'Very Rare' Navy Ship Getting A Major Facelift In 2026

California has an impressive maritime history that dates back well beyond its statehood and, in fact, beyond America's history as a country. Native Americans settled along the Pacific coast hundreds of years ago, and visitors to the state have their choice of museums to learn about and even step foot on some of California's most famous historic vessels. You'd be forgiven for thinking that you'd need to head to San Diego or other coastal cities to visit the most unusual and celebrated ships, but the inland city of Stockton offers a unique opportunity to see a Vietnam War-era Navy minesweeper.

Stockton isn't truly landlocked, as the Port of Stockton is located on the San Joaquin River, which eventually connects it with the Pacific Ocean, allowing large ships to access it. It's also home to the Stockton Maritime Museum, which was founded in 2010 to help preserve Stockton's maritime history. While the USS Lucid was built in New Orleans, Louisiana, and not Stockton, it does have a connection with the California city. It's a sister ship and identical to three Aggressive-class minesweepers that were built in Stockton, and after it was decommissioned in 1976, it ended up in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta repurposed as a floating home, complete with a hot tub.

The museum took ownership of the USS Lucid, which Museum President David Rajkovich called "very rare," in an interview with local news station Fox40. He's not wrong — it's the last ship of its kind in the U.S., and it's undergoing a multi-year restoration to turn it into a floating museum.

The USS Lucid (MSO-458) is a unique naval vessel, as it's made out of wood. This avoided setting off magnetic mines that targeted steel-hulled ships. These Navy minesweepers, known as MSO minesweepers for "Minesweeping, Oceangoing," scoured the ocean in front of other ships in order to detect and deactivate mines, or underwater explosives. They also served in other support, search and rescue, and towing roles. The Lucid could carry eight officers and 70 enlisted men.

The restoration work doesn't just include new paint and railings. The museum negotiated with the Taiwanese Navy for three years and recently returned from Taiwan with 40 containers of parts and gear that were solely used on the Aggressive-class minesweepers. It is going to great lengths to acquire original equipment and parts, much of which was stripped off the ship and sold when it was decommissioned, including brass, stainless steel, and other metal fittings. The team was also given permission to search mothballed Naval ships at Suisun Bay near the museum.

Multiple volunteers are helping with the project, including 70-year-old Jack Frost, who was a corpsman on another minesweeper. The project, funded by donations and state grants, still has a way to go, as it still needs to (as of this writing) remove the ship from the water so the hull can be inspected and, if necessary, repaired. The Stockton Maritime Museum hopes to eventually display the fully-restored USS Lucid in Stockton's historic downtown waterfront.