Miscellaneous > The Water Cooler -- General Discussions
Old Lady getting some work done............
MikeInTexas:
Bow of the ship with the paravane attachment points. This was used to clear mines by a towed device.
If you look closely you will see a bunch of 3 digit numbers all over the surface. These are places where they measured the hull thickness, to thousandths of an inch. This is what helped determined which areas needed to be replaced. They have left a lot of areas in their original, riveted configuration. Welding did not become widely used in shipbuilding until decades later. Of course, all the new plate is welded on. Because of lost skills, a lot of work done in the 1980s dry-docking caused issues. They found leaking rivets, instead of finding craftsmen that knew how to repair them, they ring welded them. This caused the rivets nearby to then loosen due to the heat. So the problems then grew and grew as they went, they eventually ring welded thousands of rivets. Could have repaired the leaky ones with some simple procedures had they known how.
MikeInTexas:
They are able to remove a single support block, clean and coat the surface, then replace it and get it supporting the ship again. Many photos show areas that have some new coating applied already.
Hope you guys found this interesting. Next time I visit her she should be in the water, restored, in her new home across the harbor tied up to Galveston's pier 21. Where with a prime location she will be visited by a lot more folks coming to this tourist destination city.
MikeInTexas:
If anyone is interested in one of these tours, they will be running on Sundays for a bit longer. $150 a ticket for the walking tour.
You can check out the foundation site for more details.
https://battleshiptexas.org/
.
backupr9:
Thanks for a great read and the pics Mike….a Grand Old Lady indeed!
MikeInTexas:
Of course you have to have a tour group photo.
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