A few years ago Battleship Park faced a similar dilemma. Loooong
story short, a coffer darn was built around the battleship and the
water drained out. A trankhoe was used to dig out one section of
the mud surrounding her. The rusted plating was cut off and new
plates welded in place. Then the mud was replaced and another
section dug out. Up and down 680" on both sides took a long time.
At the same time the sub was brought ashore and now sits on
concrete pedestals on dry land. As I recall the bill was $9 million,
That was about ten years ago.
IIRC that is $1 million less that it is costing Patriots Point to drydock
Laffey. So that should give some perspective.
There is legistation in place that prohibits spending DoD money to
help museums. There do seem to be ways around that that I would
like to better understand, The USS Missouri is undergoing hull work
and deck repair ont in Hawaii. I've heard figures quoted from $11
million to $18 million. What is REALLY interesting is that some of
the funds come in the form of a gov't grant. I have not seen figures
on how it breaks down.
http://newsok.com/mighty-mo-undergoing- ... e/3409969#
Don't get wrong: I'd like to see all the museum ships we have tody
saved for future generations, I do worry that we will undertake to
save so many, the needed funds just won't be there. When they
decommission USS Enterprise I'd like to see her saved but it be an
unprecented undertaking. The three stupidest thung the USN has
ever done is nuke the old Sara, cut up Ent CV-6, and let the Cabot
get away,