S/S AMERICAN VICTORY From Mothballs to Museum

After 30 years at anchorage at the James River Reserve Fleet (JRRF) in Virginia, the S/S American Victory will begin a new assignment in Tampa Bay, Florida, as a floating museum and classroom, paying tribute to the critical role of the Victory Ships in World War II and the merchant mariners who sailed them.

Moran Towing of Virginia received a heartfelt thank you from Captain John C. Timmel, President of the American Victory Mariners Memorial & Museum in Tampa, for donating its towage assistance when the American Victory left Virginia on its journey to Tampa. Captain Timmel conceived the idea of having a ship museum in Tampa while visiting the restored Liberty Ship Museum, S/S John W. Brown, at a Propeller Club convention in Baltimore in 1996. His vision became a reality in 1998 when title to the S/S American Victory was passed to Victory Ship, Inc., a nonprofit company formed to convert the ship into a museum. The American Victory project has received support from numerous contributors. Gulfcoast Transit donated the towing services of its ocean-going tug Sharon DeHart to tow the American Victory from Norfolk to Tampa Bay. On September 9, 1999, Moran donated the services of its tugs Drum Point and Town Point to assist the towing tug in getting the American Victory out of its berth at JRRF and under way on its voyage to Tampa. The Association of Virginia Docking Pilots also donated the services of their docking pilot, Captain Ronald Ainsley, who boarded the American Victory at JRRF and stayed on until arriving off Newport News, where he turned her over to the Master of the Sharon DeHart.

The role of the class of ships known as the Liberty Ship, and its successor, the Victory Ship, was critical to the success of the Allied Forces in World War II. The task of transporting the needed personnel and supplies for the Allied war effort was staggering. To support just one soldier for one year took from 7 to 15 tons of supplies. To accomplish this task, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the U.S. Maritime Service (USMS) to train and oversee the manning of the merchant marine fleet. He also set in motion the mass-production of the Liberty ship.

At its peak, the U.S. shipbuilding effort could generate one new ship a week. In an eight-year period, 2,710 Liberty ships and 534 Victory Ships were built. These ships, sometimes referred to as the workhorses of the war, were operated by the men of the U.S. Merchant Marine. They initially sailed with no escorts or air cover, making them "sitting ducks" for German U-boats. With a casualty rate of one in 32, merchant mariners had the dubious distinction of having the highest percentage of war-time casualties of any branch of the service.

The S/S American Victory participated in World War II, the Korean conflict, the Vietnam War, and acted as a goodwill ambassador for the U.S. after World War II by carrying supplies to the war-shattered countries of Europe under the Marshall Plan. In 1969 she was deactivated and placed in the James River Reserve Fleet near Norfolk, Virginia, where she remained for the last 30 years.

The S/S American Victory arrived in her new home on Thursday, September 16, 1999. She will be the first restored Victory ship in the southeast U.S. When her transformation to a museum and floating classroom is complete, she will act as a lasting memorial to all of the ships of the merchant marine fleet and to all of those who bravely served aboard these ships.