I served on the USS Kaskaskia in 1967,68. launched 29 September 1939 by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company. It spent WWll in the Pacific. My watch station was engine room generator flats. Two 400KW generators powered by steam turbines. When I went aboard she was in Mobile Alabama dry docks for major overhaul. Not many machinist mates got to see the workings of a steam plant like I did. I climbed into reduction bull gear to change out oil with buckets. Worked inside evaporator with a needle gun removing scale. Pulled electric fire and flushing motors from bottom of boiler room with chain hoists. Taught me many lessons I wont forget. Thank you Navy for that opportunity...

My father was in the Merchant Marine during WW II, first being on an oil tanker running between Venezuela, Texas, and then up to Long Island. He then switched to a Victory ship, where he got his draft notice. The ship's captain said "hate to lose you, but well, there's a war on." When he got to the induction center, an officer looked over his discharge papers, and asked "Were you on an active duty ship when you got this notice?" Turns out that he could have stayed on ship, but as he said, he asked where he'd be going to basic, and decided that Oklahoma was going to be a lot warmer than the North Atlantic. So he joined the Army.

I just can't get over the sheer number of these ships produced, 700 plus is an enormous feat of engineering and ingenuity..

I served aboard the USS Merrick, AKA 97, 1958 - 1961. We were homeported out of Long Beach, CA and our main duties were to take supplies all over the Far East to all the Military bases - everything from shoelaces to shaving cream. I was a FT - (gun) Fire Controlman. We had 1 5"/38 on the fantail and two twin 40MM mounts over the bow and two over the stern area. We went as far South as Quemoy and Matsu, delivered an Army helicopter to Inchon, KO, North to Hokkaido, JA, and followed the WWII routes around the Philippine Islands.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="638">10:38</a> "For those of you who haven't been to the moon yet"... I'm so stealing that line! BB-62 striking another blow for the Stars and Stripes! 🤣😂

In the early 80's I was 3rd Mate on the USNS Kingsport, former Victory Ship than Oceanographic Research Ship. We were homeported in Port Everglades (Ft. Lauderdale). Fl. In six months aboard, we actually made it out to sea about 1 month. Broke down and completely dead ship off the Bahamas. My "lifeboat" navigation skills were put to the test. For the remaining 5 months, we were billeted in hotels ashore. I stayed at the "Holiday Inn" on the beach where my balcony overlooked the "Elbow Room" bar. We were always docked so we ate (and drank) at "Burt and Jacks", Burt Reynolds' restaurant. We also drank a lot at the "22 Bar" and "Freddies' Anchor Bar". So, my sea-stories about serving on a Victory Ship are more about all the old bars around Ft. Lauderdale than actually being at sea.

I took a Tiger Cruise on John F. Kennedy, CVN 79, ~2004, when she was still an active carrier. My dad was a chaplain onboard. I was Army, but have since retired. It was an incredible experience!

I am a semi-retired marine electronics tech and in the late 70's I worked on a radar on one of the victory ships. The ship was used to ship bananas up from Equador to port Hueneme CA. The ship had a 25 year old Raytheon radar, all tube set and not much I could do for them at the time but they did give me a tour of the ship. The engine rroom was interesting, it had a 4 cylinder diesel engine 7800 hp max rpm of 90. Direct connection to the shaft and no transmission, to reverse it had to be shut down and restarted in reverse. There was a spare cylinder in the engine room and it was around 30 feet tall and 10 feet in diameter. Many years later it had a problem in docking and was stuck in gear at minimum rpm and the 2 tugs could not stop it from running into the far docks and distroying them and a few boats. I think they desided to retire it after that.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="698">11:38</a> yes, Arthur Foss in the Elliott Bay Tugboat Races many years ago. She was built in 1889 and is the oldest wooden tugboat in the world. Original power was steam, repowered with a Washington Iron Works low-speed diesel in 1934 ... which sounds more like a steam engine than a modern diesel, very quiet and beautiful. Arthur Foss was the last ship to escape Wake Island on the day the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and Wake. She left Wake in a hurry, towing a barge without refueling and maintained radio silence (and very reduced speed) for three weeks, arriving at Pearl Harbor on the 28th with about 12 hours of fuel remaining. Amazing story, AMAZING tugboat, what an incredible privilege to sail on her.

