SS Gustavus Victory

SS Gustavus Victory was constructed in Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard in Baltimore, Maryland.[1] The 75th Victory ship, it was named for Gustavus Adolphus College in Saint Peter, Minnesota, which was named for the 17th century King of Sweden Gustav II Adolf. The college made a gift towards furnishing a ship library, which comprised two 40-book units and was managed by the American Merchant Marine Library Association.[1]

SS Gustavus Victory
Launching of the SS Gustavus Victory
History
United States
Name: SS Gustavus Victory
Namesake: Gustavus Adolphus College
Builder: Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Inc.
Laid down: May 25, 1945
Launched: July 9, 1945
Sponsored by: Marion Logan
Decommissioned: 1947
Renamed: Santa Fe, 1947
Fate: scrapped, 1974 in Argentina
General characteristics
Class and type: VC2-S-AP2 Victory Ship
Tonnage: 10,700 tons
Length: 456 ft (139 m)
Beam: 63 ft (19 m)
Speed: 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement: 62

History

Gustavus alumna of 1924, Marion Logan of New York, sponsored the ship. Marion was the wife of Rufus T. Logan, Captain in the Army Air Force, and daughter of former Gustavus professor Dr. John A. Youngquist.[1]

Construction of the vessel took 38 days, and it was launched from the shipyard on July 9, 1945 at 4 p.m.[1] Gustavus Victory was boarded and operated by A. L. Burbank Company, including Captain J. M. Delhome and Chief Engineer Albert L. Hayes. It was converted to a troopship for returning European veterans at the end of World War II before being transferred to the Pacific theater of war. The ship had a carrying capacity of 750 passengers with an 85-person crew. During its career, crew members produced a ship publication titled Atlantic agony: the Landlubber's journal.[2]

Postwar

Gustavus Victory was sold after World War II and renamed Santa Fe (ELMA).[3] The ship was converted to an emigrant ship to transport European emigrants to Argentina.[4] The Santa Fe sailed as part of the Compañía Argentina de Navegación Alberto Dodero.

References
  1. Commemorative Items from the Launching of the S.S. Gustavus Victory, 9 July 1945. CAMC Collection 69. Gustavus Adolphus College Archives, St. Peter, Minnesota.
  2. "RG-16.12.54, Atlantic agony, the Landlubber's journal, SS Gustavus victory, 15 April 1946.” Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust.
  3. Mariners: the website of the Mariners Mailing List
  4. “Historia y Arqueología Marítima.” 2011. Fundacion Histarmar.
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