Paranormal_Extreme

Paranormal EXtreme
Presents:
Our evidence and history on-
S.S. American Victory

Click on our link to see a video of the Odyssey treasure

On January 14th, Captain John C. Timmel, Chairman of the Board of Victory, Inc. reported that it has been finalized that the American Victory will be partnering with Odyssey Marine Explorations and will be featuring a preview exhibit of their Pirates, Shipwrecks & Treasure onboard the SS American Victory in the coming months with plans of the ship becoming their homeport museum venue for the entire exhibit when it finishes touring the country in early 2010. We are excited about this partnership, and feel it will help the American Victory Mariners Memorial and Museum Ship achieve its goal of becoming a world-class maritime museum in Tampa Bay.

BLACK SWAN- THIS IS THE TREASURE THAT IS SUPPOSE TO BE ON THE SS AMERICAN VICTORY PER OUR SOURCE..

An American company is in the process of determining the value of a haul of sunken treasure, thought to be the biggest ever discovered. Odyssey Marine Exploration says it is examining more than half-a-million coins from the shipwreck as part of a find that could net it around half a billion dollars. The bounty has sparked public interest in the controversial business of treasure hunting vy Odyssey Marine Exploration.

"Black Swan is the code-name of a secret operation off the coast of Europe which may have discovered the biggest haul of shipwreck treasure ever found.

Odyssey won't reveal the identity of the ship, or even when it sank, to avoid giving clues to other treasure hunters. Odyssey will only say it went down in international waters.

In the crates are 17 tons of silver and gold coins and other valuables arriving in the U.S., destined for a secret location.

Mark Gordon, from Odyssey Marine Exploration, says an expert in 17th century coins estimated the value of the haul. "He looked at a representative sample of the coins and in amongst the group that he saw he was able to determine that there were values ranging from $400 to $4,000 for individual coins, and the mean value of the group that he looked at was about $1,000," says Gordon.

Those crates could hold about half a billion dollars. In the U.S., a big media splash about the "Black Swan" hoard has triggered a new fascination in pirate ships and treasure.

Odyssey estimates there are some three million shipwrecks worldwide. The company combs the seabed using a special underwater vessel: operating it costs $35,000 a day.

If treasure is found, the company determines if anyone may have a claim to it -- unlikely in the case of a pirate-ship -- then petitions a U.S. court to get ownership.

Odyssey is the only publicly traded treasure-hunting company in the U.S., but the business is unpredictable. It reported a net loss of $3.8 million in the first quarter of 2007.

Now for a Look at the History of:
the S.S. American Victory Memorial & Museum Ship

The SS American Victory was delivered to the U.S. War Shipping Administration (WSA) by the California Shipbuilding (Calship) Yard at Los Angeles, California on May 24, 1945 at 1:30PM, the 442nd ship constructed, by the ship yard, with WSA-hull designation No. 792. She was named after American University in Washington, DC, to honor the school’s contributions to war training and weapons research during both World War I and World War II.

At scores of shipyards on the east and west coasts, America’s industrial machine was in full gear in the early and mid 1940s, churning out Liberty and Victory merchant ships at a record pace to supply the war effort.
May 24, 1945, 1:30 PM-- the SS American Victory is side launched at California Shipbuilding in Wilmington, CA, the 442nd vessel launched by the shipyard. Shortly after launching, the SS American Victory was assigned to the U.S. Army at Fort Mason, California and sent to Los Angeles and other West Coast cities to load military cargo. She departed the states for her inaugural trip, which took her to Manila in the Philippines and Shanghai, China to discharge her cargo. In November 1945, she sailed to Calcutta and Port Said, Egypt to load military cargo, returning to New York in January 1946 to discharge the cargo.

In early February 1946, the SS American Victory underwent a guarantee survey in Stapleton, New Jersey and went into dry-dock at Todd Shipyards in Hoboken, New Jersey. Following her dry-dock period, she loaded military cargo in New York, making port calls in the Caribbean and South America, including Trinidad, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Montevideo, Uruguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina. She returned to New York in June 1946 and after undergoing an annual survey, was chartered by American Export Lines until November 1947.

