View source for USNS Dalton Victory

{{short description|American victory-class cargo ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USNS Dalton Victory (T-AK-256).jpg
|Ship caption=   USS ''Dalton Victory'' (T-AK-256)
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1974}}
|Ship name=*''Dalton Victory''
|Ship namesake=*[[Dalton, Georgia]], and
*[[Dalton, Ohio]]
|Ship owner=   [[War Shipping Administration]] (1944–1950)
|Ship operator= [[Sudden & Christenson Inc]] (1944–1946), Moore McCormack Lines, Inc. (1946–1947)
|Ship registry= 
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered= as type (VC2-S-AP3) hull, [[Maritime Commission|MCV]] hull 21
|Ship awarded= 
|Ship builder=[[California Shipbuilding Corporation]], Los Angeles, California
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
|Ship way number=
|Ship laid down=8 April 1944, as SS ''Dalton Victory''
|Ship launched=6 June 1944
|Ship sponsor= 
|Ship christened= 
|Ship completed=19 July 1944
|Ship acquired=2 April 1948, by the US Army Transportation Service
|Ship commissioned=
|Ship recommissioned= 
|Ship decommissioned= 
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship renamed=   USNS ''Dalton Victory'' (T-AK-256)
|Ship reclassified=  [[Military Sea Transportation Service|MSTS]]
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport= 
|Ship identification=*[[Hull classification symbol#Support type|Hull symbol]]: T-AK-256
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours= 
|Ship honors= 
|Ship captured= 
|Ship fate=  Transferred to US Navy, 8 August 1950
|Ship notes= 
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag= {{USN flag|1974}}
|Ship name= ''Sunnyvale''
|Ship namesake=[[Sunnyvale, California]]
|Ship owner= 
|Ship operator= 
|Ship registry= 
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered= 
|Ship awarded= 
|Ship builder=
|Ship original cost=
|Ship yard number=
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|Ship laid down=
|Ship launched=
|Ship sponsor= 
|Ship christened= 
|Ship completed=
|Ship acquired=US Navy 8 August 1950
|Ship commissioned= 
|Ship recommissioned= 
|Ship decommissioned= 
|Ship maiden voyage= 
|Ship in service= 
|Ship out of service= 
|Ship renamed= 
|Ship reclassified= 27 October 1960, T-AGM-5
|Ship refit=
|Ship struck=15 December 1974
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport= 
|Ship identification=*[[Hull classification symbol#Support type|Hull symbol]]: T-AK-256
*Hull symbol: T-AGM-5
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours= 
|Ship honors= 
|Ship captured= 
|Ship fate=  Sold for scrapping, 17 July 1975, to National Metal & Steel Corp.
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}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=<ref name="navsource">{{cite web | url=http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/13/130256.htm | title=USNS Sunnyvale (T-AGM-5)
 | publisher=Navsource.org | access-date=4 June 2015}}</ref>|Ship class=*{{sclass|Greenville Victory|cargo ship}} (1945-1960)
*{{sclass|Longview|missile range instrumentation ship}} (1960-1974)
|Ship type=
|Ship tonnage= 
|Ship displacement=*{{convert|4512|t|LT|sp=us}} (standard)
*{{convert|15589|t|LT|sp=us}} (full load)
|Ship length={{convert|455|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam={{convert|62|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship height=
|Ship draft={{convert|29|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}
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|Ship ramps=
|Ship ice class=
|Ship power={{convert|8500|shp|kW|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*1 × cross compound steam turbine
*1 × [[Drive shaft#Marine drive shafts|shaft]]
|Ship sail plan=
|Ship speed={{convert|15.5|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship test depth=
|Ship boats=
|Ship capacity=
|Ship troops=
|Ship complement=99
|Ship crew=
|Ship time to activate=
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*1 × [[5"/38-caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|abbr=on}}/38]]-[[caliber (artillery)|caliber]] [[dual-purpose gun]] (''Dalton Victory'' only)
*1 × [[3"/50-caliber gun|{{convert|3|in|mm|abbr=on}}/50]]-caliber dual-purpose gun (''Dalton Victory'' only)
*8 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|{{convert|20|mm|in|abbr=on}} Oerlikon cannons]] anti-aircraft gun mounts (''Dalton Victory'' only)
*none as USNS ''Sunnyvale''
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|Ship aircraft= 
|Ship aircraft facilities=*[[Helicopter deck]] added 1960
*2 × [[Hangar#Hangars aboard ships|Hangars]] added 1960
|Ship notes= 
}}
|}
'''SS ''Dalton Victory''''' was built as [[Victory ship]] used as a [[cargo ship]] for [[World War II]] under the [[Emergency Shipbuilding program]]. She was launched by the [[California Shipbuilding Company]] on 6 June 1944 and completed on 19 July 1944 as a ''Greenville Victory''-class cargo ship. The ship’s [[United States Maritime Commission]] designation was VC2- S- AP3, hull number 21.  She was acquired by the [[U.S. Navy]] in 1950 and renamed the '''USNS ''Dalton Victory'' (T-AK-256)'''.

In 1960 she was renamed '''USNS ''Sunnyvale'' (T-AGM-5)''' and rebuilt and placed in service as a [[missile range instrumentation ship]], and assigned to the [[Pacific Missile Range Facility|Pacific Missile Range]], where she performed missile tracking duties.

