From: Rich Angelini
Sent:
Subject: USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr DD850
Restoration report for February 2011
All Hands,
It has been a rough winter in
We have taken on a few interesting projects over this
winter aboard this Gearing class Destroyer:
1. Since the end of November 2010, we began the restoration
of First Division Berthing (enlisted quarters under the Mess Decks) with the
intention to bring back the look of the late1960s with the correct paint
scheme and the addition of missing equipment/items. With the removal of
the bunks, a three month effort of intense
chipping, cleaning, and masking was accomplished by volunteers, NAPS students
from NAVSTA Newport, and employee Dave Stawicki. The removal of paint
from original labels revealed references to the old MT 52 and its
systems. While the work went about with good progress,
it wasnt without bad news. While removing decades of tile glued
together behind some lockers, we found that the steel deck of the old ship had
rotted through in some areas to a store room below on the Stbd side. Work
immediately stopped as we scraped out the remaining rotted areas. Plans
are to have a team of staff and volunteer welders put new decking in during the
May field day (we Hope!). Moving forward and one step back, we primed the
entire space in preparation for a top coat that will be applied after the metal
work is done. We hope to complete this overall project within
the next few months as welders become available.
2. The Motor Generator room on the main deck starboard
side is being prepped for primer and painting to restore this space to its
early 70s in Port Electrical shop/MG Room configuration. Prepping is well
on the way and we hope to have it completed within the next few months.
3. John Bisbano and Bob Ledux mentioned to me that though
they love working on the Radar repeaters, they have gotten them all working and
even restored the signal switching gear in the RADAR room to send target
information to any repeater from RADAR. I was asked, "What
else is interesting that we can looked into?".
Over a week ago, I mentioned how great it would be to activate the 1MC stack in
the IC Room to use the General Quarters, Chemical, and Collision alarms.
While our 1MC loudspeakers have always operated, we have not had the alarm
system operating in at least a decade. Fast forward to last weekend,
volunteers were quietly going about there business when "Clang Clang
Clang" came over the speaker system. It seems that John and Bob
fixed a wiring problem in the No 1 Signal generator over the week and got the
system operational. All I can say is excellent work to them both.
They are reworking Signal Generator No 2 and then plan to trace down and fix
all the alarm actuators throughout the ship. It was a
exciting time to hear the ship come to life and all the volunteers went home
with a smile on their face.
4. Bob Washburn (USS William R. Rush
)and a group of NAPS students are reworking the Bridge wing teak
railings at Naval Station Newport for a spring installation. Bob is
instrumental in organizing our monthly NAPS program
5. We have a excellent weekly crew of Owen Hayes (USS
Waldron), Tom Publicover (USS Robert Owens) , Maury
Crotteau (USS Harwood), Jim Mulvihill (USS Waldron), Al Lundgren (USS John Paul
Jones), Dana Reed (USS Laub), Mike Angelini (USS J.P. Kennedy Jr), Ted Hayes,
and Bobby Young (USS Patterson) that meet the maintenance and on-the-spot
issues aboard this 60+ year old ship.
News:
1. Our sister ship, USS Orleck DD886, is planning for a early April opening in
2. Many of you have seen the Ernest Borgnine video
that we have posted on our YouTube channel for Tin Can Sailors' effort to
"Save our Historic Destroyers". I would like to thank all
that have viewed it and have contributed. Our Destroyers desperately need
help for their long term survival. I would ask you to also mention to
your friends about joining the membership of theTin Can Sailors
Association. TCS is a organization dedicated to
the preservation and historical recognition of destroyers. A strong TCS
means a strong Destroyer fleet. Enlist a shipmate today at http://www.destroyers.org
3. For the past few years, we
have provided a US Navy video about Destroyer life at Sea aboard DD850 for our
visitors. This video is a 15 minute film produced by the US Navy in 1970
aboard USS Gearing DD710. It is a excellent
representation of the period in time that the KENNEDY represents and the
traditions of our sailors at that time. So, as a service to our sister
ships and friends, this video is now available on our YouTube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?
4. Ever wonder what these Sumner-Gearing class Destroyers
looked like in the 1940s when first built? Ed Zajkowski (USS Keppler) has
provided us a unique opportunity to view images of these as-built CANS on
navsource at http://www.navsource.org/
5. Lastly, our busy field day season is soon upon us with
the Major May field day on May 19-20-21-22 .
Please start planning to come aboard and help us with our restoration. If
you have any questions, please drop us a email.
We hope to see you all aboard in May!
Fair winds and following seas,
Rich Angelini
Asst. Curator, USS J.P. Kennedy Jr DD850