The SS Brainerd Victory was a Victory-class cargo ship built during World War II. Brainerd city Mayor Frank Johnson wrote to the Oregon Shipbuilding Company: The naming of a ship for Brainerd is greatly appreciated by our citizens. Boys of this community who formed a tank company fought, died and were taken prisoner on Bataan and naming of the S.S. Brainerd Victory stands as a tribute to them. The ship was christened by Mrs. J.A. McEachern, wife of the corporation's president John Alexander McEachern. The Brainerd Victory was sponsored by Oregon Shipbuilding Company shipyard employees to let them share in the last Victory ship built under government contract. She was operated by Weyerhaeuser Steamship Company during the war. In a letter to Mayor Johnson, Robert Horton, the public relations director for the United States Maritime Commission wrote: It is a pleasure to advise you that the Maritime Commission is naming one of the new Victory ships in honor of the city of Brainerd, Minnesota. This vessel is one of a series going into service during 1945, which will be named after cities of the United States. Victory ships were designed to replace the earlier Liberty ships. Liberty ships were designed to be used just for World War II. Victory ships were designed to last longer and serve the US Navy after the war. The Victory ship differed from a Liberty ship in that they were faster, longer and wider, taller, had a thinner stack that was set farther toward the superstructure and had a long raised forecastle. As the war was over, the Brainerd Victory steamed the West Coast, delivering goods to San Francisco, Los Angeles and Suisun Bay. Private use In 1950 Brainerd Victory was sold to Pope & Talbot, Inc. of San Francisco and renamed SS P&T Voyager. In March 1962 she was sold to Sumner A. Long of New York City and renamed SS Smith Voyager, and was operated by the Anne Quinn Corporation. The Smith Voyager on Dec. 20, 1964 was loaded with a cargo of $500,000 worth of grain. The load shifted violently about 780 miles South East of Bermuda in the Atlantic Ocean. The shifted load caused a crack in the hull and she took on water. The foundering ship developed a heavy starboard angle of list. The sea was rough with waves 20 to 30 feet high as she steamed to India. Due