Lane Victory

John Smith, 87, one of the two former merchant mariners credited with bringing the last American-flagged World War II Victory ship to Los Angeles Harbor as a permanent memorial to the crews who carried crucial wartime cargo across the seas. Smith, a chief mate, and Joe Vernick, another retiree, went to Washington in 1987 and convinced Congress to declare the cargo ship Lane Victory a national historic landmark.

On the west side of Van Nuys Airport it's like World War II never ended. Vintage propeller planes once flown by U.S. Navy, Army Air Forces and Royal Air Force pilots are parked wingtip to wingtip along the taxiway. Nearby buildings are painted in camouflage. The sound of swing music sometimes drifts across the tarmac, and olive drab flight jackets are de rigueur. The planes and buildings belong to Condor Squadron, a nonprofit organization dedicated to honoring America's veterans and the public display of the North American AT-6/SNJ Texan - a sturdy two-seater that helped train tens of thousands of military pilots during World War II and the Korean War. The group and its members own eight of the planes, making Van Nuys the site of one of the largest collections of such aircraft in the nation.

With a blast of a foghorn, the blare of a band and nostalgic tears glistening in some old sailors' eyes, the World War II-era Victory ship, Lane Victory, steamed out of Los Angeles Harbor last weekend for its first voyage in more than two decades. It was a short trip--to Catalina and back--but it marked the culmination of years of work by members of the U.S.

The SS Lane Victory is San Pedro's other wartime museum ship. The brawny battleship USS Iowa has been a media darling since it was towed to L.A.'s harbor and opened as a museum on July 7. But the Lane Victory, built in Los Angeles in 1945 as an emergency cargo ship and lovingly restored by U.S. Merchant Marine veterans, has been a floating museum since 1989. The ship also served during the Korean and Vietnam wars. And, unlike the Iowa, this one lets you take a spin on it. The ship, a National Historic  Landmark usually found at Berth 46, plans daylong cruises on the open ocean from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. this summer and fall that are designed to re-create the feel of being transported on a cargo ship.

The Lane Victory hauled munitions in the South Pacific at the close of World War II. During the Korean War, it ferried troops and evacuated 7,000 civilians as the Communists advanced on Inchon. When the Vietnam War started, the government summoned the aging transport out of the reserve fleet to serve the U.S. military for a third time. Today, the last operational Victory ship, which has been restored by a group of retired merchant seamen in Los Angeles Harbor, is in a new battle.

Docked in San Pedro, the Lane Victory has long been designated a historic landmark for its service in the Korean War, the Vietnam War and World War II. But the hulking 455-foot-long gray cargo ship rarely sees open water these days. So when the vessel pulled out of the channel Saturday morning and headed toward Santa Catalina Island, Ralph Wetterhahn declared that the Lane Victory was now alive. "Seeing this thing go to sea — when you crank up those boilers and those props start to turn — she's got life," said Wetterhahn, 69, a Vietnam War veteran who helped with Saturday's trip.

Regarding your excellent feature ("The Netherlands, For Sail," Jan. 25) on Amsterdam and the maritime museums there, I wonder how many of your readers know about the museum on board the S.S. Lane Victory in San Pedro? Berthed by the Catalina Cruise terminal (Berth 94), the ship has a fascinating museum detailing many different aspects of U.S. (and WWII Allies) maritime history, plus one of the best collections of ship models in the Los Angeles area. If your readers are into maritime history, I suggest they check out the museum on the Lane Victory by calling (310)

In a career of more than 60 years, John Smith has sailed to every port on every continent, defended ships in World War II and skippered Catalina's glass-bottom boat. Today, at 81, he helps run the Lane Victory, the only museum in Southern California dedicated to preserving the history of a dying breed: the American Merchant Marine. Berthed in San Pedro and open to the public, the Lane Victory from the mid-1940s served as a transport ship in wartime and in peacetime as a cargo ship.

The Lane Victory may be the world's most unusual cruise ship. There are none of the customary amenities one would find on the Princess Lines or Carnival Cruises--no health spa, no four-star dining room, no casino, no swimming pools, no luxury cabins. In fact, there aren't any passenger cabins at all. But the Lane Victory offers its passengers a lot of things other cruise ships don't. Cannons, for example. And a contingent of armed soldiers riding shotgun.