Under the American Export Lines flag, the SS American Victory carried foodstuffs and machinery to Europe, Russia and the Near East under the auspices of the Marshall Plan. Ports of call included: Trieste (Italy), Constanza (Romania), Piraeus (Greece), Odessa (Ukraine), Antwerp (Belgium), and other mid-and eastern European ports. Following her trip from Odessa, in ballast through rough winter waters of the Black Sea and North Atlantic, she was laid up in dry-dock in Boston for hull repairs.

On the outbound trip from Odessa to Boston in January 1947, the captain of the Soviet icebreaker Turgenev ordered the SS American Victory Captain, A. D. Cushman, to delay his departure by a week because the Black Sea was icebound and the icebreaker needed time to clear the ice. With classic American pluck, Captain Cushman refused the request, advising that he could not afford to wait. He then set sail, using the SS American Victory as an icebreaker, much to the chagrin of the Soviet captain. She led several other ships out of the harbor and into the ice, including the Turgenev. This portion of the trip lasted about 36 hours, and severely taxed the SS American Victory’s engines because of the frequent need to reverse engines to get through the ice. While under the American Export Lines flag, she sailed mainly from New York, and made several coastwise trips with port calls in Philadelphia and Baltimore.

The SS American Victory leads two ships out of the ice-choked harbor at Odessa Ukraine in early 1947. The Turgenev is the ship making smoke. photo courtesy of Ralph Nilsen.

Christmas 1946 dinner aboard the SS American Victory en route to Odessa, Ukraine. First Assistant Engineer, Ralph Nilsen is fourth from the left, in the foreground. Captain A.D. Cushman is sitting against the bulkhead, second from the left.
photo courtesy of Ralph Nilsen

Ship's Story: The History of the American Victory -1950's

The U.S. Navigation Company chartered the SS American Victory on February 15, 1951, under a general agency agreement charter. This charter was changed to a bareboat arrangement one month later, on March 19, 1951, the quick change in charter status likely covering the time necessary to break her out of the Hudson River Reserve Fleet and readied for sea. She was again chartered to U.S. Navigation on February 21, 1952 and from then until December 1952, the SS American Victory supplied American and United Nations troops during the Korean War from ports in the United States and Japan.

On December 30, 1952, the SS American Victory was chartered under a government agency agreement to Dichmann, Wright, & Pugh, Inc. This firm is believed to have been a vessel-operating agency, sailing the SS American Victory for the government, carrying military cargo, vehicles and equipment during and after the Korean War, which ended on July 27, 1953.

In March 1953, the SS American Victory was assigned to grim task of retuning the bodies of 370 GIs who lost their lives defending freedom in Korea and on January 6, 1954, the SS American Victory was de-activated and entered the Sabine River Reserve Fleet near Orange, Texas.

Following the Korean War, the SS American Victory was assigned to the Sabine River Reserve Fleet near Orange, Texas, where she stayed until her reactivation for the Vietnam War in 1966


The SS American Victory at anchor in Sasebo, Japan in mid-1951, unloading supplies during the Korean War. Note the crow's nest at the top of the foremast, long ago removed. Photo Courtesy of Joe Sinopoli
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Ship's Story: The History of the American Victory - 1960'S

The U.S. Navy developed a plan to acquire 15 Victory ships for use as “special project” vessels, among them the SS American Victory. The plan called for conversion of the selected vessels for use as ”Forward Depot” ships, which would be loaded with cargo, ammunition and other military supplies. The ships would then be anchored near potential “flash points” around the world to supply American troops if needed.

As a likely result of growing political and military unrest in Southeast Asia from 1963 onward, the Navy canceled the conversion plan in February 1966, after only three of the 15 ships had been refitted. Had the Navy plan fully materialized, the SS American Victory, then still anchored in the Sabine River Reserve Fleet, would have been renamed the USNS Carthage (AG 185).

Between 1946 and 1966, American Victory was chartered to commercial shipping firms, between a two year layup in the Hudson River Reserve Fleet and eight years in the Sabine River Reserve Fleet. From 1966 to 1969, she was chartered to the Hudson Waterways Corporation to support the Vietnam War effort, under the Military Sealift Command. She carried bombs, military equipment and supplies to South Vietnam and Thailand. In September 1967, she was severely battered by Typhoon Diana en route from Japan to South Vietnam.

