| On September 10, 2001, the Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien steamed into
drydock for the most extensive repair work in her history. In May of 1999
the ship collided with a pier while docking, which resulted in a large
dent in the hull just aft of the starboard boiler. The damage was well
above the waterline, so repairs were delayed until her next scheduled
drydocking. Fixing the dent involved replacing portions of two hull plates
and several frames. The work was completed on schedule and the O'Brien
left drydock on the 20th of September. There have been discussions on SMML about the weathering of ships below the waterline, so I was interested to see this for myself. The hull paint remained a dirty red color, but it was coated with a layer of green slime that lost its transparency when it dried. This was particularly noticable near the boilers, as this area dried before the rest of the hull. More photos showing the work in progress will be posted at my website and the Jeremiah O'Brien website. |
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Double checking the ship's position
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Water draining out of the dock
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The bow shortly after coming out of
the water
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Marine growth on the stern
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Port side looking forward
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Port side looking aft
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Detail of growth on hull
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Starboard side after removal of marine
growth
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Stern after sandblasting
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Starboard side after sand blasting
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Cutting out the plate to be removed
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Workers grind down the edge of the
opening
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The bow as seen from the dock wing
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The bow from the dock floor
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The bow head on
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The anchors as seen from below
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The stern from the pier
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Starboard quarter from pier
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Straight on view of the stern
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Port side looking forward
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Detail of port side
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Aft sea chest with screen removed
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Forward sea chest with screen removed
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Looking up at the sea valve (penetration
#12). This photo is oriented with port to the left and forward down.
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Port side looking forward
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Detail of the bilge keel, also known
as the rolling chock
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The bow and paravane skeg as seen from
the dock wing
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One of four anodes located on the hull
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Looking aft along the bottom of the
hull
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The propeller and rudder, with me included
to give an idea their size
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Propellor and rudder
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Propellor and rudder
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Looking forward along the starboard
side
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Touching up the paint- all three penetrations
on the starboard side are visible in this photo
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Looking aft along the starboard side
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The stern- the pad eyes on either side
are used to remove the propeller
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Flooding the dock. The pilot boat is
arriving to the right of the picture. The ships in the background are
Military Sealift Command's MV Cape Horn and MV Cape Hudson
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The bow as seen from the dock wing
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Penetration #5
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The starboard sea chest
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