News article - I cannot open, need a subscription

[JTheotonio]

If anyone has a subscription to this paper maybe you can tell us what this is about

USS Batfish in need of heroic rescue
Journal Record (subscription) - Oklahoma City,OK,USA
“At one time I found myself on board the submarine by myself for at least 30 minutes. The entire experience moved me so much I wanted to become more a part ...

http://www.journalrecord.com/article.cfm?recid=91751 (link to The Journal Record)

[Rick]

This is the starts of an effort to solicit money to get this place going.  Starting with a paint job.   Kee your eyes open.  I just had another very promising meeting today discussing the ideas that I have for this place and getting us back on the map

Rick

[Lance Dean]

I got this in an email from Paul Farace.  Dangit Paul, start posting your emails here to the forum too man!

U.S.S. Batfish in need of heroic rescue

August 29, 2008
The Journal Record

TULSA – When Correy Twilley first sought volunteers to re-enact life
aboard the U.S.S. Batfish, his heart sought to preserve the memories of
those young sailors who served on one of World War II’s most honored
submarines.
Six years later, the goal has become much clearer: a desperate effort to
save the historic vessel itself.

“Time is of the essence because she is deteriorating on the outside,”
said Bradley Wynn, the owner of ScriptFOLIO of Oklahoma City and fellow
Batfish re-enactor. “There are portions of the boat that are literally
coming off in large sheets, unfortunately.”

Over the 35 years since the state of Oklahoma acquired the Batfish for
display at the Port of Muskogee, the submersible boat has weathered
harsh winters, burning summers and occasional floods, said Park Manager
Rick Dennis. While his staff has managed to renovate some of the
interior space and make other improvements while adding to the 8.8-acre
military park’s growing collection, Dennis said they now face a
restoration effort well beyond its budget capabilities.

In its $160,000 first phase, the 311-foot-long, 27-foot-wide diesel sub
needs a new exterior wood deck installed. After that comes repainting, a
difficult task involving lead paint removal, sandblasting and repair of
decaying metal before the ship may be resealed.

“We’re starting to get in danger of having serious problems with the
boat if we don’t get this addressed,” he said. “It could literally rust
away in the next five to 10 years.”

With $60,000 raised so far by the Batfish Foundation, Dennis said the
park has enough cash to get started. Sherman Williams has pledged help
with the required 300 gallons of paint, said Wynn, who handles public
relations for the re-enactors. Lonnie Edwards, chief executive of
Perma-Fix Treatment Services of Wilson, Okla., has started work to
replace the deck.

“This is going to take a lot of man hours, and we can use some help from
people that can turn a bolt and cut a 2x2,” he said.

But after that, with the environmental difficulties and expense of
removing lead paint, the park’s plans remain up in the air.

That’s where Twilley’s Batfish Living History Association comes in.

Since the Muskogee museum complex draws only about 10,000 visitors a
year, with attendance fees ranging from $4 to $6, Dennis said the
volunteer association promises a vital marketing element.

With 37 volunteers from Oklahoma and neighboring states, Twilley said
the association leads programs at schools and cultural organizations to
teach people about this increasingly forgotten part of America’s heritage.

Twice a year the association intends to go even farther, re-enacting
life aboard the sub. That living history setting allows park guests to
mingle with the crew, learning not just their roles on the ship, but
what life was like for the two years after the boat’s 1943 launch.

“Our goal to have at least one person in every major compartment so that
they can kind of explain what went on in there and how they did what
they did and why,” he said.

That not only feeds the public’s need to know, but the history buff
inside each re-enactor.

“I’ve always been a huge nautical buff,” said Wynn, founder of the
Oklahoma Film Society. “I love maritime histories – love submarines.”

In August 2007 he portrayed the skipper of the Batfish in a 15-minute
film called The Last Dive.

“We shot the entire film in 10 hours,” he said. “At one time I found
myself on board the submarine by myself for at least 30 minutes. The
entire experience moved me so much I wanted to become more a part of it.”

Two weeks ago the Batfish Living History Association proved its value to
the military park with its first re-enactment, marking Victory over
Japan Day. A group of 20 re-enactors spent a weekend on the sub, using
the Batfish logs to re-create events its crew experienced 63 years ago.

“We were able to stay on the boat as a crew,” said Wynn, who played a
commissary officer that weekend.

“We slept on a boat, we ate on the boat. We were in period uniforms for
the day. We learned a whole lot about life on board the submarine.

“I could see how the vets became so close,” he said. “Just in that
weekend alone that group became much closer. We also get the love of
sharing that story with those who come through.”

A small group of Batfish veterans also came aboard, enriching them with
tales of sleeping in the torpedo tubes, making hooch and more harrowing
exploits.

“They were just a wealth of information,” said Twilley, who invests
about 40 hours a week into association work. “We ended up talking more
to them than each other. They had story after story.”