Back in high school I volunteered on the Liberty ship Jeremiah O’Brien, and I worked during a few of our Memorial Day and fleet week cruises. During one such cruise while up on the flying bridge, I was offered a chance at the helm for a bit, still one of the proudest moments of my life sailing the O’Brien for a bit in San Francisco Bay. NO BREW NO CREW!

I’m a volunteer crew member on the USS LST 325, which is based out of Evansville, Indiana and is still a fully functioning ship. Each year the ship goes on a cruise through the inland rivers and visits different cities. I’ve had the privilege to go on a cruise and experience operating a WWII ship

Had the opportunity to go out on the Lane Victory several years ago. They had actors and dancers and I believe live music onboard to make it feel like 1945. They served you lunch and even had a mock attack by WW2 era warbirds. You even got to experience the engineering space while underway. They did these tours several times each summer but unfortunately she has been down for several years with leaking boiler tubes and they are looking at up to $4 million to repair per their website.

I hold a British Class 2 Foreign-Going Steam Ship engineer's certificate. So much in this video is familiar, as steam plants, be they cargo ship or battleship, are broadly similar. I love seeing the nuts and bolts of these ships. If I lived over there, I would be helping out.

My Grandfather was an electrician in a steel mill for his entire working life. They had salt tablet dispensers all over the buildings due to the heat from the furnaces and other devices.

I can vouch for Engineering spaces in tropical climates. We managed to get the area between the inner hull of the Engine Room and the Gas Turbine Enclosure on the USCGC Sherman up to about 240 degrees while operating in the Caribbean. The water we were sailing in was 90 degrees so everything down there was miserable. I will never forget hanging my head in front of one of the vent ducts and basking in the deliciously cool hundred degree air.

One curators wing span. 6 feet or roughly 2 m for those who haven’t been to the moon. Absolutely fantastic!!!

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="640">10:40</a> I appreciate your effort in gving people from outside the US, Liberia, and Myanmar a math-free idea of the dimensions by giving an approximate metric measurement - including that humorous jab about not having been to the moon. Thank you for that.

The only time I sailed a museum ship instead of working on them was 10 years as crew of the Alma, last Hay Scow (two masted schooner) on San Francisco Bay built 1890, rebuilt 1964ish. Lots of good times aboard including going under the Golden Gate bridge to welcome the Jeremiah O'Brien coming back from the D day anniversary. Victory Lane had to turn back but came up here for the occasion and was there firing her 50 cal. guns and the Otis Meyer D-3 was flying overhead. Loved those days. Today the park service has decided to stop sailing her at all!

Sailed on j w brown a number of years ago. With F D R and we defended ourselves from air attack and had a great concert of big band music. Out to the Bay Bridge and back. Great ride. Loved the triple expansion engine.

Sailed the SS Badger several times. The last coal fired steamer built for the Great Lakes and still sailing seasonally.

I have sailed on a few different ships on the great lakes over the years including some from the 1920s to 1950s as an engineering officer.

My grandfather served 60 to 64 I believe on USS Boston as a fire controller. Said wasn't much difference, other than size, firing the guns on the ships. He was amazed the hull and armor differences.

I was lucky enough to sail on the Brown when she visited Casco Bay back in 2007. However I wish I had been down there mid week when two guys I know, who sailed them in their younger days, were crawling through the guts.

All The men that built these amazing ships ..is just incredible

I was privileged to tour the Jeremiah O’Brien Liberty Liberty Ship when it was moored in San Fransisco Bay. Some time after that we took the bay cruise. That gave me the chance to see and understand the triple reciprocating engine. We later were in San Pedro and toured the Victory ship. The turbines were tiny by comparison. The “hand” who gave us the tour was bare foot and his feet were bleeding. Talk about authenticity!

This is Miriam's husband: Igraduated from SUNY Maritime College. I remember in one of the prof's telling uf that even though we were learning the engineering of a Victory ship, we would never sail on one. My first three ships after graduation in 1974 were in fact Victory ships. Bill - retired chief engineer of steam, motor and gas turbine ships of any horsepower.

I've been on the Bluenose II making way under sail before, wonderful experience.

I took a living history cruise aboard Liberty Ship SS John W Brown in 2010 when she made a port call to Providence, RI. It was a great trip and I really enjoyed going into the engine room while underway.

When i was training in New York I had an opportunity to tour one of GE's turbine manufacturing plants. The process is amazing to observe and I was particularly impressed with assembly of a turbine rotor. Each of the riveted points joining the blades to the outer ring are formed by hand. The consistency of the head is accomplished by highly skilled craftsmen after years of training.

