SS Red Oak Victory

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.[3][4] (Montgomery County ranked third among Iowa counties in World War II casualties per capita).[5] The ship was active during World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

SS Red Oak Victory
SS Red Oak Victory
History
United States
NameRed Oak Victory
NamesakeThe city of Red Oak, Iowa
BuilderPermanente Metals Corporation, Richmond, California
Yard numberYard No.1
Laid down9 September 1944
Launched7 November 1944
Acquired5 December 1944
Commissioned5 December 1944
Decommissioned21 May 1946
Out of service19 December 1969
Stricken19 July 1946
Identification
FateReleased from the National Defense Reserve Fleet, 19 September 1998 for restoration at the Richmond, California, Museum of History
StatusMuseum at Richmond, California
General characteristics [1]
Class and typeBoulder Victory-class cargo ship
Displacement
  • 4,480 long tons (4,550 t) (standard)
  • 15,580 long tons (15,830 t) (full load)
Length455 ft (139 m)
Beam62 ft (19 m)
Draft29 ft 2 in (8.89 m)
Installed power6,000 shp (4,500 kW)
Propulsion
  • 1 × Westinghouse turbine
  • 2 × Babcock & Wilcox header-type boilers, 525psi 750°
  • double Westinghouse Main Reduction Gears
  • 1 × shaft
Speed15.5 kn (17.8 mph; 28.7 km/h)
Complement99 officers and enlisted
Armament
SS Red Oak Victory
SS Red Oak Victory as seen from the dock in 2006, before extensive restoration work was performed
SS Red Oak Victory is located in California
SS Red Oak Victory
SS Red Oak Victory is located in the United States
SS Red Oak Victory
LocationRichmond, California
Coordinates37°54′17.3″N 122°21′52″W
Built1944
NRHP reference No.00001674[2]
Added to NRHP30 January 2000

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 December 5, 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
  1. "USS Red Oak Victory (AK-235)". Navsource.org. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 15, 2006.
  3. "Red Oak Victory Amateur Radio Club". Red Oak Victory Amateur Radio Club. Archived from the original on 2007-08-24. Retrieved 2007-09-02.
  4. "Emmet County Leads in War Dead Ratio". Mason City Globe-Gazette. 3 January 1946. p. 2.
  5. "SS Red Oak Victory (victory ship)". World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area. National Park Service. Archived from the original on 2007-02-13. Retrieved 2007-04-03.
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