Last week I was in Buffalo New York working aboard the WWII Fletcher class destroyer U.S.S. The Sullivans. The Sully is part of the Buffalo Naval and Military park which also hosts the guided missile cruiser U.S.S. Little Rock. Although the Little Rock is a large and impressive vessel, it's not in particularly good condition as far as its weather-decks are concerned, lots of rust, rot and neglect. As you'll see in this short video.
As I allude to in the video, the Little Rock has been pretty much "Mannie-proofed" since my last visit. I used to be able to do a lot of spelunking throughout that ship with hardhat, kneepads, and flashlight. There were enough scuttles, hatches, and watertight doors that were still unlocked, (or poorly locked) to let me worm my way deep within the insides of the vessel. But now, its all battened down, all of my old reliable access points have been pretty well sealed off, except for one which somehow got overlooked, the old reliable! I'll see if its still available when I go back next year, that is if they even let me onboard after seeing this video.
As usual, I returned from three days living and working aboard a destroyer all scuffed and bruised up, just like the old days. Man there's a lot to bump in to on a tincan, even in port!
It's great to be a part of this preservation effort. And its always a refreshing treat to spend a long weekend working side-by-side with 39 other destroyer veterans.
Fair winds and Following seas,
Mannie
2 comments:
That's such a great opportunity to be able to take part in preserving a historic ship for future generations! Even though it's dirty work, I'm glad there are people willing to do it.
Rebecca,
It's dirty but totally worth it. You may want to check out this Youtube video I produced exploring the volunteer preservation efforts on the U.S.S. the Sullivans:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9GDuvRm-qM
Best wishes,
Mannie
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