One of the ships that Felix served on was the SS Costa Rica Victory as the ships surgeon. The SS Costa Rica Victory #529 was built by Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, Calif.(Yard 1) in 1944, she was a standard wartime type 'Victory' cargo ship (Type VC2-S-AP3). - 9,140 gross tons, length 455.3ft x beam 62.1ft, one funnel, two masts, single screw and a speed of 15 knots. There was capacity for 828 one-class passengers. Launched on 17/6/1944 as the Costa Rica Victory was quickly converted to US Army transport or troopship in Nov 1945. About 75 other ships were converted and operated by the Army Transportation Service, with "civilian" mariners; by the U.S. Navy; and the War Shipping Administration.The trip back to the states was not glamorous as one solider put it. "When we left Marseilles, France we went on the Mediterranean Sea, we went through the Straits of Gibraltar, then onto the Atlantic Ocean. The passage way through the Straits is only about a m...
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