172 ft minesweeper renovation

[minesweep446]

I'm new to this forum.

We've been working on cleaning and renovating the former USS Lucid MSO-458 .. All Wood 172 ft Ocean Minesweeper the past four years in the California Delta, and we're in need of a lot of help - advice and assistance the next few years. Our purpose is to bring her back to former glory as a floating museum ship, that will no longer be operable as a seagoing vessel, but strictly as a static minesweeping museum floating in fresh water currently.

The Lucid MSO-458 Foundation is a Nonprofit 501(c)(3) Public Benefit Corporation.

[marshmat]

Hi Mike, welcome aboard :)

It's always wonderful to see an old boat being saved from the firewood heap. Your team surely has a lot of work ahead of them, but evidently you're confident it'll be worth the effort :)

[minesweep446]

Well thank you Matt, and it's actually the last one in the USA capable of being restored as a museum, out of 101 of them built. She's an old Higgins boat from New Orleans - commissioned in '55 and scrapped by the Navy in '76. We have a few options ahead of us for future museum display berthing, but presently she's on a private island here in the California Delta.

Our plans are leaning towards glassing over the original plank hull below the water line, because she'll be sitting in fresh water as a static display.

We've heard a lot of pro's and con's regarding several of our plans and hopefully as we go forward here we can get a fair share of advice from this forum.

The MSO was the first all wood - non magnetic ship - built for the modern US Navy during Korea and actually the last class to sweep mines. The hull was designed for the Navy by Phillip Rhodes. (Rhodes Sailboats) They sweep mines with helicopters today.

Mike