SS Minot Victory Ship

 Victory Ships were a type of cargo ship which were mass-produced in the United States during World War II.  They Victory Ships were part of the Merchant Marine. The United States Merchant Marine transports goods and services in wartime as an auxiliary to the U.S. Navy.  During military conflicts, the Merchant Marine operated civilian-owned merchant ships as well as vessels maintained through government entities like the Military Sea Transportation Service or Military Sealift Command.    The S.S. Minot was launched on October 7, 1944.  The Victory ships were predominantly cargo vessels but they were armed. On April 11, 1945, a fleet of 15 merchant ships arrived at Okinawa, the USS Minot was one of these. On April 12, the USS Minot brought down a Japanese plane which had strafed the ship. The plane crashed into her No. 4 kingpost wounding 5 seamen.

Apparently in May of 1967 the USS Minot ran aground on a coral reef the in the Paracel Islands off the coast of Vietnam. This was about 240 miles northeast of Danang. She was carrying 6000 tons of machinery and supplies for the military forces in Vietnam. After  7 days of offloading much of the freight the Minot was floated and with help of tugs pulled off the reef and with an escort was able to continue the journey to Danang. The damage to the hull was minimal.