USS American Victory Ship at Tampa Bay

I spent about a long hour or so going all through the good ship USS American Victory, which is a WWII era cargo ship.  Victory Ships were somewhat different than Liberty Ships, in that they were "built to last"   Seems Liberty ships liked to break apart. 

This ship was in excellent shape, way better than the Red Oak Iowa that I visited out at San Francisco.  The ship is actually still sea worthy-  On 24 March, they are actually doing a 4 hour nostalgia voyage! 

The ship was commissioned early in 1945, and the dropping of the atomic bombs sort of cut her career short.  The ship spent its life doing rescue missions throughout the world.  It was towed to Tampa in 1999, and underwent a big drydock operation in 2011.  They really are doing good work here.