Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) charter for the US Navy. She helped move the 140th Medium Tank Battalion. SS Luxembourg Victory transported goods, mail, food and other supplies, completing trips between 1950 and 1951. SS Luxembourg Victory carried 80 medium tanks to Korea for Eighth United States Army on July 28, 1950, for the Battle of Pusan Perimeter logistics operation. She participated in the Iwon-Hungnam landings in November 1950 during the United Nations Offense campaign. Honors Luxemburg Victory earned Battle Stars for her combat action, from November 5 to November 29, 1944, in supporting of the Leyte landings. Private use In 1951 she was sold to the States Steamship Company of Tacoma, Washington and renamed SS Pennsylvania. On January 9, 1952, Pennsylvania departed Puget Sound loaded with $1.445 million worth of wheat for Japan. While she was entering the North Pacific off Cape Flattery, off of the northern tip of Vancouver Island, Canada, she battled gale winds up to and very rough seas. At about west of Cape Flattery, her hull started to crack. She suffered a hull crack on her port side. Her engine room was flooding and she had a heavy angle of list. The seas pounded her into the night. Captain George P. Plover send out a SOS distress message and gave the abandon ship order at 51.09N 141.13W on January 9, 1952. The 45-man crew lowered and boarded the four lifeboats in waves, while the abandoned ship sank. About southwest of their position, the Japanese ship had received the SOS distress message and arrived at about 10 am on January 10, 1952. She found only overturned lifeboats and debris from the ship. Planes from McChord Air Force Base, the US Coast Guard, the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and ships from the Royal Canadian Navy arrived to search for survivors. The vast search was run by the 13th Coast Guard District Headquarters in Seattle and covered of sea. The search was eventually ended with no survivors found. Pennsylvania hull crack was similar to the structural failures, which had been a problem with other World War II welded steel ships. However, the problem was more noted in older Liberty ships, not Victory ships. Court cases and new laws over Pennsylvania sinking continued for 22 years after the disaster. References Sources Sawyer, L.A. and W.H. Mitchell. Victory ships and tankers: The history of the 'Victory' type cargo ships and