A Sea Story.

[Dr.Hess]

Helping Dave out with some sea story posting.

I was an Apprentice on the SS Cove Explorer in 1980, built in 1945. Don't recall all the previous names, but it was a T2 tanker, jumbolized twice. Once with a longer hull and once with a higher hull. The deck house was picked up and put on the stern house. A true adventure. In the six months I was on it, we broke down several times, dead in the water. The most memorable time was heading into SanFran from Long Beach. For those unenlightened on the T2's propulsion system, it was turbo-electric. 2 steam boilers ran a turbine which ran a generator which ran a very large electric motor that ran the prop. This gave very good speed control, so it was very good at keeping a pace with a convoy in WWII. We had a long term steam leak that blew live steam into the electric motor driving the screw. Engineers: "Yeah, we should fix that." So we're heading into San Francisco harbor and the engine room calls up the bridge and says "The main engine (electric motor) is smoking! We're shutting it down!" So now we have no steering and are heading right for one of the supports of the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh yeah, we were also technically "sinking" at the time, with the fo'c'sle taking on more water than we could pump out. The deck crew ran to the anchors and dropped one, dragging it and damaging the windlass/brake, barely managing to stop us before we took out the Golden Gate Bridge. That would have been "a bad thing." They patched the engine together with electrical putty (amazing stuff, I keep it handy in my shop to this day) and we limped on into SF, probably the oil terminal at Martinez. The USCG was not amused.

[A Prasad]

Hi Dr. Hess,

What a gripping account, thanks for sharing. The turbo-electric detail and the way you described the main engine smoking made the whole scene very vivid. Dropping and dragging the anchor with the windlass damaged must have been a tense few minutes; you and the crew did a remarkable job to avoid disaster.

If you remember, could you share any of the previous names the Cove Explorer sailed under or what ultimately became of her? Also, do you still have any photos or paperwork from your time aboard, and any more detail about how the engineers patched the motor with electrical putty? That last bit sounds like a great practical fix worth knowing more about.

Best Regards

Ajit

 Prasad

Aj's Linkedin

On Thu, Jan 9, 2025 at 7:40 PM Dr.Hess <drh_f...@drhess.net> wrote:

Helping Dave out with some sea story posting.

I was an Apprentice on the SS Cove Explorer in 1980, built in 1945. Don't recall all the previous names, but it was a T2 tanker, jumbolized twice. Once with a longer hull and once with a higher hull. The deck house was picked up and put on the stern house. A true adventure. In the six months I was on it, we broke down several times, dead in the water. The most memorable time was heading into SanFran from Long Beach. For those unenlightened on the T2's propulsion system, it was turbo-electric. 2 steam boilers ran a turbine which ran a generator which ran a very large electric motor that ran the prop. This gave very good speed control, so it was very good at keeping a pace with a convoy in WWII. We had a long term steam leak that blew live steam into the electric motor driving the screw. Engineers: "Yeah, we should fix that." So we're heading into San Francisco harbor and the engine room calls up the bridge and says "The main engine (electric motor) is smoking! We're shutting it down!" So now we have no steering and are heading right for one of the supports of the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh yeah, we were also technically "sinking" at the time, with the fo'c'sle taking on more water than we could pump out. The deck crew ran to the anchors and dropped one, dragging it and damaging the windlass/brake, barely managing to stop us before we took out the Golden Gate Bridge. That would have been "a bad thing." They patched the engine together with electrical putty (amazing stuff, I keep it handy in my shop to this day) and we limped on into SF, probably the oil terminal at Martinez. The USCG was not amused.

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[Dr.Hess]

Hey Ajit,

Well, it's been a few decades. For all of us I suppose. A little googling came up with this:

https://www.aukevisser.nl/t2tanker/id562.htm

Cove Explorer, ex "Mount Explorer", ex. "William J. Fields", ex. "Thalia", ex. "Hess Diesel", ex. "W.E. Downing", ex. "Huntington Hills" 

T2 tanker built in 1944.

And interestingly enough, it appears that after I got off in San Fran, it wound up back on the east coast in the heavy fuel oil trade, which is all we carried when I as onboard. If I recall, I probably got off the ship in Spring or Summer of '81. And there was a bit of an issue when a relief captain came onboard in November, followed by the vessel being declared unseaworthy and the Capt. getting his license suspended, after only being on board for a few weeks. Suck to be him. 

https://media.defense.gov/2017/Dec/20/2001859033/-1/-1/0/2321%20-%20HARRIS.PDF

From the PDF:

FINDINGS OF FACT
On 20 November 1981, Walter H. Harris, Appellant, reported
aboard the COVE EXPLORER as relief master. At that time, Chief
Mate Zaenger toured the main deck with Appellant and told him of
the vessel's structural problems in the bow, specifically, that
there was a fractured web frame in the forepeak tank. There was a
seepage of sea water in the forepeak tank through the side shell of
the vessel and there were also two cement patches in the bow
section which had been installed about 1 November 1981. Appellant
served aboard the COVE EXPLORER as master under the authority of
his license from 20 November 1981 to 1 December 1981.
On 21 November 1981, the COVE EXPLORER sailed in ballast from
the port of Providence, Rhode Island, to Wilmington, North
Carolina, where she loaded a cargo of fuel oil for discharge in
Salem, Massachusetts. The COVE EXPLORER arrived at the port of
Salem on 30 November 1981.
On 30 November 1981, the COVE EXPLORER was boarded in Salem by
CWO Robert E. Wiseman, USCG, who inspected the vessel's hull. Mr.
Wiseman withdrew the vessel's Certificate of Inspection based upon
his findings. The vessel was permitted to sail to Boston,
Massachusetts for repairs and inspections.
On 1 December 1981, Lt Werner W. Splettstoesser, USCG,
inspected the COVE EXPLORER in Boston, Massachusetts. It was Lt.
Splettstoesser's opinion that on 1 December 1981 the COVE EXPLORER
was unseaworthy.

Looks like they did a half-assed job patching up the fo'c'sle and kept going. Typical for Cove Shipping. She is razor blades today. If I am reading this 

https://www.shipvault.com/ships/35342

correctly, scrapped in Texas City 11/1983.  I do have some photos somewhere, but I think my wife put them in a box at the bottom of a large pile of "stuff" in a closet and it would take me an hour or two to get to the box and hours more putting it all back together. I actually tried a few months ago and gave up.

Sailing on a Cove ship was always an adventure. 

73

Dr.Hess

NG6Y