Stockton Volunteers Restore Historic Rare Wooden Minesweeper Ship

The Stockton Maritime Museum is moving to its permanent home on the historic Stockton waterfront.

Apr. 20, 2026 at 12:24am

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A brightly colored, high-contrast silkscreen print of the iconic bow of a wooden minesweeper ship, repeated in a tight grid pattern, conceptually representing the restoration of a rare historic naval vessel.A pop art celebration of the historic USS Lucid, one of only two remaining wooden minesweeper ships in the world, as volunteers work to restore this unique vessel in Stockton.Los Angeles Today

The Stockton Maritime Museum has been restoring an historic wooden warship, the USS Lucid, for more than a decade. The museum recently received a grant to build a new acre-and-a-half property on the Stockton waterfront, where they will move the ship and build reproduction shipyard buildings. The USS Lucid is a rare non-magnetic minesweeper ship, one of only two wooden minesweeper ships left in the world.

Why it matters

The restoration of the USS Lucid is an important preservation effort for a unique piece of maritime history. As one of only two remaining wooden minesweepers, the ship provides a rare glimpse into a specialized class of warships from the early 1950s. The museum's efforts to restore and display the ship will help educate the public about this important naval technology and the role Stockton played in its development.

The details

The USS Lucid is a non-magnetic minesweeper ship, meaning its hull and fittings are made of non-magnetic materials like wood, aluminum, and bronze to avoid setting off mines. The ship was one of three built in Stockton in the early 1950s. The Stockton Maritime Museum acquired the ship 14 years ago when it was in poor condition, full of garbage and with wild animals living on it. Over the past decade, countless volunteers, many of them veterans, have dedicated their time and skills to restoring the ship, including carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing.

  • The Stockton Maritime Museum acquired the USS Lucid 14 years ago.
  • The museum recently received a grant to build a new acre-and-a-half property on the Stockton waterfront, where they will move the ship.

The players

David Rajkovich

The president of the Stockton Maritime Museum.

Rick Hamel

A U.S. Navy veteran who dedicates around 24 hours a week to helping restore the USS Lucid.

Floyd Fields

The second-to-last skipper of the USS Lucid, who is in his mid-90s and lives in Los Angeles.

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What they’re saying

“This is a non-magnetic minesweeper. It's a very unique class of ship. It's built primarily out of wood and all the metal on it is non-magnetic. The engines are aluminum and stainless steel. All the fittings on it are bronze, brass, aluminum, stainless steel, or monel. So very valuable metals. That's why a scrapper had it. They were removing all those valuable metals from it.”

— David Rajkovich, Stockton Maritime Museum president

“It's been an adventure because when we acquired this thing, it was a mess. It was full of garbage. When we first acquired it out in the Delta, it had wild animals living on it.”

— David Rajkovich, Stockton Maritime Museum president

“I do some woodworking. Do some mechanical, do some electrical, whatever he tells me to do...it's history. And I was never on a wooden ship. All the ships I was on were metal, iron.”

— Rick Hamel, U.S. Navy veteran

What’s next

The museum plans to hold another open house later this year, hosting sailors who served on the USS Lucid from all over the country.

The takeaway

The restoration of the USS Lucid is a labor of love for the Stockton Maritime Museum and its dedicated volunteers, many of whom are veterans. Their efforts to preserve this rare wooden minesweeper ship will help educate the public about an important piece of naval history and Stockton's role in its development.