USS SLATER (DE-766)

Status of Restoration efforts:

What has been accomplished:

The interior fore-and-aft passageway, and the athwartships passageway forward of the galley and aft of the machine shop, have been chipped, primed, and repainted in the original white, with decks the original deck blue instead of green. Roger Turnpaugh, Merchant Seaman Bill Sciller, and husky "Bill the Greek" have been leading on this.

Officers' Country had been done up like a basement rumpus room. Big Mike Brophy, Ralph DeSantis, and Frank Mauro stripped out the formica panneling, dropped ceilings, stateroom doors, fluorescent lighting, air conditioning, linoleum flooring, and a built-in mahogany breakfront. We re-installed blower ducts, the original lighting including battle lanterns and the operating room lights over the wardroom table. We re-installed proper cabinets and desks in the staterooms, which we re-painted in the original colors, the bulkheads being a pale green.

Down in the Chief's quarters, John Mohr, whose Firecontrolman father was killed by a kamikaze on the USS Zellars (DD-777), hacksawed off the European squat-down toilets the Greeks had installed in the head, jack-hammered out the linoleum, and chipped all surfaces. Jim Moore, EM1, rewired the electrical circuits.

Up in the wheelhouse, which had been painted black, the helm, binnacle, and all lighting control panels have been cleaned to bare metal and painted or polished as appropriate. Our carpenter, George Craig, an ex-B-29 tailgunner, USAAC, built the helmsman's lattice platform.

George and Boatswain's Mate John Tobin from the Coast Guard have been re-straking the double-ended motor whaleboat, which had deteriorated badly. The engine has a cracked manifold -- anyone know of one we can get CHEAP?!?

Motor Mech Marty Newman got the ship's service air compressors back on line to make all this mechanized chipping possible, and while he was at it, he repalced the pneumatic tubing and the mechanical control cables in order to get the ship's horn and and siren to working. AND WOW THEY WORK WELL!! While we were bearthed along side the Intrepid, the Museum has asked us to STOP letting visitors pull the handles because their visitors were hitting the deck in terror at the siren's whoop - whoop - whoop.

Resident monkey Joe, who never misses a chance to climb the mast, strung guy wires from the bow to the truck and from the truck to the stern with the same agility he did fifty years ago when he did it the first time! Assisted by, spaghetti chaser Ted Prager and leading spaghetti eater Phillie Prainto, Joe then ran out the "dress ship" lights.

Remember - any questions, comments or donations - contact Bill Humienny

The Volunteers restoring the USS SLATER wish to thank:

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