SUBMARINEMUSEUMS.ORG Forum
Individual Submarine Boards => USS Batfish (SS-310) => Topic started by: Travis McLain on March 04, 2008, 05:30:06 PM
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Hey Mark Allen (used last name because there is another Mark on here that is also Batfish volunteer) how did the Navy inspection/ work day go? From the newspaper it sounded great, but they did not list specifically how the inspection went, were we up to par?
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Hey Mark Allen (used last name because there is another Mark on here that is also Batfish volunteer) how did the Navy inspection/ work day go? From the newspaper it sounded great, but they did not list specifically how the inspection went, were we up to par?
Travis, I have not heard from Rick. I know Rick's plan was to have the Spring workday the same day to show the Navy that we are working out there...and it paid off. Volunteers, JROTC kids and some subvets were all in attendance and the Navy, from what I could see, seemed impressed. I'll ask Rick via email how it went, what we (always) got dinged on and let you know.
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how did the Navy inspection/ work day go?
Travis - Rick sent out his scuttlebut email and has the breakdown for what the Navy found. Looks like a busy year.
Hurry on down!!
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Yep, when I talked to him a couple days ago I got the scuttlebutt alot more in depth. lol. So I am full of info now.
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What did he say?
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Lance & Mark: here is the list I got from Rick's Scuttlebutt email...like I said, looks like a busy 2008!!
Deck – This is now a safety issue. The deck needs to be replaced. The team also noted that some of the plywood path way was beginning to wear. They continue to recommend that we leave the pathway off once the deck is replaced. Once the new deck is placed visitors will be able to wander the deck as they want.
Superstructure Supports – some of the supports in the superstructure are in need of replacement. This is mainly in the bow area.
Stair wells - access to the underside of the superstructure needs to be blocked at the stairwells.
Ballast Tank Access Covers – some of the access covers to the ballast tanks are open and need to be replaces and or secured
Rust on the hull – several areas around the torpedo tubes need to be cleaned up. There are jagged edges developing that pose a potential hazard.
Bilges – this is a minor issue, but the bilges are in need of cleaning.
After deck - the after deck tends to be slippery when wet. The team recommended that we place non skid material in these areas to prevent injury
Conning Tower – the conning tower has some exposed wiring that needs to be secured. Also the fire extinguisher will need to be depressurized and labeled “For Exhibit Only”
Motor Room – Ladder needs to be secured ( low priority)
Paint - nothing new here
Open panels – we are due for another sweep of the boat to secure all open panels and loose equipment. I challenge all of the groups working on the boat to clean out their lockers and try to limit yourselves to one locker. I would also like to remove all unnecessary fans light and equipment that is not vintage or usable from the boat. We are going to convert the after battery room into a work area. And storage area. This area also needs excess unusable items removed from it.
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A lot of the issues will be addressed if and when Rick is able to get a hold of the funding that he recently found out about.
The wires on the bridge are mainly for the reproducer and the TBT (Target Bearing Transmitter). Short term we can cap them and then maybe long term we can hook the bridge reproducer back up. The switch box on the bridge needs some TLC, first.
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Mark S. - any chance of you coming out on the 22nd? I know it's Easter weekend...but my wife and I along with Vaughn (and hopefully Mary) will be there. I'll be spending 1/2 the day on the SHARK memorial, but then I'm going to start looking into some of these items.
Mark A.
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Does the Navy do this type of inspection with all submarine museums?
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Does the Navy do this type of inspection with all submarine museums?
I'm not sure, maybe one of the other's can answer that. I know we have one every Spring and they ALWAYS find stuff that wasn't there the previous year :o
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I'll be down on the 15th. Easter weekend I'll be in Pittsburgh, PA.
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The Navy inspects all ships and boats (museum types) each year. The Drums is scheduled for 19 April this year. The Batfish inspection reads about like Drums. on a museum boat you can always find a cut wire, rust bilges that need cleaned, loose items, open lockers, etc. You would have to lock up the boat for a week and open it for the navy only, if one visitor gets on board before the navy they will screw with something.
Tom Bowser
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You are correct there. While giving tours at the Batfish, every one had to touch something and move it/ open it.
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I'll be down on the 15th.
Mark S. - were you able to go? How are things?
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I made it down there. Rick tried opening the escape hatch in the forward torpedo room with poor results. The inside hatch is unlatched, but something is blocking it from opening - the outer hatch is chained shut. We need to get a flexible borescope in there to see what is happening.
I replaced a bunch of light bulbs and hid the flourescent ones from view. Pump room and forward torpedo room are now much brighter.
