Shipboard welding jobs

[NOMADMAD]

As many know part of our job security as welders is fixing other peoples screwups. Onboard ships it is the same none the less. Recently i worked a few jobs that i ended up fixing peoples screwups and previous coverups that other welders before me couldnt fix so i end up doing the cleanup work and fixing it better than what they had it. First job is a boat davit set of padeyes that i had to cleanup and reweld after the BMs on the ship failed to take off the securing turnbuckle that the padeyes were attached to for securing for sea. after they kicked in the hydro to lower the boat it broke free the padeyes from the foundation almost droping the boat and everyone on it at the same time. My mig gun on the ship wasnt working at the time so all i had was my air cooled tig that i was almost burning up my torch on by doing this job. Yes it got hot though my gloves on this one. almost too thick to be welding with my equipment. Here are the pics.
Dave

[NOMADMAD]

Next is a stanchion that keeps people from falling down steep ladders found on our ship. here you will see a good example of a coverup that i had to do a temp fix untill we can get someone else to come over and actually replace the damaged deck under a found patch that a hole was ripped inwhen a previous stanchion was there. i went in and repaired the weld on the patch and added some support brackets to keep it from bending on the plate thatwas bolted down over the hole here are those pics. ill keep adding as i get more jobs done.
Dave

[Billy]

Should try using stick while going round Cape Horn !!!!
Good fun

[ScaledTankBill]

Yep, leave it to the Boatswain Mates!

Bill
EMC (SW) ret

[farmersamm]

How much stock is usually carried onboard for repairs? Plate, flat, rounds, etc. ??

[ScaledTankBill]

Depends on ship type. Smaller ones carry less, naturally. The ones I served aboard usually had several racks in the weld shop, machine shop and several racks in the Supply Department storerooms.
Then there was always re-supply (either at sea or when making port). Push come to shove, materials could be obtained through civilian channels (paperwork out the wazoo, though).
One thing could almost always be counted on, though. Whatever you needed wasn't authorized as part of the Supply Department's Allowance List.

Bill

[Yamahammer]

It's a good thing they didn't drop that boat with everyone onboard cause that hurts. I am speaking from experience. In '06 I was dropped in a lifeboat and I am now 2" shorter from a crushed vertebra.

[NOMADMAD]

we have a 10 foot long 2 1/2 foot wide that is stacked with 5 sections. top alum, then copper nickle pipe, then carbon steel then last 2 solid round stock all sections of various shapes and sizes. plate and sheet metal stashed behind the mill. metal rack behind the lathe with bottle rack. there is no real organization since the gus are always diggin though the pill to get what they need along with the rest of the boat if they need something. wish we had a bigger space but you take what you are given and make the best of it, almost like working out of a 12x30 space with everything packed like a sardine can.i will take some pics during this next underway this week and post them as soon as i get back. cant post pics from the ship.
dave

[farmersamm]

Originally Posted by NOMADMAD

we have a 10 foot long 2 1/2 foot wide that is stacked with 5 sections. top alum, then copper nickle pipe, then carbon steel then last 2 solid round stock all sections of various shapes and sizes. plate and sheet metal stashed behind the mill. metal rack behind the lathe with bottle rack. there is no real organization since the gus are always diggin though the pill to get what they need along with the rest of the boat if they need something. wish we had a bigger space but you take what you are given and make the best of it, almost like working out of a 12x30 space with everything packed like a sardine can.i will take some pics during this next underway this week and post them as soon as i get back. cant post pics from the ship.
dave

Thanks!!

[cryowelder]

I sure don't miss those days. We had a couple of racks on the main deck, and the shop was down on the 2nd deck. The entrance was in the vestibule to the aft main space.

