Typhoons in the Pacific, Hurricanes in the Atlantic
The USS Alabama (BB-60) celebrated a grand reopening in January after being closed as a result of August’s Hurricane Katrina. Janee Bonner, wife of Alabama First District Congressman Jo Bonner broke a ceremonial bottle of champagne against the ship’s forward turret symbolically rechristening the battlewagon. While Alabama suffered no damage, Battleship Memorial Park, her home in Mobile, was severely ravaged.
Katrina was not Alabama’s first brush with strong winds and high seas. On 18 December 1944, she was a unit of Task Force 38 operating about 300 miles east of Luzon in the Philippine Sea. A small but intense typhoon—with some ships reporting gusts to 120 knots—surprised the fleet. Three destroyers—the Hull (DD- 350), Monaghan (DD-354), and Spence (DD-512)—were sunk, 790 men were lost, and nine large ships suffered significant damage, which required major repairs. Alabama rode it out virtually unscathed.
On 5 June 1945, while conducting operations off Kyushu, she ran into another typhoon, this time receiving slight damage—one 40-mm gun mount and a catapult were reported out of commission. Almost every ship in the area received some damage—the cruiser Pittsburgh (CA-72) lost nearly 100 feet of her bow—however, none was lost. Six men were reported dead or missing.
Katrina was something else. Alabama retains a 3° list to port—reduced from a maximum 8° after the storm passed— because she rests on the sand bottom. The storm surge built up and scoured the sand around her hull, leaving her with the list. The pounding Gulf waters pushed her nominal 35,000 tons six feet to starboard, or east, and three feet aft, or south. This movement crushed the concrete aft gangway that connected the ship to shore.
The major damage to the facility was at the 36,000 square-foot Aircraft Pavilion, which housed 24 historic aircraft. The storm surge destroyed two aircraft—a UH- 1B and a CH-19—and damaged 17 others. It remains closed as the memorial park staff evaluates its future.
The total damage is estimated at $4 million with insurance and FEMA aid expected to cover all but $1.2 million. A repair fund has been set up at P.O. Box 65 Mobile, Alabama, 36601.
Hurricane Report
The woes of historic ships in the wake of the 2005 hurricanes goes beyond any physical damage they or their facilities may have suffered. Of the at least 13 historic vessels based along the Gulf of Mexico coast from Florida to Texas, none has reported significant damage, but the same could not be said for their supporting facilities.
The lone ships in Louisiana and Mississippi fared well. The USS Kidd (DD-661), in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was able to reopen in October. Neither the ship nor her facility received any damage; however, both were closed for more than 40 days to accommodate a nearby refugee center. The Civil War ironclad Cairo in Vicksburg, Mississippi, .was also undamaged, and operations were unaffected, although a protective canopy incurred very slight damage.
In Texas, the outlook is not bright for the USS Orleck (DD-886) on the Sabine River in Orange. The FRAM I modification of a Gearing-class destroyer survived Hurricane Rita’s worst with no problems. Two barges, however, broken free by the storm, cut her anchor lines, spun her around, and wedged her bow into a seawall. Her hull was breached in two places above the waterline. She is the only one of nine historic vessels in the state to note any damage.
Orleck’s problems, however, extend far beyond the two holes. The city fathers of Orange have called for her scrapping. The South East Texas War Memorial and Heritage Foundation was given title to the ship in 2000 by the Turkish Navy to which she was transferred in 1982. The city of Orange underwrote the towing fee and monthly payments had been promptly made against that fee until the hurricane. With no revenue forthcoming, the city is seeking to recover its losses by having the ship sold for scrap.
In a bit of irony, Orleck may be spending her last days at the same dock in the shipyard in which she was built 62 years ago and was fitted out for war. After the hurricane, the city forced the foundation to move the ship from the city park where she was docked. She has moved to the Signal International Shipyards, formerly the yards of Consolidated Steel where Orleck was laid down on 28 November 1944-
Foundation Vice President Sherwood Buckalew said that the organization is in the midst of a massive letter-writing campaign to have the Navy allow Orleck to be docked at the Orange Navy Reserve Center, which has been slated for closure by the Defense Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC).
For more information contact Buckalew at (409) 883-6837 or visit the Orleck’s Web site at www.ussorleck.org.
Navy Memorial Designed
Despite its central role in history’s largest amphibious assault—the D-Day invasion of France—the U. S. Navy does not have a monument at Normandy. The Naval Order of the United States, however, is working to change that by leading a drive to erect a memorial to the Navy at Utah Beach.
On 11 January 2006, the Naval Order unveiled a model of the monument at the Naval Heritage session, sponsored by Raytheon, of the Surface Navy Association Symposium in Arlington, Virginia. The session featured a moving talk by Dean Mosher, historian general of the order, about U. S. destroyers at D- Day, and the honored guests were two tin- can veterans of the 6 June 1944 invasion: Captain Richard Zimermann, U.S. Navy (Retired) and Don Krebs. Captain Zimermann was combat information officer in the USS Frankford (DD-497), while Mr. Krebs was a sonarman on board the USS Harding (DD-625).
