Philippines Victory was one of the new 10,500-ton class ship to be known as Victory ships designed to replace the earlier Liberty Ships. Liberty ships were designed to be used just for World War II. 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, had a thinner stack set farther toward the superstructure and had a long raised forecastle.[2]
Philippines Victory served in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.
On March 11, 1944 Philippines Victory was christened by Mrs. Carmen Soriano, wife of Andres Soriano,[clarification needed] Secretary of Finance to President Manuel Quezon of the Philippines and launched at Wilmington, Los Angeles.[3][4][5] The ship was completed and delivered to the wartime operator of all United States oceangoing shipping, the War Shipping Administration (WSA), on May 9, 1944. Philippines Victory was assigned to Alcoa Steamship Company under a standard WSA operating agreement at that time. That agreement continued until the ship's lay up May 3, 1944.[6]
She was sold to the Belgian shipping company Compagnie Maritime Congolaise (a subsidiary of Compagnie Maritime Belge), registered at Antwerp as Mahenge, and used as a cargo liner in services with the Belgian Congo.[8] On June 30, 1952, while on a voyage from Antwerp to the Matadi, she collided with the French steamship Granville near the Casquets—a group of rocks off Alderney in the English Channel. In the collision, which occurred under fog, the bows of the French ship cut into a hold of Mahenge containing a shipment of matches, which caught fire. Mahenge sank at 49°29′N2°11′W / 49.48°N 2.18°W / 49.48; -2.18. The full crew and 3 passengers were rescued by the Norwegian cargo ship Ringås.[9][10][11]
In 2007 divers found what they believe to be Mahenge, standing upright on the sea floor with a slight list to port and the derricks still intact.[9]
^Maritime Administration. "Philippines Victory". Ship History Database Vessel Status Card. U.S. Department of Transportation, Maritime Administration. Retrieved 29 June 2019.
^Forever and a Day: The World War II Odyssey of an American Family, By Eric Jensen, page 226
^The Courier-News from Bridgewater, New Jersey · Page 21, February 4, 1948
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.
