoma. It was the 730th ship built at the Kaiser yards. Its keel was laid on May 17, 1945. The ship was christened on June 27, 1945, with Enid Mayor Luther A. Wells in attendance.[2] The ship was in service during World War II, Korea War, and Vietnam war.

History
United States
Name: SS Enid Victory (MCV-712)
Namesake: Enid, Oklahoma
Owner: War Shipping Administration
Operator: General Steamship Company
Builder: Permanente Metals,
Launched: 1945-06-27
Sponsored by: Marie Michau-Jordaan
Christened: 1945-06-27
Identification: IMO number: 5104423
Fate: sold for scrap August 16, 1993
General characteristics
Class and type: VC2-S-AP3 Victory ship
Tonnage:
Displacement: 15,200 tons
Length: 455 ft (139 m)
Beam: 62 ft (19 m)
Draught: 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 (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
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 Enid Victory was operated by the General SS Company under the United States Merchant Marine act for the War Shipping Administration. She had United States Navy Armed Guard to man the deck guns. She served in the Asiatic-Pacific Theater of war. In Oct. of 1945 she supplied good for the Battle of Leyte, including the United States Navy Ocean Tug USS ATR-13 .[3]

Korean War

After WW2 the ship was laid up at the Hudson River United States Maritime Administration facility on October 7, 1949.[4] During the Hŭngnam evacuation on December 10, 1950, the Enid Victory, serving as a chartered Military Sea Transportation Service vessel, cut the eastern point of the harbor too close and ran aground. The one-foot tide of the Sea of Japan made it difficult, but by next afternoon the ARL Askari, the fleet tug Tawakoni, and two harbor tugs managed free the ship, and she continued to Pusan.[5] In February 1952, the SS Enid Victory returned 280 bodies of fallen servicemen home to the United States.[6]

Post war

In 1955 the ship was used to determine best shipping routes based on marine weather forecasts. The Enid Victory followed a path that was based on these forecasts while control ships went more conventional routes.[7] For the first of these, the Enid Victory departed La Pallice, France and a control ship, the SS Monroe Victory, departed from Liverpool, England, on January 7, 1955, bound for New York City.[8] The Enid Victory arrived at New York on January 17, 1955, traveling a distance of 3,318 miles at an average speed of 14.57 knots. On January 19, 1955, the Monroe Victory arrived in New York, 2 days, 18 hours and 54 minutes later.[7] This ship had also traveled 3,318 miles but its speed on the standard route was only 11.30 knots.[7] On November 15, 1956, Lykes Brothers chartered the Enid Victory from the United States at Norfolk, Virginia.[9][10]

Vietnam War

The SS Enid Victory was reactivated during the Vietnam War.[11] The ship had been held in reserve in Houston, Texas and underwent $257,000 worth of topside and internal reconditioning.[12] While en route to Vietnam and serving as an ammunition ship, an explosion occurred in the engine room and killed the second assistant engineer.[13] While in the Subic Bay, Philippines, the USS Tillamook (ATA-192) answered the call for a rescue mission with only the duty section embarked. The call came in around 2200 on December 20, 1966, and the tug got under way immediately to rendezvous with SS Enid Victory which was unable to return to port because of a damaged steering engine.[14] The Tillamook brought the merchantman safely back to Subic Bay.[15]

Retirement

By 1974, the ship was again mothballed at Beaumont, Texas.[16] The Enid Victory was sold for scrap on August 16, 1993.[4]

See also

References
  1. Babcock & Wilcox (April 1944). "Victory Ships". Marine Engineering and Shipping Review.
  2. "‘ENID’ Victory Ship is Launched in California", Ada Weekly News, Ada, Oklahoma, June 28, 1945, pg. 6
  3. War Diary, 10/1-31/45, Page 14, Fold3.com
  4. Jaffee, Walter W., "59. Enid Victory", The Victory Ships From A(Aberdeen Victory) to Z(Zaneville Victory), 2006, pg 319.
  5. Field, Jr., James A. (6 July 2001). "History of United States Naval Operations: Korea". Naval History & Heritage Command. Retrieved 3 December 2010.
  6. "Bodies of 280 Killed in Korea Returned Home", Los Angeles Times, Feb 20, 1952
  7. Technical and research bulletin, Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (U.S.), 1967
  8. The Lookout, Volumes 46-49 Seamen's Church Institute., New York, 1955
  9. George H. McFadden & Bros. v. THE M/S SUNOAK, 167 F. Supp. 132 - Dist. Court, ED Virginia 1958
  10. Seamens church archives, 1956, page 9
  11. "Reactivated Ships Named For Use In Vietnam War", The Sun, Dec 4, 1965
  12. "Mothballed Ship to See Duty Again", Abilene Reporter-News, Abilene, Texas, Friday evening, January 21, 1966, 10-A
  13. Larzelere, Alex, "SS Enid Victory", The Coast Guard at war: Vietnam, 1965-1975, Naval Institute Press, 1997, pg 169
  14. Williams, Greg H., "Enid Victory", Civil and merchant vessel encounters with United States Navy ships, 1800-2000, McFarland, 2002, page 201.
  15. This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
  16. Sawyer, Leonard Arthur, and Mitchell, William Harry, "712 ENID VICTORY", 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, pg 51

 This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the Naval History and Heritage Command.



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