In 1943 a new type of fast emergency fleet cargo ship was designed to
replace Liberty Ships and they were given the name "Victory". The first of
these ships was completed in February 1944 and a total of 531 of these ships
were constructed comprising 414 cargo ships and 117 attack transports. 97
Victories were fitted out as troop carriers. After the war, 170 were sold,
20 loaned to the U.S. Army and the remainder were mothballed as part of the
U.S. Reserve Fleet. Some were re-activated for the Korean War and Vietnam
War and some retained as support ships for the Military Sealift Command.
In 1959 others were refitted as instrumentation, telemetry and recovery ships
for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for use with America's
space program.
Most of these ships have now been scrapped, but a few remain as part of the
reserve fleet or as museum ships.