While I have been onboard quite a few Victory ships, I have never sailed on one. In 1968 I was a cargo handler at the munitions port near Sattahip, Thailand. Most of the ships bringing bombs, etc to Thailand for the Air Force bases were Victory Ships.

I got to go aboard the jeremiah obrien but not on the sailing weekend awesome video ryan

Ryan, a LOT of the triple-expansion engines made for the Liberty Ships, were made in Sunnyvale. Joshua Hendy Iron Works. They also made some steam turbines and reduction gears for the Victory Ships. I grew up in Sunnyvale, and watched the P-3 Orions flying over all the time. (We lived under the flight path for Moffett Field NAS.) steve

I also got to cruise on the John W Brown back when I was in high school. I have fond memories of that trip, especially since my grandfather, who had served in the Merchant Marine during the war, accompanied me, my dad, and uncle. The John W Brown crew certainly knew how to put on a show to make you feel like you were back in the 1940s. Everyone was in uniform, there were reenactors impersonating Abbot & Costello and FDR, and they even got a Me-208 to "buzz" the ship until being chased off by a P-51 Mustang. I still have the souvenir booklet/itinerary they made to look like a vintage Life magazine. As far as the engineering spaces go, I afraid there's no contest between a Liberty ship and a Victory ship; the Victory's turbines may be faster and more powerful, but the old reciprocating engines on the Libertys are much, much more fascinating to behold, especially in motion.

Wow, what a great video. This brought back memories of my early years (1960's)as a marine engineer in the Dutch merchant marine !! The US ships I sailed on were C3 ships, successors to the Victory ships with a very similar steam plant, Babcock & Wilcock boilers and General Electric turbines. 8500 hp. Built by the Sun Shipbuilding & drydock Co in Chester Pa. You are right about the temperature in the engine room, we only wore short sleeved white coveralls , in the tropics the coolest temp. in the engine room was 125 F (hotter between the boiler steam drums) and after half an hour on watch we looked like we had been walking in the rain for that long. Drinking lots of water, eating salt pills and of course after our watch drinking lots of beer. LOL. Great memories. Thank you !!

Sailed on many of these Victory Ships in 66,67,68,69. Most that I sailed on were of the AP3 type (8,500 HP) along with a few AP2 (6,000 HP) All pulled from the mothball fleet in Susuin Bay California, refitted in Richmond and sailed out of the port of San Francisco. Started as a wiper. Eight hours on, 5 days a week unless at sea. Then it was eight hours a day including Saturday and Sunday as overtime days. I was very lucky and worked for some really good first and second engineers. Learned a lot from these guys. Wipers usually were told to get lost for a few days when in port especially, when offloading ammo at Vayama ammunition port, SATTAHIP, Thailand. In those days you could rent a motorcycle and head up to Pattya Beach which at that time was just a small village . Later on during my tenure, I upgraded my endorsements to Firemen Water Tender and Oiler. Working as a fireman was indeed (in my opinion) the hottest spot in the engine room. Shifts were 4 on 8 off at sea and 8 on in port. No days off. You could arrange (in port) for someone to cover a few hours of your shift. Of course you had to pay them for it (cash or cover part of or all of their shift to even it up). Oiler duties were relatively easy. Unlike a fireman you were able to move around the engine room, shaft alley and aft steering room. Never worked the Liberty's and truthfully had no desire too. Incredibly slow. For me those days were fun, and at times, they included hard work and tense moments especially, sailing up the Saigon River. Port hole covers down and secured, all passageways to the main deck closed and secured. After the Baton rouge Victory was mined, only essential personnel (no wipers) were allowed in the engine room during Saigon river maneuvers. Really glad this video was posted. In spite of all the noise, sleep was never an issue, for me, only when the turbines would wind down while at sea, you knew something was amiss and it would wake me from my slumber. Visited the Red Oak a few years ago. Had a very long chat with the Chief engineer via phone. They were still in the process of upgrading and repairs before lighting off the boilers. Great bunch. A SIDE NOTE: nothing in the engine room responds fast. It is heavy machinery miles of pipe and needs time to spool up or down.

I've sailed on the Jeremiah O'Brien a couple of times. The triple expansion engine is a wonder to see. They used it for the film Titanic. I've visited the Red Oak Victory. They have a friendly group of volunteers and I would be among them if I lived a little bit closer.

