SS Red Oak Victory is the last remaining ship of the 747 vessels built at the Kaiser Shipyards in Richmond, Ca, during World War II. Commissioned by the U.S. Navy as the USS Red Oak Victory (AK-235) on December 5, 1944, she served as an ammunition ship in the South Pacific during the war. Returned to the Maritime Commission after World War II, she intermittently served as a commercial cargo vessel with a Merchant Marine crew from 1947 to 1968. She provided supplies for United Nations forces during the Korean War and later completed thirteen voyages to Vietnam carrying supplies for the U.S. military. After 1968 she was retired to the Mothball Fleet in Suisun Bay and was all but abandoned for almost thirty years. By an Act of Congress in 1966, she was saved from being scrapped and was turned over to the Richmond Museum Association. In 1998 she was moved to Point Richmond, Ca, and has been continuously maintained as a museum ship while an all-volunteer crew works to restore her to operational status once again.

Photo: Anonymous

Photo: Frank Gunshow Sanchez

Richmond, California · USA