Refit for an old Warrior

It looks as though the USS Pampanito will be getting some routine maintenance, according to this story in the San Francisco Chronicle:

World War II sub taking shore leave for refitting

John Koopman

San Francisco’s most lethal tourist attraction is getting ready for a makeover.

The Pampanito, a World War II-era submarine that sank six Japanese ships and damaged four others, has been sitting for too long in the harsh salt water of San Francisco Bay. The boat has algae and all sorts of tiny sea critters living on her hull, along with the rust, chipped paint and general disrepair that come with age.

To spruce up the old warship and keep it as a floating tourist attraction at Fisherman’s Wharf, the Maritime National Historical Park Association will take the Pampanito to Alameda later this month for a couple of weeks in dry dock. There, at Bay Ship and Yacht Co., the 1,500-ton vessel will have its hull power-washed, rust ground down and sections of deteriorated metal replaced.

The boat will close to tourists Jan. 20, and is scheduled to be back in action around Feb. 10. . . .

We can only hope that the return to Fisherman’s Wharf is uneventful. San Francisco seems to hate all things related to the military. San Francisco labor-leader Harry Bridges managed to keep the boat out of San Francisco for a lot of years.

I’ve often thought that having the USS Pampanito, USS Hornet (currently in Alameda), and the USS Iowa (currently in the Mothball fleet in Suisun Bay), at one site would make one heck of a Naval Museum. Alameda has facilities, but is out of the way. Perhaps a ferry from Fisherman’s Wharf would create enough traffic flow to make the project worthwhile. If the City was serious about developing Hunter’s Point, that would also be a fitting location.

However, Pampanito does exceptionally well, right where it is on Fisherman’s Wharf. The site is not controlled by the city, but instead is part of the San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park. The boat gets a lot of visitors from all of the tourists that pass through the area. It is the best cared-for museum boat of any that I’ve visited. I’m not sure that moving it anywhere would be wise.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 8, 2007 at 8:40 and is filed under Politics, Submarines. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.

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