I was able to sail on the American Victory of Tampa, Florida years ago under her own power. I would do it again any time. I believe they still sail from time to time.

my dad was on a converted liberty ship, uss investigator agr-9 it was a radar picket ship and present in the cuban crisis. neat ship.

I rode as a passenger on the coal-fired steam icebreaker SS "Stettin", built in 1933, but I was able to admire its impressive triple expensing engine in motion. I was a member of the crew on two other historic ships, on the 3-masted schooner "Amphitrite" (built in 1887) as well as on another sail ship, the former freighter and expedition ship "Seute Dern II", which was ketch-rigged. Both ships are made of wood, the "Amphitrite" of teak, the "Seute Deern II" of oak, and both are still in service today. (The better known larger wooden bark "Seute Deern I.", which was a museum ship in Bremerhaven, unfortunately sank in harbour in 2019 after a fire and could no be repaired.)

I have not sailed on a historic ship but I have stayed a few times on the historic riverboat turned hotel Delta King in old Sacramento Ca.

The museum ship I sailed on was the Brig Niagara in Erie Pa. Even managed a nap in a seaman’s hammock!!! Real nice and cozy…😅😅😅😅

My heart goes out to the men who worked in 120 degree heat.

in Evansville Indiana is the last fully operational USS LST 325 landing craft it still runs the Ohio River under its own power and I would like to see a video about it given by you because you go into great detail and are very knowledgeable about the ships of war 2 is the best channel I've seen doing comparisons of war be interesting to find out how the us landing craft compared to other countries landing craft of world ww2

I have been to sea in American Victory. Unbelievable hot, loud and outrageous. Very proud to have volunteered on AV for 6 years. From the crows nest to shaft ally

I've sailed on the Brown numerous times, including their Manhattan sail past the Statue Of Liberty - so cool! Looking forward to doing it again in September. You can go down into the engine room when she's underway and check out the chompy-bitey triple expansion engine in action.

Way back in my undergrad years at college we had a single-stage Westinghouse turbine from the same era as these. I think it was a medium pressure blade set if I recall with four steam nozzles and wildly inefficient since it was only one stage. But the cool part was you could open it up, look inside, and run it off of a gas-fired boiler. It was attached to a generator and load bank. Cool to see one of these ships will be back in operation again.

Have I ever ridden on a historic ship? Kind of!!! Two years at sea on the Joliet Victory and two more on the Tuskegee Victory!! Actually, those ships were converted to Military Oceanographic Survey ships, USNS Michelson and USNS Dutton. I also visited the Red Oak Victory in 2010. A real trip down memory lane!! Thanks for this video brings back some good memories!!

Always a warm feeling seeing those old ships being preserved. For all the battleships and carriers gave to the war effort, these cargo ships truly won the war.

I follow what's happening to the "Queen Mary" because my mother was a war bride and her and I (baby of nine months) came to America on the ship. Before my mother passed away, her and I visited the ship. She found the actual cabin she had on her journey. Several years ago, my wife and I spent several days aboard as hotel guests. Keep up the good work.

I really like how you support and embrace your fellow museum ships.

I work on the William A. Irvin, a great lakes ore carrier museum ship. Both the scale and complement of equipment in the engineering spaces are similar, although the Irvin burned coal. I was able to be onboard while she was towed across the harbor to the drydock. This video also answered one of my remaining questions about the function of her engines, I hadn't realized there would be a separate section in the low pressure turbine for going astern.

Thanks for the Intel 😮

HI RYAN,, YOU AND YOUR CREW ARE AWSOME MY SON MAX SAYS 7 YR.S OLD AND I,,.. YOUR A GREAT!!! TEACHER.. WE WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU TALK ABOUT THE ENGINE ROOM ON THE QUEEN MARY,,.. YES THERE ARE SIGNS THERE,,, BUT WE THINK YOU COULD TELL US A LOT MORE.. THANKS..

I was a nuclear MM, and much of the machinery looks similar to what you see on the propulsion side of nuclear powered ship

Post war many Victory and Liberty ships were bought by shipping companies the world over . Sailed on board Victory ships from 1966 till 1971 , as Cadet to Second Mate . The last Victory , I sailed on , developed a crack in the turbines . After months in repair yards , followed by rise in oil prices , finally headed for the scrap yard . They were fine ships with basic gear . Not posh but comfortable enough to live on , strong , behaved very well in a seaway , one developed an attachment to them .

I did a fleet week cruise on Jeremiah O'Brien. Great experience.

