The SS M. I. T. Victory was a Victory ship

Victory ship

The Victory ship was a type of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace shipping losses caused by German submarines...

 built during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and used as a troop transport. She was later named USAT MIT Victory and finally USAT Lt. Alexander R. Nininger. Note: In 1944 there was a different transport ship named Alexander R. Nininger, Jr..

Service life

M. I. T. Victory was part of the series of Victory ships named after educational institutions, in this case the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

. Her design type was VC2-S-AP2/WSAT. Her Maritime Commission (MCV) hull number was 819 and her shipyard number was 2472. She was a War Shipping Administration

War Shipping Administration

The War Shipping Administration was a World War II emergency war agency of the US Government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the US needed for fighting the war....

 Transport (WSAT) designed to carry 1,597 troops.

She was lanched and christened on 12 May 1945, shortly after V-E Day. Her sponsor was Mrs. Margaret H. Compton, wife of MIT President Karl T. Compton, who also attended. She was completed on 1945-06-05, 74 days after being laid down.

M. I. T. Victorys library was donated by MIT through the American Merchant Marine Library Association

American Merchant Marine Library Association

The American Merchant Marine Library Association is an organization dedicated to placing a library on every United States Merchant Marine ship.- External links :*...

. While bringing back G.I.s from Europe after World War II, the ship published a mimeographed newspaper, Tech Times, for those on board.

One of her more notable passengers was Mary Jane Keeney

Mary Jane Keeney

Mary Jane Keeney and her husband Philip Olin Keeney were librarians and charter members of the liberal The Progressive Librarians Council. She worked at the Board of Economic Warfare in Washington D.C. during World War II...

, a GRU

GRU

GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...

 agent involved in the Amerasia Affair

Amerasia

Amerasia was a journal of Far Eastern affairs best known for the 1940s "Amerasia Affair" in which several of its staff and their contacts were suspected of espionage and charged with unauthorized possession of government documents.-Publication:...

. In March 1946, after working with the Allied Staff on Reparations in Europe, Keeney returned on board M. I. T. Victory to New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

. Shortly after arriving the FBI observed her passing an envelope to Joseph Bernstein

Joseph Milton Bernstein

Joseph Milton Bernstein was an American accused of spying for the Soviet Union.-Career:Bernstein allegedly recruited his fellow Communist T.A. Bisson who had stopped working at the Board of Economic Warfare and began working in the Institute of Pacific Relations and in the editorial offices of...

, which was delivered to Alexander Trachtenberg

Alexander Trachtenberg

Alexander "Alex" Trachtenberg was an American publisher of radical political books and pamphlets and activist in the Socialist Party of America and later the Communist Party USA...

, a communist party official.

On 30 August 1946, the ship was transferred to the US Army and became U. S. Army Transport (USAT) M.I.T Victory. She made her maiden voyage as an Army Transport from New York to Bremenhaven Germany, departing on September 13, 1946, carrying troops to Europe. A hurricane was encountered enroute and the trip took 13 days.

She was later renamed to USAT Lt. Alexander R. Nininger

Alexander R. Nininger

Alexander R. Nininger Jr. was a Second Lieutenant of the Philippine Scouts who received the Medal of Honor during World War II.-Biography:...

, using the Army practice of naming their vessels after Medal of Honor

Medal of Honor

The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed by the President, in the name of Congress, upon members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguish themselves through "conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his or her...

 winners.

Fate

On 16 September 1949, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet

National Defense Reserve Fleet

The National Defense Reserve Fleet consists of "mothballed" ships, mostly merchant vessels, that can be activated within 20 to 120 days to provide shipping for the United States of America during national emergencies, either military or non-military, such as commercial shipping crises.The NDRF is...

 in the Hudson River

Hudson River

The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...

. The Army transferred title to the Maritime Commission

United States Maritime Commission

The United States Maritime Commission was an independent executive agency of the U.S. federal government that was created by the Merchant Marine Act of 1936, passed by Congress on June 29, 1936, and replaced the U.S. Shipping Board which had existed since World War I...

 on 8 December 1949. On 31 October 1969 she was transferred to James River, Virginia. On 16 July 1974, she was sold for $555,100 to Sparreboom Shipbrokers for scrapping. At 1030 EDT, on 23 August 1974 she was withdrawn from the Reserve Fleet and sent to the breaker's yard

Ship breaking

Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...

 in Rotterdam

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...

.

Artifacts

The christening bottle for the M. I. T. Victory is in the MIT Historical Collection. The brass builder's plate was likely removed by MARAD

Marad

Marad was an ancient Sumerian city. Marad was situated on the west bank of the then western branch of the Upper Euphrates River west of Nippur in modern day Iraq and roughly 50 km southeast of Kish, on the Arahtu River.The city's ziggurat E-igi-kalama was dedicated to Ninurta the god of...

, but has not been cataloged as of this writing.

External links

• Photo of USAT MIT Victory on the Naval Armed Guards site.
• More on Alexander Niniger.
• MARAD PMARS Data on MIT Victory/Nininger