STOCKTON — A former U.S. Navy minesweeper ship will come to rest in Stockton, and we got an early glimpse.
The USS Lucid, which served four tours in the Vietnam War, is one of only two ships like it left in the world. It will now serve as a maritime museum at the Port of Stockton.
It will be a new addition after it is docked permanently along the port. It will potentially bring more people to Stockton as a new tourist attraction.
David Rajkovic is the standing president of the Stockton Maritime Museum. For the past 12 years, he and his team of volunteers and former sailors have been working on restoring the USS Lucid, which is one of two left in the world.
The former Navy minesweeper was built in the 1950s.
“Sixty-six were built for our Navy and this is the last one left in the United States. All of the others have been scrapped,” Rajkovic said. “Three of these were built in Stockton.”
Keeping the history of Stockton alive is what Rajkovic and his team aim to do, opening the Lucid up to the public on Saturday.