Old Boats
23/01/21 04:09
In his regular column in the January edition of the journal “Messing About in Boats,” Stephen Regan raised the question about how many former US Navy vessels should be kept as part of our historical record. He noted that approximately 80 former US Navy ships are now museum pieces. Historical institutions in the country also invest funds in preserving merchant ships, Coast Guard vessels, ocean liners and other things that float or once floated. There are 24 retired submarines open to the public when the pandemic isn’t raging. These mostly World War II vintage ships require constant maintenance.
As a subscriber to several journals and organizations that involve boating, and as someone who visits a lot of boating and boating-related museums, I frequently receive requests to donate to various boat preservation projects. Some, like the Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum in Spooner, Wisconsin, are modest institutions, based on grass-roots support. Others, like the Smithsonian Institution, with multiple museums and displays around the country and centered in Washington, DC, are multi-million dollar institutions that rely on government funding as well as private donations.
I think Regan’s question, “how many aircraft carriers and battleships are adequate to meet our historic preservation needs?” is legitimate. It is a decision that will be made not once, but continually, as we move forward.
I believe in preserving a bit of the past and I support the preservation of boats and ships as floating centers for teaching history. I am delighted that the USS Constitution is floating in Boston Harbor and that there are people who donate regularly to keep it from rotting away. I think that the on-going efforts to keep the USS Constellation afloat in Baltimore are worth the effort. But I wonder how many ships with the name “Iowa” need to be preserved. At this point all four Iowa class battleships have become museums. Those who live in Iowa, especially Navy veterans in the state, have trouble keeping track of the fund-raising efforts for the USS Iowa, lead ship of the class, which is berthed in Los Angeles as a Museum and the on-going fund raising for the USS Iowa, a brand-new submarine for which for which a committee is trying to raise $500,000 for commissioning and christening ceremonies. And if you are confused by that paragraph, you might also note that the battleship USS Iowa is the fourth battleship named after the state.
Iowa doesn’t have any ocean shoreline, but it is big on having ships named after it. Then, again, I have my biases. I grew up in Montana. The Montana-class battleship program was cancelled.
I don’t know what kind of problems fund-raisers are having meeting their goals, but I imagine that it has got to be hard to continue raising money for the on-going maintenance of floating historical museums when the museums are not open to the public. 2020 probably wasn’t a banner year for garnering the funds required to keep those ships from sinking. Some, of course, like the captured German U-505 submarine at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, are now on dry land, but they still require constant maintenance whether or not visitors are allowed to gather in their cramped spaces.
Somehow, taking a YouTube tour of a museum ship just isn’t the same as going to visit it and being allowed to walk through the interior spaces. And there are a lot of people like me, who make it a practice to avoid the attempts at becoming a donor to YouTube causes. Whenever they try to monetize the channels, I fast forward to get to the video.
In addition to individual museums, there are two groups that are charged with having oversight over the nation’s preservation efforts, the National Maritime Historical Society and the Navy’s Historical and Heritage Command. They have some tough decisions ahead as the number of ships no longer in service continues to grow with every advance of technology.
I don’t spend my life on the cutting edge of technology. Although I do have more than my fair share of boats, and am aware of the constant work required to keep them ready for the water, and have fallen behind in the last year with boat maintenance, I only have human-powered boats. I don’t have any boat motors in need of care. Oars and paddles don’t require much work, just an occasional bit of varnish. Wooden canoes and kayaks need to be stored away from the sun’s rays under cover, but other than an occasional sanding and refreshing of varnish they hold up pretty good. Now that my son has a barn and I live near his farm, I’m pretty well situated when it comes to having a place to store and care for my boats. Still, there is a bit of work involved and the list of things I need to get done seems to get longer each day. My varnish brushes will get a good workout in the next few months. The days are getting longer and my enthusiasm to get out on the lakes is fairly high, so I think I’ll get after the work over the next few weeks.
Reading about all of the museums trying to preserve old boats does, however, raise a question in my mind about my own fleet. What becomes of them in the next generation. I don’t think my children or grandchildren feel the need for all of the boats I have collected. The only boat I’ve ever had that has any historical significance has now been donated to the Whitney Preserve near Hot Springs, SD. My kids might keep one or two canoes, but the time will come when I need to find new homes for the boats. I’m hoping that I can find persons who are willing to treasure them. A good wooden canoe can last for hundreds of years with regular care.
