August 5, 2015

Checking out our friends

August 5, 2015

A big hello to all you dogs (Ok, and cats too!) out there, reading the JOHN W BROWN'S blog, while your families remain clueless to how smart pets are (but, hey, that's another blog for another day). I've recently had a chance to get onto some other boats, and I thought I'd share some pictures. My humans have some crazy system of storing pictures, because I can't find the pictures of my handsome self on the PRIDE, but I will share some summertime boat adventures with you as well as some of my favorite boats.

This summer I spent over a week in upstate New York and had a chance to get on the EDWARD M. COTTER out of Buffalo, which is the world's oldest working fireboat. Built in NJ in 1900, she is still in use by the Buffalo Fire Department and the City of Buffalo as that city's only ice-breaker. As you can see, I was ALL over that ship...heck, as soon as I heard them tell my people that I was allowed on board, I was already getting on and exploring.

We also got to live on a Canal Boat for a week while we went down the Erie Canal. Not only did I get to BE on a boat, but I got to see all kinds of canal boats and tugboats. As you can see, I'm pretty comfortable on them all... In Lockport NY, the lock keeper told my humans that they have seen lots of boat dogs, but they have never seen such a well behaved dog before. They were impressed with my superhero lack of fear...I stood on top of the actual lock gates and watched as the boats magically went up and down.

Ok, so now that you got a chance to see some of the things I did this summer, I'm going to share some other pictures of my favorite boats. Below is my visit in March to the KALMAR NYCKEL in Delaware. I was not allowed on board because of the work they were doing, but kept trying to sneak on and see their cat. Sorry about that last picture...my mom forgot to change her exposure. Jeesh... must I supervise everything around here?!?! Then, below that, are some pictures of one of my favorite kinds of boats Army T Boats built during WWII (this is the Knock-Na-Shee).

I've been Checking out a Facebook page and website called Museum Ships and I have my eye on a whole bunch of ships that I'm scoping out. My dad was in NY and was on the on the MARY A. WHALEN and brought back some papers for me to look at (I share, so I let the Captain look at them too...) because my dad knows how much I like this stuff. The WHALEN is at Pier 11 in Brooklyn NY and she is an oil tanker. I feel like I NEED to get on this vessel. Stay tuned for more information...but I'm scheming to try to take the BROWN somewhere next year. I want to see the world on my very own Liberty Ship.....

Stay tuned for more BROWN travels. Coming up, the BROWN will move down the street (Next to the N.S. SAVANNAH) for the Labor Day weekend to celebrate the end of WWII with a focus on Maryland. Open Friday-Sunday, the engines will be steaming for the public on Saturday.

Project Liberty Ship, Inc is a 501(c)3 non-profit, all volunteer organization engaged in the preservation and operation of the historic ship JOHN W. BROWN as a living memorial museum. Gifts to Project Liberty Ship are tax deductible.

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July 29, 2015

For the Love of Steam - Triple Expansion Engines

Guest User

July 29, 2015

On Friday, September 4th the JOHN W BROWN will shift from Pier 1 to Pier 13 down the street, in Canton. We are pleased to be part of “Warfront to Homefront, WWII in Maryland”, a group of local museums who will be celebrating the 70th anniversary of the end of WWII.

We will be open to the pubic from 12 - 5 on Friday and 10 - 5 on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday will be very special as the Engine Room crew will have our triple expansion engines working. They will fire the plant, run all the auxiliaries, all the way up to rolling the main engine. For anyone who appreciates steam power, big engines or vintage machinery this is an experience that will be remembered for a long time.

This is where the fun begins with the lighting of the burners. There is a video at the end of this post that takes you through the whole process. The burners are lit about 4:45.

There are walkways along all levels of the engine room and each one gives visitors a different view of the engine at work. The pistons move in order and you can see blur from motion on the left of the photo.

Pictures do not begin to capture the experience of being in the engine room with the engines in motion. The smell and sounds and feel of things moving and whirring is like nothing else.

The  crew takes very good care of the engine. — The crew takes very good care of the engine.

It's a big job with lots and lots of moving parts.

There are hands stationed at throughout the engine room. They all love talking about the ship too.

Even the Coast Guard likes learning about and talking about our steam engine.

A big part of the BROWN's mission is education. We host STEM students to provide them with hands on experience of our big machines.

These are some of the faces you'll see when you visit on Saturday, September 5th.

This video takes you through the process.

There will be other WWII vessels, besides the BROWN and SAVANNAH, including a WWII tug.

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July 21, 2015

The NAF CPO 365 visits the JWB

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July 21, 2015

And just what do all those letters mean? The Naval Air Facility (NAF) Washington is a Naval Reserve air facility. It was merged in 2009 with Andrews Air Force Base to create the Joint Base Andrews. Chief Petty Officers (CPO) serve as both technical experts and as leaders, with the emphasis being on leadership. All Chiefs are involved in the training of junior officers. The "CPO 365- Phase II" is a year-round program that first class petty officers complete before they are considered for promotion. These first class petty officers are called Selectees. Part of this training is a component for heritage and community relations. And that brings us to the JOHN W BROWN (JWB).

This past weekend we had the pleasure of hosting, and putting to work, nine Selectees and 10 Chiefs from the Naval Air Facility. It was raining when they arrived but by the time they had been greeted by Captain Rick, oriented by Hugh, and eaten their lunches, the sun was shining and the work was waiting.

Captain Rick welcomed the Chiefs and Selectees. Here he sharing some maritime history in general and some JOHN W BROWN history in particular.

The main work of the day was to remove the risers from the gun tubs on the Bridge. Not only are these floor plates heavy but they are an awkward shape too.

Getting the floor plates loose was the first hurdle. The bolts were rusted and didn't want to turn.

Team work is a marvelous thing and there were hands supporting the plate through the whole process. Don't for get there are 4 people inside the gun tub too.

Once the plate was out of the gun tub the challenge was to move it around working around all of the other things on the bridge.

This was just the start of the fun. There are 4 gun tubs altogether and each one has two of these plates. And the plates need to be moved to work on the interior.

As you can see there's lots of work to be done.

Floor plates weren't the only things that needed to come out of the gun tubs.

Once it was clear the real fun began. The rust was attacked with hammers and needle guns.

Deck crew were busy too getting things ready for the painting party.

The Chiefs and Selectees interacted with most of the volunteers on board that day. They did get a chance to go through the engine room. Some visited the store and when home with some souvenirs. Another helped out with some non paint related ship's business too. We certainly enjoyed having them on board to visit as well as appreciating all of their help. Moving those floor plates was much easier with their help. I wonder if they would come back to paint?