The Jumpin’ Joey

Official Newsletter of the USS J.P. Kennedy Jr. DD850 Volunteers

By Rich Angelini, Assistant Curator at Battleship Cove

Volume IV , Issue 1; May 2005

 

Welcome All Hands,

It has been over a year since our last volunteer newsletter and I have been getting lots of flak from our crew. Lot’s of activity has been going on though our newsletter was out of date.

 

The year 2005 corresponds with the 60^th anniversary of the Launching and Commissioning of USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. DD850.    To that effect, Battleship Cove paid tribute to our armed forces during Uncommon Valor, at the John F. Kennedy Library & Museum in Boston on Saturday, April 2, 2005. Sponsored by Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the launching of the USS Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. (DD-850), this charity gala was chaired by Emily and Dominic DiMaggio and welcomed former Secretary of Veterans Affairs and Kennedy officer Anthony Principi as guest of honor

 

Another special event, which is coming soon on 7 May 2005, is the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Service, commemorating the official end of the Vietnam War.  This memorial service honoring Vietnam veterans will be held at Battleship Cove. The destroyer Joseph P. Kennedy, Jr. is the home of the Commonwealth’s official memorial for all Massachusetts citizens who gave their lives in service to their county during the Vietnam War. 

 

Volunteers:

 

Owen Hayes (USS Waldron DD699) replaced missing and incorrect style lighting in our mess decks with authentic Navy lights acquired years ago.  Some of Owen’s latest adventures were repairing wiring, receptacles, and fans for our recent ET shop and Aux Radio restoration projects.  Owen also just wired up an original style entertainment box in the galley.   Jim Mulvihill (USS Waldron DD699) continues to astound us with his attention to detail.  Jim cleaned all the brass and signage in the Capt’s Sea Cabin, the Aux Radio Room, ET Shop, and now has started in the Aft Engine Room.  Jim also likes to repair chart room protractors and line rewinding machines.  We would also like to congratulate Jim and his wife Jane on their 50 years of marriage!!   Brown Beezer (US Merchant Marine) has been working on many things electronic aboard DD850 and one of the latest is the teletype machines.  Brown is also supporting repairs to our wind direction indicating system and some cosmetic tinkering with the radar equipment.  Maury Crotteau (USS Harwood DD861) has moved his main base of operations from Radio Central down to Aux Radio/ET Shop.  Here he has installed and repaired the remote transmitting key in the operators desk as well as put a recently acquired RBO receiver online in its original location.  Maury has also been repairing ship clocks on an as needed basis.  Russ Hanoman has supported the stripping down of the Aux Radio Room to begin the restoration of that space.

 

Mike Angelini (USS J.P. Kennedy Jr. DD850) provides support for anything that happens in the DASH Hangar.  However, one of his latest contributions was to acquire and donate a large collection of vintage water and oil testing equipment that is now on display in our newly restored “Oil King” shack.  Mike, a chemist by trade, setup and put together a great display of vintage testing equipment as would be used by a 1960’s “Oil King”.   Mike and Rich Angelini spent three consecutive weekends (Saturday and Sunday) to clean out the trash, and stow valuable items in the ASROC magazine for the arrival of our torpedo shipment.   Mike McCann (SeaBees) has just come back to us from a period of over ten years.  Now that Mike is retired, he has turned to reworking the lathe in the machine shop and various mechanical projects around the ship.  It is good to have Mike back aboard.

 

Peter Papadakos (Gyrodyne) has continued working on projects for us on the West Coast such as acquiring a complete set of Wardroom china to building a QH-50D Snoopy drone for exhibit on Kennedy.  The SNOOPY drone will be a exact duplicate of the aircraft flown over Vietnam from Gearing and Sumner class destroyers for reconnaissance purposes and will be the only such model on exhibit in the world.  At this time, we would also like to thank Dennis Dill, Jeff Omdalen, and Tung Pham of Cohu Camera for completely duplicating and donating a complete working Snoopy camera system for our new QH-50D.  We look for the Snoopy QH-50D to join its older cousin, the original QH-50C DASH, sometime next year aboard DD850.

 

Ed Zajkowski (USS Keppler DD765) came down to supervise and engineer two special projects aboard DD850.  One was the installation of our authentic style rollup door for the DASH hangar.  For the first time in over 30 years, KENNEDY appears in her correct late 60’s configuration.  You can see the photos of this project at http://www.ussjpkennedyjr.org/dashdoor.html .   Our real major project that Ed organized was the complete installation of DD850s Aft expansion joint.  This undertaking has never been completed by another museum ship and is usually done in a shipyard.  We are extremely proud that Ed engineered this project right in our current berth.  Please check out the complete story at http://www.ussjpkennedyjr.org/850expjoint.html

 

Strip Trips and Acquisitions:

 

Peter Papadakos,  Robert Mack (USS Fred T. Berry DD858), Len Barrett (USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. DD850), Dennis Ferguson (USS Orleck DD886), Ben Miller (USS Henry B Wilson DDG-7),  Brown Beezer, the Millsap family, and Hans Brouwer (US Army)  provided support to our stripping efforts in California at the MARAD facility.  Here they acquired navy style toilets, an ice cream machine for our steam line, radio gear, and many other needed items for our restoration on KENNEDY and MASSACHUSETTS.  Of great interest was the acquisition of the only remaining ASROC LCCS equipment known to exist from the 1960s timeframe.  This has been missing from 850 for over 30 years and it will complete our ASW center in CIC.

