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 SS Red Oak Victory
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Red Oak Victory |
| Namesake | The city of Red Oak, Iowa |
| Builder | Permanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California |
| Yard number | Yard No.1 |
| Laid down | 9 September 1944 |
| Launched | 7 November 1944 |
| Acquired | 5 December 1944 |
| Commissioned | 5 December 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 21 May 1946 |
| Out of service | 19 December 1969 |
| Stricken | 19 July 1946 |
| Identification |
|
| Fate | Released from the National Defense Reserve Fleet, 19 September 1998 for restoration at the Richmond, California, Museum of History |
| Status | Museum at Richmond, California |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Boulder Victory-class cargo ship |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | 455 ft (139 m) |
| Beam | 62 ft (19 m) |
| Draft | 29 ft 2 in (8.89 m) |
| Installed power | 6,000 shp (4,500 kW) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 15.5 kn (17.8 mph; 28.7 km/h) |
| Complement | 99 officers and enlisted |
| Armament |
|
| SS Red Oak Victory | |
| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
 SS Red Oak Victory as seen from the dock in 2006, before extensive restoration work was performed | |
  Show map of California Show map of the United States | |
| Location | Richmond, California |
| Coordinates | 37°54′17.3″N 122°21′52″W / 37.904806°N 122.36444°W / 37.904806; -122.36444 |
| Built | 1944 |
| NRHP reference No. | 00001674 |
| Added to NRHP | 30 January 2000 |
SS Red Oak Victory is a U.S. Victory ship of the Boulder Victory-class cargo ship used in the Second World War. She was preserved to serve as a museum ship in Richmond, California, and is managed by the Richmond Library of History and located near the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park. She was one of 534 Victories built during World War II, but one of only a few of these ships to be transferred from the Merchant Marine to the United States Navy. She was named after Red Oak, Iowa, which suffered disproportionate casualties in early World War II battles. (Montgomery County ranked third among Iowa counties in World War II casualties per capita). The ship was active during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
History
Red Oak Victory was built by the Permanente Metals Corporation's Richmond Number 1 Yard in Richmond, California and launched on 9 November 1944. Victory ships were not intended to be long-lasting, but the welds of the Red Oak Victory remained intact after 76 years. The ship is 455 feet (139 m) in length, and armed with one five-inch/38 caliber gun; one three-inch/50 caliber gun, and eight 20 mm guns.
The ship was acquired by the United States Navy on 5 December 1944, and commissioned the same day as USS Red Oak Victory (AK-235). Following a fitting-out period, Red Oak Victory was loaded with cargo and departed San Francisco for Pearl Harbor on 10 January 1945. Red Oak Victory departed Hawaii on 10 February loaded with munitions needed in the Marshall and Caroline islands. Sent onward from Enewetak, she arrived in Ulithi on 28 February and then began operating under Commander Service Squadron Ten. Operating out of the Philippines, she issued cargo and ammunition to various fleet ships through the war's end in August 1945. During a hazardous tour of duty in the Pacific, Red Oak Victory handled many tons of ammunition, supplying the fleet without a single casualty.
Red Oak Victory was decommissioned in 1946 and returned to the U.S. Maritime Commission. Red Oak Victory was used by the Luckenbach Steamship Company from 1947 through the 1950s, when the vessel went to Japan, Korea, Cuba, Pakistan, India, Singapore, and Japan again. Red Oak Victory was operated by American Mail Lines for the Military Sea Transport Service from 1966 to 1968, making a dozen voyages to Vietnam, Japan, and the Philippines carrying military supplies loaded at West Coast ports. From 1968 until 1998, she was laid up in the National Defense Reserve Fleet in Suisun Bay.
Destined to be scrapped, Red Oak Victory came to the attention of the Richmond Museum Association in 1993. In 1996 Congress passed legislation authorizing the ship's conveyance to the Museum Association. Red Oak Victory was turned over to the Richmond Museum of History and towed to a new home in Richmond Shipyard 3 (near the location where Shipyard 1 was, where the ship was actually built in 1944) on 20 September 1998. She is being restored and operated by the Richmond Museum of History and is associated with the Rosie the Riveter/World War II Home Front National Historical Park.
See also
References
- "USS Red Oak Victory (AK-235)". Navsource.org. Retrieved 28 May 2015.
- "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 15 March 2006.
- "Red Oak Victory Amateur Radio Club". Red Oak Victory Amateur Radio Club. Archived from the original on 24 August 2007. Retrieved 2 September 2007.
- "Emmet County Leads in War Dead Ratio". Mason City Globe-Gazette. 3 January 1946. p. 2.
- "SS Red Oak Victory (victory ship)". World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 13 February 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2007.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.- Sampson, Shelby (30 June 2000). "National Register of Historic Places Registration Form / S.S. Red Oak Victory" (pdf). National Park Service. Retrieved 16 October 2012.
- "Accompanying Photos" (pdf). Retrieved 16 October 2012.
External links
- Official website
- Red Oak Victory Historic Naval Ships Association
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. CA-326-F, "Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park, SS RED OAK VICTORY, Moored at end of Dornan Drive, Pt. Richmond, Richmond, Contra Costa County, CA"
| History of Richmond, California | |
|---|---|
| National Register of Historic Places | |
| Other historic places | |
| Historic people | |
- Victory ships
- Boulder Victory-class cargo ships
- Ships built in Richmond, California
- 1944 ships
- Ammunition ships of the United States Navy
- World War II auxiliary ships of the United States
- Museum ships in California
- Ships on the National Register of Historic Places in California
- National Register of Historic Places in Richmond, California
- Military and war museums in California
- Museums in Contra Costa County, California
- Naval museums in the United States
- History of Contra Costa County, California
- Tourist attractions in Richmond, California
- Rosie the Riveter World War II Home Front National Historical Park
- Historic American Engineering Record in California
- World War II on the National Register of Historic Places in California
- James River Reserve Fleet
- Astoria Reserve Fleet
- Suisun Bay Reserve Fleet