The Naval Order’s Normandy Monument project is a private enterprise relying on tax-deductible contributions. Contact Captain Greg Streeter, Chairman, Navy D-Day Monument Project, gstreetr@bellsouth.net, (904) 221-0923, for more information.
Volunteers Maintain a World Fleet
Boasting more than 150 ships in the United States and 30 overseas, ranging in class from aircraft carrier to PT boat, the Historic Naval Ships Association (HNSA) claims it has the world’s third largest fleet. One of its newest fleet members is the San Diego Aircraft Carrier Museum, which is housed on board the USS Midway (CVB-41). In only its second year of operation, the museum with more than 40 exhibits has become one of the most visited historic museum ships in the continental United States. Over the last 18 months, her “air wing” of restored aircraft has grown from 6 to 20 vintage airplanes.
The international association, in its 40th year, now numbers more than 105 fleet members and 85 associate members. Since the early days of the HNSA, methods of preserving, restoring, maintaining, and managing these artifacts have significantly evolved. Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson reportedly said, “ships and crews which sit in port rot,” to which even general observers would add, “and rust.” It is certainly true that inactive ships need much tender loving care. It is only with extreme effort that they will survive for the education and appreciation of future generations.
Among the founders of the association was Captain Casper J. Knight Jr., who is fondly remembered as the savior of USS Olympia (C-6). He was the visionary who first saw the wisdom of a ship museum federation to mutually benefit the vessels. The association’s highest award for achievement in fostering its goals is named in honor of Captain Knight.
For those who visit the member ships today in the United States, Australia, Canada, England, France, Greece, Israel, The Netherlands, Norway, Peru, Russia, Sweden, and Turkey, they find living testimonies to many of history’s most stirring naval actions. “History proudly preserved—Valor well honored,” the association’s motto, is a most fitting description of these vessels.
The association is not just an accumulation of old ships and museums. It includes the volunteer men and women who support those museums with their time, labor, and money. Many of them will spend a normal workweek caring for “their” ship with no pay other than to see the fruits of their labor standing ready for the visitors that the museum will welcome on aboard. The results can be seen in areas from top to bottom of the ship, from a radio shack fully restored and operational as an amateur radio station to an engine room that looks as if it is ready to receive the order to make steam to get underway. Without volunteers, the many ships of the world’s third largest fleet would not be in the great condition that they are in today. What will happen when the living testaments to the history of World War II are gone? An on-going education process brings new volunteers “up to steam” on these old vessels.
Association membership is open to individuals and organizations that support its goals. Information regarding membership may be obtained by contacting the executive director at hnsa01@aol.com, at (757) 356-9422, or by mail at Post Office Box 401, Smithfield, Virginia, 23431-0401. Membership information and application procedures are also available online at www.hnsa.org.
Jeffrey S. Nilsson
Seeking to Save the First
The sole U.S. Navy survivor of a class of 29 destroyers, the first built from the keel up as guided missile ships, awaits her fate in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The USS Charles F. Adams (DDG-2) was the lead ship in the pioneering class that saw so much potential that Australia and West Germany each had three built for their navies.
In early 2004, the Adams Class Veteran’s Association, Inc. (ACVA) was formed with the mission and goal of preserving the Adams, which has been assigned a donation hold status by the Naval Sea Systems Command. Several of the founding members are either plank owners or served in one of the 23 U.S. or 3 German DDGs between 1960 and the late 1990s.
During 2005, the ACVA had discussions with several locations in Florida about providing the A dams with a berth and a city willing to host a Navy museum ship. A marine engineer completed surveys at several potential berthing sites. Florida is considered a preferred berthing area because of its climate and its heavy tourist traffic. In November 2005, association learned of several other cities in Florida, the Northeast, and Midwest that were interested in obtaining the Adams. The ACVA vows to work with any city or group that will provide a home and continued support for the Adams regardless of the location. Their goal is to “Save the Adams.”
Over the past five years all U.S. Navy DDGs of this class, each of which served about 30 years, have met their demise, save one. Four were sold to Greece, one went to Australia for spare parts, and the others were sunk as targets or sold for scrap. The Australian DDGs have since been sunk in tests or became artificial reefs. Two of the German destroyers were sunk in target practice, leaving the FGS Molders, which became a museum ship on 24 June 2005 in Wilhelshaven, Germany. The Greek government has decommissioned all its ships and is considering keeping one as a museum.
The estimated cost for saving a ship the size and complexity of a destroyer is $6 to $7 million, depending on its location. The members of the ACVA are attempting to raise $1 million to get the project underway. To learn more about ACVA, visit their Web site at www.adamsclassddgvets.org or contact the ACVA President, Tom Crosser at tecrosserbsausnr@aol.com, 8520 West Clarendon, Phoenix, AZ 85037-2723, or (623) 849-9526.