Main Deck Project On The Kennedy 

          Captain John Casey, Battleship Cove’s Chief Operating Officer, asked us to take a look at a section of the main deck on the USS Kennedy DD 850 to see if we would be able to replace an area that was rusted and battered. The area in question was just a few feet away from the bottom of the brow and it was a situation that could become a hazard if neglected. 

Roland Cote (AGR-10), John Hemminger (AGR-2) and Harry Miller (AGR-11) (YR-65) decided that it would be an interesting project to tackle. In talking the job over, we decided it would be best if we could get another man to help out. A call was made to Jim Spiegel (AGR-12) to see if he would be available to help. With an affirmative answer, he came up from New York with the intent of working through the weekend on the deck project and anything else that needed to be done. The staff of Battleship Cove removed the insulation that was on the underside of the main deck and provided and placed the fire blankets that were needed to protect the displays that were right below the area where we would be working.  

Finishing the project late Friday morning, Jim and Harry had time to start another project for the Kennedy: fabricating a 55-gallon barrel storage rack that would be installed on the fantail. (Destroyers would store extra gasoline in a 55-gallon barrel for the P-60, P-250 and P-500 pumps they carried and, as a safety issue, they were stored in a manner that the barrel could be jettisoned over the side in an emergency). Working on the rack through Sunday morning, they left the ship with the rack 50% completed. The following Wednesday, John Hemminger and Harry returned to the ship and finished the job.