Opening USS John F. Kennedy as a museum ship in Newport, RI

For “Middletown” read “Newport.”

Anyone who has driven over the 138 bridge will have seen the decommissioned USS Saratoga (CV-60) and the USS Forrestal (CV-59) moored at the old NAVSTA Newport destroyer piers. The Forrestal has been towed to NISMF Philadephia pending a final trip to the breaker’s yard… but why the museum group is expending effort on bringing the Big John to Newport instead of moving quickly to secure the Sara… you know, because it’s already there… oh well… I say “good luck to ’em!” and let’s hope the Navy plays nice.

Group trying to bring retired aircraft carrier to R.I. as a museum

The aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy, the last conventionally powered carrier built by the Navy, was retired in 2007.
STEVEN SENNE/AP

MIDDLETOWN — A vote last week by the Middletown Town Council in support of bringing the retired aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy to Rhode Island to use as a museum will help move the project forward, according to the president of the Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame.

The 6-to-1 vote doesn’t commit the town but it shows the Navy, which will decide if the group can have the ship, that the local government is in support of the effort, said Frank Lennon, the president of the non-profit Rhode Island Aviation Hall of Fame.

Lennon said the group, which has been working since 2010 to bring the aircraft carrier to Rhode Island, hopes to dock the ship on federal land at the naval station. The plan is to locate the carrier at the Navy’s northernmost pier and move the fence line so it is accessible to the public. This plan would free visitors from having to go through the Navy base’s strict security.

The next step for the group is to come up with a proposal to move the fence line, Lennon said. He said the group expects to have a proposal within about two months.

Lennon said bringing the aircraft carrier to Rhode Island would produce jobs and attract visitors to the state and will not cost residents.

Lennon said $10.5 million in a conditional federal loan guarantee and pledges have been identified from money that was to go to the Saratoga project at Quonset Point before the Navy decided to scrap the Saratoga. He said $25 million to $35 million would be needed to pay for the project and that the group will commence to raise money.

The John F. Kennedy, known as Big John, was the last conventionally powered aircraft carrier built by the Navy and once carried 4,600 crew members and 70 combat aircraft. It was active in both Iraq wars and the war in Afghanistan and decommissioned in 2007.

http://www.providencejournal.com/breaking-news/content/20130909-group-trying-to-bring-retired-aircraft-carrier-to-r.i.-as-a-museum.ece

It would be great to save HMS Onyx, but…

1. It would be great to save Onyx, but…
2. You can’t save everything.
3. Nine of the class are preserved as museums (Ocelot, Otus, Ovens, Onslow, Otama, Onondaga, Ojibwa, Riachuelo and O’Brien).
4. If we’re going to try to save something, let’s save something unique and channel our limited resources there.
5. Let it be Dreadnaught. The US Navy has preserved the Nautilus. Let Britain preserve the Dreadnaught.

Moving HMS Plymouth to the Devonport Museum

Granted, you can’t save every old warship as a museum. That would be impractical, expensive, wasteful and undesirable. However, there are certain vessels that simply must be preserved – those that took part in great historic events, particularly vessels that are “the last of their kind,” and those that would serve as a lasting tribute to the men and women who served in the nation’s conflicts. HMS Plymouth is one of those ships.

HMS Plymouth ‘should return to dockyard’

THE veteran warship HMS Plymouth should return to her birthplace at Devonport Dockyard, a campaigner believes.

HMS Plymouth is the last surviving warship from the 1982 Falklands War.

HMS Plymouth moored on Merseyside

She was launched in Devonport in 1959 and decommissioned in 1988.

The ship is moored at Vittoria Dock in Birkenhead, after the collapse of the Warship Preservation Trust, which ran her as a floating museum until 2006.

Laurence Sharpe-Stevens, the director of the HMS Plymouth Trust, announced last year that he had found a berth for HMS Plymouth in the North East of England.

But this week he said that his preferred choice was Plymouth, where she could be turned into a museum and a training ship.

Mr Sharpe-Stevens said he believed the Ministry of Defence would release three docks at Devonport’s South Yard to Plymouth City Council in the next three years.

He is exploring the possibility of co-locating HMS Plymouth with the existing Devonport Museum, and bringing in visitors by water.

The trust was told last year by Peel Ports, the Birkenhead dock operator, that they had sold the ship to a Turkish ship breaker, and asked the trust to raise £400,000 to buy her back.

But Mr Sharpe-Stevens said he had discovered that this was untrue.

Mr Sharpe-Stevens said he had been given evidence by the Treasury Solicitor that ownership of HMS Plymouth had never been passed on after the failure of the Warship Preservation Trust. The Environment Agency had not received an application for the licence that would be required to send the ship abroad, he said.

And the Marine and Coastguard Agency had not been asked to carry out a survey which would be required before the ship could be towed to Turkey.

He said he had contacted all the scrap dealers in Turkey and none of them admitted to having obtained HMS Plymouth.

Peel Ports has not responded to The Herald’s requests for comments.

Mr Sharpe-Stevens said he was not seeking any cash from Plymouth City Council.

“Also, we are not raising money to purchase the ship because she is ownerless as the Crown Treasury has never gifted or granted the ship to anybody. Peel Ports do not own the ship by default as there is no such thing in law.”

He said the ship was in good condition, in spite of her rusty appearance in recent photographs. “This is mostly surface paint rust streaks. We think Peel Ports is not discouraging the spread of the ‘rusty hulk’ untrue rumour because it gives them justification (and no protests) to scrap her for cash.”

http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/HMS-Plymouth-return-dockyard/story-19608668-detail/story.html

Restoration work on HMS Alliance nears completion

Restoration work on HMS Alliance nears completion as the historic submarine receives a final coat of paint at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in

Launched in 1945, HMS Alliance was one of fourteen ‘A’ class submarines built for service in the Far East during World War 2.

Back in Black

With the grey anti corrosion undercoat complete Alliance was ready for the final coat in black. The black paint had to be done non-stop without a break in order that the paint dried with an even finish all over. The scaffolding that has shrouded the boat for the past nine months is now slowly being dismantled but there remains a lot of finishing off work to the cofferdam while inside the boat work will carry on until February 2014.

With the grey anti corrosion undercoat complete Alliance was ready for the final coat in black. The black paint had to be done non-stop without a break in order that the paint dried with an even finish all over. The scaffolding that has shrouded the boat for the past nine months is now slowly being dismantled but there remains a lot of finishing off work to the cofferdam while inside the boat work will carry on until February 2014.

http://www.submarine-museum.co.uk/home/blog