Up Scope!
January 2013
Welcome to the first edition of the Cobia e-newsletter! This is a quarterly newsletter highlighting the maintenance and restoration work aboard Cobia. If you know of others who would be interested in receiving this newsletter, please pass it on or if you wish to be removed for the distribution list please let us know.
2012 Year-in-Review:
Engines: The old fuel was removed last year by Veolia Environmental Services. Pat Habel and Tim Abendroth cleaned out the clean fuel oil tank and new fuel was put aboard in May. The type of fuel put aboard was designed for generators. It has a long “shelf-life,” remains stable over time, and requires testing only after two years.”
Pat Habel, Phil Walters, and Russ Collins started going through the fuel oil system. Jim Smith has talked to TA Motorsports about cleaning the fuel injectors for us in exchange for a free rental and tour. New filters were donated by Russ Collins with money he raised from Veteran meetings and will be installed after the engines are cleaned.
Bow Planes: A handful of volunteers spent some time helping to crank the planes down manually for the first time while others pumped new grease into the lines and cleaned out the teeth in the drive gears. Once the limits switches were set, Pat, Phil, Russ, and Tom Aschenbrenner spent a lot of time on the motors. Once the planes were lowered, Tim Abendroth, his brother Carl, and Ken Simon scraped, quickly wire brushed and put a coat of paint (grey) on the now exposed surfaces. The correct color (black) will be applied at a later date.
The planes were lowered in May for the ceremony, but the gear box overheated so more work is needed. They are currently researching what needs to be done with the gear box, but it’s is a low priority.
Painting: Volunteers from the Crash Dive Base spent two days prepping and painting the periscope shears. Sea cadets did some painting in the interior of the bridge area (beneath the shears). Paul Rutherford and Karen Duvalle worked on the pressure hull. They ran out of good weather for the season, so only about 2/3 of the pressure hull is sanded and about 1/3 is painted.
HVAC: Schaus, a local HVAC company, took on the task of learning the HVAC system. The boiler is at the end of its life and will need replacing soon. The estimated cost of a new boiler is $10,000 - $15,000.
Hull Cleaning: Sand blast material from the 1996 dry docking was still present in some places on the pressure hull. A team from Veolia spent two days cleaning it up and the areas beneath the debris are still in good condition.
Current projects:
We’d like to welcome aboard Chris Bandler! Chris is from Oconomowoc and has experience in carpentry, maintenance, and electrical work. All electrical work will be signed off by a licensed electrician. With help from Tim, he is currently working on installing a light under the stairs leading to the forward torpedo room, which will help illuminate the stairs during overnights. He will also be installing a weather proof outlet for the sump pumps (used to pump standing water out of the waterways) and replace a broken weatherproof outlet by the stairs going down to the HVAC.
Tim hunted down material to replace the existing steps. Highway Truck Parts donated material that is much safer in the rain, snow, and ice! Volunteers and staff are working on the best way to attach the new stairs and reinforce them.
Chris and Tim are also working on restoring the power in the refrigerator. Once the lights are working again, we plan to keep the hatch open and install a grate over the opening so that visitors can see inside. Lakeside Foods also donated three dozen cans that are being stenciled and will be on display in the refrigerator and galley.
Engines: Pat, Phil, and Russ have been working on engines 1 and 2 the last couple of months. Here is their report: Pat and Russ did some testing on Engine #1. We were hearing a lot of air flow when we tried to start it back in December. We know that the air start isolation valve leaks bad. We hand cranked the engine in 40 degree increments and opened the air start isolation valve. We opened each cylinder test valve that has air start capability and checked for any air flow and documented this. We rotated 40 degrees more and rechecked all the test valves. Pat took all the data and made a chart up that showed each cylinder's 360 degrees and when air was noted along with the degrees that the exhaust valves should be open.
Based on this data we believed that #5 cylinder air start valve was bad and #13 was leaking. We removed both air start valves and #5 was indeed stuck open. Looks like water had got to the top of the plunger and seized it. The #13 was much better as it was not stuck. Pat is going to relap #13 air start valve and see it that will fix that one. Russ took apart #5 and the plunger is pitted at the top. We want to look for spares onboard Cobia as time permits. We want to remove the isolation valve to inspect for wear. We may need to replace the bushing that the valve stem goes through, since there are no seals in the valve design that we saw on the blueprints. We also had to replace an injector rocker arm on engine #1 that Phil found that had a seized bearing. Pat thinks that the governor oil in #2 is bad. We are in the process of removing, draining, cleaning and refilling the reservoir.
Cobia turns 70 this year! On March 17, 1943 Cobia’s keel was laid at Electric Boat Company in Groton, CT and she was launched November 28, 1943. I’d say she’s looking pretty good for her age!