That’s the problem with continuing to make new boats, whether you are a hobbyist or the US Navy. Someone has to figure out what to do with all of the ones you’ve already made.
As a subscriber to several journals and organizations that involve boating, and as someone who visits a lot of boating and boating-related museums, I frequently receive requests to donate to various boat preservation projects. Some, like the Wisconsin Canoe Heritage Museum in Spooner, Wisconsin, are modest institutions, based on grass-roots support. Others, like the Smithsonian Institution, with multiple museums and displays around the country and centered in Washington, DC, are multi-million dollar institutions that rely on government funding as well as private donations.
I think Regan’s question, “how many aircraft carriers and battleships are adequate to meet our historic preservation needs?” is legitimate. It is a decision that will be made not once, but continually, as we move forward.
I believe in preserving a bit of the past and I support the preservation of boats and ships as floating centers for teaching history. I am delighted that the USS Constitution is floating in Boston Harbor and that there are people who donate regularly to keep it from rotting away. I think that the on-going efforts to keep the USS Constellation afloat in Baltimore are worth the effort. But I wonder how many ships with the name “Iowa” need to be preserved. At this point all four Iowa class battleships have become museums. Those who live in Iowa, especially Navy veterans in the state, have trouble keeping track of the fund-raising efforts for the USS Iowa, lead ship of the class, which is berthed in Los Angeles as a Museum and the on-going fund raising for the USS Iowa, a brand-new submarine for which for which a committee is trying to raise $500,000 for commissioning and christening ceremonies. And if you are confused by that paragraph, you might also note that the battleship USS Iowa is the fourth battleship named after the state.
Iowa doesn’t have any ocean shoreline, but it is big on having ships named after it. Then, again, I have my biases. I grew up in Montana. The Montana-class battleship program was cancelled.
I don’t know what kind of problems fund-raisers are having meeting their goals, but I imagine that it has got to be hard to continue raising money for the on-going maintenance of floating historical museums when the museums are not open to the public. 2020 probably wasn’t a banner year for garnering the funds required to keep those ships from sinking. Some, of course, like the captured German U-505 submarine at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago, are now on dry land, but they still require constant maintenance whether or not visitors are allowed to gather in their cramped spaces.
Somehow, taking a YouTube tour of a museum ship just isn’t the same as going to visit it and being allowed to walk through the interior spaces. And there are a lot of people like me, who make it a practice to avoid the attempts at becoming a donor to YouTube causes. Whenever they try to monetize the channels, I fast forward to get to the video.
In addition to individual museums, there are two groups that are charged with having oversight over the nation’s preservation efforts, the National Maritime Historical Society and the Navy’s Historical and Heritage Command. They have some tough decisions ahead as the number of ships no longer in service continues to grow with every advance of technology.
I don’t spend my life on the cutting edge of technology. Although I do have more than my fair share of boats, and am aware of the constant work required to keep them ready for the water, and have fallen behind in the last year with boat maintenance, I only have human-powered boats. I don’t have any boat motors in need of care. Oars and paddles don’t require much work, just an occasional bit of varnish. Wooden canoes and kayaks need to be stored away from the sun’s rays under cover, but other than an occasional sanding and refreshing of varnish they hold up pretty good. Now that my son has a barn and I live near his farm, I’m pretty well situated when it comes to having a place to store and care for my boats. Still, there is a bit of work involved and the list of things I need to get done seems to get longer each day. My varnish brushes will get a good workout in the next few months. The days are getting longer and my enthusiasm to get out on the lakes is fairly high, so I think I’ll get after the work over the next few weeks.
Reading about all of the museums trying to preserve old boats does, however, raise a question in my mind about my own fleet. What becomes of them in the next generation. I don’t think my children or grandchildren feel the need for all of the boats I have collected. The only boat I’ve ever had that has any historical significance has now been donated to the Whitney Preserve near Hot Springs, SD. My kids might keep one or two canoes, but the time will come when I need to find new homes for the boats. I’m hoping that I can find persons who are willing to treasure them. A good wooden canoe can last for hundreds of years with regular care.
That’s the problem with continuing to make new boats, whether you are a hobbyist or the US Navy. Someone has to figure out what to do with all of the ones you’ve already made.
