Floating drydock tat transported subs down IL river

[JWLaRue]

<<Originally posted by "sgtmac1">>

I as wondering if anyone had pictures of the floating dry-dock that took the Manitowoc-built subs down the Illinois and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans? I think it would be an interesting diorama.

[chips]

When we were in Manitowoc for Subfest, I bought a book at the museum. The name of the book is "Fresh Water Submarines, The Manitowoc Story." The book gives the dry-dock dimensions as : 330' LOA; 64' beam; 7' draft; wing walls 27' high - with a height of 20' above the water line. A derrick on the starboard wing wall was capable of handling a 4,000 pound load, and was positioned to re-install the periscopes and their shears in New Orleans. Each wing wall had an auxiliary pilot house that could communicate with the towboat via sound powered phones.

On the trip from Lockport to Brandon Pool (or Brandon Lock), the dry-dock was pushed by the tug KANSAS CITY; from Brandon Pool to New Orleans, the tug MINNESOTA was used. The MINNESOTA was originally built as a stern wheeler, but in 1930 was converted to a twin screw tunnel-type boat. Dimensions for the MINNESOTA are listed as 230' LOA x 58' beam x 8' draft.

The book details several instances where the bow of the dry-dock got pushed into the river bank while the tug and tow were negotiating a river bend. On the first trip, with the USS PETO, the dry-dock was several tards into a corn field. Later with the USS HAMMERHEAD, the report is 75' into the woods.