Their efforts brought more than 200 visitors to the park that Saturday,
generating $1,400 revenue.
“That’s the most they’ve ever raised in one single day at the museum,”
said Twilley.

Association members also have helped Dennis plan to further renovate and
re-equip the sub, a project Wynn estimates could cost up to $7 million.

“When you think about it, it’s a boat but it’s a machine,” said Twilley,
a Nordam engineer when the Batfish isn’t occupying his time.

“The best way to keep up a machine is to keep it in running order.”

With only one deck of the three-level sub accessible to the public,
their goal is to get the entire vessel back to its 1945 layout. Some
materials, such as engine parts, they may still be able to obtain from
the dwindling fleet of mothballed WWII ships. Others they may have to
remanufacture.

“We’ve actually all taken on little projects,” he said of the
association staff. “I’ve started on the refrigerator system, the cooling
system, stuff like that.”

That fits Dennis’ long-term expansion plans for the park. Over the next
five years he hopes to add a theater, military research library, picnic
areas, a memorial wall and more exhibits for its collection of
artifacts, which date back to the Civil War.

“We really want to make this museum the center of military history in
this part of the state,” he said.

For the short term, Dennis hopes to raise more funds by cutting the old
Batfish deck into collectable mementos. He also struggles to garner more
volunteers, relying on them for everything from maintaining displays to
mowing the lawn and running the gift shop cash register.

“Everything out here is based on volunteer work,” he said, telling how a
group of Arkansas retirees provided air-conditioning services. “We do
need bodies.”

[MWALLEN]

“There are portions of the boat that are literally coming off in large sheets, unfortunately.”

Really?  Sheets???  Has something happened since last Saturday?

Lonnie Edwards, chief executive of Perma-Fix Treatment Services of Wilson, Okla., has started work to replace the deck.

Like what work?  I've not seen him out helping.  If so...then that is great as we need more people.

“This is going to take a lot of man hours, and we can use some help from people that can turn a bolt and cut a 2x2,” he said.

Yes, so everyone...re-enactors too...are invited to come out on the 20th of Sept. to help remove the old deck.  Yeah, it's a shameless plug.  But we could sure use your help.

Twice a year the association intends to go even farther, re-enacting life aboard the sub.

Please come out more that twice a year and help us with the deck.  The service you provide is invaluable, but if we can't save the sub...what happens to the re-enacting crew?  I realize that some live far away...but maybe we could coordinate a work day...say the 20th of September?   

“We’ve actually all taken on little projects,” he said of the association staff. “I’ve started on the refrigerator system, the cooling system, stuff like that.”

That's very cool.  I'm pumped that things are coming alive on the sub.  What other things are the re-enactors working on?  I know Mark S. has listed a few things...just curious.

“We really want to make this museum the center of military history in this part of the state,” he said.

If anyone can do it...Rick can.   Some of the things Rick has mentioned...like the USS Oklahoma Mast...well...that would be just too cool.   

He also struggles to garner more volunteers, relying on them for everything from maintaining displays to mowing the lawn and running the gift shop cash register.

Hmmmm...well, we are involved in much more than that...SHARK memorial restoration, 40mm restoration, putting A/C on the boat, maintaining the BATFISH Website, organizing work days...etc.  Right now we have 6 regular volunteers that do not participate in re-enacting.  These 6 show up about twice a month.  I have a long list of people who have previously volunteered...but usually I get excuses or no response when I ask them to come out.  Rick - I'm open to suggestions on how to get more regular volunteers.

“Everything out here is based on volunteer work,” he said, telling how a group of Arkansas retirees provided air-conditioning services. “We do need bodies.”

And speaking for my wife and me...we love coming out and helping.  Rick's got a plan and the parts I've heard...I'm 100% behind it.  BZ to Rick.  Oh yeah, it was Vaughn, Mary and Jimmy that did all of the A/C work...and they are also employed full time.  Not sure how they got referred to as "retired".

Nice article.  I'm jealous that the re-enactors have so many people coming out to help.  I wish we could increase our non-reenacting volunteer base by about 10-15 bodies...we'd have the deck off fast.  But lack of desire and conflicting schedules makes it tough.  But considering, we have taken a fair amount of deck off.

Lance - thanks for posting the article!

Regards,

Mark Allen
Webmaster/Volunteer POC
Batfish Historian
USS Batfish SS310
www.ussbatfish.com

[JTheotonio]

Good information.  Glad to hear that you guys got some movement on funds and maybe help.

[JTheotonio]

Here's another news article found today from Sept. 10, 2008

http://ww2history.suite101.com/article.cfm/uss_batfish_ss310

[JohnG]

Very nice write up.

[MWALLEN]

The author got 2 of the 3 IJN subs right     Actually, what I've researched (I'm writing a term paper on it), the first IJN sub was the RO-115.

My initial findings are here: http://www.ussbatfish.com/whichsub.html and since I've posted that, I've run across more information to corroborate my findings that it was actually the RO-115.

Mark