Missouri is sinking (sort of)

[RustyBattleship]

This was just posted on the LBNSY web site. Thought some of you people might be interested.

Oh yes, I'm ready to pack my bags to go over there and tell them how to fix it. I not only was the Naval Architect in charge of her structural modifications, I worked in the shops for 10 years as a shipfitter. An 8 lb sledge hammer is still my favorite tool.




Mighty Mo"by W. Perry

Posted on: Sunday, September 30, 2007
Leak tilts Mighty Mo at Hawaii mooring

By William Cole
Advertiser Military Writer

The USS Missouri was listing about a degree to starboard on Friday because thousands of gallons of seawater have leaked into what should be an empty ballast tank.
BRUCE ASATO | The Honolulu Advertiser

MIGHTY MO

Last battleship ever built. Commissioned on June 11, 1944. One of four Iowa-class battleships.
Assigned to Pacific Third Fleet and steamed into Pearl Harbor on Christmas Eve, 1944.
Part of force that carried out bombing raids over Tokyo and provided firepower at Iwo Jima and Okinawa.
Was Adm. William "Bull" Halsey's flagship at end of war.
Site of Japan's unconditional surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, in Tokyo Bay.
Nine 16-inch guns hurled 1,800-pound shells during Korean War.
In 1991 was deployed to Persian Gulf for Operation Desert Storm, firing guns and Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Decommissioned for second time in 1992.
Arrived at Pearl Harbor in 1998.

LEARN MORE
Battleship Missouri Memorial, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii
Source: Battleship Missouri Memorial

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The bulkhead doors that started to swing open instead of closed on the historic battleship Missouri were the first clue that something was amiss.

The heavy steel doors on the Mighty Mo are designed to close naturally, but gravity was having the opposite effect, and those who operate the museum and memorial at Pearl Harbor recently found that the 887-foot battleship is listing one degree to starboard.

The problem was traced to a 34,000-gallon fuel oil ballast tank that had long ago been washed clean by the Navy, and is one of 600 tanks on the ship that was the scene of Japan's surrender on Sept. 2, 1945, officially ending World War II.

Seawater had leaked in through a deteriorated rivet seal at a rate of three gallons a minute, filling the tank in a week.

"One degree seems like more than one degree (when you are on the ship)," said Don Hess, president and chief operating officer of the USS Missouri Memorial Association.

But it's a small problem that soon will be fixed, and nowhere near as big as some others now being addressed. The nonprofit museum's operators need to do rust control and painting on the superstructure above the main deck, replace nearly 53,000 square feet of teak deck planking, and in the longer term, re-coat the underwater portion of the hull, which could require drydocking.

The biggest capital improvement projects since the Missouri pulled into Pearl Harbor in 1998 as a museum are dead ahead. The costs are, well, as big as a battleship.

MAINTENANCE EXPENSIVE

Officials estimate that drydocking and lower-hull repainting could run $5 million to $8 million, superstructure rust control and painting may cost $1 million, and the decking could be anywhere from $5 million to $15 million.

A national fundraising campaign will be mounted to pay for it.

Hess and others who are part of the Mighty Mo take it all in stride, and say it's just the expected cost of doing business when you're running a circa-1944 floating battleship museum.

He puts it in terms to which owners of smaller boats can relate.

"The saying is that the two happiest days in the life of a boat owner are the day you buy the boat and the day you get rid of it," Hess said, "because in between are all the things that are normal to boat ownership, and what we're looking at are those things. We're in a marine environment, and it just costs a heck of a lot."

In addition to being the site of Japan's surrender in Tokyo Bay in 1945, the Missouri was the last battleship ever built, was called into action in the Korean War and was sent on a last combat tour to the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

There are at least seven battleship museums around the country. None is inexpensive to run.

The Texas Parks and Wildlife Department is seeking millions for repairs to the battleship Texas, the only remaining battleship to have fought in both World War I and II. The ship is moored at the confluence of the Houston Ship Channel and San Jacinto River.

ASSESSING THE SHIP

Drydock repairs to the ship's hull cost $15 million from 1988 to 1990, according to the Houston Chronicle. Officials believe that because of hull deterioration since then, the best preservation course of action is to berth the ship on land, which could cost about $20 million, the Chronicle reported.

