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BUFFALO, N.Y. — The first of what are hoped to be several international maritime specialists were due to start touring The Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park on Wednesday, as part of a critical next step to repair and preserve two World War II-era vessels, which have been mainstays at the park for decades.
These visits precede what will be a January 17 deadline for requests for proposals for a massive, multi-million dollar undertaking. RELATED: Gov. Hochul announces $10 million donation to restore USS The Sullivans "The things that are going on behind the scenes are very important," museum President and CEO Paul Marzello said.
$21 million has been raised through the Save The Sullivans campaign since the Fletcher Class Destroyer began taking on water in April of 2022. Stopgap measures were taken to keep the ship from sinking, but further investigation revealed more extensive repairs were needed to preserve both The Sullivans and the nearby USS Croaker, a Gato-class World War II submarine that has been a part of the museum's collection since 1988. "We're looking for a management firm that will organize, coordinate, and execute a plan to get the ships out of here, into dry dock, and then to manage the process while they're in dry dock and get them back to Buffalo safely to be moored, where they should be," said Marzello, who noted there are perhaps only a half dozen firms qualified to do such a job.
"You don't go checking through the Yellow Pages looking for these kind of firms. ..
. They can actually come and inspect the ships so they can gather information to put a solid proposal together. Once they have them in our hands we will be able to make a decision and who will best be prepared to carry out that very important mission.
" And what a mission it will be, one which Marzello says will have to be "very sophisticated and very well thoughtout." The Sullivans is boxed in by the Cleveland Class Light Cruiser USS Little Rock, which is moored on its port side. This means the Little Rock will have to be moved out of the way but only after the silt is dredged from around her hull.
"We cannot dredge the Buffalo River until after the spawning season ends which is around July 1," said Marzello, who expects just that part of the process could last four to six weeks. If all goes according to plan, by mid-August a tug would be able to pull the Little Rock aft to a position near Canalside, after which tugs could then pull the Croaker forward enough for another set of tugs to then access The Sullivans, "and then kind of wedge her out into the river," Marzello said. The Sullivans and Croaker would then be towed on journey of some 80 nautical miles to a dry dock in Erie, Pa.
, where the repairs can be made over next winter. It is hoped they can then be brought back to Buffalo in the late spring or early summer of 2026. The bids from the requests for proposals will shed more light on the potential timetable and costs, and if the $21 million raised thus far will cover the job.
"Do we know if that's going to be enough? We don't," Marzello said. "Not until the ships get into dry dock and you start removing some of the plates to see what kind of structural repairs need to be made." When the mission gets underway, Marzello expects no shortage of onlookers.
"It's going to be fantastic to watch" he said. "So we're going to obviously be planning for a colossal going away party and an even bigger party as they come back. I think this is going to be a transformational time for this naval park and for the community to be able to say that these ships are going to have a long history and a long future right here in Buffalo where they should be.
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