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The Great, Constantly Changing Picture Gallery...part DEUX
- Thread starter Gatordev
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Isn't that thing sinking?
BTW, is the sports bar co-located with the Shriner's building still there? I lived there every Sunday in college.
WEGL12
VT-28
It's in pretty bad shape. It sits in about 25 feet of mud but the hull has several places that leak during high tide. They are trying to raise 50 million dollars to overhaul the hull and flight deck. You can tell the ship hasn't been in a dry dock in over 45 years is a nice way to put the ship's condition. I am hoping they are able to repair the ship. But you are probably thinking about the USS Laffey. It had major leaks a few years ago and partially sunk. It was sent to the dry dock and repair and now is back at Patriots Point.
The sports bar has new owners and changed names. It has gone to shit after the change in ownership. When were you in Charleston and did you go to the Citadel?
I knew that Laffey sunk, but I seem to remember someone saying that Yorktown needed $Eleventy-Billion to avoid sinking herself.
I was in Charleston during the Swamp Foxes era (they had a kicker by the name of Rob Bironas - you may have heard of him), and I went to Edu-Tech University (online, of course).
WEGL12
VT-28
There was a report released by the Navy about the ship's poor condition a few years ago. They estimated it would cost 120 million dollars to repair the ship. That might be where you heard the ship was in danger of sinking and the report came out around the time of the Laffey troubles. The ship's hull is in bad condition but has been overlooked for many years due to the fact the ship sits in the mud. The leaks in the hull have damaged several compartments in the bow of the ship which has created concern about the ships structural safety.
I was a volunteer tour guide on Olympia throughout high school (04-08). Even then, she was in pretty rough shape. She'd ground herself every day at low tide, and the hull was rusted through in some points. Considering they've essentially neglected her since (lack of funding), I'm sure things are much worse. It's a damn shame, but I can't see another organization saving her; it would take millions just to get her to drydock.
I wandered around the pier JFK and Forrestal are berthed at earlier this year. Both are in pretty sad shape. I'll see if I can get some up to date exterior shots of them while I'm home on POM.
It's too bad they can't do with a carrier, what they did with my old boat when it became a Submarine Memorial Museum in Galveston, TX, some 25 years ago. The USS CAVALLA (SSK-244), a decommissioned WWII Guppy/Snorkel conversion, was "planted" ashore up to the waterline, just a few dozen yards from the shoreline of Galveston Bay. I served on the "Big C", as an ET2 (SS), for several years prior to entering flight training in 1956.
*Photos credited to MasterBates
CAVALLA has survived 2 major hurricanes over the 20+ years in Seawolf Park (in her 'open grave'), with relatively minor damage. These major storms would have probably destroyed or scuttled her had she been docked pierside. I am very lucky to have 2 of my 5 afloat commands still serving as ship museums. The other is USS MIDWAY, in which I did my ShipsCo tour '70-'72.
BzB
MasterBates
Well-Known Member
Is there a technical reason why we couldn't do that with a CV? Build a temporary drydock, bring boat in, fill with concrete and dirt.
Technically, no...hell we put men on the moon!
Fiscally... way too many [donation] $$$$$$ required.BTW,,the PUC on the CAVALLA Sail "ribbon rack" was for torpedoing/sinking IJN SHOKAKU, at the time (19 June 1944), the last surviving carrier from the Pearl Harbor attack, some 2 1/2 years earlier.
*Big "C", sailing into Tokyo Bay for Japanese surrender ceremony, 2 Sept 1945
BzB
No, the only problem I see is we'd have to bury a bunch of the ship. Just how much is below the waterline? We'd at least have to go to the waterline, I'd think.
WEGL12
VT-28
It's too bad they can't do with a carrier, what they did with my old boat when it became a Submarine Memorial Museum in Galveston, TX, some 25 years ago. The USS CAVALLA (SSK-244), a decommissioned WWII Guppy/Snorkel conversion, was "planted" ashore up to the waterline, just a few dozen yards from the shoreline of Galveston Bay. I served on the "Big C", as an ET2 (SS), for several years prior to entering flight training in 1956.
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*Photos credited to MasterBates
CAVALLA has survived 2 major hurricanes over the 20+ years in Seawolf Park (in her 'open grave'), with relatively minor damage. These major storms would have probably destroyed or scuttled her had she been docked pierside. I am very lucky to have 2 of my 5 afloat commands still serving as ship museums. The other is USS MIDWAY, in which I did my ShipsCo tour '70-'72.
BzB
This is what they originally wanted to do to the sub at Patriots Point. However, it sounds like they are planning to sink her as a reef instead. The crew members of the sub are trying to raise the 3.5 million needed to repair the sub not including the cost of putting the sub landside. It's sad to see the ships in the condition they are in.
WEGL12
VT-28
The Yorktown has a draft just under 30 feet and 25 feet is in mud. The problem is the five feet in the water and the first six feet in the mud. Below six feet down the mud acts like a barrier and most corrosion is prevented. In the Yorktown's case the water came in the ship around the fifth deck but then flooded compartments on the sixth and seventh decks. The saltwater started corroding the hull from the inside.
There is a plan being presented about a cofferdam being built around the ship. This would prevent further damage being done to the hull by the saltwater and the maintenance crews could work on the hull without sending the ship to drydock.
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