Museum officials with the Mighty Mo will have a better idea in December or January how much repairs will cost. The museum's board recently agreed to pay Massachusetts-based Ocean Technical Services up to $200,000 for a marine survey.

Starting in November, divers will be checking the hull and other Ocean Technical Services employees will be looking topside and in tanks and other crevices.

Hess said company owner Joe Lombardi is an expert on historic naval ships, and has surveyed other battleships, aircraft carriers and destroyers that have become museums.

"We want to take all of those things, the hull, the teak, the superstructure ... and we want to bundle that into something that's cohesive in the sense of what can we do, and how should we program it out?" said Hess, a retired Navy captain.

The teak alone will be a formidable and expensive challenge.

"It's a major endeavor. Think of 53,000 square feet of teak — and each plank has to be almost individually milled," Hess said.

The battleship North Carolina, now a museum in its namesake state, was extremely lucky in the mid-1990s when a visit by the minister of forestry from Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, led to that country donating 40 tons of teak and offering a reduced price on an additional 137 tons.

Myanmar, a major source of teak, is experiencing civil strife and there's a trade embargo, Hess notes.

Originally, the Missouri deck was solid teak, but in the 1950s that was replaced by a fir and teak laminate. The acidity corroded the teak, and let water in the seams, which led to some deck corrosion.

"The teak's over steel, so nobody's going to fall through the deck," said Bob Dewitz, chairman of the Missouri board's capital improvements committee. That steel is at least an inch thick.

Missouri workers have replaced teak planks piece by piece, but now more planks need to be replaced than they can possibly work on. It's also possible that lead-based paint will be found beneath the old teak, which would require working with cocooning tents to prevent release of that into the environment.

"Is (the teak replacement) ... something that needs to be done now? It needs to be done soon," Hess said, guessing that means within a couple of years.

PRESERVING THE PAST

The Missouri sees about 400,000 thousand visitors a year and "is doing good" financially, Hess said. "At the same time, the teak is rotting out on us."

The museum's operating budget is about $7 million a year, and more than $5 million has been spent on maintenance and upkeep of the ship since it arrived.

Hess also calls the volunteer effort "magnificent," with more than 55,000 people giving their time to help the Missouri.

Engineered woods are a possibility for the deck, but Navy purists want teak. What Hess doesn't want is for the ship to be closed to visitors, and that may mean doing sections of teak one at a time.

The other big question mark is the hull.

"At some point, every ship needs to go into drydock, but it could be a year, it could be 10 years, it could be 20 years" before it's the Missouri's next turn up, Hess said.

The last drydocking was in 1992, when the battleship was decommissioned, and the underwater hull coating was checked at the time.

"What we're trying to do is make sure that we don't wait too long," Hess said, "because there are cases of ships that waited too long and they can't be moved into drydock for fear that something is going to happen because their underwater hull is so thin."

Dewitz said the Mighty Mo's hulls are solid, but a dive assessment is needed to see if the paint is holding up and if cathodic protection using an electric current is continuing to work.

Below the water line, the battleship's hull thickness ranges from 7 or 8 inches to about 1.5 inches, officials said.

Hess said the last cost estimate he got to just be in a Pearl Harbor drydock, which was about a year and a half ago, and exclusive of all work, was $60,000 a day.

Sarah Tenney, vice president of development for the Missouri, said the fundraising for the restoration will have to be blocked off into pieces.

"It's all about phasing with fundraising," she said, adding that the marine assessment is critical to planning that out.

But raising $20 million or more in total "is a normal capital campaign number in terms of a major effort" for a museum like the Missouri, she said.

A contractor will soon be hired to fix the small leak that has led to the ship list.

The marine survey coming up, meanwhile, will be looking to the future of the battleship Missouri, which is a bookend to the USS Arizona Memorial as the start and end to World War II.

"That's one of the reasons we're doing this," Hess said. "We don't want to mortgage the future and say, 'Oh, don't worry about it,' and then, not me, but the person after that all of a sudden will say, 'It seems like we're a little lower in the water than we used to be.' We don't want that to happen. We have to make this thing last into perpetuity."

