Underwater Survey of the USS Becuna

[LukeFF]

A good friend of mine is an engineer diver and recently was part of a project to survey the hull of the USS Becuna, a Balao class submarine on display in Philadelphia. He just posted a video of the event on YouTube:



My friend's the Hispanic man wearing the orange vest.

On October 27 and 28, 2010, Ocean and Coastal Consultants, Inc. (OCC) performed a survey of the USS Becuna's hull and adjacent port side timber dolphins at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, PA. The USS Becuna (SS/AGSS-319), a National Historic Landmark, is a 66 year old BALAO-class submarine. Launched on January 30, 1944, the USS Becuna currently measures 307.6 feet long by 27.3 feet beam and draws a 17 feet draft with 1,830 tons displaced when surfaced. Decommissioned on November 7, 1969, the USS Becuna has since had through-hull blanking plates installed upon all flooding and utility holes located throughout the hull. The dive planes and rudder have been permanently fixed in position, and the forward and aft torpedo doors have all been permanently shut.

In accordance with the scope of work, OCC performed an underwater video survey of the submarine dive plane, rudder and hull with representative ultrasonic thicknesses (UT) measurements of the blanking plates. A survey was also completed of the two adjacent timber pile dolphins. The inspection diving operations were conducted using a 3-man crew of engineer-divers with surface-supplied air diving equipment and continuous communications and video staged from a large van located on the adjacent relieving platform.

[Takao]

Hopefully the USS Becuna is not in too bad a shape, Independence Seaport Museum has it's hands full with the USS Olympia. From what I have heard their(or at least USS Olympia's) fate will be decided sometime early in 2011, likely around March. What that fate will be, no one knows for sure; there has been talk of scraping, moving, or finding another group to take over.

All I can say at the moment is, visit them now, as it is likely they will not be there in the future.

[Arael]

Originally Posted by Takao

Hopefully the USS Becuna is not in too bad a shape, Independence Seaport Museum has it's hands full with the USS Olympia. From what I have heard their(or at least USS Olympia's) fate will be decided sometime early in 2011, likely around March. What that fate will be, no one knows for sure; there has been talk of scraping, moving, or finding another group to take over.

All I can say at the moment is, visit them now, as it is likely they will not be there in the future.

Olympia tours ended in November. All you would be able to do is see it. If you really want to help save Olympia, try going here. http://cruiserolympia.org/
I've already donated all I can afford to.

[Takao]

Arael,

No the tours have not ended, they decided to operate on a reduced schedule rather than close completely.

Tours of the Olympia and the WWII Submarine, Becuna will continue daily until December 31, 2010. From January through March 31, 2011 the historic ships will close to the public Monday through Thursday (except on Monday Holidays) so that the Museum’s staff can perform short-term preservation projects and routine maintenance. The ships will be open for tours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, as well as holiday Mondays (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Presidents Day). Starting April 1, 2011, public tours will resume their regular daily schedule from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The reduced winter schedule will not apply to the Museum’s indoor exhibits, which will remain open to visitors daily from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

http://www.phillyseaport.org/ships_olympia.shtml