Torsk Work Weekend 17
October 1-3, 2010
Work Weekend Report from Chief Mike Eacho:
Roger Warden, Art "Senior
Chief" Mary, Rich Basera (yep, we allowed a Marine), Bill McGlinn, Darrin
Singer, Jim Reeb (ouch, two Marines), Greg Cotton, Dave Thames, Bruce Broseker,
Chuck Weaver, Frank Morgan, John Bieseker, Capt. Dennis Dyckman, Larry "Doc"
Derouin, Cathy Steiner, Bill "The COB" Derouin, George Kelly, Shea "Senior
Chief" Brown, Frank Palmer, Gilbert Bohannon, Charlie Bohannon, Al "The Slacker"
Becker, Al Freund, Jeff Cross, Jaime Eacho, Tim Calvert, Evil Tracey Johnstone,
Mike Eacho and although not present in person, our Mustang, Roy Ator, helped to
make the weekend a huge success.
Now, the work accomplished:
A new docent shack was started. It was about 75% completed. Weather prevented
the delivery of materials until Saturday morning or no doubt it would have been
100%. John, B, Bill M, Larry D, Darrin S, and two very hard working midshipmen,
who I'm sorry I can't remember the names of, did a great job on this project.
Art M, Mike E, and Larry D worked on Hull Opening indicators. They got the ATR
and FTR torpedo loading hatch indicators working, a project Neil started a
couple of years ago. They also repaired the FTR escape trunk door and hatch
indicators. All the hatch and door indicators now work with the exception of the
After Battery Hatch.
Chuck W and Al B worked on the Overtaken light located on the back of the sail
and the stern light. Both are now working. The Overtaken light had worked, but
had developed a short and the stern light was jury rigged under the old museum
regime, but has now been restored to operation from the original supply.
George K worked on DC light fixtures in the ATR. Ever since we powered up the DC
lighting busses from AC shore power we have been trying to get all the fixtures
polarized correctly. George tested all the ones in ATR and had to rewire about
six of them. This is a big job as the brittleness of the old wiring requires the
wires to be reinsulated with heat shrink.
Jeff Cross did a lot of scraping, cleaning and repairing of small discrepancies
in the Control Room. He had some assistance from two midshipmen.
Frank P and John B did some much needed cleaning in the After Battery Well.
Frank continued sorting all the hardware that has been recovered during strip
ships over the years.
Bill D and Greg C worked in Radio on our RBO and URC-32.
Dennis D continued repairing discrepancies in the Forward Battery. He has been
replacing missing fasteners, reinstalling pieces and parts and making the
Forward Battery look like a compartment aboard an operational submarine should.
He also applied some much needed paint to the bulkhead behind the WTD to
Control.
Shea B came to the rescue and guided several midshipmen to the task of cleaning
the Pump Room. After the mids departed, he continue cleaning in a space that is
in dire need of cleaning and not in one of the nicer places aboard.
Mike and Art inspected the ECM mast well to determine if the water level was
actually high as the alarm indicated. The well is indeed in need of some serious
pumping.
Dave T, Roger W, Frank M, Rich B, Al F and Bruce B worked on tank inspections.
Another one of those necessary, but unpleasant tasks. They got all the tanks
along the starboard side inspected. They could have done so much more had we not
been surprised by the arrival of 40+ midshipmen on Saturday morning. With their
arrival, everyone helped me out by supervising groups of mids perform other
tasks.
The mids under supervision did a great job of cleaning, repairing, and helping
us out. In particular, they moved one of the Trout torpedo skids from back aft
to up forward. During the torpedo load, we had one loaded to the deck back aft,
but then discovered that it would not fit, so it needed to be moved forward.
Larry D cycled all the bulkhead flappers, one of those preventative maintenance
tasks, and also cycled the hatches, doors, and valves in the FTR escape trunk.
Tim C worked in the Engine Rooms returning them to the sparkling condition
expected of an operating submarine and he directed the midshipmen assigned to
work in these spaces.
The after emergency buoy
was temporarily secured. The securing brackets for the buoy are rusted off.
Bill, Larry, and a couple of midshipmen secured the buoy using some straps.
Hopefully, we can get the Seabees to fabricate and weld in some new brackets.
Thanks to Gilbert, Charlie, Bruce, Chuck, and all the others who gave tours of
the boat to the Mids. Thanks especially to Captain Dennis who spoke to all the
mids about submarine duty and how they can be good officers and submariners.
Special thanks to Dave, Frank, John, Cathy, Shea, and so many others who
contributed to the cooking and cleaning tasks. Thanks to Jim R and the Museum
for supplying breakfast, lunch and dinner on Saturday. The meals were
fantastic!!! Thanks again to Roy for so generously funding the meal on Friday
evening and for funding the livations.
Overall, I think the Work Weekend was a big success. Thanks to all of you guys,
our crew, who came for the weekend and accomplished so much. We truly enjoyed
your company as always and look forward to you returning soon. The visitors
greatly benefited from your sea stories and the time you spent with them
explaining the boat and its systems and equipment. We wish you all were closer
so you could spend more weekends with us. As I have said many many times, the
Torsk has the best crew of any boat currently or ever in the fleet!
If I forgot to mention any work you guys did, please let me know. As always, it
is difficult to be everywhere and to witness the great work you all do while you
are here. I enjoyed spending time with all of you and appreciate all the work
you do aboard Torsk. You all contribute so much to our boats appearance and
operational condition. You also make the weekend enjoyable for everyone.