While we remain open, although with very reduced attendance, our operations team and volunteers continue to tackle various restoration projects on Battleship IOWA.
Fantail
IOWA’s aft fantail helicopter landing deck is receiving a new non-skid surface. This effort is very labor intensive. The old surface is taken off first, along with the rust. This process is followed by coating the surface with five layers of sand and very expensive paint. Our painter Mary Ma-Stoddard, along with many volunteers, has been working on the fantail for several months with some wonderful results.
The Horseshoe
Greg Garnet has been hard at work restoring the tiling in the “horseshoe” – the senior officers’ passageway on the starboard side of the main deck superstructure.
Rust Busting and Welding
Volunteer Emily Segal is our newest superhero. She’s a veterinarian during the week and comes to work on the ship on her days off. She is a real needle gunner, removing rust from port deck near the boat control shield that Chief Dave Moser repaired. She got dirty and needle gunned so long that the air compressor ran out of gas and the needle gun stopped working.
The port 02 level superstructure bulkhead and deck has been undergoing much needed restoration. The wooden deck margin planks were removed so rusted sections of the superstructure’s bulkhead could undergo Chief Moser’s welding magic and be replaced.
Deck Planking
When Emily, Chief Moser, and others were finished, it was time for the ship’s carpenter Stan Sato to move in and demonstrate his considerable skills.
Anchor Windlass Room
In preparation for this space to be added to our Engineering Tour, a dedicated group of volunteers including Dave Vanderveen, Hal Puritz, Jim Kurrasch, Linda Ayers, and Ben Jackel has spent months in the hot confines restoring the forward 2nd deck anchor windlass. From cleaning to painting to polishing an impressive amount of brass and copper, this team has completely transformed the space, and we’re eager to show it to the public as soon as it’s safe to do so.
Our thanks to the ship’s curator Dave Way who contributed to this piece!
These projects and more continue all over the vessel. Want to get involved? Sign up to volunteer!
Unable to jump into this work in person? Support it with a contribution!