# SS Atchison Victory

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**SS *Atchison Victory*** was a [Victory ship](/source/Victory_ship) built during [World War II](/source/World_War_II) under the [Emergency Shipbuilding program](/source/Emergency_Shipbuilding_program). She was launched by the [California Shipbuilding Company](/source/California_Shipbuilding_Company) on 22 April 1944 and completed on 8 June 1944. The ship’s [United States Maritime Commission](/source/United_States_Maritime_Commission) designation was VC2-S-AP3, hull number 11 (MCV-11, V11). She was built at a cost of $3,606,688.00 in 1944.[2] The Maritime Commission turned her over to a civilian contractor, the [American President Lines](/source/American_President_Lines), for operation until the end of hostilities. *Atchison Victory* served in the Pacific during World War II. Her first stop was to [Pearl Harbor](/source/Pearl_Harbor) on her way to the islands in the Pacific.[3]

## Postwar service

*Atchison Victory* was purchased by [Furness Withy](/source/Furness_Withy) in 1946 and renamed **SS *Mohamed Ali el-Kebir***. After refitting as an 8199-[GRT](/source/Gross_register_tonnage) 78 passenger, 1st class accommodations, [cargo liner](/source/Cargo_liner), she began service between [Alexandria](/source/Alexandria) and New York City in 1948. She was renamed the **SS *Salah el-Din*** in 1960, but service to New York ended when she was nationalized by the United Arab Maritime Company in 1961 and converted back to a cargo only ship.[4][5]

After two 1962 voyages through the [Saint Lawrence Seaway](/source/Saint_Lawrence_Seaway), the *Salah el-Din* suffered a superstructure fire on 4 September 1963 killing the chief steward and gutting the bridge and crew's quarters. The fire was extinguished with the help of [Hamilton, Ontario](/source/Hamilton,_Ontario), firefighters who prevented the fire from reaching explosive cargo in the forward hold; but the ship took on a heavy [angle of list](/source/Angle_of_list). Stability was restored by pumping out the firefighting water, and on 22 November 1963 the *Salah El-Din* left Hamilton under tow. Salvador Investment Company purchased the ship at [Quebec City](/source/Quebec_City) for repair in [Houston](/source/Houston). The ship was renamed **SS *Mercantile Victory*** and returned to service in March 1964, but suffered an engine room fire on the [Red Sea](/source/Red_Sea) on 23 April 1964. The ship was towed to [Khorramshahr](/source/Khorramshahr) in Iran to offload her cargo, and then was towed back to [Marseille](/source/Marseille) in France. Repair was considered impractical, so the ship was scrapped at [Castellón de la Plana](/source/Castell%C3%B3n_de_la_Plana) in 1965.[6]

## References

1. Babcock & Wilcox (April 1944). "Victory Ships". *Marine Engineering and Shipping Review*

1. [Cost on war built ship from October 25th 1936 to June 30th 1946](http://appendix.usmaritimecommission.de/documents/costs%20on%20warbuilt%20vessels%201936%20to%201946.pdf)

1. The Atchison Daily Globe from Atchison, Kansas · Page 8, May 4, 1945

1. Emmons, Frederick (1972). *The Atlantic Liners 1925-70*. New York: Bonanza Books. p. 151.

1. [Lookback #656 – Salah El Din caught fire at Hamilton on Sept. 4, 1963, Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive](http://www.boatnerd.com/news/archive/9-15.htm)

1. Gillham, Skip. ["Salah El Din caught fire at Hamilton on Sept. 4, 1963"](http://www.boatnerd.com/news/archive/9-15.htm). *Great Lakes & Seaway Shipping News Archive*. Retrieved 6 March 2016.

## Sources

- 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: [\[1\]](http://www.usmm.org/victoryships.html)
- Victory Cargo Ships [\[2\]](http://www.armed-guard.com/recbr2.html) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20181110003648/http://www.armed-guard.com/recbr2.html) 10 November 2018 at the Wayback Machine

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [SS Atchison Victory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Atchison_Victory) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Atchison_Victory?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.