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June 25th Photos Page |
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I was onboard last Saturday, last Thursday I took a trip to the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for a ship raid, and today I'm onboard again to work and for the Battleship Blast. The first five photos below are from June 18th, the next three are from the raid on June 23rd and the last nine are from today. I've been onboard 10 of the last 11 Saturdays so I'll be staying home for the 4th for some well deserved R&R. Hope everyone has a safe and happy July 4th, hope to see you onboard on July 9th. |
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June 18th - Yet another
one of the ladies on the Brass Team in action. She makes the trip to volunteer all the way from New York City! Note that shells have now been added to the outside ring of the shell deck to make the look more authentic. |
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June 18th - Another one
of the Team working on small capstans on the shell deck. This deck has taken on a much different look during this project. Under normal operating conditions the deck would be coated with light oil to aid in moving shells to the hoists. With the oil gone the deck has "dried up" and taken on a crusty look, I hope there is a plan in place to clean it up and maybe put down rubber matting where the visitors will walk. |
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| June 18th - Shot of polished powder scuttles and immersion tank. |
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June 18th - Another
shot of the stairs visitors will use to access the lower level of the Turret. |
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June 18th - Shot
showing the shells placed around the outer ring of the shell deck and the hoist for the center gun. |
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June 23rd - I arrived
at the Navy Yard for the raid at 0720. I saw this most unusual piece sitting in front of a building down by the river, I just had to snap this photo. |
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June 23rd - Another
unusual building at the Navy Yard, a round brick building right near the large dry dock. |
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June 23rd - My fellow
raiders, striking a pose in front of the bow of the USS John F. Kennedy. Tied up next to her (just visible on the left) is the USS Forrestal. Quite an impressive sight to see both of these giants sitting side by side so close to shore. We spent the morning raiding a 50's era destroyer, USS Forest Sherman, after lunch we spent the afternoon raiding on the Ticonderoga Class Cruiser, USS Yorktown. |
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June 25th - Shot of
shells lined up around the open shell ring. They really make it look more realistic, even if they are made of fiberglass... According to our curator many of these shells came from USS North Carolina. We're supposed to get nearly 100 real shells from a Navy Depot, we're currently waiting for a group of Navy Seabees that will move them to become available. With them in place it will look even better I'm sure. |
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June 25th - Today is
the sneak peek for the public, much of the painting and detailing work has been done and it looks great! |
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June 25th - When I
arrived this morning the paint on the floor below was still wet. We couldn't work down there today in an effort to give the fresh paint on the floor all the time it needed to dry before the public was let in at 1630. |
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June 25th - Another
shot below, quite a marked difference from when we started this project three months ago. |
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June 25th - At 1530,
just one hour before the sneak peek for the public, the curator let us go down and do some final detailing of the powder flat area. The last thing we wanted to do was track dirt from our shoes onto the freshly painted floor, so the three of us that went down there went in socks only! Now that's dedication! |
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June 25th - We focused
mainly on getting paint overspray off the brass and shining up whatever else we could in the hour allotted. |
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June 25th - That's me,
out of uniform, and putting a quick shine back on one of the immersion tanks. |
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June 25th - After the
allotted hour we were done at 1630. We asked one of the first guests to come down to take our picture and we were off. I had spent the day up on O5 getting that area ready for Blast visitors and managed to get a wicked sunburn in the process as you can see in this photo. After this it was time for a quick shower and off to the Blast for surf and turf dinner and a few cold drinks! It looks awesome now in the bottom of Turret #2, visitors are in for a real treat! |
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| The ships CEO addressing Blast attendees on the fantail just before dinner. |
