Museum organizations document an operating US, WW II built destroyer
Serving in the Mexican Navy in 2006
With the December 2005 decommissioning of the
ex-USS Powers (DD-839) in Taiwan, R.O.C., Mexico
is now operating the last WW II American built
steam destroyer in the world. Ex-USS Steinaker
(DD-863), now ARM Netzahualcoyotl (D-102,
"Netza"), was built during WW II, modernized
under the FRAM Mk I program during 1964 and
finally transferred to Mexico in the early
1980s. We believe she is the oldest American
built steam man of war still operating and probably the only operational US Navy 5" 38 cal. Netza and her crew
are the last of these incredibly successful
destroyers. There
are numerous sights and sounds unique to
destroyer operations that will be lost forever
when this ship is decommissioned. During February 2006, the Historic
Naval Ships Association, the museum crew of USS
Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. and Tin Can Sailors
requested and received permission from the
Mexican Navy to document Netza. We have
attempted to record some of the essence of the US
WW II, Cold War, and Mexican Navy destroyer experience.
USS Steinaker, a Gearing class destroyer, was
built by the Bethlehem Steel Company's Staten
Island yard and commissioned in May 1945. The
ship was converted to a radar picket (DDR) in
1952 and then subsequently underwent a major
modernization with her FRAM (Fleet Rehabilitation
and Modernization) overhaul in 1964. By 1968,
Steinaker was transferred to the Pacific to
participate in naval gunfire support operations
off Binh Thuan and Phu Yen provinces; "Sea
Dragon" operations off the coast of North Vietnam
to interdict sea-borne infiltration of Communist
forces into South Vietnam; and anti-aircraft
picket duty off the demilitarized zone. She also
operated with aircraft carriers conducting
strikes against North Vietnam. She received two
battle stars for her Vietnam service. In 1968
DD-863 returned to the Atlantic and resumed her
normal patrol and exercise operations. In July
1973 she became a reserve training vessel in
Baltimore. During February 1982, Steinaker was
stricken from the US Navy register
and transferred to the Mexican Navy in Newport, RI.
The USS Massachusetts Memorial Committee operates
USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr (DD-850) as part of the
Battleship Cove Naval Park in Fall River,
MA. The ties between ex-Joseph P. Kennedy and
Netzahualcoyotl are long and deep. They were
both built by Bethlehem Steel Company with the same machinery and arrangement of compartments. Both served a majority of their
time in the US Atlantic fleet and both were in
the Red Sea in 1967. They share so much in common
that after Kennedy was retired in 1973 parts were
taken from her to be used on Steinaker. The goal
of the Battleship Cove Museum and the USS Joseph
P. Kennedy is to be the preeminent home for the
preservation and documentation of FRAM Gearing class destroyers.
The Historic Naval Ships Association
(http://www.hnsa.org), USS Massachusetts
Memorial Committee
(http://www.battleshipcove.org,
http://www.ussjpkennedyjr.org) and Tin Can Sailors (the national association of destroyer veterans, http://www.destroyers.org/) have partially
funded the expedition. The volunteers have funded the rest. We are continuing to seek
additional funds to edit the video into a more
easily accessed short film. How to help.
With the very generous cooperation of the Mexican
Navy, in March of 2006, USS Joseph P Kennedy Jr
Assistant Curator Rich Angelini, ex-Kennedy crew
member Mike Angelini, and Historic Naval Ships
Association director Rich Pekelney visited
Manzanillo, Mexico to film and photograph Netza. They were joined by a professional film crew from the University of
Colima CEUVIDITE. The team was given complete access to the ship and
all of her equipment, including the opportunity
to take photographs and video.
All the
photos and video are shared with the Mexican
Navy and are available for non-profit museum use. (Please contact us directly for any commercial use.) They will be used for comparison during museum ship restoration, in displays, in video kiosks, as background sounds aboard ship, etc. The possibilities are endless in helping preserve, research and interpret Gearing class destroyers and other ships that share a similar main propulsion (BBs, CVs, etc.)
The photos at the link below were taken March 22, 23
and 24 of 2006. We can report that Netza
(ex-Steinaker DD863) is very, very similar to
Kennedy and is in good condition. The
link below will give you a first detailed look at this historic ship. Note we have not had time to put these in order, this is just a quick look.
Photos of Netza from March 2006
We will include more photos as time permits. We will also include video of the lite off of boilers, engine room, 5" 38 cal gun fire, etc. when we have finished the planned short film. How to help.
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Below is a narrative describing our trip that was
written while watching the sunset on our last night in beautiful Manzanillo.
25 Mar 06
Folks,
It has been a very busy, but incredibly fun and
productive trip. Everyone we have encountered has
been friendly and helpful. We cannot say enough
about how generous and thoughtful the Mexican
Navy has been to us. They have consistently done
more than we could ever have expected.
We arrived in Manzanillo on Monday 20 Mar 06 and
were met by Cap. Corb. CG Saul Hiram Bandala
Garza, the operations officer of ARM
Netzahualcoyotl ("Netza"). Captain Bandala was
tireless in helping us throughout our trip. We
could not have been so successful without his constant help.
