Floating museum ships around the world take to searching for missing parts and items from their vessel as they often received the ship after decades in mothballs where they were cannibalized to keep units still in the fleet “in the fight.” Others had equipment stripped from them before transfer.
This leaves museums looking for parts from all over.
I know on a visit to the USS Alabama (BB-60) I found Dutch Navy-marked 20mm cannon components. On visiting the USCGC Ingham, there is an amalgam of other 327′ Treasury-class cutters as well as gear from across the Coast Guard. On visiting the USS Kidd (DD-661) in Baton Rouge, they have an unrestored compartment they will show you that illustrates how the ship was received in 1982 after sitting in mothballs for 20 years.
This week the volunteers of the museum ship USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr (DD-850), decommissioned 2 July 1973, detailed some of the work put in to “Joey P” over the past several years in scouring other tin cans coming up for dismantling or destruction to salvage what they could to make the old Gearing-class destroyer a more complete specimen of her species. The donors range from Fletchers and Shermans to Adams and Farragut-class guided missile destroyers.
ex-USS Barney (DDG-6), moored along two mothballed FFG7s. Barney decommissioned 17 December 1990 after 28 years of service and was sold for scrapping in 2006.
As early as 2001, much of the original items needed were missing to make her the period authentic display she is in 2017. Two main groups, the 1970s and the 2000s team have acquired just about all that she needed. From Mexico, California, Virginia, and Pennsylvania came literally tons of equipment from DASH drones to sound powered phone handset cradles. Our crew removed items with respect and honor to those who served on the ships we removed the items from. The history of these ships live on today.. Here is a list of some of the destroyer types ships we acquired items from or a part originally came from:
USS Nicholas DD449
USS The Sullivans DD537
USS Caperton DD650
USS Van Valkenburgh DD656
USS William M. Wood DD715
USS William C. Lawe DD763
USS McKean DD784
USS Basilone DD824
USS Myles C Fox DD829
USS George K. Mackenzie DD836
USS Glennon DD840
USS Perry DD844
USS Robert L. Wilson DD847
USS Harwood DD861
USS Steinaker DD863
USS Stribling DD867
USS Brownson DD868
USS Newman K. Perry DD883
USS Orleck DD886
USS Forrest Sherman DD931
USS Barry DD933
USS Bigelow DD942
USS Radford DD968
USS Peterson DD969
USS Caron DD970
USS Briscoe DD977
USS Connolly DD979
USS John Rodger DD983
USS Thorn DD988
USS Lawrence DDG-4
USS Claude Ricketts DDG-5
USS Barney DDG-6
USS Sampson DDG-10
USS Sellers DDG-11
USS Farragut DDG-37
USS Luce DDG-38
USS Macdonough DDG-39
USS Dahlgren DDG-43
And that’s just the destroyers, the group says they have another list of auxiliaries and cruisers they have been able to salvage gear from.
