SUBMARINEMUSEUMS.ORG Forum
Individual Submarine Boards => USS Batfish (SS-310) => Topic started by: Lance Dean on February 28, 2008, 02:37:13 PM
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So I've been wondering, just how did the Batfish get out there to Oklahoma? Isn't a submarine too large to be transported by truck? :)
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Barges up the river from the Gulf. It was destined for Tulsa, but couldn't make it that far due to river layout.
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I bet that would have really been something to see!
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The museum has photos of the towing, berthing, etc. They dug out a canal and I think they used a crane to remove it from the barges. Then they sealed up the canal and the basin eventually dried up. The river flooded one year and the sub was afloat for a little while. When the water subsided she ended up with a 1 degree list to
starboard PORT - Jim.
One of my ideas is to permanently flood the basin to keep her afloat, but make it possible to drain the water for maintenance. Rick also has the idea of maybe putting it up on cement supports. That would make it easy to paint the underside.
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Great book on how most of the museum submarines got to were they are is called "Final Patrol" The Batfish chapter is a great read. If I'm not mistaken the state was given a different submarine then the Batfish. It is in the book. Get it at Amazon.com for a song. :)
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We were going to get the USS Piranah (sp?) and then we noticed the Batfish and that she was more intact and in better condition. At the last minute the Navy let OK make the switch, which was really nice, since she has the signifigance of sinking the most number of subs.
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I think it would be nice to have the Batfish afloat again, however I remember Rick telling me they have some problems with flooding before.
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The flooding was because of the river. The real trick would be keeping the water in there, because it naturally drains through the soil. We would either have to continually pump water into it or make a basin out of some material that would not leak. It would also need to be treated with chlorine or aerated to keep the algae down. All of this would be a lot of maintenance and money. His idea of using pedastals would probably be a good idea for the near future and then we could always float it above the pedastals later, if it's feasible.
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Yea that sounds alot better. Over the summer when it rained quite abit in Muskogee, there was a small pool of water around her that did not go away for about a week. It almost looked as though she was afloat again.
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One of the big factors is that one of the forward tubes was open and that was a major concern. Vaughn fixed it about a year or so ago...but with the rust problem, I'd be hesitant to flood the area. Besides, it's nice to get up close and inspect the tubes. For those that asked earlier, I borrowed some photos from the museum today to scan and post on the website that shows them moving the BATFISH into place. Hope to have them up this week.
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One of the big factors is that one of the forward tubes was open and that was a major concern. Vaughn fixed it about a year or so ago...but with the rust problem, I'd be hesitant to flood the area. Besides, it's nice to get up close and inspect the tubes. For those that asked earlier, I borrowed some photos from the museum today to scan and post on the website that shows them moving the BATFISH into place. Hope to have them up this week.
I love being able to get up close to the side of the hull. Also Mark, thanks for keeping the website looking great!
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So I've been wondering, just how did the Batfish get out there to Oklahoma? Isn't a submarine too large to be transported by truck?
I've added a few photos of the event to the BATFISH website:
http://www.ussbatfish.com/batfish-stats3.html
Shameless plug...sign our guestbook ;)
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Wow, looks like it took a lot of people getting really muddy to get the Batfish to its new home!
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If you think about it, it was quite something what they did to get her where she is.
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You should hear it from the subvets. They are the ones that wanted her not the state, and they got barely any help from the state. The subvets racked up a debt of about 400,000 dollars because of all the costs for transporting her and things like that, luckily the local bank manager was a WWII subvet himself and just wrote off all the debt. However that was not the end of it. They had to find a piece of land to put the Batfish on, that took forever, and finally I believe it was the corps of engineers or the Port of Muskogee that finally donated the land to them. Once that happened, they had to get the water levels raised, and Nick Guagliardo (one of the subvets who got here there) had a major time trying to convince the Corps of engineers to raise the water level an inch, luckily on of the engineers just said whats the big deal, and dit it. If you want a more in depth knowledge of how, I think it is on the website.
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One of the big factors is that one of the forward tubes was open and that was a major concern. Vaughn fixed it about a year or so ago...but with the rust problem, I'd be hesitant to flood the area.
Maybe we should just weld the outer doors shut permanently, unless we need them to be accessible for tube work? At least the lower ones that are below the water line.
I love being able to get up close to the side of the hull.
If we ever floated the boat, again, I would be all for a system that allows for the water to be easily drained. I like Rick's idea of putting it up on blocks, too. Once the water is drained, the boat would settle into its "cradle" and would make working on the undersides easily accessible.
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Maybe we should just weld the outer doors shut permanently, unless we need them to be accessible for tube work? At least the lower ones that are below the water line.
Probably no need to weld them now that Vaughn got it properly closed. I'd vote to leave them "as is" unless the Navy complains.
If we ever floated the boat, again, I would be all for a system that allows for the water to be easily drained. I like Rick's idea of putting it up on blocks, too. Once the water is drained, the boat would settle into its "cradle" and would make working on the undersides easily accessible.
Personally, I'd hate to see the underside of the sub after sitting in that sand/soil for 35+ years...probably all rusted out. I'm not sure it could survive resting in a cradle...but in doing so, could allow for preventative measures to be taken that we now can't do. The cathodic protection probably isn't working as it should. An assesment of the underside would have to be made before that was done.