Reach William Cole at wcole@honoluluadvertiser.com.
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[RAL's_pal?]

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

I not only was the Naval Architect in charge of her structural modifications, I worked in the shops for 10 years as a shipfitter. An 8 lb sledge hammer is still my favorite tool.

Maybe we can frame an 8# sledge hammer so you can look at it, because you're too damn old to swing one safely.....

[RustyBattleship]

Originally Posted by RAL's_pal?

Maybe we can frame an 8# sledge hammer so you can look at it, because you're too damn old to swing one safely.....

You don't happen to be challenging me to a log splitting contest are you?

Anyway, I'm trying to recall some Hawaiin phrases my first wife taught me. Just in case I get a call.

Let's see now. Don't dare get Ule Ule mixed up with Uli Uli. One is a pair of rattles used in some Hawaiin dancing. The other is a pair of gonads. Darn. Can't remember which now.

[RAL's_pal?]

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

You don't happen to be challenging me to a log splitting contest are you?

If I don't trust you with a sledge hammer, what make you think I would trust you with an axe?

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

Anyway, I'm trying to recall some Hawaiin phrases my first wife taught me. Just in case I get a call.

If your first wife taught you some phrases, I don't think you should use them on people unless you know the true translation, you might get punched in the mouth.

[Dreadnought]

Hello Mr. L.

Interesting article we have here. I would think at a rate of 3 gallons per minute they would have known about this leak for sometime from just a peak at the inclino meter and or wing tank flooding gauges. I have been witness to just how touchy the pump monitoring systems are aboard a sister ship if you would and in my opinion the OOD should have had an alarm long before intaking that much water to cause a one degree list. Thats alot of water.

I have been fortunate enough to be around as one of her sisters is in the process of replacing a good amount of the decking and was able to get a close look at the mechanics of redecking. Never would have thought that so much was involved in redecking material wise and manual wise to the ships carpenters. They are doing a beautiful job none the less.

Question for you in reference to the leak. Since they are not mentioning exactly where I would assume that these are the outter wing tanks that are causing the leak?

[RustyBattleship]

Originally Posted by Dreadnought

Question for you in reference to the leak. Since they are not mentioning exactly where I would assume that these are the outter wing tanks that are causing the leak?

That would be a safe assumption. Provided of course if the leak is in the SIDE shell plating. If in the bottom plating it could be one of the inboard tanks. THAT would be hard to repair.

If in the side plating and above the turn of the bilge, a cofferdam can be built to allow sandblasters and welders down there to do the outside repairs. But if in the bottom plating, though a cofferdam would be used, it could only be accessed by divers. And the bottom of the ship is near one atmosphere depth which would probably require some decompression time.

[Dreadnought]

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

That would be a safe assumption. Provided of course if the leak is in the SIDE shell plating. If in the bottom plating it could be one of the inboard tanks. THAT would be hard to repair.

If in the side plating and above the turn of the bilge, a cofferdam can be built to allow sandblasters and welders down there to do the outside repairs. But if in the bottom plating, though a cofferdam would be used, it could only be accessed by divers. And the bottom of the ship is near one atmosphere depth which would probably require some decompression time.

Hmmm cofferdam, were talking reminiscent of the repairs made to the battlewagons at Pearl just across from where shes berthed now. How interesting. In hopes of a phone call Mr. L, please do take some photos especially if it is in the inboard tanks. And thanks for the reply.

[Michigan_Guy]

I'm astonished at the huge costs involved with maintaining a battleship.

These ships didn't originally have teak decks, did they? I thought only aircraft carriers did back then. Hrmmm....

[RustyBattleship]

Originally Posted by Michigan_Guy

I'm astonished at the huge costs involved with maintaining a battleship.

These ships didn't originally have teak decks, did they? I thought only aircraft carriers did back then. Hrmmm....

Battleships and Cruisers had topside decking of teak. Teak was selected because it doesn't swell up noticably when wet and therefore does not push out the caulking between the seams.

It provides a flat surface to cover up the riveted butt straps to prevent tripping and to facilitate rolling of ammunition dollys. It also provides insulation for the compartments below.

