Full steam ahead for history cruise plans

Volunteers working to reactivate a World War II-era cargo ship for history cruises reached a milestone Oct. 24 at the Port of Tampa.

They fired up boilers inside the SS American Victory for the first time in nearly two decades, generating enough steam to turn its propeller and blow the whistle on the bridge. If all goes well, the ship will sail from its dock beside the Florida Aquarium into Tampa Bay under its own power next month.

The ship was in mothballs in Virginia and slated for scrap in 1998 when a local nonprofit group persuaded the federal government to donate the vessel for a mariners' museum and memorial.

Since it was towed to Tampa, the 57-year-old vessel has been sandblasted and its hull, main deck and superstructure covered with more than 10,000 gallons of pain.

The nonprofit group intends to display artifacts and have multimedia presentations on the SS American Victory that depict life aboard a merchant ship during World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

Plans also include taking passengers on cruises in Tampa Bay with crew members in authentic military uniforms and reenactments of enemy aircraft attacks on World War II merchant ships.

First, Congress must designate the SS American Victory a historic ship. That would let the nonprofit group forgo extensive renovations on the cargo vessel that the government would otherwise require for carrying cruise passengers.

Boosters hope to get the designation and begin history cruises early next year.

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