Naval Museum News

Fincantieri Marine Repair is now serving as a Hangar Sponsor the Jacksonville Naval Museum, a role that will provide $50,000 in funding over several years to provide necessary renovations and upgrades to the Museum’s retired warship USS Orleck. Fincantieri also recently supported the Museum by providing a specialized crane and volunteering a team of its U.S. Veteran employees to  help lift a historic QH-50 Drone Anti-Submarine Helicopter (DASH), weighing approximately 1,154 lbs., aboard the USS Orleck’s flight deck at no cost to the non-profit. In response to the sponsorship and ongoing support, the Jacksonville Naval Museum will dedicate its renovated hangar to the company upon completion of the work.For the Military Order of the Purple Heart, a congressionally chartered U.S.

Commercial workboat philanthropy on display on PT-305: WWII Museum’s PT-305 sails again after a far reaching donor-funded restoration. In March, the National WWII Museum in New Orleans launched its reconstructed PT-305, built locally by Higgins Industries in 1943. The museum acquired the boat known as the USS Sudden Jerk in 2007, restoration began in 2009, and it now sails Lake Pontchartrain as an interactive exhibit. PT-305, with a fifteen-man crew, belonged to a 12-ship squadron operating in the Mediterranean from 1944 until the war ended in 1945.

The Great Lakes Naval Museum was officially renamed the National Museum of the American Sailor during a ceremony and sign unveiling at the museum July 4. The Navy's top enlisted Sailor, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (AW/NAC) Mike Stevens, was joined by retired Rear Adm. Sam Cox, director of Naval History and Heritage Command, North Chicago Mayor Leon Rockingham, Capt. James Hawkins, commanding officer of Naval Station Great Lakes, Jennifer Searcy, Ph.D., director of the National Museum of the American Sailor, and representatives from the Great Lakes Naval Museum Foundation and National Museum of the American Sailor Foundation to unveil the new sign in front of the museum.

A cadre of volunteers navigate the regulatory labyrinth and a host of safety requirements to bring back to life an enduring symbol the nation’s can-do spirit and resiliency. Early next year, a 78-foot Patrol Torpedo 305 boat, being restored at the National WWII Museum, should be U.S. Coast Guard compliant and ready for passengers. The fast-attack PT-305, equipped with cannons, torpedoes and machine guns, served in the Mediterranean in 1944 and 1945, operating from Bastia, Corsica.

Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf (CG 72) arrived in Varna, Bulgaria, for a scheduled port visit, May 30, the U.S. Navy announced. According to the Navy, Vella Gulf's presence in Bulgaria reaffirms the United States' commitment to strengthening ties with NATO allies and partners, while working toward mutual goals of promoting peace and stability in the region. While in Bulgaria, Vella Gulf Sailors will participate in community relations events at the Bulgarian Naval Academy and a local orphanage, visit the Bulgarian Naval Museum and tour the historic city of Varna.

Recognized for coatings performance on restoration of historic battleship. PPG Industries' (NYSE:PPG) protective and marine coatings (PMC) business received The Society of Protective Coatings (SSPC) 2013 Military Coatings Project Award of Excellence during the SSPC 2013 trade show at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, Texas. The award is given annually by SSPC to recognize exceptional coatings work performed on U.S. military ships, structures or facilities. PPG earned recognition for the performance of PSX(R) ONE coating, a one-component acrylic-siloxane coating, applied to the exterior of the historic USS Iowa battleship. PSX ONE coating provides high color and gloss retention in a durable, low-VOC (volatile organic compound), non-isocyanate formulation.

PSX ONE coating restores ‘Battleship of Presidents,’ now an interactive naval museum. The USS Iowa protected America for nearly 50 years. Now PSX® ONE coating, an advanced marine coating introduced last year by PPG Industries, is protecting the ship. Known as the “World’s Greatest Naval Ship” and the “Big Stick,” the 887-foot-long, 45,000-ton USS Iowa was first deployed in 1943. It is also called the “Battleship of Presidents” because it hosted more visits by U.S. presidents than any ship of its kind, including its historic escort of Franklin D.

Historic battleship being restored, now interactive naval museum at Port of Los Angeles. The exterior of the historic battleship USS Iowa has been repainted using PSX(R) ONE coating, a one-component acrylic-siloxane coating introduced last year by PPG Industries’ (NYSE:PPG) protective and marine coatings business (PMC). The ship, which was originally commissioned in 1943 and served in the Atlantic and Pacific fleets during World War II, opened July 7 as an interactive naval museum at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, Calif.