Ship's Story: The History of the American Victory -1970'S-1980'S

The SS American Victory was withdrawn from the James River Reserve Fleet on March 13, 1985 to participate in a government-sponsored Victory Ship Validation Program. The program was designed to gauge the time and expense necessary to activate mothballed Victory ships. She was brought to full operational status and performed sea trials, but returned to in-active status in the James River Reserve Fleet on June 24, 1985, where she has remained since that time. Records indicate that in June 1985, after a $2.5 million restoration, the SS American Victory sailed for of 26 hours before returning to her anchorage in the James River Reserve Fleet.

After going into the James River Reserve Fleet in late 1969, the SS American Victory participated in a U.S. Maritime Administration “Victory Ship Validation Program” from March until June 1985. After a $2 million restoration and overhaul, she steamed for 26 hours in the Atlantic Ocean and was returned to the Reserve Fleet.

Still in mothballs in the James River Reserve Fleet in March 1988, the SS American Victory’s readiness status was downgraded, no longer on rapid (30-day) readiness status. This change reduced the amount of regular maintenance she received.

Ship's Story: The History of the American Victory -1990'S

In October 1996, Captain John C. Timmel, a State University of New York Maritime School at Fort Schuyler graduate and Tampa Bay harbor pilot, attended a Propeller Club convention in Baltimore, Maryland. He participated in one of the convention activities, an evening cruise aboard the SS John W. Brown, a reconditioned Liberty ship and began thinking about the potential for bringing a similar ship to Tampa.

In February 1998, Captain Timmel learned through Captain Brian Basel, then the United States Coast Guard Captain of the Port of Tampa, that several Victory ships in MARAD reserve fleets were earmarked for scarp if not acquired for memorial purposes. Timmel further considered the possibility of bringing a Liberty or Victory ship to Tampa for use as a museum and conducted an informal study of the idea. He determined that a memorial ship/museum would be feasible in Tampa.

Captain Timmel and Charles A. Harden, a Tampa-based marine surveyor, visited MARAD reserve fleets in the James River and the Beaumont River in Texas to survey available ships. Following the trip, Timmel and Harden selected the SS American Victory as the vessel to be acquired for memorial purposes. Soon afterward, they corralled significant local support in Tampa for turning the SS American Victory into a mariner’s memorial and museum vessel and formed the Victory Ship, Inc., in August 1998.

Less than three months later, in October 1998, Timmel and The Victory Ship, Inc. had received title conveyance legislation for the SS American Victory, the final legislative action of the 105th Congress. MARAD approved the title transfer in April 1999, almost six months after Congress had already legislated title conveyance. In September 1999, less than one year after title transfer, the SS American Victory made a triumphant arrival to Tampa Bay, her new home port.

The daunting task of towing the SS American Victory form the James River Reserve Fleet to Tampa was smartly accomplished, despite two hurricanes and a tropical storm. Towed by the GulfCoast Transit tug Sharon DeHart, under the able command of Captain Mike Egan, the SS American Victory triumphantly arrived in her new home port on Thursday, September 16, 1999, completing the first leg of her new life as a mariners memorial and museum. A flotilla of tugs, fireboats and pleasure craft and several of media helicopters, which recorded the event for posterity, accompanied the S/S American Victory. Seven hours after making the Tampa Bay Sea Buoy, she docked at her temporary berth at Tampa Bay Shipbuilding & Repair, where hundreds of supporters celebrated her arrival.

