Laid down 7 March 1944 Construction started 7 March 1944 | Fate scrapped in 1960 Launched 20 April 1944 | |
The SS Samleyte was a United States Liberty ship launched on 20 April 1944 and scrapped in 1960.
The ship carried 10,000 tons of explosives from Baltimore as part of a 107 ship convoy to the Mediterranean, where it suffered numerous "wolf pack" submarine attacks. While crossing the Atlantic the ship's engines ceased to function it drifted to the back of the convoy, where an escorting destroyer ordered it to "get back in line" and wished the crew luck. The ship was left as a "sitting duck" for the submarines following the convoy, but after two days drifting its engineers completed repairs and the ship met its convoy at the Straits of Gibraltar. The Samleyte unloaded in Alexandria, where it was converted to a troop carrier.
For the next year and a half the Samleyte was active in the Italian campaign (invasion of Southern France), and was a supply ship for the Anzio Beachhead.