Originally posted by blidgepump
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Originally posted by Ytlas View PostI could have sworn that cRusty's friend "cRusty Sailor" had some pictures of the model of the USS Long Beach in a parade somewhere on his Flickr account. It's been a few years since I saw those pictures online and am not really sure who posted them.
However, in this year's parade (November 6th) I will take lots of photos myself as our outgoing councilman has claimed it has been totally restored. They said that last year also but the acetylene guns still didn't work.
But then gunfire around Houghton Park is a bit frowned upon anyway.Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.
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Recent article...
Proposal for USS Iowa berth in San Pedro to get hearing
By Donna Littlejohn Staff Writer
Posted: 07/11/2010 07:54:37 AM PDT
A local group is suggesting the USS Iowa, a model of which is seen at Port s O Call Restaurant in San Pedro, be berthed in the East Channel, to the west of Warehouse One. (Robert Casillas)
Hoping the Port of Los Angeles will give the USS Iowa a second look, supporters of an effort to bring the battleship to San Pedro will give a public presentation on the proposal Wednesday.
The plan, nixed earlier this year by the port, has a long list of endorsements that include the area's elected representatives and the San Pedro Chamber of Commerce.
The presentation, set for 5 p.m. at Port of Los Angeles High School, will be given to the waterfront plan advisory panel that operates under the Port Community Advisory Committee. The issue will go to the full PCAC in August for consideration.
But the proposal still needs the support of the port before a formal application can be submitted to the Navy.
"It's not a big decision," Richard Pavlick, the waterfront subcommittee chairman, said of the ship's popular public support. "Everyone I talk to, the first thing they say is, it's a no-brainer."
The ship deserves to be preserved as a piece of the nation's history, said Robert Kent, who is heading up the nonprofit effort.
"This ship, 100 years from now, will be like the USS Constitution," he said.
Last February, port Executive Director Geraldine Knatz rejected the proposal. Her objections: Another group had sole bargaining rights to the ship, there was no place to berth it in Los Angeles and it would slow down the waterfront development.
But the first of those objections was answered in May, when the Navy reopened bids to acquire the historic World War II vessel as a floating museum in California.
The group from Vallejo that had held exclusive negotiating status with the Navy until then had shown insufficient progress, the Navy said.
The Vallejo application is still on file but now must be updated with new information.
Meanwhile, the San Pedro proposal is believed to be the only other one in the works.
The Navy now has given a tentative thumbs up to San Pedro, although there has been no word from the port about possibly reconsidering the donation.
In a May 26 response to the Pacific Battleship Center's letter of intent, Capt. C.R. Pietras said the submission "has been reviewed and has been found to meet the requirements as stated in the federal registration notice."
Formal applications are now due in late November. But first, the center needs the port's nod, said Kent of the Pacific Battleship Center.
Kent's proposal suggests the ship could be berthed in the East Channel, to the west of Warehouse One.
Built in 1945, the USS Iowa served for five decades and was decommissioned for the last time in 1990. It is the only remaining World War II Iowa class battleship that is not yet a museum.
If no one can take the ship, it will be scrapped by the Navy.
Kent - who has gathered together a group that includes Navy architects, educators and veterans to plan tours and educational components - said the state of Iowa has pledged $5.5 million to whoever wins the bid for the ship.
In addition, Kent said two professional fundraisers have collected more commitments to the tune of $31 million. But the money won't be given, he said, until a location is secured and an official application can be made to the Navy.
However, there is already enough money in the bank, he said, to acquire all of the licenses to tow the ship to San Pedro.
The proposal calls for a complementary on-shore museum as well.
Supporters say the ship will be the needed draw and attraction to make San Pedro's planned waterfront makeover a success.
"It's not just an improvement, it's an attraction," said Richard Pawlowski, a San Pedro property owner. "It's a unique opportunity."
Critics, though, question the project's ability to be successful and sustain itself. In February, Knatz said there is simply no good location for the nearly 900-foot vessel.
Berthing the ship in San Pedro would pose challenges to the ongoing waterfront planning and to ship navigation, Knatz concluded at that time.
