Groote Beer

Groote Beer, originally the Victory ship SS Costa Rica Victory, was laid down on 22 March 1944 at the Permanente No. 1 yard at Richmond, California, and launched on 17 June 1944.[3]

Groote Beer in New Zealand, c. 1950s
History
United States
Name: SS Costa Rica Victory
Namesake: Republic of Costa Rica
Builder: Permanente No. 1 yard, Richmond, California
Laid down: 22 March 1944
Launched: 17 June 1944
Completed: August 21, 1944
Fate: Sold to the Netherlands, 1947
History
Netherlands
Name: Groote Beer 1947
Operator: Netherlands Government - Holland America Lines
Route: Rebuilt as emigrant passenger ship
Fate: Scrapped 1971
General characteristics (as constructed)
Type: Victory ship
Tonnage:
  • 7,200 long tons (7,316 t) gross
  • 4,300 long tons (4,369 t) net
  • 10,600 long tons (10,770 t) deadweight[1]
Displacement: 15,200 long tons (15,444 t) (at 28-foot draft)[1]
Length: 455 ft (139 m)[1]
Beam: 62 ft (19 m)[1]
Draft: 28 ft (8.5 m)[1]
Depth of hold: 38 ft (12 m)[1]
Speed: 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Notes: [2]

SS Costa Rica Victory

The SS Costa Rica Victory was used as troopship near the end of World War II. The ship’s United States Maritime Commission designation was VC2-S-AP3, hull number P No. 1 (1019), Victory #529. The Maritime Commission turned her over to a civilian contractor for operation.[4][5] Victory ships were designed to replace the earlier Liberty Ships. Liberty ships were designed to be used just for WW2. Victory ships were designed to last longer and serve the US Navy after the war. The Victory ship differed from a Liberty ship in that they were: faster, longer and wider, taller, with a thinner stack set farther toward the superstructure and had a long raised forecastle.[6][7] SS Costa Rica Victory and 96 other Victory ships were converted to troop ships to bring the US soldiers home as part of Operation Magic Carpet. These ships have accommodation for up 10 1,600 troops, with fully ventilated and heated rooms. Many had troop warm bunks, a hospital, galleys, washrooms and public rooms. Costa Rica Victory duties were short-lived as the war came to an end.[8][9][10] On May 17, 1945 the work started to convert the Costa Rica Victory to a troopship.[11] On Feb. 11, 1945 Costa Rica Victor arrived in New York from Europe with troops. July 13, 1945 she departed Le Havre, France for New York with troops including the 13th Airborne Division.[12] September 27, 1945 she departed Southampton, England arrived October 5, 1945 in New York.[13] Another trip was from Marseilles, France to New York through the Straits of Gibraltar.[14]

Groote Beer

The Costa Rica Victory was sold for 1,005,431.00 to the Netherlands Government (nl) on Feb. 19, 1947. She was used as a Dutch emigrant ship after World War II. The ship was rebuilt in 1952 to accommodate approximately 800 passengers in a single class, with large dormitories outnumbering conventional cabins. The Groote Beer made regular stops at Halifax's Pier 21 in Nova Scotia, Canada, between 1948 and 1961. The Groote Beer was used to transport exchange students from Rotterdam to New York City in 1965.[15] [16]

The Groote Beer averaged 13 voyages to North America during its years of service as an emigrant ship. Voyages were also made to Australia, New Zealand and South Africa. In 1960, Groote Beer was transferred to the Trans-Ocean Steamship Co and in 1963 was sold to John Spyridon Latsis, Greece, and renamed the Marianna IV.[17]

Marianna IV continued in service until July 1966 when it collided with the sand dredger Pen Avon off the Isle of Wight while leaving Southampton on a voyage to New York. The voyage was cancelled and the ship went to Piraeus, where she was laid up and finally scrapped in June 1970 at Eleusis, Greece.[18]

References
  1. Culver, John A., CAPT USNR "A time for Victories" United States Naval Institute Proceedings February 1977 pp. 50-56
  2. Babcock & Wilcox (April 1944). "Victory Ships". Marine Engineering and Shipping Review.
  3. "Victory Ships". shipbuildinghistory.com. Archived from the original on 2015-01-23. Retrieved 2010-01-15.
  4. shipbuildinghistory.com Merchantships Victory ships
  5. Oregon Shipbuilding Corporation, By John Killen on December 11, 2014
  6. shipbuildinghistory.com, Victory Ships list
  7. US Maritime Commission 1947 sales
  8. ww2troopships.com crossings in 1945
  9. Troop Ship of World War II, April 1947, Page 356-357
  10. Our Troop Ships
  11. Forty-Five Letters from a World War II Sailor, By Edited by Robert W. Bradshaw
  12. History of the 13th Airborne Division
  13. Military History 633rd AAA Auto-Weapons Battalion
  14. ancestry.com, Felix Christian Johnson Rykken
  15. Rootweb, three Dutch Ships that brought so many to South African shores
  16. Three converted Victory-class troop ships closely tied to mass transportation of Dutch immigrants, Ships symbols of successful resettlement
  17. van Kuilenburg family genealogy
  18. Chandris Liners and Celebrity Cruises by Peter Plowman
  • Hugo's Groote Beer page
  • ssMaritime: Dutch Victory Ships
  • Sawyer, L.A. and W.H. Mitchell. Victory ships and tankers: The history of the ‘Victory’ type cargo ships and of the tankers built in the United States of America during World War II, Cornell Maritime Press, 1974, 0-87033-182-5.
  • United States Maritime Commission:
  • Victory Cargo Ships
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