A Victory Ship Comes Home
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A Victory Ship Comes Home |
S.S. Red Oak in the Mothball Fleet |
ONE OF THE 747 VICTORY SHIPS BUILT in Richmond is being restored and moved to a new home at Point Molate later this year. A museum will be created in one hold, a dining room, available for rental, in another. The Victory Ship may also be chartered for short cruises.
The S.S. Red Oak, named for a small Iowa town that had suffered heavy losses, was launched in 1944 and served as an ammunition carrier in the South Pacific, and later also in the Korean and Vietnam wars. In 1968 she was hermetically sealed and docked with the Mothball Fleet in Suisun Bay. Congress conveyed her to the Richmond Museum Association in 1996. Under the guidance of Captain James Nolan, crews of maritime workers and other volunteers have been working to get the sturdy ship ready, with the help of a $97,500 grant from an anonymous donor. "The outside looks pretty bad," said Lois Boyle, president of the Museum Association, "but inside it's remarkable - the bunks are solid oak - and it was so well sealed it wasn't even dusty!"
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