THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 2, 1995 TAG: 9503310284
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Olde Towne Journal
SOURCE: Alan Flanders
LENGTH: Medium: 85 lines
At the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard Museum last month, five Norfolk Naval shipyarders finally restarted a working model of historic Drydock 1.
During their lunch break, Dan Pack, Code 928 electrician; Don Taylor, Shop 36 pipefitter; Thomas Jeffery, Shop 38 marine machinist; Arthur Timmins, Shop 51 electrician; and Roy Myane, Shop 56 pipefitter reassembled the drydock simulator that was first installed in July 1983.
Built by the yard apprentice school with help from several shops, the working model became a main attraction for museum visitors and a special favorite among school children.
Then, according to museum officials, the model's pumping system went on the blink causing the drydock to overflow the holding tank.
What could have been a history lesson in dry-docking a submarine in America's oldest stone drydock quickly turned into an exercise in mopping the deck as museum workers frantically cleared the area during the flooding.
Two years ago the model was returned to the shipyard for a complete overhaul. Now it's back.
``It use to run off a hydraulic pump, but now we've replaced it with an electrical one that runs on a set timer,'' said Pack. ``The new timing mechanism will recycle after a complete revolution and allow the water to drain from the bottom of the dock just like clockwork. All you have to do to start the system is push the button and the rest should be history.''
Pack was right. Starting the rebuilt model is like a push button lesson in history.
As early as 1825, Gosport was a competitor with Charlestown, Mass., as a site for the nation's first granite dry dock. Three years later, the Navy sent Laomni Baldwin, the nation's leading engineer, to begin the project here.
Soon the river was jammed with barges carrying lumber cut by local lumbermen and granite stones shipped from Massachusetts. After the granite was offloaded, teams of stonecutters from New England began to chip away at the giant stone blocks.
The entire scene could have been mistaken for something out of ancient Egypt had it not been taking place in the 19th century along the Elizabeth River. As the giant bite in the shoreline began to take on the shape of the future drydock, press coverage increased with the Norfolk Herald writing of Portsmouth architect Henry Singleton's contributions.
``The preparatory work of coffer damming, under the superintendence of Henry Singleton of Portsmouth, is within weeks of completion and this alone, with its appendages and platforms, wharves, etc., will appear to the eyes of the common observer a most stupendous undertaking and of which one unacquainted with the structure of such works can form no idea but from actual observation. Tours of the project will form in Gosport daily.''
Today a shipyard-built model of the 74-gun sailing warship USS DELAWARE stands next to the Drydock 1 model as a symbol of her distinction as the first ship in American history dry-docked. Two original prints by Philadelphia engraver Joseph Goldsborough Bruff depicting the hoopla surrounding the event hang on an adjacent wall.
On June 17, 1833, local newspaper announcements encouraged sightseers to witness the history-making event:
``Steam ferry boats will ply between County Wharf and the Dry Dock during the day! Fare 12 1/2 cents. A spacious apartment for the ladies has been set up in the engine house and a viewing stand erected.''
Shipyard commander, Commodore Lewis Warrington, opened the doors of his official yard residence, Quarters A, to the public as tour boats and private launches milled about the drydock doors. During Warrington's reception, several toasts were made to Baldwin, Singleton, and another Portsmouth resident, Francis Grice, who was responsible for placing giant wooden blocks on the drydock floor to cradle the DELAWARE as the water was emptied.
Since then Drydock 1 has continued to make history as the ``cradle of American Naval technology.'' It was also the scene of the conversion of the USS steam frigate MERRIMAC(K) into America's first ironclad CSS VIRGINIA.
Over the years the real Drydock 1 has remained in continual use but rests within the yard's industrial area which is fenced off from the public. Thus the shipyard's museum is a great way to see how the nation's first drydock looks and operates. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by MARK MITCHELL
Roy Myane, left, and Arthur Timmins helped reassemble the working
model of historic Drydock 1, which is on display at the Portsmouth
Naval Shipyard Museum.
KEYWORDS: U.S. NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD by CNB