The newly completed dock for the USS Edson is temporarily occupied by a tug and barge. (MyBayCity.com Photo by Dave Rogers)
MOVING DAY: USS Edson Expected to be Moved Yet This Week, Says Kegley
Stream of Visitors Seen Visiting the Historic Destroyer This Year
May 1, 2013
By: Dave Rogers
One of the tugs that will move the USS Edson sits at the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum dock in Independence Park waiting another tug that will aid in moving the 418 foot destroyer.
Mike Kegley, president of SVNSM, said "we're planning to have her moved yet this week, hopefully by Friday or Saturday."
A raging river current caused by high water has slowed in the past few days, easing conditions which had worked against a move last week, he said.
Volunteers are meeting to plan details of the move and operations at the new dock once the ship is in place. Key to getting people aboard safely is the power supply available at the new site, something the ship lacked at its temporary mooring at the foot of Scheurmann Street in Essexville, according to Kegley.
Once in place, workers will be uncovering the exhibits that were placed aboard when the vessel was on display more than a decade ago in New York's Intrepid Sea, Air, Space Museum on the Hudson River.
The fact that the ship had been a viable museum was one of the most attractive features inducing the local committee to seek the Edson for Bay City.
After the vessel is settled into its mooring, SVNSM officials will be applying to the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City for artifacts from the ship that were removed in 2004 when it left that berth for the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
The ship was decommissioned in 1988 after 30 years at sea, including significant action in South East Asia where sailors dubbed it "the Grey Ghost of the Vietnamese Coast."
The ship is named for Marine Gen. Merritt "Red Mike" Edson, a World War II hero who headed Edson's Raiders in the South Pacific theater.
A number of important artifacts, including the ship's bell from its days patrolling the coast of Viet Nam will be conveyed here by veterans, perhaps including some former crew members.
The first Bay City ringing of the ship's bell will be a momentous event after the items are received from New York, officials said.
Museum officials expect to host up to 80,000 persons a year at the Edson, where a visit will cost $10 for adults and $7 for children.
Museum officials hope that a steady stream of visitors to the ship will begin, providing funds for the maintenance and operation of the vessel as a tourist attraction and fulfilling its mission as a tribute to the Navy and a recruiting tool.