That bit of wisdom has been in the Navy longer than anyone knows, which means it must be true. I found this past weekend that enginerooms do not move. As such, I spent a good amount of time painting B-4.
The gratings had to be lifted out of place, taken up to the deck and then across to the picnic area ashore. After that, Gus and I ran an air line from the manifold in B-3, up to the second (O-1) deck, fastened it to a 20mm gun tub, and then ran it across to shore. Once the gratings were laid out, then the paint sprayer was unleashed on them, Gus and I taking turns changing the dull metal to shipshape gratings worthy of the finest of enginerooms. This was a multi-day project in and of itself.
But the process is a bit more involved than I first stated. Of 
course the deckplates have to be cleaned up, but to replace them on top of angle-iron that had not itself been chipped and painted would be, well, irresponsible. So most of Saturday found me with a scraper bar and rag going through 60 years worth of paint, oil, and grease. I kid you not, on some of the areas, I removed a 1/4" thick layer of dirt, oil, and grease and an additional 1/8 - 1/4" of paint. But in the end, everything looked fine, with the new paint applied. This Monday, while I'm taking a day off between work and USS SLATER, Gus and Carl will most likely be back at it, painting and then replacing the deckplates. Once that is done, B-4 will look 10 times better, but with still a ways to go.
The immediate concern was the deckplates. I believe I have failed to mention previously that most of the deckplates on the upper and lower levels of B-4 (on the starboard side) had been painted previously. The entire division, all three of us, were concerned
with the gratings these two past weekends. On the port side of the upper level, rather than solid plates of steel for the deck, there are gratings, basically a catwalk, much like you would see above subway lines for ventila
tion. The lower level of the port side has solid deckplates. All of the decking, solid or grating, is not fastened down, but sits upon a framework of angle-iron. This allows for easy access to what would otherwise be generally inaccessable areas of the miles of piping that wind throughout the einginerooms.
tion. The lower level of the port side has solid deckplates. All of the decking, solid or grating, is not fastened down, but sits upon a framework of angle-iron. This allows for easy access to what would otherwise be generally inaccessable areas of the miles of piping that wind throughout the einginerooms.
The gratings had to be lifted out of place, taken up to the deck and then across to the picnic area ashore. After that, Gus and I ran an air line from the manifold in B-3, up to the second (O-1) deck, fastened it to a 20mm gun tub, and then ran it across to shore. Once the gratings were laid out, then the paint sprayer was unleashed on them, Gus and I taking turns changing the dull metal to shipshape gratings worthy of the finest of enginerooms. This was a multi-day project in and of itself.This past weekend was more of the same. The upper level gratings had been returned to place during the week, and based on the "before" photo you saw, the difference is apparent. The upper level having been done, the same process had to be repeated for the deckplates in lower level.
But the process is a bit more involved than I first stated. Of 
course the deckplates have to be cleaned up, but to replace them on top of angle-iron that had not itself been chipped and painted would be, well, irresponsible. So most of Saturday found me with a scraper bar and rag going through 60 years worth of paint, oil, and grease. I kid you not, on some of the areas, I removed a 1/4" thick layer of dirt, oil, and grease and an additional 1/8 - 1/4" of paint. But in the end, everything looked fine, with the new paint applied. This Monday, while I'm taking a day off between work and USS SLATER, Gus and Carl will most likely be back at it, painting and then replacing the deckplates. Once that is done, B-4 will look 10 times better, but with still a ways to go.Next, I think, will be B-3, the engineroom forward of B-4. Recently the welders cut a hole in the bulkhead separating B-4 and B-3, and a watertight door is scheduled to go in the hole. All original accesses to the enginerooms are through small hatches and steep ladders, so these doors will make the spaces more accessable for all our visitors.
Well, since I have been dink in posting, I suppose I have to drop a little teaser here. You see, they are doing some work on one of the 20mm mounts, and I did manage to get a few good photos. But, I'm just too darned tired to post and talk about them now, so I guess you'll just have to stick around and check back...
1 comment:
I hate it when you leave me hanging.
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