FYI yes you could build that turbine today if you needed to. Turbine shafts like this are still used and sold today.

Yes I rode the historic steam ferry Virginia V many times between 2013 and 2019. She's significant as the very last ship from Puget Sound's famous "Mosquito Fleet" with her original engine. A friend of mine works as a crewman on that ship. She's 125ft long and powered by a 400HP triple expansion engine connected to a single Babcock and Wilcox boiler. Her LP valve squeaks at low speeds, and at high speeds the brass eagle atop the engine rocks violently, but up on deck She's smooth as butter and nearly as quiet. On more than one occasion we snuck up on oblivious stand-up paddleboarders, causing them to jump into The Sound at a hoot from her whistle 😂. She's based out of the Northwest Seaport dock at MOHAI in Seattle if you are in the area

I was a turbine machinist/ assembler at Westinghouse Marine Division in Sunnyvale, CA until 1994. Those types of LP turbines are made new or rebladed at that facility to this day. Westinghouse sold there Sunnyvale, CA turbine facility to Northrop Grumman in 1995.

I understand the USS Hornet staff are working on getting a boiler and engine online for powering the carrier for touring around the SF Bay

Interesting that they used a single axial flow LP turbine. The combatants I served on through the '80s had double axial flow LP turbines. That being basically two single flows stuck together at the 'small' ends with the steam entering the middle and flowing out to the larger ends. Astern elements on both ends.

YES! I love seeing history coming back to life!!!

I sailed frequently on a vintage mini ship built in Ireland at the Harland Wolf ship yard in 1937 The Lady Rose powered by a single original diesel piston engine. At 70 to 80 foot long with funky Titanic-like styling which had been our regular commuter ship up and down the Alberni Canal and coastal communities on Vancouver Island Canada since the late 1940's I first rode on her at age 9 in the early 1970's and many times in the 1980's, 90's and 2000's when she was finally retired in 2007 replaced by another equally cool and bigger 1950's era Francis Barkley Today The Lady Rose, (no longer active) is based at Tofino BC as a floating resterant.

Great stuff! Tyvm.

Great video! Love seeing all of these historic ships. 👍

My father was an engineer in the merchant marine he was on liberty ship James Lick then later on the president Coolidge when it was sunk by a mine. He survived the war and continued going to sea for APL for several years until he retired from the sea to raise us kids. Before he passed away I was fortunate to get us tickets for a passage from San Francisco to Stockton CA on the Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien they let us go into the engine room even at 80 Plus years old he could still tell me about how everything worked he's been passed now since 2011 but I'm glad he got to do that before he left this earth he never thought he would be on a liberty ever again in his life. He had many many WW2 stories with close calls. He said when he would be going out under the golden gate that he would have a lump in his throat because he didn't know if he was coming back but he was one of the fortunate ones that made it because there were many just like him who lost their lives serving in the Merchant marine during WW2.

So many beautiful vessel to wonder at, so little time

"...6 feet, or 2 meters for those of you who haven't been to the moon yet..." You owe me a new keyboard.

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="638">10:38</a> legendary sharp tongue there Mr. Ryan

Have I sailed on historic ships? Hmm, does USS Forrestal, USS Constellation and USS Enterprise count? Guess they would be historic now, LOL. I really enjoy your channel.

I got to see American Victory in Tampa. It was very educational.

I was on the red oak the same day as y’all!

Great video

In the fall of 1966 the "Red Oak Victory" was taken out of moth balls and reactivated. When we finished it I worked as fireman, water tender and oiler on it doing dock and river trials, documented. Victory ships came in a 6000 hp version and 8500 hp version. At home I have 4 turbine buckets (new) out of one of the forced draft fans for the boilers for of a Victory ship.

IMO Ryan rapidly becoming American icon!

Was on the USS Shenandoah 1970.I was standing fire watch down in the engine room. We lost water and went dead in the water. The boilers started to breath all fans and light out. It was very hot the metal got so hot you couldn't touch it. I had a few dangers at sea as a Shipfitter and it made me crazy . Being crazy was a good thing when I became a Ironworkers for 35 years.

Well now Ryan can go one up on Victory, and install flashing LED lighting in Jersey's bilges.

I sailed on John W Brown in the early 2000's I took the longer all day trip with my son, we went all the way down to PAX River

In the 80’s, or maybe 90’s…I don’t remember, I got to tour the Missouri when she visited Monterey Bay.

