USS Laffey DD-724

Drydock Pictures, Reopening to Public & Memorial Service

Updated 12/9/12 — NBC News Interview: Saving Museum Ships
Updated 10/27/12 — Laffey Veterans return to Patriots Point for work party
Updated 9/27/12 — Laffey Memorial Service during 2012 Reunion
Updated 4/14/12 — Laffey re-opens to public

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August 2010: “Will the Laffey Be Stranded?”

After spending more than $9 million in state money on emergency hull repairs, Patriots Point faced a painful question: could it afford to bring USS Laffey home? These two pages from the Post and Courier (Charleston, SC), reported by Allyson Bird, lay out the financial bind — a state loan coming due, a ship still displaced at a State Ports Authority pier, and the board openly discussing selling or giving away the warship. The Clamagore and Yorktown faced similar pressures. A stark look at how close the Laffey came to losing its berth permanently.

Post and Courier front page: headline 'Laffey stranded?' above a photo of USS Laffey DD-724 moored at a pier, hull number 724 visible on the bow. Subheadline reads 'Tough decisions may lie ahead for Patriots Point.' Reported by Allyson Bird, August 2010.

Post and Courier continuation page: headline 'Will the Laffey be stranded?' Article details Patriots Point's $125,000 mooring costs, the $650,000 estimate to return the ship to its original berth, the 11-month Shipyard Creek Associates license agreement, and board members discussing whether the museum can afford to keep the Laffey, Clamagore, and Yorktown. August 2010.

First Pictures From the Dry Dock

Monday, August 24, 2009 — Courtesy of Joe Lombardi

USS Laffey, DD-724, entered floating drydock AFDL-47 at Detyens Shipyard, North Charleston, SC for extensive hull work: a new 3/8” steel bottom from bow to stern, five new bulkheads in the four machinery spaces, and new transverse and longitudinal frames and foundations in Machinery Rooms 1–4. Photography by Joseph W. Lombardi, AMS, Marine Surveyor & Consultant, Ocean Technical Services, LLC, Gloucester, Massachusetts.

USS Laffey DD-724 riding in floating drydock AFDL-47 at Detyens Shipyard, North Charleston SC — bow-on view showing full hull exposure above the drydock pontoon, August 2009

USS Laffey DD-724 in drydock — starboard quarter view showing the destroyer's hull plating stripped back for inspection and bottom replacement

USS Laffey DD-724 drydock — close-up of corroded hull plating along the waterline illustrating why more than 100 holes required patching before the ship could return to display

USS Laffey DD-724 drydock — workers and staging visible beneath the hull as steel bottom plates are prepared for replacement, Detyens Shipyard 2009

USS Laffey DD-724 in drydock — port side amidships showing the destroyer's keel and hull frames exposed during the major preservation overhaul

USS Laffey DD-724 drydock — stern view in AFDL-47 floating drydock with the ship's propellers and rudder visible above the drydock floor

USS Laffey DD-724 drydock — overhead view looking down the main deck from amidships toward the bow while the ship rests in the floating drydock

USS Laffey DD-724 drydock — workers inspecting the newly fitted steel hull plating during the 3/8-inch bottom replacement project, North Charleston 2009

USS Laffey DD-724 drydock — final view of the ship in AFDL-47 before undocking; new hull plating and restored frames visible along the waterline