Author Topic: Periscopes Repairs  (Read 59616 times)

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Periscopes Repairs
« on: February 26, 2013, 12:48:58 PM »
I finally took the first steps in hunting down the right people to talk to about scope repairs.  Cavalla had theirs done a few years ago and it took Kollmorgen a little while to make the repairs.  So, in the mean time, I believe that the Navy loaned two scopes to them until the originals returned.  Pictures are posted on the Cavalla board of the scope installments.

Until we get hydraulics working, again, I recommended to Rick that we modify the metal stands that the scopes rest on, now, and install ones with a kind of Lazy Susan to allow the scopes to rotate.  Of course, we can no longer use scope shims in the housings, if we go this route.  So, the stands would have to be much beefier, since each scope weighs about 2,000 lbs.

Regards,
Mark Sarsfield
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"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy

Offline Rick

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #1 on: February 26, 2013, 01:48:22 PM »
I am all for this.  I am looking at a "Hard Hat" tour that will be very limited, but will offer guided access to certain areas of the submarine.  The Con would be one of those areas.  I want the pariscopes repaired.  Who do whe talk to to get them done?

Rick

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #2 on: February 26, 2013, 02:56:23 PM »
You were copied on this email, but I will post it here, anyway....

Quote
Dear Mark,
 
We pulled both periscopes from the Cavalla and shipped them to the periscope repair shop in King’s Bay, Georgia at the end of 2008. I am attaching a picture of the repair of our attack scope in the periscope cleanroom.
The Trident Repair Facility took on the work as “no cost” in support of our not for profit submarine museum status. We dealt directly with the commanding officer of the TRF, Captain John Stewart who has since retired. The periscope repair shop personnel were fantastic, they sourced a technical specification manual and made many of the replacement parts themselves on lathes. The technicians were delighted and honored to do the job. The Cavalla attack scope was the one used during the attack and sinking of the Japanese carrier Shokoku in the battle of Philippine sea.
We were unsuccessful in getting any traction with Kollmorgen and scope manufacturers but the response from the Navy was outstanding.
We pulled the scopes ourselves with cranes and paid for the shipment on flatbed truck.
I am not sure where the other Navy periscope repair shops are, I would suggest you get in touch with King’s Bay first, since they have the most recent experience with these WW II scopes and found drawings. I am sorry, my King’s Bay contacts have since retired… I hope this helps in restoring your sight…
 
Best regards,
 
Grady Harrison
Chairman, CHF

The current CO is Capt. Lawrence D. Hill.  I have a friend in the Navy (civil service) that I asked to hunt down the Captain's email address for me.

Regards,
Mark Sarsfield
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"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy

Offline Jim

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #3 on: February 26, 2013, 03:25:09 PM »
Mark, do we need the full hydraulics system to work to raise/lower/turn them?  Can we scab in a smaller system to isolate the scopes?  If not, you get them to work and I'll figure a way to "lazy susan" them.

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2013, 04:40:33 PM »
There are bearings inside the housing that need to be inspected.  We may need our Cavalla friends to explain how they did that and what they were looking for.  The bearings in the housing allow the scope to rotate if it is held up with hydraulic fluid.  With the current shims and support stands, the scopes cannot turn at all. 

If I had a manual for the IMO hydraulic pumps in the pump room, I'd be more than happy to find someone to take one apart, service it, and reassemble it.  I don't know if any of the other boats have successfully rehabilitated their hydraulic system.  Theoretically, we should be able to isolate the scopes from the rest of the hydraulic system and just focus on the hydraulic plumbing in the pump room, control room, and the control tower.  My guess is that all fittings would have to be loosened and the seals and maybe valves would have to be replaced or refurbished.  I think all of the original fluid leaked into the pump room bilge (which was later removed by the Indian Nation kids).  So, there's definitely leaks in the system, at present.

The electric motors that run the pumps should still be operational.  It's just a matter of dedicating some power to running that system outside of the I.C. Switch Board in the control room.

Regards,
Mark Sarsfield
USS Batfish reenactor



"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy

Offline Jim

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2013, 05:25:23 PM »
says Jean Luc Piccard "Make it so....."  Let's see if the Navy will do for us what they did for Cavalla.

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #6 on: February 26, 2013, 06:22:25 PM »
I sent an email to the captain a few hours ago.  We'll see if he bites.

Regards,
Mark Sarsfield
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"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy

Offline Jim

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #7 on: February 26, 2013, 07:39:50 PM »
Outstanding! Our sub sank three subs.  That's at least as good as a carrier.   ;D

Edit: I changed my mind.  Let's make all the hydraulics work (dreaming here).  I want to be able to open and close all the tube doors and shutters.  I saw a video of Tom cranking one of his outers open with the inner door open  :o  How did he do that?  I would settle for manual open/close to start.   ;D
« Last Edit: February 26, 2013, 08:04:58 PM by Blackwing »

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #8 on: February 26, 2013, 08:02:38 PM »
Anyone can sink a skimmer. ;)  Sinking three subs back when torpedoes were mostly unguided or had unreliable guidance systems and in horrible sea conditions is definitely note-worthy.   ;D

Anyway, I got a fairly quick response from Capt. Hill.  It sounds promising once this budget mess is over...

Quote
Mark,
Thank you for continuing to tell the Submariners story and we need to find a way to repair those periscopes.  Clearly with our current budget constraints there are limitations to what we can and cannot spend tax payer dollars on.  My staff will research how we can support you and the museum and I will let you know.
 
