Drawing of Edson used for mooring plan at Bay City shows dock, left, and bollards fore and aft.
Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum Officials Hope to Tow USS Edson in Spring
Saginaw River to See First Destroyers Since Aussie Vessels in mid-1960s
December 26, 2010
By: Dave Rogers
The 12-year project to bring a naval vessel here for display at last may be nearing fruition.
Last minute details such as insurance coverage, requested recently by the U.S. Navy Ship Donation Program, are being arranged as final preparations are underway for the location of the destroyer USS Edson here.
Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum (SVNSM) volunteers have prepared the docking site near the Independence Bridge and when the ice clears hope to begin scanning the river for a 418 foot ship under tow.
Parking lot lights are in, power will soon be hooked up at the site, breasting platforms and bollards on shore are soon to be installed. A mooring plan has been prepared. The parking lot likely will be paved in the spring.
"I don't see any reason why the ship cannot be towed here in the spring of 2011. I think we have finally climbed the last hill," says Michael J. Kegley, SVNSM president.
The organization has hundreds of donors and local supporters who are joining together to run a successful museum based around the ship both as a recruiting tool for the Navy, an educational focal point for 40,000 area students, a tourist attraction and as a tribute to the contributions of the Defoe Shipbuilding Co. to the Navy in several wars.
Among other associated developments in the searchlight of the local group is the idea of applying to the Navy for return of the Naval Reserve Training Center to Bay City. It was moved to Saginaw several decades ago and the familiar quonset building in the Middlegrounds was torn down, making way for the Boys and Girls Club of Bay County.
The Saginaw River has not seen the likes of a U.S. Navy destroyer since the last of three Australian Navy guided missile destroyers built by the Defoe Shipbuilding Company left here in the mid 1960s -- about 45 years ago.
The sight of a destroyer will gladden the hearts of Mr. Kegley and SVNSM vice president Dick Janke, both of whom served aboard destroyers during their Navy service in the 1950s.
Those ships, HMAS Perth, Hobart and Brisbane all served in with the U.S. Seventh Fleet in Vietnam and in the case of the Hobart, the Gulf War. The ships provided both area air defense for the American aircraft carriers and naval gunfire support for troops inland. They received unit decorations from the U.S. Defense Department. All are at the bottom of the sea, serving as dive wrecks and fish reefs in the sea off Australia.
When the Perth went out for its 24-hour trials in 1962, newsmen and photographers from The Bay City Times were aboard. The ship had only scant yards of clearance through the old Belinda Street Bridge, an ancient narrow structure replaced in 1971 by the Independence.
The speed of Perth, reportedly in excess of 40 knots per hour, was surprising (although classified information at the time) and the sleek gray ship soon was cutting through chilly Georgian Bay Canada as tests were conducted.
Veteran skipper and former Navy officer Bob Rush from Bay City was at the helm, with builder Thomas J. Defoe looking on, and several Royal Australian Navy officers acquainting themselves with the vessel.
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