HB 1021

1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to Hillsborough County; designating the
3	S.S. American Victory as the official flagship of
4	Hillsborough County; providing an effective date.
5
6	WHEREAS, construction of the 455-foot S.S. American Victory
7	was completed on June 20, 1945, at the California Shipbuilding
8	Yard in Los Angeles, California, and
9	WHEREAS, this ship sailed the Pacific Ocean during the
10	final days of World War II, supplying America?s war effort and
11	assisting in ferrying military equipment and troops back to the
12	United States, and
13	WHEREAS, after the war, the S.S. American Victory, under
14	the auspices of the Marshall Plan and the United Nations, sailed
15	the world delivering foodstuffs, manufacturing machinery, and
16	raw materials to countries devastated by the destruction caused
17	by World War II, and
18	WHEREAS, during the Korean War and the Vietnam War, the
19	S.S. American Victory transported cargo, fuel, and ammunition to
20	these areas from ports in the United States and elsewhere, and
21	WHEREAS, following service during the Vietnam War, the S.S.
22	American Victory was deactivated on October 24, 1969, and placed
23	in the James River Reserve Fleet located on the James River near
24	Norfolk, Virginia, and
25	WHEREAS, the S.S. American Victory was withdrawn from the
26	James River Reserve Fleet on March 13, 1985, to participate in a
27	government-sponsored Victory Ship Validation Program, a program
28	designed to gauge the time and expense necessary to activate
29	mothballed Victory-class ships, which enabled the S.S. American
30	Victory to be brought to full operational status and to perform
31	sea trials after a $2.5-million restoration, and
32	WHEREAS, in June 1985, the S.S. American Victory sailed for
33	26 hours before returning to its anchorage in the James River
34	Reserve Fleet, where it remained until 1999, and
35	WHEREAS, in 1998, Congress authorized the conveyance of the
36	S.S. American Victory to the Tampa-based organization, the
37	Victory Ship, Inc., and, in 1999, the ship was towed from
38	Virginia to Tampa for major renovation and reactivation, and
39	WHEREAS, in 2000, the S.S. American Victory was relocated
40	to its permanent home in Tampa Bay adjacent to the Florida
41	Aquarium where it has undergone additional restoration and
42	reactivation through more than 85,000 volunteer hours and $4
43	million of privately raised money, and
44	WHEREAS, the S.S. American Victory serves as the American
45	Victory Mariners Memorial and Museum Ship, berthed at the Ybor
46	Turning Basin in Hillsborough County, and
47	WHEREAS, in September 2003, the S.S. American Victory
48	conducted its first ?Relive History Cruise? with over 500
49	passengers and crew, NOW  THEREFORE,
50
51	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
52
53	Section 1.  The victory ship S.S. American Victory is
54	designated as the official flagship of Hillsborough County.
55	Section 2.  This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.