Considering the Past: Topics in M.C. History

S.S. Meredith Victory was cargo ship (Victory class) that took part in a humanitarian rescue operation that evacuated 14,000 Korean refugees from Hungnam, Korea in December 1950.

Victory class ships were cargo ships built between 1944-1946 to transport supplies and equipment overseas. The Victory class ships were larger and faster than their earlier counterparts, the Liberty class. The S.S. Meredith Victory was named in honor of Meredith College to honor its completion of the Schools at War Program and the pledges by students and faculty in War Loan Drives. The S.S. Meredith Victory was christened in California on June 23, 1945; two framed pictures of the ship were then forwarded to Raleigh to be displayed in Jones Auditorium. Having a ship named for their school inspired the 1945 Junior Class to create a play for Palio which imagined their class serving as the crew. Dressed in sailor uniforms, the class took 2nd place in the competition. 
 
During the Korean War, 184 Victory ships took part in supporting the United States’ military efforts. In December 1950, the United Nations Command (UNC) troops were in a military tactical withdrawal from the Chosin Reservoir. News of the evacuation spread, and nearly 100,000 Korean civilians gathered at the port, hoping to board the departing vessels: the sea had become the only remaining escape route from Communist forces. On the 21st, after a successful supply run to Hungnan, S.S. Meredith Victory’s Captain Leonard LaRue volunteered to evacuate as many the refugees as possible. To do so, the crew unloaded weapons and supplies from the ship. Then, over the course of that afternoon and through to the next morning, the crew filled the five cargo holds and the entire main deck with Korean civilians who hurried across an improvised bridge or scrambled up nets thrown over the sides. Although the ship was designed for cargo and to accommodate fully only 47 crew and officers, more than 14,000 men, women and children departed on the S.S Meredith Victory the morning of the 23rd as gunfire from UNC ships and explosives destroyed the port.
 

During the 450 nautical miles (@520 miles), 3-day voyage, the passengers were required to stand shoulder-to shoulder in frigid weather conditions with no bathrooms and very little food or water. Without translators, crew members could not communicate with the refugees, and dark rumors circulated. Five babies were born during the short trip. Families were separated. Belongings were lost.

Finally arriving in the already overwhelmed port city of Pusan (now Busan, South Korea), the S.S. Meredith Victory was not allowed to disembark the refugees. The ship took on food, water and blankets then traveled to Koje-Do (now Geojo) about 50 miles away. A captain of a passing ship said of the S.S. Meredith Victory, “When we saw that victory ship, we couldn’t figure out what…it had on deck. From a distance, it was simply a dark, sold mass. As the ship came nearer, we could see it was human beings. And there wasn’t a sound from them. They just stood there, silently, waiting.”
 
At Koje-Do, the people were now unloaded, again in a carefully improvised way under dangerous conditions: sixteen people at a time were lowered onto 1 of 2 LSTs (Landing Ship, Tank), which, after taking on passengers, could land on the island. From here, the refugees dispersed to destinations largely unknown.
 
On the Meredith College campus, the March 9, 1951 Twig acknowledged the college’s namesake’s ship’s accomplishment on the front page, no doubt instilling in its students a sense of pride and connection to the outside world. 

Along with other merchant freighters and military LSTs, the participating vessels evacuated 98,100 refugees from Hungnam. For her part, the S.S. Meredith Victory’s effort remains the largest ever humanitarian rescue operation by a single ship. As a result, the South Korean government honored the crew with the Korean Presidential Unit Citation in 1958, noting the rescue as “a memorable occasion for all who participated in this humanitarian mission, and is remembered by the people of Korea….” The United States Merchant Marine awarded the ship's crew the Meritorious Service Medal, its highest honor.  And in August 1960, the S.S. Meredith Victory was conferred the title of "Gallant Ship" by a special act of the United States Congress signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The actions of the captain and crew of the S.S. Meredith Victory has been commemorated in a documentary, a book, movies and a memorial monument.

The book, Ship of Miracles, by Bill Gilbert, is available in the Meredith College Archives and in the collection as an ebook.