 

Peter also conducted various missions in regards to munitions and supplied us with a complete stocking of Mk 44 and 46 torpedo units for our magazine.   Along with that are ASROC rounds and two pallets of 5”38 ammunition.  It has been another great year for DD850 due to the Gyrodyne-Kennedy relationship.  To see photos of our ammunition, please go to http://www.ussjpkennedyjr.org/torpedoac.html. 

 

A strip team of Rich Angelini, Mike Angelini, Ed Zajkowski, Brown Beezer, and Steve Whynot (USS Trippe FF-1075) conducted operations at the old Philly Navy yard.  Here we boarded the USS San Diego and Spruance class destroyers Deyo and Briscoe.  We found boxes of  USN China, a stencil machine, lube oil purifier parts,  brand new battle lantern parts,  vises, a “Big Eye” stand,  a “OSCAR” man overboard training dummy, and much more equipment that will further our restoration efforts for years. 

 

Ed Zajkowski joined Tim Rizzuto and the USS Slater DE-765 crew in their recent strip trip to MARAD in Virginia.  Ed acquired some much needed IC panel fuses and switches as well as some engineering type items.

 

As of this writing, we are currently planning to acquire other artifacts from around the country.

 

Field Days:

 

It would be almost impossible to list and explain every item that our crew accomplished on the field days.  However, we would like to give just a little taste to what and who we are.

 

Starting with the Interior Communications space (IC), Bob Greening (USS Balch DD363) completed more rope work in the IC room.  Bob is our oldest volunteer and entered Pearl Harbor 8 Dec 1941 with the Enterprise task group.  Needless to say that everyone loves him.   Dave Margerum (USS Glennon DD840) has done quite a bit of work in IC including completely painting out the room and equipment.   Dave and Bob have the 21MC circuit running from CIC to IC while Bill Smith (USS Stormes DD780) joined Dave in getting communication from IC to the Bridge back over the sound powered phone circuitry.

 

The progress in the shipfitter’s shop continued as Jerry Shea (USS Noa DD841), Tom Cox (USS Stormes DD780), Mike Sukeena (USS Stormes DD780), and Lee Jones (USS Stormes DD780) have gotten this space prepped for final painting.  As many might know, the original mushroom vent for the shipfitter’s shop was completely removed.  Using drawings and photos from Gearing class ships,  Jerry fabricated a working replica.  These guys installed and welded it into place.  Thanks to this gang, the shop now has working ventilation once again.

 

The work that Phil Zeglin and Blair Sandri (USS Forrestal CV-59) do for the ship is remarkable.  Never any questions asked as Blair always says, “Just tell us what needs to be done”.    They recreated the Training Torpedo Station amidships that was removed years ago and also put together all the torpedo cradles in the ASROC magazine.  Blair and Phil are making arrangements to pick up some “loot” from the USS SLATER on their way to our May field day.    Two of our local guys, Don Furlong and Mike Vaughn have been helping us get our storerooms and shops squared away and inventoried.   Don and Mike have previously been scrapping and painting compartments aboard ship.  “Smitty” Smith ( USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. DD850) is our lead storekeeper aboard and keeps everything in order.    “Smitty” also keeps a computer database of the stores and where they are located.

 

The engineering brothers, Howard Swanson (USS Brownson DD868) and George Swanson (USS Valdez) have been stripping down and reworking the Low Pressure air compressors in the Aft Engine room.  Both were machinist mates in the Navy and still are aboard DD850.   Tony Horman (USS Newman K. Perry DD883) and Jimmy Caruso helped us move and place the torpedo gear in the magazine as well as many other jobs.  Jimmy took home a bunch of 1960s salt and pepper shakers we acquired on a strip trip and cleaned them up for display on the mess decks.  Tony installed an original style door back in the mess decks so that 850 would look more and more like her Vietnam era self.

 

Tony Zampino (USS Rich DD820) and Gene Byers (USS Richard E. Kraus) are two of our best electricians aboard the ship.  They both tackle all kinds of electrical issues aboard Kennedy from mounting and rewiring switches and cargo lights to tracking down cut wires in a system.  We would like to thank one of our new volunteers, Bob Kilkelly (USS Perkins DD877) for all his recent donations to the ship.  Bob donated power tools, line, and a Perkins plaque to the ship and we just got word that he has acquired and built a new top of the line computer for our use aboard Kennedy.

 

The Douglas H Fox DD 779 crew of Mike Fletcher, Dan Tompkins, Kelly Moser, Roger Schmidt, Ike Eisenberg, Ron Silva, Perry Drost, and Joe Sczyrek began the revitalization of the After Engine Room project.  These men have started cleaning up the lower level of B4, mounting gauges and equipment, and polishing brass. 