One of the most powerful battleships of all time, the Iowa was built starting in 1940. After it was commissioned, the ship transported President Roosevelt to the Tehran Conference in 1943. The ship also saw action in World War II and the Korean War. The Navy awarded the ship to a nonprofit group to display as an interactive naval museum that will highlight its place in American history, explains CBS News. Among those in attendance at the rededication included Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

Surrounded by pleasure boats and other vessels, the 887-foot long, 58,000-ton battlewagon was towed through the bay and passed under the Golden Gate Bridge. Crowds watched from both sides of the bridge as the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Sockeye provided an official escort and the San Francisco fireboat Phoenix led the way. At the St. Francis Yacht Club on San Francisco’s shoreline, officers and crew members of the USS Decatur, outfitted in their dress whites, saluted as the Iowa drifted past, Rogers said.

Harbor Commission Approves Environmental Impact Report, Lease Agreement; Historic Battleship Plans to Open to Public July 7. The Los Angeles Harbor Commission today voted unanimously to create a new home for the historic battleship, the USS IOWA, in a prime location along the LA Waterfront at the Port of Los Angeles. In separate actions, The Harbor Commission approved the lease agreement and an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) necessary to bring the World War II icon to the LA Waterfront  where it will be converted to an interactive naval museum and living memorial.

Following years of aging in the San Francisco Bay area’s ghost fleet, the 887-foot long ship that once carried President Franklin Roosevelt to a World War II summit to meet with Churchill, Stalin and Chiang Kai Shek is coming to life once again as it is being prepared for what is most likely its final voyage. Firing its 16-inch guns in the Arabian Sea, the battleship Iowa shuddered. As the sky turned orange, a blast of heat from the massive guns washed over the ship. This was the Iowa of the late 1980s…

USS IOWA Takes on Iowa Coins, Regains its Mast, Prepares for its Final Journey; The Battleship of Presidents will open as an interactive naval museum in Los Angeles. The time-honored tradition of adding coins to the mast of a ship for good luck took place as two Iowans stood atop a 205-foot-tall platform and dropped Iowa state quarters into the mast of the USS IOWA as it hung from a barge crane. Former Iowa legislator Jeff Lamberti of Ankeny and Becky Beach of Des Moines released a handful of coins into the mast shortly before eight welders reattached it to the historic battleship.

Saturday, September 8 should be a day to remember in Port Burwell, Ontario. That is the day the decommissioned submarine Ojibwa, Canada’s first Oberon Class submarine is set arrive at her new home to become the centerpiece of the Elgin Military Museum’s new naval museum. The decision to earmark September 8 as the day the sub will be brought ashore and placed on her new foundations was made at a meeting of the Ojibwa Project Team on January 30. The schedule of work that set the September date is one of the remaining pieces required to obtain the final release of Ojibwa to the Museum.

NOAA and the U.S. Navy embarked today on a two-day research expedition to survey the condition of two sunken Civil War vessels that have rested on the seafloor of the James River in Hampton Roads, Va., for nearly 150 years. Using state-of-the-art sonar technology to acquire data, researchers will create three-dimensional maps of the two shipwrecks, USS Cumberland and CSS Florida, to  analysis on their current conditions and better understand the technological innovations of the time. “The remains of the USS Cumberland and CSS Florida, preserved in the waters of Hampton Roads, remind us of the sacrifices made during the Civil War and give us a unique and rare opportunity to explore a pivotal chapter in our nation’s history…

For the first time since his dramatic rescue at sea, Captain Richard Phillips of the Maersk Alabama will publicly thank the commanding officer and crew of the USS Bainbridge during a ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia on November 19. The ceremony will take place on the fantail of guided missile cruiser at 2 p.m. The USS Bainbridge will be moored on the downtown Norfolk waterfront. The Maersk container ship was captured by rogue pirates off the coast of Somalia on April 8. Captain Phillips offered himself as a hostage in exchange for the safety of his crew. For four days, while the world watched, Phillips was held captive in a 25-foot lifeboat.

Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Mike Mullen speaks with Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy Commander-in-Chief Adm. Wu Shengli, after a Full Honors Ceremony at the Naval Museum in Washington, D.C. on April 4, 2007. U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Chad J. McNeeley

A historic nuclear-powered ship that probably attracted more barnacles than tourists while serving as a floating museum off Mount Pleasant has completed the first leg of its rehabilitation. But the next phase of work won't take place in the Lowcountry, as federal officials had once considered. The NS Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered cargo and passenger vessel, is being restored, possibly for its second stint as a floating museum, according to its owner, MarAd. Colonna's Shipyard in Norfolk, Va., recently completed an initial $995,000 cleanup and renovation of the 596-foot ship, which was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1991, when it was still part of the naval museum at state-owned Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.

Savannah, an old nuclear-powered ship that spent time in Charleston Harbor as a tourist attraction, is getting a face lift for a possible new tour of duty, according to a report on www.charleston.net. Savannah was the world's first nuclear-powered cargo and passenger vessel. It is set to be restored, possibly for its second stint as a floating museum, according to the U.S. Maritime Administration. Norfolk, Va.-based Colonna's Shipyard recently was awarded a $995,000 contract to renovate the 596-foot ship, which was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1991, when it was still part of the naval museum at state-owned Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant.