Do you know the difference between a Victory ship and a Liberty ship? I didn’t, even though I’ve actually visited a Liberty ship — the SS Jeremiah O’Brien, currently docked at Pier 35 in San Francisco. Victory ships were larger than their Liberty ship predecessors and were powered by steam turbines for faster speed, as opposed to the earlier steam engines. While a greater number of Liberty ships were built (2,710) during World War 2, there were only 531 Victory ships. Very few ships of either type (link to PDF) survive these days, but a precious few have been preserved and rehabilitated, and the Lane Victory ship is one of them. This episode of Visiting originally aired in 1996, but the Lane Victory — recognized as a National Historic Monument in 1990 — is still docked in San Pedro and is open to visitors. Although it had been making regular cruises like the one seen in the episode, this proud ship is currently stuck in port, in need of some massive engine repairs.

Huell spends the day on the W.W.II victory ship the Lane Victory. A wonderful group of volunteers has restored this ship and Huell gets to go along on an actual cruise.

(Click on the linked image below to see the video.)