BUFFALO, N.Y. — Earlier this year there was lots of talk of moving the iconic Buffalo landmark USS The Sullivans to a shipyard for a major repair project to prevent more damage like we saw back in April of last year. But now officials say that work has been delayed and they must instead winterize the 80-year-old warship.
Just to give some idea of the winter preparation work that these crews are gonna be doing in the next few months, they're actually going to have to replace the mooring lines which secure the ships to their berthing locations. They will use a new synthetic lighter rope with more tensile strength to allow the ships to be able to deal with the battering of the waves as they come off the Buffalo River with some of those strong winter storms.
That is just part of a list of shipboard projects to protect the 80-year-old warship with all those years of wear and tear and weather exposure. The Naval Park will inspect and strengthen internal walls, called bulkheads, and hatches and doors To ensure watertight structural integrity for an open lake tugboat tow to a drydock facility.
Bill Abbott, who is the Naval and Military Park's Operations Director, explains : "We're gonna replace all the gaskets - all the things that the Navy would normally do if the ship were going to be going into combat. We're going to be doing those same things, And then the electrical system in order to operate things like heat. Bubbler systems to prevent ice from developing around the hull which is very weak. Dehumidifiers and the ventilation systems.'
And again about that very thin hull, Abbott says: "In some places, the hull - the steel is comparable almost to an eggshell. If you flicked your finger long enough your finger will end up in the harbor. So we - we're aware of that and we're prepared to deal with that."
However that overall shipyard repair has now been put off till the fall of 2024. Naval and Military Park CEO Paul Marzello says "We're a little short of funds so we are gonna need to do some fundraising. But we have a very aggressive plan to try and get this job done in 2024."
Marzello says just moving USS The Sullivans into the river away from the other museum ship and sub could run "Somewhere between $10 and 12 Million dollars."
So again they are back to preventative maintenance for now. They have for example upgraded to a cellular communications system for this ship. That will allow them to have a series of sensors and alarms in the ship to quickly alert them if there would be a flooding incident. And then they could get their marine salvage company in place much quicker to deal with it.
For greater detail, you can check out their latest newsletter with all the updates regarding USS The Sullivans, USS Little Rock, and USS Croaker.