Sailing on the Frederick Victory

An excerpt photo from A Foot Soldier's Diary: World War II and Beyond

US Army soldier sailing home on ship Victory March from European Front from World War II. Phil Andersen wrote, "We sailed home on the Frederick Victory. After V-E Day, the U.S. knew that there would be a great need to ship our troops home as fast as possible. Nearly one hundred victory transport ships were built by Bethlehem Fairfield Shipyard to bring the troops home from both the Atlantic and the Pacific. Victory ships were much smaller than the U.S.S. Wakefield. Ours had a capacity of 1,597 passengers, but we only had 800 enlisted men, 100 officers and eight women from the Women's Army Corps (W.A.C.S.). It was the first time in which women were a part of my unit. I saw very few women while I was in the service, and most of them were nurses. The Frederick Victory traveled about 12 knots an hour, and it took us ten days to sail to New York City. It was a rough ride. We had strong winds and storms with high waves. The nights were especially frightening."