Sea Bird History, US Army, US Navy, Movie Star

San Diego Dry Dock (part 2)

Written by Chris Conant

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With fear that the massive crane's two bands would not be enough to support the load of the Sea Bird, it was determined that a third band would be needed to lift the the ship out of the water.  Adding a third band sounds much easier said than done.  The boat had to be pulled out of the slip, and the crane, which is controlled by a giant remote control had to be backed out of the slip, and workers needed to then add the third band to the crane.  From there, the crane had to be moved back into position, the boat had to be pulled back into the slip, and divers had to get back into the water to position all 3 of the bands properly so that the boat's weight was distributed evenly.  When positioning the bands under the hull of the boat, divers had to be careful to position the bands so that they wouldn't bend the stablizer fins.  To achieve this, blocks of wood were placed between the bands and the ship.  This process went smoothly, however the process took about 5 hours.

San Diego Dry Dock

Written by Chris Conant

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In May of 2008, the Sea Bird Adventure was docked in the Seaport Village Marina.  On May 15th the ship was scheduled to be hoisted and put into dry dock for repairs and restoration.  In order to get the boat to the dry dock, a special crane had to be used to lift the boat out of the water.  Normally in San Diego, boats of the Sea Bird's size aren't lifted to dry dock, so a larger crane (one of, if not the largest in the word), capable of lifting larger ships had to be brought in.  Generally, this isn't a daunting task, but as the ship began to be lifted, we soon saw the adventure unfolding.

The first abnormality was that since there are such strict regulations on running the engines in the harbor, the Sea Bird needed to be pulled into dock by tug boats.  The picture on the right depicts the boats pulling the Sea Bird toward the crane (you can see the wheels of the crane in the left side of the image).  This process went quite smoothly, and she was soon resting in the slip ready to be hoisted by the crane. 

Birth of the Texas Towers

Written by Andrew Rossillo

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Birth of the Texas Towers

During the Cold War, America began to feel concerned about protecting its vital locations, most of which are positioned along the east coast. An improved monitoring system was desired to provide an early alert in case of an attack. During the summer of 1952, the concept of securing radar platforms to the ocean floor was studied. It was determined that a set of these towers, very similar to oil rigs, would be constructed approximately 100 miles off the east coast.

Design and Planning of the Texas Towers

Next, the painstaking process of design had to begin. Although the towers would be used for communication and surveillance, planning the lay out wasnt that simple. People would have to live on the towers for periods of time, so recreational and food preparation facilities had to be included.

Crew size was another concern. 22 to 27 individuals were estimated to keep each tower up and running. This was later increased to 41 then 46. The towers were intended to be spacious enough to accommodate up to 72 individuals. The towers were modeled after offshore drilling platforms located along the coast near Texas, which is the basis for the name Texas tower. On January 11th, 1954, construction was approved on five Texas towers but only three were built.

Wheeler Shipbuilding Company

Written by Andrew Rossillo

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The History of the Wheeler Shipbuilding Company

In 1945, the Wheeler Shipbuilding Company in Whitestone, New York finished construction on a very special vessel that was later given the name the U.S.S. New Bedford. Even though this ship would go on to do many great things, it was not the first produced by the company. The history of the Wheeler Shipbuilding Company dates much further back to the turn of the 19th Century.

The Texas Towers Incident

Written by Kris Land

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The Texas Towers Incident: Bravery Despite the Odds

It is impossible to stop every tragedy, but there are those who will try even when it means risking their own safety. This was the case in the tragic Texas Towers incident which marked another important landmark in the history of the U.S.S. New Bedford (currently the Seabird).

An Impending Demise

Captain Sixto Mangual was in charge of the U.S.S. New Bedford which was scheduled to run supplies to the Texas Towers located off the coast of Long Island, New York.  Tower 4 in particular was known for experiencing structural problems after suffering damage from Hurricane Donna in September of 1960. Captain Mangual was ordered to travel to Tower 4 to pick up equipment and resupply the minimal team of 14 air force personnel and 14 contractors inhabiting the tower. He would also be dropping off Airman First Class Larry Wolford who was to replace another airman who had left the tower earlier.