Construction and wartime operation Hagerstown Victory was laid down on 19 December 1944, as a
U.S. Maritime Commission (MARCOM)
Type C2 ship-based VC2-S-AP2 with hull 634. She was built by
Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation of Baltimore, Maryland and was launched on 13 February 1945, for the
War Shipping Administration. Later, she was converted into a dedicated troopship. She was operated by the civilian company,
Calmar Steamship Company. She was armed with a
5-inch (127 mm) stern gun for use against submarines and surface ships, and a bow-mounted
3-inch (76 mm) gun and eight
20 mm cannons for use against aircraft. As a cargo ship, she delivered goods and war supplies to
Gibraltar,
Istanbul,
Odesa in Ukraine,
Marseille in France and
Oran in Algeria. In October 1945, she was converted to a troopship allocated to the
U.S. Army Transportation Corps (USAT).
Hagerstown Victory was crewed by
U.S. Merchant Marines, protected by a contingent of
U.S. Navy Armed Guards, and had a complement of USAT (Water Division) aboard for troop
administration. She was able to transport up to 1,500 troops to and from Europe. As part of
Operation Magic Carpet, she took U.S. troops home from so-called
Cigarette Camps. Her cargo holds were converted to
bunk beds and
hammocks stacked three high for
hot bunking. The cargo holds had mess halls and exercise places added. After the war, in early 1946, she was used to take
German and
Italian POWs from the U.S. to
Le Havre, France, and
Antwerp, Belgium. ==Post-war use==