[NOMADMAD]

Originally Posted by cryowelder

I sure don't miss those days. We had a couple of racks on the main deck, and the shop was down on the 2nd deck. The entrance was in the vestibule to the aft main space.

we have almost the same problem but with some of our gas bottles. our shop is on the 2nd deck but our oxy and acety rack is on the 03 level. i helpe fix most the problem with it by getting the shop a lot of pony bottle to help us be more portable and added a argon rack for our large bottle at the end our the metal rack. not much room in the shop but its functional. what were you on anyway im on a CG

[cryowelder]

I was on AOE-3 USS Seattle. We hated swapping out cylinders. But firemen were my solution for carrying them around, especially down to the engine rooms. DO they still have 55 school? That was a fun one and I reccomend it for all the guys that didn't want to just have to unclog everything in the heads all the time.

[NOMADMAD]

Originally Posted by cryowelder

I was on AOE-3 USS Seattle. We hated swapping out cylinders. But firemen were my solution for carrying them around, especially down to the engine rooms. DO they still have 55 school? That was a fun one and I reccomend it for all the guys that didn't want to just have to unclog everything in the heads all the time.

yes they still have 4955 school. when i went though it i ended up 2 weeks ahead of the class i started with. work at your own pace school as long as you dont get to far behind. from what i understand it is the most expensive school the navy has due to all the ndt testing by the shipyards on our projects. thats my understanding of it anyway. i use my firemen and 3rds to carry and setup everything. my way of teaching them the proper way of useing the equipment. i got them now where i can set them out on there own to do jobs since (a) school dont really teach them anymore. its funny how when i put them on an alum job and they get so frusterated they have to call me up there to help them and in a mater of seconds i look at the equipment tweek a few things tell them what they were doing wrong, run a few beads and hand everything back to them then walk off. i have some good guys that i work with but the navy has a new program call perform to serve and now that my rate is overmaned im losing my top 2 thirds because the navy told them to crossrate or get out. we needmore poeple but we wont let them stay, dont make sence to me but who am i, i dont get paid the big bucks to come up with these programs just perform miracals with what i have to work with.

[dr stan]

Originally Posted by NOMADMAD

i have some good guys that i work with but the navy has a new program call perform to serve and now that my rate is overmaned im losing my top 2 thirds because the navy told them to crossrate or get out. we needmore poeple but we wont let them stay, dont make sence to me but who am i, i dont get paid the big bucks to come up with these programs just perform miracals with what i have to work with.

Sounds like nothing has really changed since I got out in '77 as a MR2. I was offered 15K to re-up and turned it down flat.

BTW, during my last 18 months I served on the Samuel Gompers AD-37. Before I got out they were starting to plan for its first overhaul. In so doing they measured the thickness of the deck of the main machine shop and discovered it was made from 5/16" plate rather than the 3/8" plate as specified.

[NOMADMAD]

ok we got back last week and we were pretty buisy. nothing like standing on a ladder while underway and welding. ill tell ya its like riding a surfboard blind with a lot of wind. and Sam i took a few pics of the stock rack for you. i made 2 brackets to hold exterior lights, replaced over 40 studs for mounting different electrical boxes , replaced 2 cable passthough tubes and made a box for holding a monitor in combat while underway. the salty environment plays havoc on a ship with an alum superstructure. when you are underwayyo do your best with what you have to get the job done. ill post my picks ive got now but will add a few more lader after i get them off the camera. hope you enjoy.

[NOMADMAD]

more pics

[NOMADMAD]

and for those of you wanting to know this is my john boat.lol

[farmersamm]

THANKS FOR THE PICS!!!!

Seems to be a really large selection of round stock. I would imagine there's a lot of call for it on a highly mechanized ship. The quarters are as tight as I imagined.

I was out in California for a very short time when I was younger, and got a chance to tour the Jerimiah O'Brien. I couldn't believe how tight everything was. Space was at a premium.

I read that the reciprocating engines were used on the Liberty Ships because they were manned by retreads from an earlier time. The older men knew how to keep those powerplants going.