== Constructed in Los Angeles, California==
''Dalton Victory'' (T-AK-256) was built by [[California Shipbuilding Corporation]], Los Angeles, California, and was completed in 1944.

==World War II==
SS ''Dalton Victory'' served in the [[Pacific War]] in World War II. She was a [[United States Merchant Marine]] ship. She was operated by [[Sudden & Christenson Inc]] from 19 July 1944 to 27 May 1946. On 27 May 1946, her operations was transferred to the Moore McCormack Lines, Inc till 3 October 1947. As a Merchant Marine ship she had a Merchant Marine crew and a [[United States Navy Armed Guard]] to man the [[deck gun]]s. ''Dalton Victory'' had enemy attacks from the air, subs and ships. She was placed in the [[National Defense Reserve Fleet]] in the [[James River]] on 3 October 1947. One 2 April 1948, she was removed from the [[Reserve Fleet]] and put under the [[Military Sealift Command|US Army Transportation Service]].  During the War the SS ''Dalton Victory'' too supplies to Pacific War. She was at the [[Battle of Leyte]], [[Battle of Okinawa]] and [[Battle of Iwo Jima]]. During and after the war she had the difficult task of returning the bodies of fallen troops back to the US.<ref>[http://www.genealohy.coaker.genealogy.com/forum/general/topics/wwii/11292/ genealogy.com, KIA Iwo Jima - PFC Blach USC - Michigan]</ref><ref>The Morning News from Wilmington, Delaware · Page 20, 29 August 1945</ref><ref>[http://vetaffairs.sd.gov/sdwwiimemorial/SubPages/profiles/Display.asp?P=2071 vetaffairs.sd.gov, In Memory of U.S. Army Private, William Hamilton Wilcox, Jr.]</ref><ref>[http://www.newbuffalogenes.com/1943ww2.htm newbuffalogenes.com, World War II 1943 Memorial Page]</ref><ref>[http://rgoing.livejournal.com/361006.html PFC Erwin G. Hudson]</ref><ref>[http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~kscomanc/seidel_alfred.html Root.com, The Western Star, 17 December 1948, Body of Sailor Home for Burial]</ref><ref>''[[Post Register]]'', 1 December 1948, page 8</ref>

== Acquired by MSTS as a cargo ship ==
''Dalton Victory'' was acquired by the Navy and assigned to the [[Military Sea Transportation Service]] (MSTS) as a [[Greenville Victory-class cargo ships|''Greenville Victory''-class cargo ship]] in a noncommissioned status on 9 August 1950.  SS ''Dalton Victory'' served as cargo ship supplying goods for the [[Korean War]]. SS ''Dalton Victory'' transported goods, mail, food and other supplies, making trips between the US and Korea.<ref>[http://www.koreanwar-educator.org/topics/merchant_marine/ Korean War Educator, Merchant Marine, Accounts of the Korean War]</ref><ref>Small United States and United Nations Warships in the Korean War, By Paul M. Edwards</ref>

== Assigned as a missile tracking ship ==
On 27 October 1960 ''Dalton Victory'' was reconfigured as a [[missile range instrumentation ship]] and renamed USNS ''Sunnyvale'' (T-AGM-5).{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

USNS ''Sunnyvale'' carried out a multitude of duties in the Pacific Ocean through 1962, including operations in support of the [[Western Range (USAF)|Pacific Missile Range]], [[Point Mugu, California|Point Mugu]], California.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

Two other ships were reconfigured in to this new class, ''Longview-class missile range instrumentation ship'', the ''[[USNS Private Joe E. Mann (T-AK-253)]]'' and the ''[[USNS Longview (T-AGM-3)]]''.{{citation needed|date=December 2019}}

== Inactivation==

''Sunnyvale'' was placed out of service at an unknown date, and was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register|Navy List]] on 15 December 1974. She was disposed of by the [[U.S. Maritime Administration]] on 17 July 1975.

== In arts and popular culture==
* ''Sunnyvale'' appears in Season 5 Episode 1 of the television crime drama ''[[The Streets of San Francisco]]'' at about 24'05". The episode is titled "The Thrill Killers: Part 1" and it aired on 30 September 1976 in the US, according to ''[[IMDb]]''.

== See also ==
* [[Missile Range Instrumentation Ship]]
* [[List of Victory ships]]
* [[Liberty ship]]
* [[Type C1 ship]]
* [[Type C2 ship]]
* [[Type C3 ship]]
* {{USNS|Haiti Victory|T-AK-238}}

==References==
{{reflist}}
* {{DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/s/sunnyvale.html|http://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/d/dalton-victory.html}}
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/13/130256.htm NavSource Online: Service Ship Photo Archive – T-AK-256 Dalton Victory – T-AGM-5 Sunnyvale]

{{Victory ship cargo ship classes}}
{{Longview class missile instrumentation ships}}
{{Missile range instrumentation ship (T-AGM)}}
{{MARCOMships}}
{{Victory ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalton Victory (T-AK-256)}}
[[Category:Victory ships]]
[[Category:Ships built in Los Angeles]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:World War II merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships of the United States Army]]
[[Category:Greenville Victory-class cargo ships]]
[[Category:Missile range instrumentation ships of the United States Navy]]
[[Category:Longview-class missile range instrumentation ships|Sunnyvale]]
[[Category:Cold War auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Dalton, Georgia]]