Bisso Crews Refloat USS Drum

Bisso Marine Company, Inc., has successfully corrected the 12 degree list of USS Drum at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park, in Mobile, Ala. The list developed when the 308 ft. diesel electric submarine was driven aground during Hurricane Georges last year. The vessel had been closed to the public since the storm. Bisso Marine divers located three H-beam piles that were previous moorings for the vessel under and against the submarine. The piles were cut off four to five ft. below the natural bottom, and removed from under the sub. Derrick Barge Ajax, a salvage pump barge and tug Beau Bisso were mobilized from New Orleans for the operation. Washing mud and pumping of USS Drum's ballast tanks was coordinated with an unusually high tide to bring the vessel to an upright position.