Ship of Miracles: 14, 000 Lives and One Miraculous Voyage

Chicago, IL: Triumph Books, 2000. Presumed first edition/first printing. Hardcover. Very good in very good dust jacket. DJ has slight wear and soiling.. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 205, [3] p. Illustrations. Maps. Bibliography. Index. Foreword by Alexander Haig. The SS Meredith Victory was a United States Merchant Marine Victory ship, a type of cargo freighter built for World War II. Under the stewardship of Captain Leonard LaRue, the SS Meredith Victory performed the largest humanitarian rescue operation by a single ship. The vessel has often been described as the "Ship of Miracles" as it was designed to carry only 12 passengers with a 47 person crew. On December 21, Captain Leonard LaRue of the SS Meredith Victory made the decision to unload nearly all weapons and supplies from his ship in order to evacuate as many refugees as possible. Using booms and makeshift elevators, the refugees filled the five cargo holds and the entire main deck. The Meredith Victory departed shortly after 11 am on December 23 for Pusan, about 450 sea miles away, as gunfire from UNC ships and explosives destroyed the port in an "enemy-denial-operation" razing. The ship had no escort or means of self-defense.