Victory Ship

The VC2 standard cargo ship, the United States Maritime Commission’s faster wartime successor to the Liberty ship. Where the Liberty used a 2,500 ihp triple-expansion steam engine for about 11 knots, the Victory carried steam turbines of roughly 6,000 to 8,500 shp and made 15 to 17 knots, harder for a U-boat to catch. The first, SS United Victory, was delivered at Portland, Oregon on 28 February 1944. About 534 were built. The hull was longer and finer than the Liberty’s and the design carried into postwar commercial service.