USS Constitution Restoration Cam (May 2015)

Wow, great. Thanks for posting.

EJ

Thanks for those links.

Mike

that's so cool , thank's dave

Excellent!  Thanks, Dave!

Bill

Fascinating stuff; thanks, Dave.

Lots of interesting stuff to be seen here. One that came to my attention immediately: the appearance of the underwater hull. Apparently she's actually sheathed with copper (or something similar). The mottled, rather pale green color is what that copper looks like after sitting for quite a few years in the brackish water of Boston Harbor. And it appears that the Navy, not caring for that appearance, painted the top few rows of copper sheets red - probably to look nice for the tourists.

The website says Navy and civilian divers spent considerable time "scrubbing" the hull before she entered the dry dock, to get rid of mollusks, seaweed, and other accumulated crud. Seems like it would have been easier and cheaper to do that after she was high and dry. Guess the Navy didn't want the public to see her with her bottom encrusted.

What I can't find on that website is a description of just what's going to be done to her in this project. For many years the Navy has said its intention is to bring her back gradually to her 1812 configuration. What's the next step? Replacing the transom, maybe? I wish they'd announce their plans. (Maybe they have, but I can't find such an announcement on that website.)

If they remove the outer hull planking, this will (if memory serves) be the third time that's happened since I first visited her with my parents in 1966.

Site says they scrubbed the hull to remove as much weight as possible before drydocking.

MAY 19, 2015 - USS CONSTITUTION ENTERS DRY DOCK 1, CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD (CHARLESTOWN, MASS.)

- Remove upper mast sections, yards and bowsprit - Remove all guns, ballast and rudder - Install staging, then remove copper from ship's hull below the waterline

2015 - 2017 - ONGOING INSPECTION AND REPAIRS

- Inspect entire hull and replace hull planks as needed - Inspect rigging and replace as needed - Inspect and preserve fighting tops for all three masts

2016 - 2017 - ONGOING PRESERVATION PROJECTS

- Preserve all masts and yards - Preserve ship's wheel and headboards - Preserve gun carriages - Preserve ship's boats

2016 - FOCUS ON BOW (front of ship)

- Replace planking in bow - Inspect and repair trail-boards at bow

EARLY 2017 - FOCUS ON STERN (back of ship)

- Remove, inspect, replace and repair ship's stern ornamentation - Repairs to Captain's Cabin

LATE 2017 - CONSTITUTION RETURNS TO THE WATER

- Replace planking on gun deck and berth deck (lower decks) - Install rudder - Re-copper ship's hull beneath the waterline - Reef out and re-caulk spar deck (top deck) - Re-float ship - Re-rig ship once afloat and return guns and furniture

EARLY-MID 2018 - USS CONSTITUTION RETURNS TO PIER 1, CHARLESTOWN NAVY YARD (CHARLESTOWN, MASS.)

EJ

Well, that seems to answer my questions! Thanks, EJHammer.

I'll be interested to see what they do to the transom. If they follow the Corne paintings, they'll need a mighty good carver. I wonder how many such people are around these days.

The reference to the trailboards is also interesting. I don't think they currently look much like they did in 1812.

If this new restoration follows the mass of research that's been done over the past few decades, a lot of people will find that grand old ship hard to recognize. To my way of thinking, that's just fine.

Info came from US NAVY website.

EJ

Another reason, or at least, a happy side benefit, of prescrubbing the hull, is that the biologics remain in the water from whence they came. This reduces the stench of rotting organisms during the first few days after the dry dock is pumped out and also eliminates patches of crust from where the keel blocks cover the surfaces of the hull during the dry docking.

The crud on the bottom also would have interfered with the fit of the keel block in the dry dock. I'm sure the pre-scrubbing was a good idea. And I'm heartily glad I didn't have to do it.

The divers who scrub hulls have self propelled scrubbers that suck themselves t the ship's bottom. ll he divers do is ride along and guide it. Most the guys tat I've talked to actually enjoy the job.