USS Bedford Victory ( AK - 231 ) USS " Bedford Victory " ( AK - 231 ) was a " Boulder Victory " - class cargo ship acquired by the U . S . Navy during World War II . She served in the Pacific Ocean theatre of operations through the end of the war , earning one battle star , and then returned to the United States for disposal . Victory built in California . " Bedford Victory " ( AK - 231 ) was laid down on 20 July 1944 at Richmond , California , by the Permanente Metals Corporation under a U . S . Maritime Commission contract ( MCV hull 540 ) ; launched on 30 September 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . Raymond A . Kremp ; acquired by the Navy on Armistice Day 1944 ; and commissioned that same day , Lt . Comdr . Dudley A . Durrant , USNR , in command . World War II operations . The Navy acquired " Bedford Victory " and several of her sisters in response to an urgent need for additional ammunition carriers to keep the greatly expanded U . S . Pacific Fleet supplied during the final surge against the Empire of Japan . Necessity , therefore , obviated major conversion efforts and kept her fitting out and shakedown training periods unavoidably brief . She completed her shakedown cruise on 27 November and began taking on a cargo of ammunition at Port Chicago , California . The ship stood out of San Francisco Bay on 15 December and — after stops at Pearl Harbor , Eniwetok Atoll , and Saipan — arrived at Ulithi on 16 January 1945 . There , " Bedford Victory " became a unit of Service Squadron ( ServRon ) 10 . Over the next four weeks , her crew worked feverishly rearming fleet units as they pulled into the anchorage for provisions , fuel , and ammunition . In February , the ship began visiting other ports of call , rearming warships at Leyte Gulf , Guam , and Saipan in addition to Ulithi . Late in April , " Bedford Victory " joined a convoy of oilers bound for the Ryukyu Islands where the last campaign of World War II had already begun . On the 27th , she and her consorts became elements of Task Group ( TG ) 50 . 8 , the mobile replenishment group supporting the U . S . 5th Fleet . For almost a month , she steamed in a holding area a day ’ s voyage to the east of Okinawa rearming various units of the 5th Fleet . At the end of the third week in May , she and the ammunition ship " Akutan " ( AE - 13 ) parted company with Task Group 50 . 8 and set course for Kerama Retto , the small group of islands just west of the southern end of Okinawa . The two ships entered the fleet anchorage on 21 May and began two weeks of ammunition distribution there . Enemy air attacks frequently punctuated her activities , but " Bedford Victory " emerged undamaged from Kerama Retto on 6 June . She steamed in convoy via Saipan and Ulithi to Leyte Gulf . She remained there through the end of the war and for about two months thereafter . Early in November , the ship embarked upon the long voyage home , and she arrived in Seattle , Washington , on the 17th . " Bedford Victory " remained at Seattle until the end of the first week in February 1946 . Post - war decommissioning . At that time , she moved south to San Francisco , California , where she was decommissioned on 29 March 1946 . She was returned to the Maritime Commission that same day . Her name was struck from the Navy list on 28 August 1946 . Honors and awards . " Bedford Victory " earned one battle star for her World War II service . Qualified " Bedford Victory " personnel were eligible for the following :