V/R
LH
 
CAPTAIN L. D. HILL
COMMANDING OFFICER
Trident Refit Facility

Regards,
Mark Sarsfield
USS Batfish reenactor



"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy

Offline Lapinski

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2013, 08:04:57 PM »
OK, You found me, the Periscope Guy. I have been associated with the former Kollmorgen for just about 50 years. I received an email from Mark Sarsfield today via Kollmorgen, Radford VA. It is a long story. Briefly, Kollmorgen Electro-Optical was sold to Danaher in 2001. They kept us for about 11 years and a year ago we were sold to L-3 Communications. We are now known as L3-KEO. As a condition of the previous sale we are not authorized to use the name "Kollmorgen". Ninty seven years of name recognition down the drain. The name Kollmorgen is being used by a Danaher Division and they have nothing to do with periscopes.

The reason I use the term "we" is that I am still affiliated with theL3-KEO operation as a part time employee. I retired from Kollmorgen in 2001. Most of my career has been providing field service to U.S. and foreign navies. In addition, I have assisted with the installation of over thirty surplus periscope displays around the world during the last 22 years.

I was involved with the CAVALLA Project. In August 2004, we were able to obtain two surplus overhauled periscopes for the Cavalla. One was a 1960's vintage Type 8B and a Type 2F. This vintage periscope is still available from the NAVSEA Ships Donation Office. I have contacts if you want to go this route. Several years after that swap out the Cavalla Group wanted their old periscopes refurbuished. Kollmorgen has never done this and is not set up to do it. The way I understand it is that a former Cavalla Skipper was a friend of the then Periscope Repair Officer at King's Bay, GA. The Kings Bay shop agreed to do the job. I assisted behind the scenes providing some documentation and tried to get a lens they needed from the Turkish Periscope Shop in Golcuk Turkey. I loaned my periscope clamps to the Cavalla in 2010 so that they could make the reverse swap.

The only chance you have for an overhaul would be the King's Bay Shop or the one a Bangor, Washington. The Bangor Shop rebuilt a couple of Kollmorgen Cape Canaveral Bunker Periscopes several years ago. I don't have any high level contacts at either place. The last remaining periscope shop is at Pearl Harbor.
Let me know how I can help. How bad are the periscopes? Your website shows that they are pretty intact.
Paul Lapinski    

Offline Mark Sarsfield

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #10 on: February 26, 2013, 08:17:24 PM »
Paul,

  Thanks for replying to my email to "Kollmorgen".  It definitely sounds like King's Bay is the way to go.  Do you live near the Cavalla?

Regards,
Mark Sarsfield
USS Batfish reenactor



"If you have one bucket that can hold 5 gallons and one bucket that can hold 2 gallons, how many buckets do you have?" - IQ test from Idiocracy

Offline Lapinski

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #11 on: February 26, 2013, 08:22:31 PM »
Mark

I actually live in North Hatfield MA. L3-KEO (Kollmorgen) is located in Northampton MA. The new facility is about seven miles from my home.

Paul

Offline drew

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #12 on: February 26, 2013, 11:22:55 PM »
Hi Paul,

First I will apologize to Mark for temporarily hijacking his conversation.

I help out with the Lionfish at Battleship Cove in Fall River. The paid staff keeps the boat afloat and tries keep the structure sound enough that the visitors don't fall through the deck. Restoration of the equipment isn't something they have the time or resources to do.

I am jealous when I hear of the restoration going on at some of the other boats. For the Lionfish the work is cosmetic. Keeping her surfaces looking nice with some cleaning and a fresh coat of paint.

The boat's attack periscope (93KN36) has been leaking for some time. The view from the eyepiece is now translucent instead of transparent. And the controls (hi/lo power, eyepiece position, ...) no longer move. I removed the bottom flange and bottom plug assy bolts to drain the water. About 1/2 gallon came out. I keep a pan under the scope and it fills up after a while, so the scope is still leaking.

For the Lionfish, fixing the leak would look something like a guy with some RTV climbing up a ladder and applying a bead where the water might be coming in.

I would be very helpful to me if we could talk to see if you can think of things that I would be capable of doing to help this periscope.
If this isn't too forward, could we arrange to talk by phone at your convenience?

Of course you could just float down the Connecticut River, hook a left when you hit the Atlantic, bang another left when you pass Aquidneck Island (newport), when you pass under the Braga bridge in Fall riiver look to your right. The person waving to you from the bridge of SS-298 will be me.

Thanx Drew
(And thanx to Mark too)

Offline Jim

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #13 on: February 26, 2013, 11:44:36 PM »
Hijack away Drew.  You may be the person I have been looking for.  We need a good contact person for the Lionfish.  if Mark is silvertongued enough, and pleads a good case, we might get scope rebuilds for Batfish, Drum and the Lionfish.  Anyone else need their scope rebuilt?  Maybe we get a group rate on parts or the Navy can get some really good press or ?

Offline Darrin

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Re: Periscopes Repairs
« Reply #14 on: February 26, 2013, 11:45:15 PM »
There is a manual online for the IMO pumps and yes we did discuss it during the school of the boat. Ya might want to go back and re-look at that whole string here and ASK questions, FYI the IMO's are run by DC power and you should be able to isolate just your periscope hydraulics from the rest of the system.. Both the PAMP and the COD have their hydraulics running

www.hnsa.org is a great website if you haven't been there for a while