 

John Wallace (CO , USS Harry W. Hill DD986), Steve Wallace (USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. DD850) , and Vinnie Jordan (USS Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. DD850) continued their restoration efforts in the ASROC control shack.  Steve totally cleaned and built a electronic simulation, using the original equipment, of a ASROC firing sequence.  Now a visitor can go into the shack and see 850’s original equipment actually go through a launch sequence.  These gentlemen have installed this item in the firing console and painted the area.

 

Bonnie and Chuck Parker (USS Sarsfield DD837) came up from Virginia to weld up our new “people barrier” in the DASH Hangar so that exhibit could be open to the public permanently.  They also both cut out and replaced part of our forward bulkhead near the Wardroom.   We look forward to seeing these two every major field day.

 

Special thanks to Steve Whynot (USS Trippe FF-1075), who is the Volunteer Coordinator aboard DD850, and handles operations to get our volunteers aboard, food in the galley, and work accomplished.  Besides working with Ed and myself to coordinate projects, purchase food, and put the word out to our volunteer base, Steve has been working on other projects including painting the galley deck and various welding jobs. 

 

 Most important and saving the best for last is our thanks to the ship’s galley force.  The cooks are Bill Klein (USMC- Vietnam),  Bob Sipos (USS Fred T. Berry DD858),  Bill Hamilton (USS Barry DD933), George Orrico (USS Cowie DD632),  and mess decks cleaner, Louis Borges (USS Harlan Dickson DD708). 

 

Our large May 2005 field day is coming up and Steve reports that we may have 70 some volunteers and veterans. Please get your registration and intent in to Steve as soon as you can. It will be a great time and lots of fulfilling restoration accomplished. We have learned that the USS Charles R. Ware DD865 is sending a detachment for their first field day and we look forward to having them aboard very much. Your help in preserving KENNEDY HELPS preserve the history of the Navy, Gearing/Sumner class destroyers, and destroyers in general. 

 

 

Restoration Progress:

Where do we start regarding our restoration efforts?

 

The galley restoration has been completed some time ago but we are looking for old wooden fruit/vegetable crates for display in this space.  If anyone has a lead in that regards, please let us know.

 

The Secure TTY room has been completely painted, black out curtains put up, warning and security signage posted, weighted bags displayed, and all the teletype machines have been installed.  Original lighting and electrical circuits have been reinstalled as well as furniture.  One wouldn’t know that the USN ripped all these items out completely some 30 years ago.  Unfortunately, this space will always be missing the original KY-8 and KWR-37 type crypto machines due to National Security concerns.  However, it is good to have a restored Radio Central, Crypto room, and Secure TTY with correct and working electronics.

 

The Oil King Shack project has also been completed.  A correct style door and frame was installed, the room totally repainted, and probably the most complete set of 1960s oil and water testing equipment on display aboard a USN ship.  Kennedy even has tank sounding tools on display for the visitor to see.

 

The Capt’s Sea Cabin has been completely repainted and restored to its late 1960’s appearance as well.  All brass work and signage has been cleaned, privacy curtains made for the head and cabin itself, and missing furniture and toiletry items acquired.  We even have a 1960’s Fuller toothbrush near the sink!

 

The Torpedo/ASROC magazine project has come along quite nicely.  The magazine has been emptied of “junk” and setup with torpedo cradles and weapon handling equipment.

We received a load of weapons from Gyrodyne to completely fill the torpedo section of the magazine while also acquiring the last two training ASROC’s in the Navy inventory.  Plans are to prep this space for painting and complete any necessary electrical work within the coming months.

 

The final stages of the Shipfitter’s Shop project are now at hand with the shop scheduled to be painted and completed during our May 2005 field day.

 

The IC gang has and is making a serious attempt to resurrect the 21MC and sound powered phone system on Kennedy.  They have made some good inroads and plan on continuing this project in May.

 

The Bridge has been “torn” down and is in the process of being completely stripped for repainting and restoration.  Already,  electrical teams have installed missing lights, wiring to AM-215 speaker amplifiers, and windshield wipers.  Mechanics have installed the missing log desk, battle helmet rack, and other key features.  We look to paint this space within the coming months.

 

One of our toughest projects aboard is the restoration of the Aux. Radio Room aboard 850 which had received rain damage from a leaky expansion joint for decades.  Since the crew fixed the expansion joint, we set out to resurrect this space as it looked with its DASH transmitting equipment.  The radio gang has acquired all the necessary equipment for the space as well as installed the remote Morse code key into the network.  Currently, the space is “torn” down and empty, with much scraping and chipping progress apparent.

 

To get in touch with our restoration team, please see our contact page at:

http://www.ussjpkennedyjr.org/jpkcon.html

 

If you or your organization would be interested in helping us obtain needed restoration or maintenance items:
please see our Restoration needs list at: Restoration Need List
or our Maintenance Need List at: Maintenance Need List

 

Till our ship’s pass again next month,

Rich

Visit out website at http://www.ussjpkennedyjr.org