Charles Harden

SELECTION

When we first sighted American Victory in May, 1998, she was moored in a nest of seven vessels, on anchors, in the James River, as a part of the U. S. Maritime Administrations Reserve Fleet.

This facility was established soon after WWI to safely store the laid up cargo vessels and naval auxiliaries in anticipation of future emergencies and it has functioned quite well as such through five wars up until today.

The AmVic was laid up in 1969, following service in Viet Nam, her third war. Marad re-activated her for a brief period in 1985, as part of the Victory Ship Validation Program.

Following this she was again de-activated and placed in Reserve Retention Status, which involved sealing up the hull and house and dehumidifying the engine room, superstructure, after steering compartment and the Number Three Cargo hold. All lifeboats, cargo booms, winches, controllers and cargo gear were removed from installation and placed in no. 3 hold. Additionally, the underwater hull was protected from galvanic attack by a Modified Impressed Current system which was powered from shore.

Our inspection party surveyed several ships at Lee Hall, VA and at Beaumont, TX and selected the American Victory as the most suited, overall, for our project.

The next step was to complete the previously commenced efforts to attain qualification, then actually obtain title to the vessel. With the gracious offices of our local U. S. Congressman, we demonstrated our qualifications as a genuine not-for-profit 501(c)(3) corporation and were duly notified that we were eligible to receive ownership. Actual passing of title would occur when we cast off our lines at the Reserve Fleet. All of this was accomplished late in 1998, and we were now free to commence the physical work of preparing for sea, under tow.

SURVEY

In this regard, the first task was to conduct a thorough survey of the ship to ascertain the detailed condition of the hull structure, watertight closures, sea valves, sea chests, along with the propeller shaft and rudder securement.

This inspection covered all five cargo holds, the engine room, shaft alley, steering compartment, forecastle compartments as well as the superstructure, poop house and three mast houses.

As marine surveyor on this project, I conducted the survey and prepared a comprehensive report along with a list of recommendations. (copies attached as Enclosures 1 and 2).

In addition to the watertight integrity of the hull and house envelope, it was necessary to assure that all manhole covers to double bottom and deep tanks were secure and all tank vent lines intact. This involved a "hands on" examination of approximately sixty covers and thirty vent lines.

The importance of this detail was demonstrated recently when a sister ship from the James River fleet was under tow to a ship breaker's yard and developed a 15 degree list at sea. Investigation disclosed a flooded major compartment wherein a manhole cover (or covers) had not been properly secured and flooding occurred when a penetration of the bottom shell made itself manifest. Ironically, this particular ship was moored alongside our vessel when we first viewed her in the fleet. Additionally, no riding crew was on board this vessel, hence no remedial action could be taken when the flooding began.

PREPARATION

With the recommendations list in hand, the actual preparation began.

Some details concerning this work are worth noting: First, the ship's lighting was not functioning, requiring flashlights and lanterns for all work below decks. This required numerous trips to Home Depot for batteries. We also needed great quantities of small diameter wire rope, wire rope clips and turnbuckles which required more trips to Home Depot. Secondly, American Victory was moored sixth in a nest of seven ships, with the access side ladder installed on the first, therefore the work party had to traverse across five ships each day, for access and egress.

A major technical complication for towing was the position in which the propeller was locked. When the ship was laid up, the 18'-3" diameter, four-blade wheel was locked into position with two blades vertical, and two blades horizontal. The vertical blade in the 6 o'clock position was fully immersed and the blade in the 12 o'clock position was completely out of the water, due to the light condition of the ship. The 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock blades were partially immersed, but they cancelled each other out with regard to drag. The propeller's pitch of 17'-6" results in a rather acute angle of attack, relative to the forward motion of the hull, hence the fully immersed 6 o'clock blade would introduce a significant steering force when the vessel was under tow with an immobile propeller.

A simple calculation was made of the immersed face areas of the propeller blade and rudder. The actual angle of advance of the blade was measured on a spare propeller located in the JRRF storage yard. Then a simple ratio and proportion calculation was performed which indicated that an 8.5 degree angle of left rudder was required to counteract this steering force.

Inasmuch as the ship was without power, it was necessary to unlock the steering gear and move the tiller 8.5 degree with the two-man manually operated emergency steering pump. As a result of this effort, the ship faithfully "followed" the tug for the entire 1,200 nautical mile trip.

The most laborious and time-consuming task was securing the ship for sea. All loose gear in no. 3 hold, specifically, fourteen cargo booms, fourteen cargo winches, four life boats, eight davit quadrants, fourteen winch controllers, and all the working cargo rigging--wire rope, blocks, hooks, shackles, etc. This was completed over the winter of 1998 and spring/summer of 1999. Securement was accomplished with small diameter wire rope, turnbuckles and wire rope clips, rigged around the various items and fastened to the hull utilizing various pad eyes, stanchions and ship frames. Then we had to deal with the numerous details of physically getting underway.

