USS Bowfin drydock 2004

[Darrin]

ALL,
the Bowfin did MAJOR reconstructive work AFT and FWD, while I think that I copied only the stern pics I am sure that one or two may be of the bow. Here ya go

[Darrin]

Here's more for ya Tom,

[Darrin]

And even some more,

[Darrin]

Holy crap Batman they sure did take a LOT of pics

[Fred Tannenbaum]

Thanks for posting these!

I realize the museum had to fix quite a few things but I think it's too bad they plated over the stern tubes and I believe most of the bow tubes. Oh well.

Fred

[Tom Bowser]

What did they do? fill the bow and stern with concrete and plate over it or did they remove previous concrete and then plate over it. It is good it is in the water.
 Thanks for the photos interesting.
I am hoping to restore our stern as close to original as possible with shutter doors.
Tom

[Darrin]

Glad the hear that you are going to restore her completely instead of plating the whole area off.. And sadly I have NO clue as to when the concrete was added in her bow and stern, if anything knowing she is still in the water I would have filled it with FOAM to keep her stern up a little higher instead of concrete, aparently they just want to make sure that if she sinks her stern won't be hanging out of the water

[Fred Tannenbaum]

Paul Farace probably can best answer our questions as to when and why the Bowfin folks poured concrete in the bow and stern.

There's no question that a museum submarine still in the water needs a little extra ballast. If they sit too high, they could be prone to rolling over.That's why the Navy either put concrete blocks or poured cement (according to John D. Alden's "The Fleet Submarine In The U.S. Navy") in the empty battery wells of mothballed boats when they were prepared for Naval Reserve trainer duty.

But I don't think IMHO that putting cement in those bow and stern areas would be that much of a help. The battery wells would have been much closer to the center of gravity and provided the necessary stability. And cement blocks would have been much better and not retained corrosion-producing moisture than poured cement.

It seems that the Bowfin folks run a good operation and I imagine that it would have cost more money to restore the bow and stern tubes with shutters, money that, as we well know, is not always plentiful at museum submarines, sorry to say.

[Darrin]

Fred,
If I remember correctly about the Bowfin, the Navy picke up part of the tab (i.e. drydock and tug costs) and I am sure that they caughed up a little more to make sure that she looked good going back to where she is at now. And yes the concrete is for ballast, I hadn't thought about that when I posted it earlier and Bowfin sets bow up at her berth and the tourist's come from over top of the bull nose instead of coming in off of a pier so it makes sense to have concrete in both ends. (thanks Doc for smacking me in the back of the head on that one)

[Paul Farace]

According to Aldona Sendzikus, former BOWFIN curator (1992-1998), the concrete was poured into the free-flooding areas to AVOID CORROSION MAINTENANCE!!!!    And we can blame Capt. Harvey Gray (airdale, of course!)...  Looks like they avoided a lot of maintenance!  They also replaced the wood deck with steel channel... after decades of this wrong-minded work, you get something that looks like a fleet sub from a distance... up close, not so much!

But they do what they think they gotta do!

 

[Mike]

Thanks for posting the pictures of the Bowfin! I was in Afghanistan when I learned they drydocked her, so I missed the chance to see it up close (good to know folks at the yard).

[Darrin]

Mike,

When Lance started this bbs 6 0r 7 years ago it was a free for all regarding whom has done what and where they had been and lessons learned so that the other boats wouldn't make the same mistake, had I gone back to the field instead of staying at Eustis I would have missed most of this if not all of this.

There is soo much information on here that it is incredible just to know that for a short time we had a LOT of boats on here talking to each other and learning more and more from each other not to include what was also taught on here and IF you go back to the early days of the School of the Boat that was taught because my son was at his mothers for the summer and it kind of exploded overtime as we learned more and more, for me I learned it as I was trying to teach it (I am a 688 LA Class Sailor and not a Balao Class sailor) I used my lunch breaks when I was in my office to get ready to teach the next block and then John Theotino and Chief Mike and a few others came in to teach what they knew which was a blessing.

It truly was a fun time and as much as I want to take down the old school of the boat and restart it, I firmly believe that as a submarine community and museum community we would lose too much history because sadly we have had members pass whom contributed so much here.

IF you have any questions ask them, IF I don't know them and can't find the answer for you I will look it up and IF that doesn't work I still know a few people whom can help you get your answer that you are looking for

Darrin

[Mike]

Thanks, Darrin!

I see the need for preservation of history of the utmost importance - even if the responsibility is now in the hands of what is essentially the third (or fourth) generation.

I hope that this board stays up the way it is... Too much research/blood/sweat/tears has been put into it, and who knows - perhaps this will remain on as a way for future volunteers such as yourself, curators, docents, directors, and board members to research what has been done to their respective boats, who did it, when they did, and why... Although, I hope that the record-keeping for the various boats doesn't resort only to this....
 

[Darrin]

Mike,

IF you really want to see what 2 truly dedicated volunteers can do over a decade of blood sweat and tears please go through this USS Drum forum or click on the link that Lance has posted because Tom and Leslie have done the impossible because both of them learned how to bend new steel that was donated using extreme ways to do so including a forklift at one point to get a curve correct.

Darrin

[Mike]

Funny that you mention the Drum - I'm heading there tomorrow with the boy on our last trip of the summer before I put him back on the plane to Hawaii.
I did watch the video earlier, though. Very well done. As far as the forklift - by chance did you ever read "Under The Red Sea Sun" by Edward Ellsberg?