The Red Oak Victory Amateur Radio Club (ROVARC), an ARRL affiliated club. The club is based aboard the SS Red Oak Victory in Richmond, California. Our goals are to:
Club members have restored the radio room to operating condition. ROVARC operates a club operates on the ham bands with the callsigns K6YVM and NY6CI. The former (K6YVM) comes from the ship's original commercial call KYVM, and the latter (NY6CI) from the original Navy call NYCI.
The Red Oak Victory is open to the public every Sunday. Please come by and take a look at the radio room.
The S.S. Red Oak Victory is a World War II Victory Ship that was built right near its current location in Richmond, California on the San Francisco Bay. It's named for the town of Red Oak, Iowa, which saw more casualties per capita during World War II than any other town in the United States.
The ship was commissioned on 5 December 1944. It saw action in World War 2. It was decommissioned in 1946 and spent the next 10 years in the maritime service (AKA the merchant marine). In 1996, ownership was transferred and the ship was for the Military Sea Transport Service, after which the ship operated in the Philippines and in Vietnam. In 1968 she was laid up in the "mothball fleet" (technically, the "National Defense Reserve Fleet", in Suisun Bay). In 1998, the Richmond Museum Association took control of her. She is now a designated Historic Ship and part of the Rosie the Riveter Historic Park.
A group of dedicated volunteers continues to restore the ship to seaworthyness. Most of the ship's original systems are functional. In particular, the original radio has been fully restored and is regularly operated during special events on the ship. The ship is open to the public for docent-led and self-guided tours. Here's a link to the Red Oak Victory's home page where you can find more information.
The SS Red Oak Victory is at the south end of Canal Street, Berth 5 of the graving docks in Richmond, CA
Take Highway 580 to Point Richmond, exit at Canal St. and head south. Continue on Canal Street for about 2 miles until you come to Gate #2 (a security checkpoint for the large parking area full of newly imported cars from Asia). Just before this checkpoint you bear to the right and follow the road around the car lot, out toward the water to Berth 5. The red arrows on the map below will help give you an idea of how to proceed here.
If you need further directions or more information about the ship just follow the link to Red Oak Victory's home page
The map below shows how to get to the Red Oak Victory from Canal Blvd. The ship's location is marked "Red Oak Victory Location B" (The other red star at "Red Oak Victory Location A", was the original berth of of the Red Oak Victory, from 1998 to 2005).
