Laffey Completes Overhaul
USS Laffey DD-724
Except for a little paint, the “Ship That Would Not Die” is almost ready for duty at the Patriots Point Museum in Charleston. Story from Allyson Bird at the Post and Courier:
Dick Trammell, executive director at the ship’s keeper, Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, said the ship now rests atop a new, thicker hull. It has some new internal walls and some new framework, and experts who helped preserve the Confederate submarine Hunley weighed in with long-term protective coatings for the ship’s interior and exterior.
A dehumidification system will keep the rust down on the inside, and a process using electrical currents will work to do the same on the outside. Trammell said divers will inspect the Laffey annually.
Destroyer Laffey’s exact spot on the Point is currently unknown since the Museum has been shuffling ships around, discarding the cutter Ingham to a Coast Guard museum in Florida. We’ve no doubt she’ll be back on the line in no time, better than ever! A great ship and great history.
