BB-55 at low tide
- Thread starter Pacfanweb
- Start date
DaveinCoalinga
New member
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2007
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- 28
Wouldn't sitting in the mud like that just destroy the hull?
Going to find out in the next couple of years.
Shame how it's buried like that, given what good shape the rest of the ship is in.
RustyBattleship
In Memoriam
Unfortunately, many ship museum top brass are not Naval Architects and do not realize that sitting the ship in the mud only makes it nice and level for visitors and requires fewer (if any) mooring lines.
But water action of the grains of sand in the mud will eventually grind away the paint. Then the chemicals and other little critters in the water start rusting away the unprotected steel.
And from the looks of that very informative photo, if you scooped up the water and ran it through some filters, what is left could probably be used in a chemical or biological weapon of mass destruction.
If you want the ship to be unmovable, you should lay a pattern of docking blocks on the bottom and set the ship on them. But this is tricky as setting the blocks requires a low tide or a dam upstream. Then sitting the ship on them requires an extreme high tide or a dam downstream.
So you are "damed" if you do and "damed" if you don't.
Rusty is that what they are planning to do with the Texas?
Dreadnought
New member
Texas is supposed to be put into a "graving dock" at last I checked. She will be completely dry up on supports that will allow you to walk clearly underneath her if they are still sticking to their last plan of action. This way Texas is around for generations to come.
IMO, I dont think the Navy is going to take a chance with the "Showboat". Once they have a plan (which they did awhile back) either they are going to have to dredge her a channel or other method before tugging on her. Shes been sitting for quite some time (1950's) and they learned their lessons with the Intrepid. I will say this, they do manage to keep a nice paint job on her and seem to take good care of her as well.
*One thing I could never understand about the museum ships (that dont have sweeping currents underneath) in why they never employed "bubblers" under the hulls like the kind they use for piers in winter but these are used to stop silt from bing able to gather under the hulls.
IMO, I dont think the Navy is going to take a chance with the "Showboat". Once they have a plan (which they did awhile back) either they are going to have to dredge her a channel or other method before tugging on her. Shes been sitting for quite some time (1950's) and they learned their lessons with the Intrepid. I will say this, they do manage to keep a nice paint job on her and seem to take good care of her as well.
*One thing I could never understand about the museum ships (that dont have sweeping currents underneath) in why they never employed "bubblers" under the hulls like the kind they use for piers in winter but these are used to stop silt from bing able to gather under the hulls.
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Ya mean they can't take a big ol' crane and lift it? :biggrin:
Back when the Jersey was in drydock 1 undergoing hull work, when the time came to "Bump" the ship, an Engineering Supervisor expected YD 171 ("Herman The German") to get floated over so it could simply lift the Jersey and re-set it on the keel blocks.
RustyBattleship
In Memoriam
I sure would like to know who that was (if even true).
However, my step-dad (who worked in 264T) was on an LST getting ready to undock. Two portal cranes (one on each side of the dock) were moving up to about amidships of the LST.
A "Shave Tail" had reported aboard only a few days before undocking. He was watching the two cranes moving up and then asked Pop if they were strong enough to pick the ship out of dry dock.
Well, Pop was an Irishman from Pennsylvania and couldn't help saying, "They're going to do a line up first and then check to see how much each crane can lift with their booms straight out."
The newly graduated Ensign nodded his head and said that sounded like pretty good safety procedures.
Well, Pop being a Navy Veteran himself (in WW I his ship was torpedoed) chuckled and said, "Well, if the cranes are not strong enough, then they will just flood the dock with water, open the caisson gate and float the ship out"
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What do you mean by "If Even True?"
When have you known me to ever lie?
I was there with Sid Tolman when the guy said it.
RustyBattleship
In Memoriam
I have NEVER known you to lie. But you didn't say you were present at the time of the question.
I'd still like to know who the "engineer" was that asked that. I have a couple of ideas, but that would only be speculation. If it was who I am thinking about, the person did know the crane couldn't lift the ship and was somewhat notorious with his sense of humor. He also won quite a number of "Tall Tale" contests with the camping club he belonged to.
Plus, he was from Texas and Texans are well known for pulling your leg without ever cracking a smile.
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Email me, I'll send you his name
Dreadnought
New member
Not to take anything away from Herman, but I wouldnt trust it either. One false more and your fubared big time. Wouldnt want to have to answer for that one. Especially a 50,000 ton mistake.
)I am no Rusty for sure, but her own power?
I think it just towing her out with tugs would be a major accomplishment without damage to her hull and props.
Dreadnought
New member
Chances are Zippo!
You couldnt turn over her engines as all the mud, silt and slop would clog her Seachest,Seacocks, intakes, boiler drums etc. Thats after you remove the protective steel plating over them first. In order to turn them over you would require alot of work, fuel and water. So basically you would increase her displacement and therefore her depth in the silt and slop. She would end stuck deeper then what she is now.
You would do 100 times more damage to her sytems then anything you could possibly do by tugging her out. The amount of time and money it would take to correct that damage would be astronomical to say the very least.
Better to cut her a path by dredge and water blasting to clear her props first. Then tug her out.
It would be my guess they will inquire about Naval assistance before hand. That is if they were smart.
You couldnt turn over her engines as all the mud, silt and slop would clog her Seachest,Seacocks, intakes, boiler drums etc. Thats after you remove the protective steel plating over them first. In order to turn them over you would require alot of work, fuel and water. So basically you would increase her displacement and therefore her depth in the silt and slop. She would end stuck deeper then what she is now.
You would do 100 times more damage to her sytems then anything you could possibly do by tugging her out. The amount of time and money it would take to correct that damage would be astronomical to say the very least.
Better to cut her a path by dredge and water blasting to clear her props first. Then tug her out.
It would be my guess they will inquire about Naval assistance before hand. That is if they were smart.
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Well, they are not going to dry dock the Showboat.
Going to install a cofferdam around her and do the repairs right where she sits.
My question about that is: How will the underside of the ship be serviced? I've not ever seen a cofferdam in person, but it doesn't seem like they'd be able to get under her, even if they dug her out and put some sort of blocks underneath.
I'd rather see her dry docked and done right, THEN put her back in the cofferdam.
Going to install a cofferdam around her and do the repairs right where she sits.
My question about that is: How will the underside of the ship be serviced? I've not ever seen a cofferdam in person, but it doesn't seem like they'd be able to get under her, even if they dug her out and put some sort of blocks underneath.
I'd rather see her dry docked and done right, THEN put her back in the cofferdam.
RustyBattleship
In Memoriam
Which has been a question asked of me on several memorial ships. Do not let the bottom of the ship touch the bottom of the bay, river, etc.
To do so, even if it includes dredging, pick a mooring site so the bottom has at least 4-feet of clearance at extreme low-low tide. Therefore, anything that might go wrong (such as a rusted out rivet popping open a hole) a diver can still get under the ship safely to plug the hole.
Also, there are methods of hull scrubbing that can be done by divers using rotary brushes to clear off sea growth. And a succesfull paint has been developed to apply under water. Our divers at LBNSY did that to the Missouri and it held up quite well until her dry docking in Bremerton for inactivation.
Ok Rusty I understand why they are taking this route but how can they get to the very bottom of the ship? Once they build the cofferdam and drain the water the ship settles even deeper in the mud. If I understood the situation she is already in the mud.