Jump to content

USS Edson (DD-946) in Bay City, Michigan


MattS
 Share

Recommended Posts

Since May of 2013, the upper-Midwest has had a surface warship to add to the submarine museums on the Great Lakes. Located on the Saginaw River in Bay City is USS Edson, a Forrest Sherman class destroyer displacing 2,800 tons and measuring 407 feet at the waterline. I made two trips there this summer and work is progressing steadily towards restoring this Cold Warrior. The entire ship needs paint and many of the interior spaces need work also, but the volunteers are chipping away at it.

 

This bow shot was taken from a nearby boat ramp.

post-32676-0-43428300-1377604901.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

View from the gang plank coming aboard at the stern. Since this photo, much of the starboard side of the hull has been repainted.

post-32676-0-41199800-1377604997.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Parting shot from the parking lot. I highly recommend a trip there to anyone who enjoys naval museums! The staff was friendly and the admission is very reasonable at $10.

post-32676-0-16954000-1377606804.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great pictures. Glad to see the work is coming along nicely!! Looks like your son was having a great day!!

 

Thanks for posting the pics.

 

Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wasn't this ship docked at the Intrepid in NY for a number of years? I was wondering where it went.

 

Yes it was, until 2004 when the navy took her back for hull repairs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ohh boy, I now need to inform my wife that our vacation schedule has changed, the last of the gunboats has a home in the great lakes!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not sure, here's what wiki says: "PIRAZ is a United States Navy acronym for Positive Identification RADAR Advisory Zone.[2][3] The zone is defined by the air search RADAR coverage of a ship patrolling a designated PIRAZ station. The PIRAZ ship requires a Naval Tactical Data System radio-linked computer installation to effectively identify and track all aircraft anticipated to utilize zone airspace during combat."

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cobrahistorian

Glad to see the old girl doing well. I worked on her a bit when I worked at the Intrepid (1991-1994) and blew out my ankle coming down the ladder into the forward crew's quarters, thanks to a speed boater that was going way too fast in a no-wake zone. Edson's a great ship and I'm glad to see she's got a new home.

 

Jon

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was helping with USN/USMARCORPS MARS phone patches in the 1980's, NNN0ANI. I was aboard Edson when the skipper was Gideon Almy. I went on 2 cruises with them, one night the tin can went to GQ as we were playing war games with USS Helena, an SSN, but when we finally got out of GQ we found out the NRF ping jockies were tracking a whale, not Helena!

The crew presented me with an "underway flag", I still have it.

This DD was used in a Twilight Zone episode involving modern [then] US Navy ships detecting voices and clanging on metal from lost WW2 crews, spooky. She was in Newport RI when I was aboard...As a civilian, I cherish my memories of the Officers wardroom, great food, and cruising the Narragansett Op Area in a real WW2 tin can..

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Edson was built in 1958. The Forrest Sherman class was the first class of DDs uilt AFTER WW 2. I loved them, operated with a number of them over the years. They LOOKED like Destroyers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...