Joseph B. Vernick knows a thing or two about war. More than 40 years ago, he served in the U.S. Merchant Marine, often braving enemy fire to ferry supplies and ammunition to his country's armed forces. When the Japanese torpedoed his ship, he was taken prisoner and was interned for three years at a camp in the Philippines. For four decades after World War II ended, Vernick and other merchant seamen lobbied the federal government to grant them status as veterans. They won that battle last year--and Vernick, who lives in North Hollywood, finally received his prisoner of war medal just two months ago--but their fight for recognition and respect isn't over.

Docked in San Pedro, the Lane Victory has long been designated a historic landmark for its service in the Korean War, the Vietnam War and World War II. But the hulking 455-foot-long gray cargo ship rarely sees open water these days. So when the vessel pulled out of the channel Saturday morning and headed toward Santa Catalina Island, Ralph Wetterhahn declared that the Lane Victory was now alive. "Seeing this thing go to sea — when you crank up those boilers and those props start to turn — she's got life," said Wetterhahn, 69, a Vietnam War veteran who helped with Saturday's trip.

UCLA basketball: In Sunday's Sports section, an article on UCLA's victory over Washington State in basketball reported that the Bruins were two games out of first place in the Pacific 10 Conference, that they had a 1-5 record in games away from their Pauley Pavilion home court and that the nine points scored by guard Mustafa Abdul-Hamid were a career high. UCLA is one game out of first place and 1-6 away from Pauley Pavilion, and Abdul-Hamid's career high in scoring is 10 points. Bob Hope Classic: In Tuesday's Sports section, an article on the golf victory by Bill Haas at the Bob Hope Classic said his uncle Bob Goalby won the 1968 Masters, the beneficiary of the unsigned scorecard by Roberto De Vicenzo.

The Houston Astros' Jason Lane took an unusual postgame batting practice with hitting coach Gary Gaetti after a disappointing performance Friday night. It paid off for Lane and the Astros on Saturday. Lane's run-scoring single in the bottom of the ninth inning led the Astros to their fifth win in six games, as they rallied for a 4-3 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Houston.

Giving a break to one of its historical landmarks, Los Angeles harbor commissioners Wednesday agreed to give the group operating the SS Lane Victory a five-year lease agreement that eliminates the vessel's $54,000 annual rent. The rent-free deal spells major relief for the volunteer group that maintains the old military transport ship, which costs more than $200,000 a year to operate. The Lane Victory has been berthed at the Port of Los Angeles since 1989, when former U.S.

"This signalman's uniform was issued to me by the U.S. Navy in 1942. All I grew was older," 82-year-old Loring L. Bigelow confides to passengers boarding the only operational World War II Victory ship left on the planet. Berthed in San Pedro, the SS Lane Victory is one of 5,600 specially commissioned transport vessels built between 1941 and 1945.

The Lane Victory hauled munitions in the South Pacific at the close of World War II. During the Korean War, it ferried troops and evacuated 7,000 civilians as the Communists advanced on Inchon. When the Vietnam War started, the government summoned the aging transport out of the reserve fleet to serve the U.S. military for a third time. Today, the last operational Victory ship, which has been restored by a group of retired merchant seamen in Los Angeles Harbor, is in a new battle.

Joseph B. Vernick knows a thing or two about war. More than 40 years ago, he served in the U.S. Merchant Marine, often braving enemy fire to ferry supplies and ammunition to his country's armed forces. When the Japanese torpedoed his ship, he was taken prisoner and was interned for three years at a camp in the Philippines. For four decades after World War II ended, Vernick and other merchant seamen lobbied the federal government to grant them status as veterans. They won that battle last year--and Vernick, who lives in North Hollywood, finally received his prisoner of war medal just two months ago--but their fight for recognition and respect isn't over.

John Smith, 87, one of the two former merchant mariners credited with bringing the last American-flagged World War II Victory ship to Los Angeles Harbor as a permanent memorial to the crews who carried crucial wartime cargo across the seas. Smith, a chief mate, and Joe Vernick, another retiree, went to Washington in 1987 and convinced Congress to declare the cargo ship Lane Victory a national historic landmark.

Regarding your excellent feature ("The Netherlands, For Sail," Jan. 25) on Amsterdam and the maritime museums there, I wonder how many of your readers know about the museum on board the S.S. Lane Victory in San Pedro? Berthed by the Catalina Cruise terminal (Berth 94), the ship has a fascinating museum detailing many different aspects of U.S. (and WWII Allies) maritime history, plus one of the best collections of ship models in the Los Angeles area. If your readers are into maritime history, I suggest they check out the museum on the Lane Victory by calling (310)