SS Victoria Park explained

-- commercial vessels --> Ship Country: Canada Ship Name: SS Victoria Park Ship Namesake: Victoria Park, Truro, Nova Scotia Ship Owner: Canadian Government Ship Registry: Canada Ship Builder: Pictou Shipyard, Pictou, Nova Scotia Ship Launched: April 27, 1943 Ship Out Of Service: 1982 Ship Fate: Scrapped in Brazil, 1982 Ship Length: 315feet Ship Beam: 46feet Ship Depth: 22feet Ship Power: Triple expansion steam engine Ship Propulsion: Screw propellor Ship Crew: 34, plus 4 DEMS gunners Ship Armament: 1 x 4 inch deck gun aft 1 x 3 inch (76 mm)/50 caliber gun 4 x 20 mm Oerlikon 2 x Twin .50 cal. Machine Guns 20 x Rail Anti-Aircraft Rocket Launcher (Pillar Box) ^[1]

SS Victoria Park was a general cargo steamship built in 1943, the first of 24 wartime Park Ships that were built in the Pictou Shipyard in Pictou, Nova Scotia in the 1940s. Victoria Park was built by Foundation Maritime Ltd. April 27, 1943. Built as a merchant steamship constructed for Canada’s Merchant Navy.^[2] and was originally built for the government of Canada's use as a cargo vessel.

History

The S.S Victoria Park was the first steam ship built at the new Pictou shipyard.^[3] In the tradition of naming Park Ships after Canadian parks, she was named for Victoria Park in nearby Truro, Nova Scotia. The ship was launched on April 27, 1943.^[2] She made multiple crossings of the Atlantic carrying supplies to Europe during the Battle of the Atlantic.

Victoria Park also had a long postwar career changing owners and names numerous times until it was finally scrapped in Brazil in 1982.^[2]

Other names

After the war she was sold and renamed. She was subsequently renamed a number of times:^[2]

• Tatuk, 1946
• Kalo, 1948
• Ester, 1957
• San John P., 1964
• Ramsdal I, 1965
• Rio Atrato, 1966

Park Ships

Park Ships were merchant steamships constructed for Canada’s Merchant Navy during World War II. Park ships were the Canadian equivalent of the American Liberty Ships and the British Fort Ships. All three shared a similar design by J.L. Thompson and Sons of Sunderland, England.

See also

• Park ships

External links

• Local newspaper article about the launch of SS Victoria Park
• Picture of the SS Victoria Park being built

Notes and References

1. http://merchantships2.tripod.com/dems/handout.html merchant ships, Park armament
2. Web site: Ferguson Industries . shipbuildinghistory.com . August 26, 2012 . July 14, 2014 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140327234337/http://shipbuildinghistory.com/history/canada/ferguson.htm# . 2014-03-27 . dead .
3. Web site: SS Victoria Park under Construction. . July 14, 2014.