Once settled into the hotel, we looked out to see
two WW II yard oilers (YOs) on anchor. We
immediately felt at home, esp. when we spotted a
WW II, AUK class minesweeper maneuvering its way
through the channel from the hotel's lobby.
On Tuesday 21 Mar we met with Cap. Frag. CG DEM Raul
Alberto Paredes Hernandez, commander of Netza,
Captain Bandala, and our film director M.C.
Miguel Alberto Macias Amador from the University
of Colima. We planned the filming and toured the ship.
Our first impression of the ship was that she was
an almost unmodified Gearing class FRAM Mk. I
ship complete with all her ship handling, weapon
systems. The exterior of the ship was extremely
well preserved with great attention to
detail. As we inspected the interior
compartments of Netza, we found that much of the
original furnishings and equipment in various
spaces have been removed and/or modified. However,
most of the major systems were in place.
On Wed 22 Mar we had an early meeting with
Contralm. CG DEM, José Máximo Rodríguez Carreón,
Chief of Staff of the Pacific Naval Force. We
thanked the Mexican Navy and discussed the project.
We then returned to the ship. Our first priority
for filming was to concentrate on the equipment
that cannot be operated in the museum
environment. We were trying to capture both the
skilled crew's operation of the equipment as well
as the equipment itself. Our principle focus was
on the main propulsion (600 lb. steam turbine)
and 5" 38 gun operation. Although her
anti-submarine warfare equipment is all in place,
she is now used primarily as a training ship and
we were not able to film any of anti-submarine
warfare equipment in operation.
We stayed in port on Wed. and concentrated our
efforts on the interior spaces of the ship. We
shot video and took many photographs. These will
be used to create a short video, provide video
and sounds for exhibits on the museum ships, and
to document the equipment and its use for future research.
We recorded the steps involved in loading an
exercise shell and powder load from the 5" gun
magazine to the gun. On Thursday, the crew would load
and fire a full powder load while the film crew recorded from the bridge. Many
other interior spaces were filmed showing the
normal daily operations of the ship.
On Thursday 23 Mar we arrived early to record the lite off and raising
of steam in a boiler. Overnight they had started
one boiler. We recorded the entire process of
lighting off the second boiler, it took about 2
hours. The process is the same as was done on the
first, but with power available they could use
the blowers, steam, etc. to speed up the second
boiler. These ships were designed to raise steam
quickly. We got underway on two boilers.
It was incredibly exciting to all of the museum
crew to be underway. Although ordinary to the
ships crew, to Rich A. and Rich P. of the museum
crew it was incredible to feel the heat of the
boilers, the vibration of the turbines and
movement of a type of ship we have only
experienced as museums. To Mike A. it was a return to an old friend.
We recorded raising anchor, engine rooms,
responding to bells, the gun turret and gun
director movement, raising the whaleboat, and
many spaces aboard ship. However, filming the 5"
38 cal dual mount firing with full loads was
something else. It is incredibly loud. It is
hard to imagine what it was like for those 1970s
crews that were firing 300 or more rounds in a day.
We returned to port exhausted and exhilarated at the same time.
We started again early on Friday 24 Mar. This
morning Rich and Mike A. headed out with the film
crew on Netza, Rich P. and Miguel followed Netza
out on a fast intercept boat. The Mexican Navy
has something like 40 of these Swedish built
boats capable of 45+ knots. We brought our
cameras and photographed Netza underway from
several angles. Rich A., Mike A. and the film crew
were busy with video aboard Netza. After two
hours the patrol boat dropped us off on Netza to
rejoin the rest of the crew. We continued
filming, including raising the king post (used
for underway replenishment), damage control, bridge operation, etc.
The Gearing class destroyers have really
beautiful lines. She is nothing like the modern
warships that look like broken milk boxes forced
through water. She looked both menacing and
graceful as she maneuvered. It was breathtaking to see her underway.
We continued our filming right up until we
arrived in port. I should mention here that the
film crew worked incredibly hard. We filmed in
hot, narrow and crammed spaces. We ran them from
one end of the ship to the other, from top to
bottom. They kept on going. When port traffic
threatened to delay our entrance to the port they
hopped in the whaleboat and headed for the
pier. While the museum crew was enjoying dinner
with the officers of Netza, the film crew was
driving 1.5 hours back to Colima to start
transferring video. I might also mention here
that the meals in the Netza wardroom are better
than most restaurants.
The at sea time on Netza was an experience that
none of the museum crew will ever forget. When
we returned port it was hard to pry Rich A. and
Michael A. off the ship. They continue to plot
the hijacking of the ship and steaming her to
Fall River. Eventually they had mercy on our
liaison officer and let him return to his family for a few hours.
On Sat 26 Mar, we headed up to the University of
Colima to look at the film. We spent six hours
rough cutting some of the sequences that will
eventually be used in a short video. It was not
enough time to edit something presentable, but we
were all pleased with quality of the video. We
are hoping to raise some additional funds to
return to Colima and create a 25 minute film of Netza and her crew. How to help.
We are very thankful to the many very generous
Mexicans that helped us with this project. We
cannot say enough about how good the Mexican Navy
has been to us and much we appreciated their help.
Rich Pekelney
Rich Angelini
Michael Angelini
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