My ships are all history now: USTS Empire State (ex USNS Barrett) USTS State of Maine (ex USNS Upshur) both of those because the Mass Maritime training ship (USTS Bay State IV, ex USNS Geiger) suffered an engine room fire at the school pier in December 1981. I was a cadet engineer on US Lines American Liberty for a voyage in 1983, she was the last of the class to be scrapped in 2014 at that time named Horizon Discovery. Finally, USS Pittsburgh SSN 720, 6 days on sea trials as an EB engineer in 1986, she is in the process of being scrapped in Bremerton Washington.

"... or meters for those of you who haven't been to the Moon yet ..." That, Sir, just inspired me cough up a bit of my meager income to support the Red Oak Victory. If the government ever pays back what it owes me, there may even be something left over for the USS New Jersey.

Engine room temperatures are hard to talk about with those who haven't experienced them, one doesn't want to be thought of as a liar...In the mid '60s, on a WW2 LST (Landing Ship, Tank) down in the South China Sea and Mekong Delta, we constantly stood our engine room watches in 135 degree temperatures. As an electrician we maintained the battery banks for starting the diesels, I remember reading in the BuShips Manual that if the electrolyte exceeded 125 degrees, stop the charging and let the batteries cool down...no wonder our batteries didn't last very long... fortunately we had a VERY relaxed uniform "back in the day" on that ship, and we could make runs to the galley for containers of ice cubes that we ate, while constantly soaking our sleeveless shirts in water. Coming up out of the engine rooms to our berthing compartments which were directly underneath the flat main deck, soaking up the tropic sun, was always a relief 😂😂😂😂

Ryan, on aircraft engines, the rotating assembly in a turbine is referred to as a turbine rotor. Not sure if it’s the same in ship speak tho. Love your videos brother. A private guided tour of Battleship New Jersey is on my bucket list.

Only proper 'museum' ship sailed aboard would be SS Elissa out of Galveston. (presuming time on USS Barnstable County does not count, even if she felt like a museum at times)

Rode Lane Victory (in San Rafael, CA,) out toward Catalina Island about ten years ago.

Heating the fuel makes it less viscous. In winter the supplies were heated to keep bunker C from solidifying. Also bunker C is the bottom of the distillation process, so is thicker than crude.

That turbine is beautiful! I've worked on turbine engines but nothing that good looking

Turbines are better but triple expansion engines are more fun to see running.

I have had the privilege of seeing the O'Brian....

I got to sail on and take the tiller of the African Queen once. It was an incredible experience. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_Queen_(boat) On that same vacation, I visited American Victory in Tampa. It was quite the unique museum. They took your name at the entrance and then left you to wander the cavernous, barely marked, 95 degree spaces. The ham radio club was there that day in the radio shack and took merciless advantage of having one of the few air conditioned spaces to tell visitors about their projects at length.

It was the Royal & Canadian Navies who introduced and managed the North Atlantic convoy system. When the USA joined the conflict after Pearl Harbour it took them some time and the loss of many ships sailing in the Caribbean and up the US East coast before a recalcitrant anti RN US Admiral reluctantly introduced a convoy system for that shipping!

Those turbine blades don't look significantly different from what Westinghouse is currently turning out.... making a new one would be probably prohibitively expensive but possible, but if you needed a few thousand I wouldn't think that would actually be too difficult...

Back in the mid-1960s, I sailed to Viet Nam and back as a seaman on the SS Hattiesburg Victory. No guns. Also sailed C-2s a similar ship from that era...

Victory ships had a maximum speed of 17 knots and the Liberty ships replaced had a maximum speed of 11 knots. I don't recall comparative cargo capacity, crew sizes, or self-defense armaments.

I got to work on the steam powered air compressors on the Lane Victory as part of the engineering school

I would like to ride on that ship fun

My grandfather on my dad's side served on the USS Indian Island AG-77, which as far as I understand is a design based on the Liberty/Victory ship designs. I wish I knew if anything was left of her. As she was scrapped after the war, I'm left to wonder if any bits/bobs/spare parts made their way to museum ships. However, I have thus far been unsuccessful in determining if anything ever did.

Did I ride on an historic ship? I guess so. My first ship when I was in the navy was the USS Kennedy DD850 now a museum ship.

Don't know if it counts but I rode the FDNY fireboat Harvey up the Hudson between Albany and Troy, NY.

I've been on SS John W. Brown in Baltimore during its September 2022 cruise.