USS Lucid Restoration

[Craig M.]

Good morning group members,
With this being my first post, let me introduce the Lucid restoration
program: The USS Lucid MSO-458 is a wooden ship that was sold by the
Navy to be scrapped in the 1970s. As it turns out, all metalic
materials, almost all being non ferrous, had been removed from the
ship. What is left today is a fully compartmented empty hull and
superstructure. When our group found and acquired her she was located
on a remote island in the California delta being used as a storage
facility for all sorts of unwanted junk. Lucid is not your typical
wooden boat, she is a 172 foot by 35 foot ocean capable vessel that
originally displaced 770 tons. It took years to empty her of all the
junk and remove such from the island by ferry boat. The ship now is
fairly clean and has a coat of primer. Only a month ago she was moved
by tug from remote Bradford Island to the city of Stockton, CA. Here,
she will undergo her restoration.

To date, we have made quite a bit of progress on this restoration
project, remembering that we are completely outfitting an empty hull.
Our job is quite challenging since the MSOs had very special equipment
everything was built of non-magnetic material. As such, it has all
been melted down for scrap metal value. Some of our recent material
acquisitions include a 26' motor whale boat, two 17' minesweeping
floats, a DRT, a large assortment of electrical wiring devices removed
from a sister ship and two signal lights found in the middle of New
York City. We have fabricated all the life line stanchions and
installed the life lines and jack staff. We have located an MSO anchor
windlass and will be negotiating for it.

We have a lot of challenges ahead of us. Our desire is to first
concentrate on reoutfitting the topside areas and bring the ship's
exterior to be a visually accurate MSO. I should mention that this
ship is the one remaining MSO that is still afloat.

We have spent a lot of time trying to locate a 40mm single Bofors anti
aircraft gun. The Navy tells us that there are none in surplus
inventory and that they can't help. We have been scouring the
internet and have found some Army models available in Greece. The
cost of shipping and import regs. on weapons seem to be prohibitive at
this time. If anyone has any ideas on where to get one of these guns,
I'd love to hear them.

Another challenge is finding the standard Navy armored electrical
cable to establish some interior lighting and outlets is driving us
crazy. It would seem that some of that cable would be available as
surplus somewhere but we can't find any. The other part of the
problem is that the Government Liquidators bundle surplus materials.
If we find a small quantity of cable it is grouped with tons of
unwanted and unrelated materials that must be bid on as a lot.

Lastly (for now) we have a group of ex MSO crewmen that are helping in
remembering what each of the interior compartments and areas looked
like. We have collected a large assortment of old photos but they all
leave a lot to be desired. We have a set of General Plans but they
don't give much for compartment layout or equipment part numbers. We
would love to have detailed drawings that must have existed at some
time but where? All the national archives seem to have is the General
Plans.

I'm sorry that this has been so long a posting. If anyone has any
ideas as to where to find any of this stuff I'd certainly appreciate
your help. Thanks.

Craig McAllister

[Craig M.]

First Let me wish everyone a most prosperous new year for your
organizations and ships. Although there are no postings in response
to my posting about all the equipment that the Lucid needs, I did
receive a couple of personal emails. Included were some links and
suggestions as to where to look for surplus marine equipment. Of
particular interest to us is the large towing winch that we called the
minesweeping winch. I sent out inquiries and a photo to quite a few
advertisers in Boats and Harbors. I've gotten several responses, one
dealer actually knew the winch, others are trying to find one in their
part of the country. I appreciated getting the Boats and Harbors
suggestion. I wasn't familiar with the publication. One thing is for
sure, having several professionals looking for the equipment is better
than just me looking at the internet. Thanks for the help, I
appreciate the input.
Craig

[Bob Pointer]

You might also have some luck in Philadelphia at the shipyards.
There are several decommissioned ships that are being stripped prior to
being cut up.
Once a year museum ships are allowed access to these ships to remove
equipment they need for their projects.

Bob Pointer
LST 325

--
When you arise in the morning,
give thanks for the morning light,
for your life and strength.
Give thanks for your food, and the joy of living.
If you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies with yourself.�
Tecumseh - Shawnee Chief.

[Bob Pointer]

Perry Ballenger can give you details if you don't already have the
information.

[Craig McAllister]

Back in 2002 the three last MSOs which were in storage in Philadelphia were
moved to Baltimore Marine Industries (BMI) at Sparrows Point. It just
happens that one of them was the USS Impervious MSO-449, the MSO that I
served on in the early 1960s. These three wooden ships were dismantled
(broken) there. BMI is no longer in business and the facility is being
leased or sold piecemeal to various companies. BMI went defunct right at
the end of the scrapping of the MSOs. I've tried to find out what happened
to all the materials removed from these ships but I've never found out a
thing. Perhaps there is someone on or associated with this group that would
have some ideas. A while back I located a manager from the BMI organization
but was not able to get any help.
Craig McAllister
MSO-458

Bob Pointer
LST 325

Tecumseh - Shawnee Chief.

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