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	THE LANE VICTORY (Text by Pete Porter; Photos by Margaret Porter) (Photo courtesy of Lane Victory Web Site)

Many of us in the South Bay are unaware of a terrific fully operational relic of World War II that resides close to the Vincent Thomas Bridge in San Pedro. The S.S.Lane Victory is now one of the active stations where RSVP members volunteer their time. Although it is listed as a Long Beach RSVP volunteer station, the Lane Victory is also one of the South Bay RSVP volunteer stations. Similar to the Western Museum of Flight at Torrance Airport, the Lane Victory encourages anybody who is interested to join in the maintenance and running of this worthwhile enterprise.

Marty Dodell used to volunteer at the old Western Museum of Flight location in Hawthorne. Always interested in (as he says) "Big Boys Toys", it didn't take Marty long before he started to dedicate his time towards the renovation and maintenance of the Lane Victory. This craft is fully operational and conducts six day long cruises each year between San Pedro and Catalina Island. Apart from a morning continental breakfast and the mid-cruise dinner, guests enjoy a WW2 reenactment of a spy capture and a typical air raid with on board defensive gunfire and dog fight aftermath. At the start of the cruise, there is also a moving commemorative service for one of the more than 700 merchant ships lost during WWII.

Marty met us as we stepped aboard and gave us a fascinating tour of this living museum that is certainly worth a visit by anyone interested in this period of our history. The ship was built about a mile from its present location and delivered in June of 1945, just at the end of WW2. It was then laid up until being called back into service during the Korean War and then again in the Vietnam War. The Lane Victory Historical group obtained it about twenty years ago.

Although it's basically a cargo ship, people also see plenty of guns when they come aboard. These were used for defensive purposes against attacking aircraft and consist of two 50 caliber machine guns; two 20mm anti aircraft guns and a five inch 38 caliber cannon that can fire a projectile for 17 miles. These guns are actually fired off during the cruise as part of an air raid enactment. As we then descended to one of the two museums that were on board, Marty told us that a film crew from Warner Brothers were there that morning to shoot part of one of the TV "Cold Case" episodes and that they encourage the form of funding that this produces to help defray the cost of this operation. A sold out cruise can also accommodate up to 800 passengers. However, he pointed out that a typical cruise is totally different to what one would expect on a regular "cruise" ship.

There were many interesting items available for viewing in this museum, which was converted from a cargo hold and also houses a gift shop. Old newspapers from World War 2 were on display along with many model ships and a collection of enemy memorabilia. The ship models were all made by the same person and donated by him to the museum. Marty told us that the ships crew was entirely made up of civilians, except for the military "armed guard" that was required to man the guns and provide signaling communication between the ships in the convoy. The ship is owned by the U.S. Merchant Marine Veterans of WW2 Association. A Congressional Proclamation, giving the ship to the organization and signed by Ronald Reagan, is displayed in the museum.

I wondered how the ship was named and Marty told me that the first Victory ships were named after countries (such as Great Britain Victory and U.S. Victory). Then they were named after small cities and, when they ran out of those, colleges. Being one of the last Victory ships built, the Lane Victory derived its name from Lane College. A special presentation box in the museum attracted my interest. Marty told me that, during the Korean War the Lane Victory was used to transport a number of Marines into North Korea. After dropping the Marines off it was then used to transport 7,000 civilians back to South Korea. He said that there were actually 7,001 on board when it docked, as one woman gave birth during the trip. A few years ago a party of Korean businessmen were touring the ship when one of them realized that he was actually on board as a kid during that voyage. He arranged for the Korean government to present the ship with the displayed citation.



We then descended to the engine room. We were informed that, while Liberty ships were powered by piston engines, the Victory ships were powered by two steam turbines. As such, they were capable of cruising at 19-20 knots, whereas the Liberty ships could only make 10-11 knots. This fast speed was enough to outrun the current class of German submarines. The center photo above shows the engine room telegraph, This was connected all the way up to the bridge by means of steel cables.

The maintenance of the ship depends to a certain extent on the onboard manufacture of relatively obsolete items that are not readily available. The Lane Victory was fortunate in obtaining several pieces of machine shop equipment from the Los Angeles Unified School District when they upgraded to electronic read out machines. The Lane Victory now boasts of a complete Machine Shop where most of these items can be manufactured as required, Ballast was also needed. Some of this was obtained after the Northridge Earthquake provided large slabs of freeway overpass concrete. Other ballast came from some 4 ton cement blocks originally used as dry dock keel blocks at the Long Beach Naval Shipyards.


The Number 2 Hold Museum contained several examples of Vietnam era hardware along with a Jeep that is a great attraction for the younger set (as well as myself). Marty also showed me a few photographs of the typically welded hull structure used for the Victory ships and commented that "While the aircraft industry employed "Rosie the Riveter", the Shipbuilding industry used "Wilma the Welder" as part of the home front working force".


	While back on deck at the Signal Bridge, Marty informed me that El Camino College sends trainees undergoing Seamanship courses to the Lane Victory as part of their course work. Here they study fire fighting methods and practice lowering the lifeboat among other things.

Marty says that in his opinion the basis for volunteerism lies in simply finding something that you are interested in and that you want to support. Then put in your time and some sweat equity and "off you go"! So if any of you are interested in getting involved in this project, please don't hesitate to get in touch with Ges Davis, by calling (310) 320-3322 at our office, and
"Put your name down"

Click HERE to view the Lane Victory Web Site.

Marty met us as we stepped aboard and gave us a fascinating tour of this living museum that is certainly worth a visit by anyone interested in this period of our history. The ship was built about a mile from its present location and delivered in June of 1945, just at the end of WW2. It was then laid up until being called back into service during the Korean War and then again in the Vietnam War. The Lane Victory Historical group obtained it about twenty years ago.
	Although it's basically a cargo ship, people also see plenty of guns when they come aboard. These were used for defensive purposes against attacking aircraft and consist of two 50 caliber machine guns; two 20mm anti aircraft guns and a five inch 38 caliber cannon that can fire a projectile for 17 miles. These guns are actually fired off during the cruise as part of an air raid enactment. As we then descended to one of the two museums that were on board, Marty told us that a film crew from Warner Brothers were there that morning to shoot part of one of the TV "Cold Case" episodes and that they encourage the form of funding that this produces to help defray the cost of this operation. A sold out cruise can also accommodate up to 800 passengers. However, he pointed out that a typical cruise is totally different to what one would expect on a regular "cruise" ship.

There were many interesting items available for viewing in this museum, which was converted from a cargo hold and also houses a gift shop. Old newspapers from World War 2 were on display along with many model ships and a collection of enemy memorabilia. The ship models were all made by the same person and donated by him to the museum. Marty told us that the ships crew was entirely made up of civilians, except for the military "armed guard" that was required to man the guns and provide signaling communication between the ships in the convoy. The ship is owned by the U.S. Merchant Marine Veterans of WW2 Association. A Congressional Proclamation, giving the ship to the organization and signed by Ronald Reagan, is displayed in the museum.