In addition to the most capable 4200 HP "Shannon DeHart" tug which provided our motive power, we also arranged for two commercial harbor tugs to assist us down river in the narrow James River dredged channel, through the James River Bridge, Hampton Roads, lower Chesapeake Bay and finally, safely to sea, off Cape Henry. We were also required to use a local harbor pilot and file our departure report with the local U.S.C.G. COPT.

Finally, the six man riding crew was boarded, together with their gear, provisions and equipment, and we were ready to depart.

In retrospect, it was very fortunate that we were as thorough as we were, for we were not able to get underway until early September, 1999 in the middle of the hurricane season. Happily, our efforts were adequate, in that nothing came adrift during the trip despite a brush with one tropical storm and one hurricane.

THE TRIP

We began our trip on the morning of September 8, 1999 and arrived at Tampa Sea Buoy early September 16, 1999. As a momento of the trip, I chronicled a detailed, (somewhat whimsical) memoir of the trip which is also attached as enclosure #3.

An early consideration for the tow was the detailed routing of the voyage, in view of the necessity to avoid the Gulf Stream. For all Southbound, coastwise voyages on the U.S. South Atlantic coast, the choices are two: stay way offshore, which makes the trip much longer, or run very close inshore which carries the risk of getting too close to shallow water, yet pick up the counter-current that flows South immediately adjacent to the Stream's Western edge.

These choices are mandated, of course, by the North flow of the Gulf Stream, which is a combination of separate three currents: part of the Yucatan current; the current exiting the Gulf of Mexico at Dry Tortugas; and the current exiting the Old Bahama Channel off the east coast of Cuba. This combined mass of water rushes North and can reach a speed of four to five knots at certain times of the year.

Our experienced Master chose the inshore route, and as a result of his expertise, we averaged approximately 4 to 5 knots over ground for the entire trip. An interesting exception was during our detour down the Yucatan Channel to avoid Hurricane Floyd we logged an incredible 9.2 knots due to the hurricane's outer band winds impacting directly on our stern. At times we threatened to run up on our towing tug.

The decision to depart during the hurricane season was mandated not by choice but by the availability of a tug. Tampa Electric Company which operates a fleet of ocean tugs and barges generously offered to make the "DeHart" available to us while her barge was under repairs. After dodging Hurricane David on her way up to Virginia, tug "Sharon DeHart" arrived alongside "American Victory" on September 6th, and we were underway on September 8, 1999.

The requirement for a riding crew was mandated by U.S.C.G. and seconded by the tug's Owner. Details of this crew, their duties, accomplishments and travails are covered in enclosure #3. I had the honor of being O.I.C of the crew and the tow, and I treasure this experience among my fondest memories.

Another interesting aspect was the "light" (empty) condition of the ship and the resulting light draft, which would result in AmVic demonstrating a rather short period of roll in heavy weather.

Since souvenir hunters had removed both clinometers leaving us no instrument with which to measure roll, we fashioned a crude clinometer using a six foot length of cord and a heavy shackle, suspended on the aft bulkhead of the mizzen mast house adjacent to a vertical seam in the shell plating. During our brush with Tropical Storm Emily off Cape Lookout, we measured rolls in the 15 degree range with 8 to 10 second periods.

SUMMARY

The major lesson to be gleaned from this entire endeavor is the critical importance of thorough planning, investigation and performance of all aspects of preparation for tow.

A prime example of planning was the details of the tow line between tug and ship, as well as survivability of the hull in the event of a calamity. In this instance double redundancy was provided in the form of (1) the main tow bridle and tow hawser; (2) the pre-rigged emergency bridle and tow hawser, complete with retrieving line and float/buoy, and (3) the rigging of both bow anchors to let go as a last resort, in the event of failure of both tow lines. This last provision would allow the ship to anchor, once she reached water shallow enough where, hopefully, she could ride out the weather until the tug could come alongside and reconnect. Again, redundancy is the key watch word in all things marine.

POST ARRIVAL

Subsequent to arrival in Tampa, American Victory has been completely opened up, drydocked, cleaned and painted from keel to truck and various modifications accomplished inside the hull to render her "visitor friendly", yet retain the overall appearance of a WWII Merchant ship.

In this regard, double W.T. doors were installed in the starboard side shell in number 3 hold, at second deck level to provide ready access/egress to the dock.

Single W. T. doors were installed between all holds, port and starboard, at second deck level to provide ready walkthrough paths for passengers and tour guests while ship is at dockside.

Inclined ladders have been installed in number 1 and number 4 holds, from main deck down to second deck, again to ensure safe flow of passengers/guests.

All machinery has been overhauled, tested and U.S.C.G. certified.

The ship was successfully steamed in Tampa Bay on two occasions for Shakedown Trials.

A large AC/DC rectifier was obtained and installed in number 3 hold to convert AC shore power to DC for operation of shipboard main, auxiliary and ancillary machinery, which is all DC powered.

To provide an inexpensive source of "make-up" feed water for the ship's steam boilers, a small reverse osmosis water purifier unit was installed to purify incoming city water for use in the ship's boilers.

In conclusion, I want to thank you for your time and attention. I will be happy to attempt to answer questions, should there be any.