Truman Kimbro (T-AK-254) was a Boulder Victory-class cargo ship built for the U.S. Maritime Commission during the final months of World War II as the SS Hastings Victory.

Truman Kimbro (AK-254) was laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MCV hull 547) as Hastings Victory on 30 September 1944 by the Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California; launched on 30 November 1944; sponsored by Mrs. John A. Mc Keown; and delivered to the War Shipping Administration on 22 December 1944 for operation by the Grace Line.

Truman Kimbro on 31 October 1947, she was operated by the Army Transportation Service through the 1940s and, on 19 January 1950, was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet at Olympia, Washington.

Throughout the Korean War, the ship was primarily employed in moving vital cargo across the Pacific Ocean to United Nations forces fighting on that embattled peninsula.

She completed her last voyage to the Mediterranean in October; transited the Suez Canal in November; and resumed cargo operations in the Pacific in December.