< Mayfield Victory AK-232

Mayfield Victory AK-232

 


Mayfield Victory

A former name retained. Mayfield is a city in southwestern Kentucky.

(AK-232; dp. 15,580 (lim.) ; 1, 455'; b. 62'; dr. 29'2"; s. 15.5 k.; cpl. 99; a. 1 511, 1 3", 8 20mm.; cl. Boulder Victory; T. VC2-S-AP2)

Mayfield Victory (AK-232) was laid down under Marltime Commission contract 10 August 1944 by Permanente Metals Corp., Yard 1, Richmond, Calif.; 'launched 10 October 1944; sponsored by Miss Evelyn Fuller; acquired by the Navy from the Maritime Commission under loan charter 19 November 1944; and commissioned the same day, Lt. Comdr. Niels H. Olsen, USNR, in command.

Following shakedown off San Pedro, Calif., into December, Mayfield Victory loaded ammunition at Aberdeen and Puget Sound, Wash., before sailing for the South Pacific the 24th. She arrived Pearl Harbor I January 1945 to unload her cargo and 15 days later returned to the west coast, arriving San Francisco 22 January.

Mayfield Victory departed Ban Francisco 11 February for the Caroline Islands, via Eniwetok, Marshalls, arriving Ulithi 3 March. She remained there until 13 April when

she continued on to the Ryukyu Islands for the Okinawa campaign 1 April to 21 June, the second American objective in the "hop, skip, and jump" to Japan warned against by Japanese Admiral Ito. The cargo ship spent 4 weeks in the area, operating with TG 50.8 until 23 April when she anchored in Kerama Retto. During the latter period Mayfield Victory continually issued ammunition, often under direct enemy air. attack.

On 14 May Mayfield Victory steamed for Ulithi, arriving the 21st. Four days later she continued on to the Philippines for a 30-day stopover at Leyte. The ship then returned to Kerama Retto 1 July. On 8 July she moved to Buckner Bay, Okinawa, where she remained on supply duty until late October.

On 25 October Mayfield Victory got underway for home, stopping at Seattle, Wash., in December before arriving San Francisco 9 February 1946. She decommissioned 5 April and was delivered to WSA for Maritime Commission service into 1969 as a freighter operated by American Mail Line, Ltd., Seattle, Wash.