The gun tubs were something else. They had steps so the gunner could raise the elevation of the gun. All round, around the gun mount. They descended into the bottom of the tub.

The steel shutters on the bridge windows told it all. This wasn't a ship designed to work in peacetime.

The only place that was off limits was the compartment where the steering engine was. Other than that, you had full access to the entire ship.

I was really interested in the heating system. It had to be one cold Hell in the North Atlantic. The heating system appeared to be minimal, and with nothing but a steel wall to prevent heat loss to the outside.

I don't believe that people know about how rough it must have been to man those cargo ships. Cold, wet, and probably scared to death. A lot of thanks should be given to those men in that time, and to the men that do it now. It doesn't seem like an ideal life.

From what I understand, the worst thing was when the bulkheads distorted from damage or fire, and the doors wouldn't open. People were trapped below decks.

I think people should read about this. It's something that should be known.

Thanks again for the pics. I really enjoy them.

SAFE ON LAND

[farmersamm]

Oh, I read a thing about electric action on metals exposed to seawater. Apparently aluminum is not a good candidate for oxidization around salt water

[ddog]

I know what you mean about the lack of space..I was out in Pearl workin on the Crommlin last year around X-mas...I was in some spots that I didn" think I was going to get back out of some of the spots I foud myself in I got stuck once or two times actually.....lol

[ScaledTankBill]

Originally Posted by dr stan

Sounds like nothing has really changed since I got out in '77 as a MR2. I was offered 15K to re-up and turned it down flat.

BTW, during my last 18 months I served on the Samuel Gompers AD-37. Before I got out they were starting to plan for its first overhaul. In so doing they measured the thickness of the deck of the main machine shop and discovered it was made from 5/16" plate rather than the 3/8" plate as specified.

I was on Gompers also, 73-75. Ships company, E Div. Ran the Movie Locker my first 6 mo then went to Power Shop.

Bill

[NOMADMAD]

here you guy are, some pics of what the ship was doing while i was trying to weld. hi speed turns, full power run and also of the fantail duing a full reverse. cool stuff. didnt help the wind factor on my sheild gas while tryin to tig.

[NOMADMAD]

Originally Posted by farmersamm

Oh, I read a thing about electric action on metals exposed to seawater. Apparently aluminum is not a good candidate for oxidization around salt water

yes the salt sucks. you think you get it clean and you hit a pocket you didnt see before and the whole weld blows out or blows though. ive seen cases when i worked in the planning office ship checking jobs for the shops to redo of alum that wasnt of the right type start to expand and looks like a book because the shipyard put the wrong type alum in and the salty environment set in. also we have a big problem with bimetalic corrosion. my workload never ends on these things.

[FoxholeAtheist]

Nomad, I hope this isn't a threadjack.... I'm thinking about learning oxy/acetylene welding for small jobs on a sailboat, and I was thinking that if I go cruising on a sailboat, it would be handy to have a set of burglar bottles and a small torch to do repairs for people in out-of-the-way places. (Of course I would have to have a gas-tight storage compartment that would vent overboard, etc, etc)

My question is... since you can't put oils on welding bottles to keep the corrosion at bay, how do you keep the brass of the regulators from corroding all to hell?

[NOMADMAD]

hey fox,
when it comes to your bottles, if you have a good rack to keep them secured you can keep them outside or in with good venting. if you keep them outside they will rust. a lot of our bottles are kept outside and have the caps taken off and put back on while in storage rack and the threads wire brushed to keep them from freezing up. the valve on the top of the bottle will be good to go, never seen a problem with those. try to keep most the bottles in shop if possible. always take the guages off when not in use and keep them in a safe place. the brass on the regulators will just turn green if any but if you put them away after your done might not see much. good practice for you dont want something falling and damaging them while underway or sticky fingers walking away while in port. say what size sailboat. a lot of sailboats that i have seen have pvc or a flex plastic pipeing for the plumbing not really much to braze on.