SS Bessemer Victory

History
United States
Name	SS Bessemer Victory
Builder	California Shipbuilding Corporation, Terminal Island, Los Angeles
Laid down	28 May 1945
Launched	26 July 1945
Reclassified	USNS Bessemer (T-AG-186), 1 February 1966
Identification	IMO number: 5043162
Fate	Scrapped, 1991
General characteristics
Type	Victory ship
Displacement	4,512 long tons (4,584 t) light 15,589 long tons (15,839 t) full
Length	455 ft (139 m)
Beam	62 ft (19 m)
Draft	29 ft (8.8 m)
Propulsion	Cross-compound steam turbine, single screw, 6,000 hp (4,474 kW)
Speed	15.5 knots (28.7 km/h; 17.8 mph)
Armament	1 × 5 in (130 mm) gun (stern) 1 × 3 in (76 mm) gun (bow) 8 × 20 mm machine guns

SS Bessemer Victory was one of 534 Victory ships built during World War II. Named for Bessemer, Alabama, an industrial city honoring Sir Henry Bessemer (the Englishman who invented a steel manufacturing process), she was one of 218 such ships that were named after American cities.

Bessemer Victory was laid down on 28 May 1945 at Los Angeles by the California Shipbuilding Corporation as a Maritime Commission type (VC2-S-AP2) hull under Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 806). Launched 26 July 1945, she was delivered to the Maritime Commission 30 August 1945.

During War II she was operated by Hammond Shipping Company as charter shipping with the Maritime Commission and War Shipping Administration. The ship was run by its Hammond Shipping Company crew and the US Navy supplied United States Navy Armed Guards to man the deck guns and radio.^[1][2]

In the Korean War she was part of the Echelon Movement Group X Corps Troops.

One of 12 Victory ships selected for transfer from the National Defense Reserve Fleet to the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) for cargo-carrying service during the Vietnam War, she was assigned the name USNS Bessemer and the designation T-AG-186 on 1 February 1966 (though the ship never served with MSTS because the program was cancelled; however, she did carry cargo to Vietnam as Bessemer Victory under a commercial charter). Returned to the National Defense Reserve Fleet, Bessemer Victory remained in the Maritime Administration's berthing area in Virginia's James River until she was scrapped in 1991 at Alang, India.

References

This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.

• "Bessemer Victory". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Retrieved 4 April 2007.
• "T-AG-186 Bessemer". Amphibious Photo Archive. Retrieved 4 April 2007.

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This page was last edited on 7 July 2023, at 15:51