	Construction of the vessel took 38 days, and it was launched from the shipyard on July 9, 1945 at 4 p.m. "Gustavus Victory" was boarded and operated by A. L. Burbank Company, including Captain J. M. Delhome and Chief Engineer Albert L. Hayes. It was converted to a troopship for returning European veterans at the end of World War II before being transferred to the Pacific theater of war. The ship had a carrying capacity of 750 passengers with an 85-person crew. During its career, crew members produced a ship publication titled "Atlantic agony: the Landlubber's journal".