The Knox Victory, Eugene Field, Don Marquis

Why was a World War II "Victory ship" named after Knox College? Or two "Liberty ships" after Knox alumni Eugene Field and Don Marquis, both well-known authors prior to World War II?

The three ships were among thousands built to carry supplies to U.S. allies during World War II. The Knox Victory was produced in 1945 at Oregon Shipbuilding Corp. The Don Marquis was built in 1943 by California Shipbuilding Corp., and the Eugene Field in 1943 by New England Shipbuilding Corp.

Field (1850-1895), who was best known at the time for his children's poetry, attended Knox in 1869-70. Marquis (1878-1937), who attended Knox's preparatory academy in 1896, is best known for the short story collection "archy and mehitabel."

With thousands of ships assembled during the war, the roster of names alone is a journey through history. Two of the first three Liberty ships completed at Oregon Shipbuilding in Portland were named after Meriwether Lewis and William Clark of Oregon Trail fame; followed by two more Liberty ships named for seafaring figures: Robert Gray, who explored the Columbia River in Oregon; and John Barry, a naval officer in the Revolutionary War.

Some of the 2,700 Liberty ships were given names selected by people who purchased "War Bonds"; many were named after famous Americans -- the Stephen A. Douglas was built in Portland; the Abraham Lincoln at Delta Shipbuilding in New Orleans. The list of names includes artists, inventors, and political figures both notable and obscure, and authors, among them two famous 19th-century Knox alumni, Field and Marquis.

The Don Marquis reportedly spend most of its service life, 1943 to 1945, as "dry floating storage in the Pacific." An Internet search failed to turn up any service record for the Eugene Field, beyond its place and date of construction.

As they built 500 Victory ships, shipyards went through the names of countries (America's World War II allies), American cities and counties -- states' names were reserved for battleships -- as well as 150 educational institutions, Knox among them.

According to the Dictionary of American Fighting Ships, the Knox Victory went into service on May 11, 1945, having been "sponsored by Mrs. Charles B. Gilbert," apparently president of the American Legion Auxiliary that year. Victory ships were built to replace the Liberty, an older, slower model that was more vulnerable to submarine attack.

The Knox Victory completed a few transport missions in the Pacific during the final months of World War II. According to the Navy and Marine Corps Awards Manual, it was also used in the Pacific during the Korean War. The ship was put into the National Defense Reserve Fleet in 1958, refitted as a missile tracking ship and rechristened as the Huntsville in 1960. It was used by NASA for space flight tracking through the Apollo 11 moon landing mission in 1969. The Hunstville was last recorded in the Naval Registry in 1974 and reportedly was scrapped in 1995.

A commemorative postcard marking the 50th anniversary of the launching of the Knox Victory was produced in April 1995.

More than 9,000 volunteer merchant sailors died in World War II, almost four-percent of those who served -- "a greater percentage of fatalities than any branch of the armed forces," according to the National Park Service.

Sixty-three Knox College alumni died in World War II. Knox's Memorial Gymnasium, built in 1950, was named in honor of alumni veterans. A veterans memorial display in the gymnasium was rededicated in 2003.

Founded in 1837, Knox is a national liberal arts college in Galesburg, Illinois, with students from 45 states and 44 nations. Knox's "Old Main" is a National Historic Landmark and the only building remaining from the 1858 Lincoln-Douglas debates.