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October 27th Photos Page |
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Today was my first day onboard following the ships Grand Opening on the 14th. It seems strange to come here and see lines of people waiting to come onboard, but that's what we've been working for all this time, and now it's here. The ship looks great still all decked out in the Red, White and Blue bunting from the Grand Opening. With all her flags flying she is an awesome sight! Onboard there were more volunteers than usual and the Docents were preparing to start conducting tours. I went down to the Brass Shop and volunteered to work on some pretty unusual pieces of brass. On top of each of the 16-inch Turrets there are two periscopes used by the gunners inside. When they are not being used they are covered by huge brass covers, each weighing about 30 pounds. The days project was to remove, clean & polish and replace all 4 periscope covers on Turrets 1 & 2. Taking them off wasn't too bad the hardware was in pretty good shape, then we lowered them to the deck using a bucket and rope and lugged them down to the Brass Shop. They were in pretty poor shape with gray paint overspray on them and years of weathering. With some help from power tools and plenty of Brasso they came back to life and look great now. We cleaned and polished all four of them today and now they're back in place and shining! See some of the pictures below of the polished periscope covers. That was about it for the day, I did manage to do a little roaming around below decks up in the bow where the motors are that raise and lower the anchors, but I had been there before and so I didn't take too many pictures. It's great to see the crowds the ship has attracted to the Camden Waterfront, and I'm proud to have played a small role in getting her ready for her opening to the public. Damn she looks good! |
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| Shot of the bow and the new pier still under construction |
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| The view as you approach the ship from the Visitors Center |
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| Close up of Mounts 51 and 53 |
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| Reinstallation of Periscope Cover on top of Turret #2 at the end of the day |
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| Newly shined periscope covers back in place on top of Turret #1 |
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| Port Anchor Windlass |
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| Starboard Anchor Windlass |