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Good point. If we go through the trouble of repainting her, it would be nice to get her raised up long enough to clean off the dirt and paint the underside. Temporarily floating the boat may be easier on the hull than using a crain - and a lot cheaper. We would need a diver to do the inspection, obviously. If it's too rusted out, we'll obviosuly need a plan B.
Keep in mind that it's a double hull construction, too. If the outer hull is rusted, the inner hull still may be in good shape and may be usuable as a support structure.
Also, the vets and others are insisting that they want the boat to be sand-blasted, as opposed to the original plan of sealing the old paint and putting on a fresh coat of new paint. I think Rick said it was about $100 to dispose of one 55 gallon drum of contaminated sand.
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There are definately 2 main streams of converstation here.
One is to put the boat back in waster. The problems there are building a pool and maintaining the pool. This will be a lot of upkeep. We also will need to secure the boat form any potential leaks that may occur
The second will be to place the boat onto cement blocks. This will help keep the potential of rust down, but is also a big cost
The jury is out on both items. either way this is a long term project. Unless we can get a retired admiral to donate a large sum of cash... ;D
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Well, I'd say that putting her up on blocks is the best long-term solution IMHO.
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Rick,
I liked your idea of putting her on blocks and eventually putting some water in the pool just high enough that she doesn't float off the blocks. A short-term solution to the water problem would be to just pump water in from the river (if it 's high enough), and then aerate it to keep the algae down. I understand that plumbing would have to be run to the river along with a pump. If we leave the basin as is, we can let the water drain out (or pump it back to the river), if we ever need to gain access to the sides or keel. Of course, it depends on what the test results show for the soil sample - don't want to pollute the river with lead.
I know that painting is a priority, but it would be nice to be able to access and paint the keel, too. We just need to sell Mr. Vase. ;D
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Find me a good antiques dealer. I am thinking of trying to get Antiques Road Show to make a showing here.
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http://www.antiqueappraisals.net/
Give these guys a try. They claim to be the best in the business in the country and I think they're here in OK.
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Why not build a huge in-the-ground concrete swimming pool under the Batfish and have her sit just above the water level on blocks? Then you could turn her into a theme park for kids in the summer?? :)
Yes, I'm being silly.
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I can do one better. Just put the boat on one piling at the center of gravity behind the conning tower. Then the bigger volunteers can jump up and down at the bow and stern and not only create a realistic rocking feeling in the sub, but also a wave pool for the kiddies. 8)
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I'm afraid to discuss the water fountain idea that was given to me. LOL
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The fountain would only work, if it went off randomly and violently like a depth charge.
I'm guessing the suggestion that you were given probably involved a statue of a woman taking a leak.
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good one Mark, It actuall invalved a series of small blast fountains arranged in a line across the deck. Periodically a recording of an airplane flying in would be played and the fountains would be set off to create a straffing run. The depth charge/bomb idea would be good too. I am not sure how well it would go over during the winter though. ;D
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Those depth charge/ incoming plane splashes sound kind of cool. Im sure in the summer it would be a welcomed relief from the hot weather, then when they get down in the sub it would feel even better with the airconditioning.
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I know this is a really old thread Travis but, they actually do exactly what you are saying on a sound stage at a park (movie) in Florida. Part of the Disney family. There were about 200 of us watching the WWII Navy demonstration and it was actually really neat to see. Strafing run, depth charges and all. They also had a propane (underwater) release and ignition. Very visually impressive. :)
Also, the Block idea ala the DRUM would be the best long term solution. If a pool around that was filled the blocks would sink under the weight of BATFISH so, minimal water is best. (My civil engineering experience kicking in here) The engineering group that moved and placed the drum has the move and details on their website. Before I get ahead of myself I will discuss with Rick and crew and see what the direction is here in a few hours at the BATFISH. The engineering work has already been done for size/reinforcement and placement of the"blocks" and since 310 is on dirt the way DRUM was, it should be fairly problem free to repeat this process.
Maybe....
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Yeah... MAYBE... is the operative term. No one has seen her bottom hull in 40 years.
My wife and I got to play the starring roles in that PT boat show at Disney during our honeymoon in 2003. We got everyone to laugh when my wife got drenched by one of the exploding depth charges and I decided to use my mop to dry her off. ;D
You're probably right about not having a pool of water if the boat is on blocks. Another idea that I had was to deliberately pump river water into the basin to keep her afloat (and to drown the moles and gophers) and then every year drain the basin to do maintenance. The floating boat idea would go well with the dock idea that Rick has.
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The original park plan I have in another thread shows that they were to have the pool full all the time and have gangways west-fore and east-aft for getting on and off the BAT. The problem then is when you drain it how to do "right" the boat and now you have to worry about air pressure and ballast and leaks and.....
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Very true. These are issues that the floating boats currently deal with. The interesting thing about that basin is that it doesn't take long to drain naturally. In a week it would be a puddle and then you fix whatever needs to be fixed.
A marriage of the block idea and the boat afloat idea is to have the boat afloat, but then have cement cradles for her to rest on when the water is drained. Makes maint. a lot easier if she's elevated. Downside is that the boat would have to be moved out of the way while a cradle is built.