I inspected the bridge lights and wiring and they need a lot of TLC. Port and starboard running lights should work if the sockets get replaced and the light housings get repaired. All wiring to the forward TBT and reproducer have been cut and removed - rear TBT stand is long gone.
Glass vacuum tubes in the 1MC are in bad shape. I broke a bulb from the base on one tube trying to remove it from its socket. Most of them will have to be surgically removed (i.e needle-nose pliers). The good news is that one of the volunteers brought in his dad's old RCA tube kit with tons of vacuum tubes in it - he used to repair TVs and such. We also have a tube tester that can test most smaller tubes, which works out to our favor, since I'm considering all large glass tubes to be dead and they will be disposed of.
Looking around in the pump room we located the two IMO pumps for the hydraulic system. The hydraulics in that room appear to be in very good shape, but we did notice an oil or fluid of some kind laying under the deck plates at the base of the periscope housings. Rick was thinking of using a high pressure sprayer to clean out the entire pump room and then pump the water out of the bilge. We joked around about bringing Mike Rowe on board from the "Dirty Jobs" TV show to clean out the lower deck areas.
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we did notice an oil or fluid of some kind laying under the deck plates at the base of the periscope housings. Rick was thinking of using a high pressure sprayer to clean out the entire pump room and then pump the water out of the bilge. We joked around about bringing Mike Rowe on board from the "Dirty Jobs" TV show to clean out the lower deck areas.
I've seen that "fluid" before. Looked like nasty oily stuff. Will need to be careful...not sure if that would be classified as hazardous waste or not. Mike Rowe would get some good publicity.
On another note...I got an email from some group out of Ft. Smith that wants to check for "ghosts" on the Batfish. Rick thought it would be a good publicity stunt...I thought it was funny, but if they come out, I plan to be there. Need to find me ghost buster shirt ;D
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We need to verify it's composition before we clean it out. Partially for HAZMATt and partially to detrmine what is leaking. I'm hoping it's a bad seal on a compressor that leaked oil and not the periscope housings leaking hydraulics.
Someone asked me if the Batfish had any ghosts on Saturday. I told them that I have spent about 8 hours alone on her and haven't noticed anything unusual.
The Cavalla posted a ghost clip on YouTube where a single guy was left inside the boat with the lights out. He had an infared video camera and he heard a voice calling someone's name and that someone had jumped over board. The voice and noises start in the control room and then he follows it into the crew's quarters...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4YQ3tSH7YA (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4YQ3tSH7YA)
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Someone asked me if the Batfish had any ghosts on Saturday. I told them that I have spent about 8 hours alone on her and haven't noticed anything unusual.
I've spent the night twice on the BATFISH (years ago) and saw and heard nothing. Maybe get that TV Show involved called "A Haunting" or something like that. Publicity, even though weird, is still good.
I'll have to watch the video tonight...at midnight...with the lights out ::)
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The ARVPI are coming out next weekend to investigate for spirits next weekend. I think they will only find left over Torpedo Juice but who knows. I welcome the publicity. I will get up set though if they call us a battleship like the Ghost Hunters call the Lex...
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LOL. Will this be eventually televised or is this more of hobby for them?
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This is more on the hobby side. They are a large group out of Arkansas. All Volunteers. I am at home and do not have the web site with me.
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Speaking of time alone on the Batfish, please mark me down for 5 hours for this past Saturday.
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The ARVPI are coming out next weekend to investigate for spirits next weekend
So Rick...what type of "spirits" did they find? The ghost kind or the liquid kind? :laugh:
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:2funny:
No they did not find our secret seill in the motor room.....
They are still listening to all of the recordings that they made. I went with them mostley out of curiosity. It was quite interesting to see what they actually do. The only things we encountered that I can see was the pipe yard and various creeks and groans of the boat and one very annoying demon frog that keep croaking on thier recording devices.....
All in all they were a grood group of people. We did have a good time.
Rick
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Thermal cycling will keep the boat creaking for its lifetime.
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I know that and you know that. I did have to explain that to the investigators. That is one of the perks for them to have me there.
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Yeah, I'm sure that they think every little thud and creak is from some dead guy. Overall, I think the boat is pretty quiet when no one is on board and the AC isn't running. I have a bunch of sound effects from the SH IV sub game that would really add to the ambiance of the boat, if piped over the speakers.
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I was very suprised. They did take a very logical approach. The did tend to jump at every sound, but did not get overly excited until they could not explain anything away.
I am still waiting for the debreif.
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If it's already been a week and no news, then there's probably not much to report at this point.
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That is my thoughts right now. I may follow up next week. I just closed on my house so I will be a bit bussy for a few days. I am not sure when I will get to them next.
rick