Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!ub!rutgers!att!cbnews!military
From: cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Re: where are they now?
Message-ID: <1990Oct8.030439.11857@cbnews.att.com>
Date: 8 Oct 90 03:04:39 GMT
References: <1990Oct4.012113.10846@cbnews.att.com>
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From: cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold)
> From: geoffm@EBay.Sun.COM (Geoff Miller)
> 
> I believe that the Spencer was used as a training aid for Reservists in 
> Baltimore for several years after decommisioning -- my BM1 on the Morgenthau 
> told me that this was the only surviving facility where MKs could be trained 
> on steam plants.

Spencer was decommissioned into "special status" for engineering training
in 1974, and finally decommissioned in 1980.  It was sold for scrap
in 1981.

> -----
> 
>>The Campbell class went through a lot of evolution in installed
>>equipment over the years, but never quite ran out of space.  And
>>they were the nicest riding cutters we've ever had in the inventory.
> 
> It was believed among we 378 types that the 327s didn't have much in the
> way of crew facilities, though: crowded berthing areas, no rec decks as 
> such, etc.  But since I never crossed paths with anyone who'd actually
> served aboard one, I couldn't confirm this.
> 
By current USCG habitability standards, they had much less space per
person; racks (unstead of the semi-private bunks) in large open
berthing areas.  The older ships required a much larger number of crew
to run all of the equipment, none of which was automated.  Larger
crew means more crowding.


> Miscellaneous questions:
> 
> *  How long did it take for these ships to "get up steam" prior to getting
>    underway?

>From "cold iron" it could be done in an emergency in about 1-2 hours
(not recommended); 8 hours would probably do it with no "extraordinary"
measures.  Normal practice in port is to maintain a status which
lets you get underway in some specific number of hours; B-4 meant that
you kept machinery warmed up to the point that you could be underway in
4 hours.

> *  I seem to recall reading that two 327s were sunk as man-made reefs 
>    somewhere; the Florida Keys, I think.  Does anyone know which cutters
>    these were, and exactly where they were sunk?

Duane was sunk as a reef in 1987; Campbell was sunk as a target in 1984.
Locations unknown to me.

> *  What was their rated flank speed?

Max sustained is 19.5 knots for 3640 miles.
Economic 10.5 knots, 9,100 miles.

> *  How was the general reliability of auxiliary machinery such as the heaters,
>    water evaporators, etc. on such old ships?  How much of this stuff was
>    original equipment?

Considering the age of the basic equipment, pretty reliable.  Most of the
auxiliary equipment which could be upgraded was replaced (several times)
over the life of the ship; e.g., motors, pumps, compressors, valves.
Large items (like generators) could be re-wound or otherwise rebuilt.
Boilers and condensers were re-tubed.  Reefer equipment was replaced.
Much of the machinery was maintained as "original" as long as parts were
available (evaporators), but even these have limits, and there were
replacements.  The 327s had an excellent record of "availability".

While these ships (and the 255's) were doing weather patrols, they were
in a fairly forgiving cycle of use - 30 days on station, 60-90 days in
port.  This allowed the snipes lots of time to keep the gear maintained
in good condition between patrols, plus on weather station you were
making minimum speed and could overhaul some equipment while underway.
When they were deployed to WestPac and had to sustain ops for longer
periods, at higher speeds, with more gunfire and bad weather, the rates
of failure escalated considerably.  Gunfire vibration caused a lot of
failures in structures and mountings, pipes, valves, electrical 
connections.  It was like having someone with arthritis and hardening
of the arteries run a triathlon instead of the liesurely walk around
the block.

> *  Is it true that the oldest ship in the Guard has gold hull numbers instead
>    of black?  I read that in _Sea Classics_ in an article about the Campbell's 
>    decommissioning, but I've never heard that anywhere else.  The numbers
>    sure looked black to me in the accompanying b&w photos.

Never heard this one myself.


Pat Kauffold AT&T Bell Labs Naperville