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".