Investigation / Personal notes

     When we went to do this physical investigation we decided to invite a couple of teams to assist. We invited Florida Paranormal Research, Team Phenomenon, Southern Paranormal Investigations (from Texas) and S-spirit. between all five (5) teams we had over 26 investigators, 21 I.R. cameras, over 20 voice recorders, and multiple hand held equipment.
     We did our own background study of the ship, and found only a few records remain after the merchant marines destroyed them. We were told by the ship that over 1,200 of our veterans bodies were returned from various wars on board this ship. but we were only able to verify roughly 25 bodies, which were brought back from Vietnam, on the S.S. American Victory's last trip to Vietnam.
     We did get to talk to a few previous Merchant Marines that worked on board the Victory during various era's in history. most of which were met while on the Ships last cruise. We heard stories of a couple of deaths, one that happened on the deck of the ship, But we found no evidence to prove how they happened and we only had reliable proof of one death on board the ship.
     When we arrived on the dock we were astounded at how majestic the ship was. We even made notes to ourselves about how you felt like you walked back in time as you walked into the ship. There was so much of the original designs of the ship it still holds the "feel" of days long gone.
     We made sure that even though the ship left us with a "spooky" feeling, we decided it was because it is old, worn, and from a different age other than ours. The "spooky" feeling was us using our own imaginations work against us.

Arrangements:

      We set up two command centers, one in a break room at the rear side of the ship and one in what seems to have been a maintenance room. We set up a staging area outside of the ship on the main dock. We arranged refreshments for all involved knowing it was going to be a long night.
     We set rules that there would be two (2) sweep teams at a time within the ship.   One ran from forward command and one run out of aft command. Each team would consist of 3 investigators and no more than 4 investigators.
     The over all rules were simple, all members not playing part of a sweep team would be outside of the ship and keep close to the staging area. When a investigator is in a sweep team, they were required to go directly to the forward or aft command, depending where they were assigned, and turn in their id tag. The command center would tell the teams what they were supposed to do during their sweep, including when, where and how to do it. Once a sweep was complete, the investigators were to go to the command center, retrieve their id tags, and then go outside to the staging area for an interview. The staging area would call into the command centers to advice them the teams are out and secure. Once everyone was out and verified, the command centers would then allow the next teams in.
     The purpose for all our arrangements was to verify where everyone was at all times.   We did all of the evidence contamination control procedures that we could think of.   Our goal was to be able to verify all of our evidence was proper and legitimate, we were worried that without strong restraints of all involved, that the investigation would provide evidence that would later be contaminated and deemed unusable.

American Victory's rules:

The S.S. American Victory gave us some stiff rules as well, that we had to keep. We were not allowed into any of the storage holds. We were not allowed into various locations of the ship. We were not allowed into the engine room. We were not allowed into the shaft room. We were to fill out volunteer papers and become official volunteers of the ship and become "crew".

Evidence Review:

If anyone has ever worked with two or more teams you would know that it is difficult to get all the evidence from every team. not to mention that if there is any problems with the recordings, program failures, and glitches. some evidence was lost forever and sadly always will be. Due to the fact that we will not be going back for a second investigation, all we have to work with is what we already have.
We reviewed literally, hundreds of hours of Video, audio and other recording devices. We found no evidence in video to prove any paranormal activity. We found no evidence in any of our voice recorders, not a single E.V.P. (Electronic Voice Phenomenon).

Note: Electronic Voice Phenomenon's, are out of body voices that are recorded
on a digital voice recorder or a tape recording device. These voices were not heard
by human ears while the recording was being done.

We studied literally hundreds of pictures. We did find a few that has some interesting possibilities. One picture that has a image of what seems to be a orange face on it. and another picture that seems to have what looks like a "shadow" figure in front of some stairs.
We studied these two pictures over a serious period of time and found that we could not debunk the orange face picture, we came up with a theory of the "shadow figure". But no matter what we could not fully identify what the images where, therefore, we could not debunk, we could only add a possibility.

Decision:

Due to the lack of solid proof, such as some audio or video to back up the pictures. We do not have enough evidence to call the ship haunted. We have to base all of our decisions on factual evidence that we can reproduce through recording equipment. When a research team studies a location, we need to be willing to put our names and word behind what we say. So without any further investigations, without more verifiable proof, we will not and can not say this location is haunted.

Does that mean it isn't "Haunted"? NO! It means we have no real proof leading to that conclusion. We urge everyone to remember that when a location is "Haunted", the spirits work on their time and wants, not ours. This just may as well be a case that the spirits didn't feel like showing themselves or a day of shyness on their part. We tried to arrange a second investigation using some newer and better

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