Fall Field Day '05

Fall Field Day '05:  The Fall Field Day was held on the weekend of October 27-30 this year and we were pleased to have fifteen (15) souls who courageously braved the post-hurricane news reports and came to Louisiana in spite of them.  Unfortunately, a few folks who planned to attend were unable to do so.  Even though his plans fell through, Richard Ammon graciously sent in a donation of $35.00 to help fund the galley and keep the guys fed.

What is a field day without paintwork?  Newcomer Errol Griffin (DD678) came aboard and immediately dove into things down in the firerooms.  He finished off the last remaining boiler faceplate back aft and then moved up to

the forward fireroom to take on those faceplates.  Youngsters Clay Burris and Dillon George, who returned

The Fall Field Day '05 crew gathers outside

5"/38-cal. Gun Mount 55.

with Clay’s grandfather Carl Burris (DD677), joined him up forward and climbed down into the bilge to paint the lower part of the faceplates.  As such, they have both changed rates from “Painter 2/c” to “Bilge Rat 3/c.”  While the boys were down in the bilge, Errol painted the dust covers and the electrical control panel in the aft engineroom.  Once they were done with the faceplates, Clay and Dillon came up for air and painted all of our 20mm ammunition magazines in the light of day.

John Ellsworth (DD591) seemed to get nostalgic for our old deck plate project of a few years ago when he drilled and tapped the deck plates in all four machinery spaces.  So he spent some time down in the forward fireroom tightening and replacing loose screws on the decking.  Once completed, he took over as the Photographer’s Mate and documented the rest of the weekend’s activities.

Jim Delap (DD729), Mack Bradley (DD661), and George Gordin (DD661) spent the bulk of the weekend working to free up our expansion joint covers, which was no easy job.  We last worked on replacing the gaskets back in 1995, so the covers had not been exercised in some time.  With this backbreaking, knee-scraping job accomplished, we will now have an easier job replacing the gaskets when the time comes.

Newcomer Russell Rosenberger (DD528) got the Mr. Clean Award for this field day.  He cleaned out Gun Mounts 52 and 54, as well as the Chief’s Mess and the Wardroom.  Mack Bradley also did a bit of cleanup in his old workspace in CIC.  Housekeeping like this is a great help to us as we must always balance it with actual restoration.  Dust builds up fast and at times it is hard to keep up.

(L-R) George Seal, Ed Eckert, and Al Winkler

plan their strategy for freeing up Gun Mount 54.

Photo courtesy of Ed Eckert.

The major project for the weekend was Gun Mount 54.  One of our powder casings got jammed in the barrel after the July 4^th air show in 2003 and all attempts to remove it since had failed.  Of course, the longer it stays in, the harder it is to remove it, so we determined that it was now or never.  Ed Eckert (DD698) and newcomer George Seal (DD528) made the mistake of asking if we had any mechanical work that needed to be done and I promptly escorted them to Mount 54.  They won’t make that mistake again!

After a quick survey of the situation, both Ed and George felt that they’d have the casing out by the end of the day on Thursday.  Friday morning saw them agitated, determined, and working hard fabricating tools to help

remove the powder casing.  By the end of the day, they had recruited a full-fledged team to help them, made up of Carl Burris, Tom Andreasen (DD679), Mac Mackensen (DD699), Russell, and even tour guide Will Kurtz.  Still no luck; the casing wasn’t budging.

Late Friday afternoon, Tim NesSmith received a phone call from Al Winkler who works as a volunteer at both the USS COD (SS224) and the World War II Vehicle Museum in Cleveland, Ohio.  Al was wrapping up a stint with the Red Cross, helping with relief efforts in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and wanted to stop by for a visit along with fellow Red Cross worker Mark Hollenbaugh of Milton, Pennsylvania.  When Tim mentioned the field day to him, Al’s response was “What’s that?” and was quickly followed by an excited “Can we join up?!”  He and Mark arrived on Saturday morning and quickly got sucked into the gun project.

Gradually, the powder casing began to give way but at such a slow rate that the guys began to fear that even three days weren’t enough to free up the breach again.  But Mark was like a Rottweiler with a bone:  he refused to give up.  On Saturday evening after dinner, Overnight guide Tres Stoltz stood watch on the Quarter Deck and heard the clink-clink-clink of a ball peen hammer on the 01 Level just above him.  After an hour or so of this, there was a loud clatter of metal dropping followed by loud whoops of exhilaration.  Sunday morning saw the entire gun crew taking turns posing for photos with mangled remains of the powder casing.  Gun 54 was free!  We’re planning on cutting up the casing and sending each member of the crew a piece to commemorate all of the hard work. 

Two people especially should be recognized for their efforts on behalf of the KIDD.  Ben and Jo Ann Fernandez have served as our galley crew faithfully each fall since 1998.  When Hurricane Katrina came ashore on August 29, the brutal winds tore a hole in their roof and flooded both floors of their house in Gretna on the west bank of New Orleans.  Still in the midst of ripping carpet and sheetrock out of their home, with a blue tarp covering the hole in their roof, and living in a FEMA trailer parked in their driveway, they insisted on taking time out from repairs and coming to Baton Rouge to be with the guys.  You can’t get a better example of dedication than that.

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