Tucked away next to an old warehouse, the grey hull of the SS Lane Victory cargo ship sits, rocking with the tide. Sea lions play alongside her and often are some of the only creatures to keep her company. Sure, she is open as a museum, but is often overshadowed by the much more famous USS Iowa battleship. Built in 1945, just in time for the tail end of the Pacific War, she served her country in three major conflicts, World War 2, the Korean War and Vietnam.
If you watch movies and TV often, you have seen the Lane Victory. The wake of the Titanic was hers, she stared in Outbreak with Dustin Hoffman and appeared in the Curious Case of Benjamin Button. According to IMDB, she has been in 31 different movies and television shows.
Her most dramatic moment came during the Korean War, where according to the ship’s website, “Lane Victory’s moment of glory came during the evacuation of Korean civilians and UN personnel from Wonsan in December 1950. As the cruiser St. Paul and the destroyers Charles S. Sperry and Zellars laid down a covering fire, Lane Victory disembarked 3,834 troops, 1,146 vehicles, and 10,013 bulk tons of cargo, and then, on December 7, 1950, embarked 7,009 Korean civilians, many of them women and children.”
Efforts started to acquire the ship in 1982 when members of the Merchant Marine petitioned the government to give them the ship. She was towed from the mothball fleet near San Francisco down to San Pedro, in the Port of Los Angeles, in 1989. As a kid, before the security changes of September 11th, I used to pay the crew the admission fee of two dollars and literally have the run of the entire ship. I climbed the funnel, went into the shaft alley, and explored nearly every nook and cranny. She has a distinct character.
The ship was operational until the mid-2000s when a boiler issue took her out of commission. Prior to that, she would sail out past Catalina Island and get “attacked” by vintage aircraft. Members of the Naval Armed Guard would jump on the anti-aircraft guns and ward them off. This was accomplying by a band and a breakfast and was all quite thrilling.
I’m writing this article to tell you about the ship — but I have a bigger purpose. I believe in being frank. If Sears wants business, they should consider going on TV and begging at this point since everyone assumes they are dead. Similarly, many have forgotten about the Lane Victory. If you are in the Los Angeles area, and care about history, consider visiting. Yes, you can visit the battleship too, but don’t neglect the Lane. She deserves your support.
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Sources: IMDB, SS Lane Victory website