The history of the American Ship is a long and storied one, despite the fact that she spent much of her life in mothballs. She has sailed the Seven Seas and was involved in World War II, and the Korean and Vietnam wars. Immediately following World War II, the SS American Victory served as a sea going “good will ambassador” for the United States, supplying foodstuffs, vehicles and manufacturing machinery to the war torn countries of Europe and Near East, under the auspices of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

The ship, as her name implies, was one of 534  ships built between mid-1944 and mid-1946 to replace the venerable Liberty class of merchant vessel.