Berth of a Tribute: Ship Museum to Honor Dead

Forty-five years after the last big guns were stripped from the decks of the merchant ship Lane Victory, the salty “crew” of the retired vessel watched Thursday as the ship was rearmed while docked in Los Angeles Harbor.

The crew, members of the U.S. Merchant Marine Veterans World War II, gave each other slaps on the back as a 50-foot crane hoisted a four-ton, anti-aircraft cannon to the ship’s stern. The former merchant seamen are converting the ship into a floating museum to honor comrades killed at sea.

“This is just one more step in restoring this ship to its original, pristine condition; as it came out of Cal Ship shipyards just up the harbor in 1945. We want it to look again just like it did,” said Joseph B. Vernick, 76, president of the local group.

The three-inch cannon mounted Thursday was donated by an Air Force museum in El Toro in Orange County.

Built in 1945, the Lane Victory delivered supplies to U.S. forces in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. The ship sailed with five-inch and three-inch guns aboard for its first few months at sea, but was disarmed shortly after the end of World War II. The ship was never rearmed because there was no threat of attack from the sea or air during the Korea and Vietnam conflicts, crew members said.

The Lane Victory and its crew have been involved in another kind of conflict since last summer when they towed--without authorization--the 7,000-ton vessel into the Port of Los Angeles from a mothball fleet near San Francisco. Port officials at first refused to grant the ship a permanent place to dock, but the crew members met regularly with the officials and have gradually won acceptance of their dream. The Lane Victory has been moved four times and still does not have a permanent berth, but the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners in January authorized port staff members to study possible berthing sites. It also authorized spending up to $15,000 to hire a marine surveyor to assess refurbishing the ship.

The veterans group has already begun working on the museum in the ship’s hold despite its uncertain future. Volunteers have begun to spit-shine old brass navigational equipment and are collecting flags for the museum display.

“We really want this place to conjure memories,” veteran Allen Thronson said as he watched the ceremony Thursday.