After World War II, the USS Iowa saw action in Korea and Lebanon. Its sister ship participated in Vietnam and the Gulf War.
The Iowa was used to shuttle President Franklin D. Roosevelt across the Atlantic Ocean (Roosevelt's grandson is among those on Kent's board) and President Ronald Reagan stood on its deck for the 100-year anniversary observance of the Statue of Liberty.
Kent compared the prospects for success to the USS Midway in San Diego, which Kent said now sees 850,000 visitors and makes a $4 million profit each year.
Military reunions frequently are scheduled in areas where the old battleships are preserved, he said, adding more tourist dollars to the region.
And if the ship doesn't draw tourists, he said, money is provided up front in an escrow account with the Navy that covers the cost of towing and returning the ship to the military.
"We won't have a Queen Mary situation," he said of the Long Beach ship that has struggled through the years.
A 2009 financial statement for the USS Midway Museum states the facility took in $14.4million. Expenses that year for maintenance, sales and marketing were $10.7 million.
Kent's focus now is to gather more local support for the project - and to have a second hearing with the port for a 10-year lease. He's asking supporters to contact the group at [email protected].
"I want to rent an empty spot that's been empty for 20 years," he said. "The only thing we need is a nod from the port."
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Originally posted by RustyBattleship View Post
*You have been a busy beaver Mr L. I just finished browsing the Project Summary Report on USS Iowa. It was supplied by a friend. Excellent!Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.
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Originally posted by Dreadnought View Post*You have been a busy beaver Mr L. I just finished browsing the Project Summary Report on USS Iowa. It was supplied by a friend. Excellent!
Hmmm. And I thought the word "retirement" meant something more on the lazy side.Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.
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Originally posted by RustyBattleship View PostThank you. If nothing else, my activities supporting the Battleship Museums has kept my designer/engineering mind active during my retirement.
Hmmm. And I thought the word "retirement" meant something more on the lazy side.Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.
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This would be a picture of Wisconsin fitting out under the hammerhead crane in Philadelphia at pier 4.
http://navsource.org/archives/01/064/016400g.jpgLast edited by Dreadnought; 31 Aug 10,, 15:10.Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.
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Maybe the reason why they mention that particular crane is that there are not many left at all. When the majority of your shipyards closed they either demo'd them or sold them off. Philadelphia included. When Kvaerner (now Aiker) took over the yard (PNSY) they installed the Goliath bridge crane since they build container ships and service others too.Fortitude.....The strength to persist...The courage to endure.
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Originally posted by Dreadnought View PostMaybe the reason why they mention that particular crane is that there are not many left at all. When the majority of your shipyards closed they either demo'd them or sold them off. Philadelphia included. When Kvaerner (now Aiker) took over the yard (PNSY) they installed the Goliath bridge crane since they build container ships and service others too.
On the other hand, Long Beach Naval Shipyard was built originally as a "fast in and fast out" repair yard with 3 graving dry docks and a number of floating dry docks to repair or overhaul ships in WW II.
It wasn't until after the war is when the shipyard was issued the floating German crane that could lift 425 tons with ease, was fully manueverable under its own power to serve any ship anywhere within the Los Angeles/Long Beach harbor areas. Besides a heavy lift capacity it also had an terrific outreach and tremendous height where I have seen it take the uppermost antenna on the mast of an Aircraft Carrier that was on the OTHER side of the pier.
Heck, all you guys that have read Chapter 2 "Herman the German" of my book know all about that anyway.Able to leap tall tales in a single groan.
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Originally posted by RustyBattleship View PostHeck, all you guys that have read Chapter 2 "Herman the German" of my book know all about that anyway.
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Iowa in the news again
Los Angeles wants to host WWII battleship Iowa
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Sep 25, 2010 13:37:28 EDT
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council is backing plans to berth a World War II battleship at the Port of Los Angeles as a floating museum.
The Navy has reopened the application process for the donation of the Iowa, and the council voted Friday to support the project.
Iowa is the last surviving World War II battleship without a home. It spans the length of three football fields and once carried President Roosevelt across the Atlantic for meetings with British Prime Minister Winston Churchill.
Councilwoman Janice Hahn says the ship would draw tourists and be a boost for waterfront development.
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