In 1945, S.S. Lane Victory was named for Isaac Lane, a former slave who founded Lane College in Jackson, Tennessee. She was a Victory Ship, one of a class of cargo ships designed and built during World War II by the United States Maritime Commission. After completing sea trials in June 1945, she was delivered on June 27 to American President Lines by the War Shipping Administration and began her first World War II assignment on July 2. A second war supply voyage began on October 8 and ended on February 27, 1946. After World War II, she changed from carrying war material to carrying humanitarian aid, and in March 1946 American President Lines chartered her to deliver Marshall Plan aid to Europe. On May 11, 1948, she was laid up at Suisan Bay, California, the Navy’s formal storage yard. In October 1950 she sailed her first trip in the Korean War, and on December 5 she rescued over 7,000 Korean men, women and children. On October 10, 1953, she was laid up again at Suisan Bay. In September 1966 she was commissioned for the Vietnam War, and on February 17, 1970, she was laid up at Suisan Bay, California. On October 18, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed a bill conveying her to the U.S. Merchant Marine Veterans of World War II, saving her for future generations. Purchased by that organization on June 7, 1989, she arrived in the Port of Los Angeles Harbor on June 12, where volunteers began restoring the ship. On December 14, 1990, she was recognized as a National Historic Landmark. By 2004, S.S. Lane Victory housed two museums, conducted Coast Guard testing, hosted annual cruises to Catalina Island, and also appeared on television and in feature films.
