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Nikademus -> RE: IJ minisub attack successful??? (6/15/2012 5:05:26 PM)
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i visited this ship in 99, shortly after the massive restoration effort. Even after that, the ship is so big and just so OLD, they can't keep up with everything. The old girl is over *100* years old and is exposed to the elements. Even the restored portions of the ship face this beating. The unrestored sections......including the ones i snuck into, are pretty much as they were when the navy handed over the vessel, and its there that you truely get an appreciation for just how old the vessel is. Lighter structures in particular are simply crumbling into dust. I recall the brig.....which was accessible, was falling apart. The light cell doors just rusting and disapearing right off the hinges. despite the Texas heat, its actually damp and cool down in the bowels of the ship.....perfect atmosphere for breaking down the metals.
At this point i'm suprised they continue to float the ship. Granted, they tried "beaching" it at first which caused the hull to rot even faster as well as making it inaccessible to the divers. What's really needed at this point is a permanent drydock such as the one encasing HIJMS Mikasa where the ship is out of the water. They did the same with HMS Victory.
Even 'younger' ships like the Missouri face similar challenges. When i visited PH in '06 I was rather shocked at the poor condition of the ship. In these fiscally lean times it gets harder and harder to save these old girls. We're now experiencing why the British with it's proud RN traditions were unable to afford to preserve even one WWI/WWII battleship as a memorial. It's a luxury manuy countries and states simply can't afford and volunteer donations only go so far.
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