Kingsport Victory T-AK-239

Kingsport Victory

A merchant name retained. Kingsport is a city in northeastern Tennessee.

(T-AK-239: dp. 10,680; 1 455'3"; 1). 62'; dr. 28'6"; S. Victory; T. VC2-
16.5 k.; cpl. 52; a. none; cl. Greenville S-AP3)

Kingsport Victory (T-AH-239) was laid down under Maritime Commission contract by California Shipbuilding Corp., Los Angeles, Calif., 4 April 1944; launched 29 May 1944; sponsored by Mrs. George O'Brien; and delivered to WSA 12 July 1944.

From July to October 1944 Kingsport Victory made cargo runs between the West Coast and Pearl Harbor; then she sailed for the Western Pacific 17 October. After arriving Milne Bay, New Guinea, 2 November, she carried cargo during the remainder of the war to American bases Fit Eniwetok, Iwo Jima, Guam, Ulithi, and Okinawa. She departed Okinawa 27 December 1945; steamed via Hong Kong, Calcutta, and the Suez Canal; and reached New York 27 February 1946. During the remainder of 1946 she transported cargo between the East and West Coasts.

The cargo ship was acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission 1 March 1950 and assigned to MSTS.

Manned by a civilian crew, Kingsport Victory operated in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean from 1950 until late 1956. Carrying military cargo, she steamed out of New York and Charleston, S.C., to ports in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Greece, Turkey, Spain, and North Africa. In addition, she transported supplies from Norfolk, Va., to the Canal Zone and to American bases in the Caribbean.

Loaded with cargo, Kingsport Victory departed Norfolk 13 November 1956 for the Far East. Steaming via the West Coast, she reached Yokohama, Japan, 20 December; and, during the next month, she shuttled supplies to Okinawa, Formosa, and South Vietnam. She departed Saigon for the United States 28 January 1957; reached San Francisco 15 February; and arrived New York 8 March to resume transatlantic cargo service.

Between March 1957 and August 1961 Kingsport Victory maintained a busy schedule for far-ranging cargo runs that sent her from the eastern Mediterranean to the western Pacific. In addition to numerous round-trip voyages between New York and West European ports, she deployed four times to the Mediterranean where she supported ships of the mighty 6th Fleet. Though operating out of New York, she completed eight deployments to the Par East. Her cargo runs sent her to Japan, South Korea, Formosa, Hong Kong, and Thailand, as well as to the Marshall and Aleutian Islands.