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SHIP NOTES, SEAPORT & MUSEUM NEWS
The Battleship Iowa was officially transferred from the US Navy to the Los Angeles-based Pacific Battleship Center (PBC) on 30 April 2012. Until recentl y, USS Iowa has been mothballed at Suisun Bay, California, as part of the N ational D efense Reserve Fleet since 200 1. Th e ship was being fo ugh t over by two Cal ifo rnia non-p ro fits, whi ch we re each vyi ng for a chance to adopt the storied battleship as a museum ship. The ship was moved to the Port of Richmond to undergo res toration wo rk in March. PB C plans to have rhe ship underway towa rds southern Califo rnia by the end of M ay, with an anticipated arrival dare at Berth 87 in San Ped ro on 9 Jun e. Throughout its career, USS Iowa and the State of Iowa have had a stro ng relationship. For this new phase, Iowa Governor Te rry Branstad signed a bill pledging $3 milli on towards the ship's preservation. Look fo r updates at the PBC website at www.pacificbattleship. com fo r upcoming events surrounding the ship's arrival m
USS Iowa heading to the Norfolk Navy Yard in 1985.
June. Yo u can also "friend " them o n Facebook at www.face book.com/ pacificbatrleship. (PBC, POB 1739, San Ped ro, CA 90733) . . . Australian billionaire Clive Palmer announced in early May his plans to build a high-tech replica of the Titanic at a Chinese shipyard, with a maiden voyage planned for late 2016. The first voyage will follow the 19 12 planned route from England to New York. Titanic II will be built to simil ar dim ensions as the origin al ship but will be equipped with stare-of- the-art technology. She wo n't need those fo u r fam ous stacks fo r operations, but the ship will be fitted with them anyway to maintain the Titanic's ico nic appearance. C live Pal mer made his fort une in real estate before be42
co ming a coal mmmg magnate and is currently making a run for the Australian Treasurer's sear as the Liberal National Parry candidate. W hile Pal mer intends to maintain the appearance of rhe original ocean liner, besides the fake stacks and diesel engines, there will be big changes below the waterli ne. H er h ull will be welded- not riveted, her bow will sport a large bulbous shape to increase fue l efficiency, and the ship will be fitted with bow thrusters and an enlarged rudder, like modern cruise ships. . . . About 40 trees from Naval Support Activity Crane (Indiana) are being selected for upcoming dry dock repairs on the 1797 Navy frigate USS Constitution, scheduled to begin in 2014. Naval Support Activity (NSA) C rane, rhe third larges t US Navy installation in the world, has approximately 53, 000 acres of land forested with white oak, the same species used in the ori gin al co nstruction of rhe
Navy foresters and CDR James Stewart (right), commanding officer ofNSA Crane, assess a mature white oak set aside for Constitution. The ship's next dry docking is p lanned for 2 014 and will include replacing deteriorated 40-Joot-long hull p lanking and supp orting timbers.
ship. It was during Tyrone Martin's tenure as co mm ander of Constitution in the 1970s that h e had thousands of acreage at NSA Cran e d edicated as "Co nstitution G rove," to supply the histo ric wa rship with sui ta bl e timber fo r fu ture resto rations. The new timbers will be shipped to Boston in fa ll 201 4, and rhe restoration is expected to take about two years. (www. cnic.navy.m il/crane/; www.history. navy. m il/ ussco nsritution/) The Bemus Point-Stow Ferry, now in its third century of continuous operation on Chautauqua Lake in Western New York State, has just opened for the season. Located at Stow, New Yo rk, the historic ferry is located at Exit 8 off Interstate 86, app roxima tely 12 m iles west of Jamestown. O n 25 June 1811, Tom Bemus obtained a license fro m the Chautauq ua Coun ty Co urt of Common Pleas to ru n a ferry across the narrowest section of the
lake, linki ng property he owned on both shores . The first ferry was a log raft, propelled by oars and poles. Bemus's ra tes were 6 Y2 cents for a pedestrian , l 8 Y2 cents fo r a horse and rider, and 37% cents for a wago n/carriage with oxen or horses. Later, the Bemuses stretched manila ro pe between the shores to pull rhe fe rry across. A few years later, a series of pulleys and ro pes was devised, powered by the use of horses on the shore. By 1887, steel cables were put in to use-at th is tim e, the ferry was still being cranked by hand. The fi rst steam engine was installed by 1902, fo llowed by a gasoline engine six yea rs later. In 1943, the ferry was pu rchased and operated by the Ch autauqua Co un ty Hi ghway Departmen t. Its first d iesel engine was ins talled in 1977. Sin ce 1983, the non-p rofi t Chautauqua Lake Historic Vessels Co. has owned and operated th e ferry. The owners sim ply ask fo r a donation for passage across the lakehop efully imore than rhe first fare of 6 Y2 ce nts. (W1WW.sealio nproj ecrlrd. com) . ..
SEA HJISTORY 139, SUMMER 201 2