When Japan invaded Burma in WW II, our supply of Burmese Teak came to a screaching halt. So we used similar hardwoods from Brazil and called them American Teak. Actually, some of them are better than Burmese Teak.

When Douglas Fir was used (against my vehement objections) it was found to swell up tremendously, push the caulking totally out of the seams and then allowed water to get underneath when it dried out and shrunk back down.

However, Aircraft Carriers used Douglas Fir on their flight decks. It is much cheaper than Teak and has to be replaced much more often from air operations and/or battle damage.

Modern Aircraft Carriers do not have wood covered decks as developments in paint coatings, aircraft landing suspensions, etc. negated the need for wood.

Other modern ships no longer need wood decking because their welded construction does not present tripping hazards and modern fiberglass insulation mounted on the interior is far mor efficient.

[Michigan_Guy]

Wow I was way off then! So what deck is currently on the Missouri?

[RustyBattleship]

Originally Posted by Michigan_Guy

Wow I was way off then! So what deck is currently on the Missouri?

I don't know what is on there at this time. The last time I saw her in 1997 she had Teak but was showing weathering from the cold and always damp Bremerton weather.

Some may have bee replaced with a softer wood and the rains in Hawaii are showing that such replacement was a mistake.

There are also problems in keeping the Teak decking looking good. When first installed, hand planers are supposed to be used to fair in all surfaces to each other. Maintenence cleaning after that is supposed to be done with Holey Stones (course brick-shaped stones with a hole in it to accept a mop handle). But that's when you have a crew of over a thousand men and have nothing else better to do (Yeah, sure).

So with reduced personnel on museum ships, the best they can do is use floor sanders to do the job faster. Unfortunately, sanders usually take too much off the top and pretty soon after a few sandings you are hitting the tie-down bolts.

I'm not sure of this, but I was told that when Missouri was to be used for some scenes in "Pearl Harbor", heavy belt sanding was done. If so, this could have reduced the thickness enough to require replacement sooner than normal.

[RAL's_pal?]

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

When Japan invaded Burma in WW II, our supply of Burmese Teak came to a screaching halt. So we used similar hardwoods from Brazil and called them American Teak. Actually, some of them are better than Burmese Teak.

When Douglas Fir was used (against my vehement objections) it was found to swell up tremendously, push the caulking totally out of the seams and then allowed water to get underneath when it dried out and shrunk back down.

Are you talking about the Douglas Fir used on the Jersey back in 1968-9, or were you working in a shipyard instead of going to kindergarten during WWII?

[Gun Grape]

I wonder what they will do with the Teak they remove?

I'm sure some BB loving woodworkers would pay a good price for a chunk of it.
All the exposure to the elements would make it worthless for large projects, and I'd hate to run it through a planer. No telling whats embedded in it.

If nothing else, imagine a former Missouri sailor recieving a plaque to commemorate his time aboard. And that plaque being made from actual deck boards of the ship.

Seems to me a worthy item in the gift shop. Plaques or packages of 1-2 board feet of wood.

[JAD_333]

Originally Posted by RustyBattleship

This was just posted on the LBNSY web site. Thought some of you people might be interested.

Oh yes, I'm ready to pack my bags to go over there and tell them how to fix it. I not only was the Naval Architect in charge of her structural modifications, I worked in the shops for 10 years as a shipfitter. An 8 lb sledge hammer is still my favorite tool.

Rusty:
I would think the folks running the memorial would welcome you with open arms, sledge hammer and all. Have you given it any thought.

She's a beaut, the Mo. Hate to see her rust away.

[RustyBattleship]

Originally Posted by JAD_333

Rusty:
I would think the folks running the memorial would welcome you with open arms, sledge hammer and all. Have you given it any thought.

She's a beaut, the Mo. Hate to see her rust away.

Actually, given the resources of Pearl Harbor NSY across the channel and the proper budget, directing/designing/monitoring the repairs is right up my alley. Been there, done that.

Only problem is finding somebody to take care of our dogs while I'm climbing around in one of my favorite ships (in 39 years in the shipyard) and the wife is using the Hawaiin climate to heal the incisions in her leg and the cancer treatments of her breast. If anybody needs a break, she does.