USS Stewart (DE-238)

USS Stewart (DE-238)
While in Louisiana on business, I took a day to visit the USS Stewart (DE-238), an Edsall-class Destroyer Escort located in Seawolf Park on Galveston Island, Texas. Quite honestly, it was a waste of time. The ship is in extremely poor condition after many years of neglect and vandalism. As you will see in the pictures below, 22 years of neglect has taken its toll. On the bright side, I met with the new curator/caretaker, John McMichael who was hired about two months ago. Although obviously busy, John was kind enough to give me access to the old museum (in the Stewart's crew berthing area) and spend spent quite a bit of time talking to me about plans for the Stewart. As an ex-submariner, John's priority is clearly the USS Cavalla (an SSK-244 submarine killer), another exhibit at the park. The 3-5 year plan is to concentrate on the ASW-theme of the park, complete refurbishment of the Cavalla, restore the USS Stewart, and build a museum. In the meantime, however, the USS Stewart is being threatened on two fronts; First, the USN is considering reclaiming and relocating the ship to another unspecified location. John has been working hard to fight this and seems to have convinced the Navy to leave the Stewart where it is to be part of the new ASW-themed park. Second, the Carnegie Group in Pittsburgh is trying to persuade the Navy to allow them to move the Stewart to Pittsburgh. With unlimited funds available, this is a definite threat to the survival of Seawolf Park. At present, the Carnegie group has planned, but not scheduled a metallurgical test of the USS Stewart's hull to determine if it can be floated and towed. The cost is estimated at $40,000, but the Carnegie group shouldn't have a problem with funding. I guess it all comes down to politics. If the USS Stewart is determined to be "floatable", the Carnegie group will certainly attempt to obtain the ship and move it. With unlimited funds, powerful political contacts and guarantees to the Navy to completely refurbish the ship, the group will probably win custody. Their argument will be "Galveston has had the Stewart for 22 years. During that time they neglected to maintain it, allowed it to decay to a deplorable condition, and have not protected the ship against vandalism. Today, most of the rare and irreplaceable equipment and ship components have been stolen. In spite of this, not one act of vandalism has been prosecuted in the entire 22 years." Galveston's only defense is "We recognize shortcomings in our maintenance procedures and lack of security over the years. We have recently hired a professional curator and have installed preliminary security fences and admission gates. Our full-time attendants are present at all times while Seawolf Park is open to the public. Recognizing that the USS Stewart is a national treasure, a one-of-a-kind, irreplaceable item, our new curator has established a refurbishment timeline that will restore the ship to its original WW II configuration and condition. We will accomplish this by working with the USN to obtain obsolete parts, weapons systems, expertise, etc....etc.... The refurbishment will cost ......, of which we have ..... in the bank. The plan is.... and will be completed by ......guaranteed." The USS Stewart needs help. Their "official" website is located at http://www.tbns.net/de238/ and provides much more detail on the condition of the ship. If you are interested in helping, please contact John by email at macm@airmail.net. You can visit the Cavalla website at http://www.cavalla.org .
The Stewart is landlocked and, from a distance doesn't look too bad. The rust is clearly visible from quite a distance. It is much worse up close.
In the bridge, everything has many, many layers of paint. All knobs and switches are missing. Anything not stolen was smashed by vandals.
A view forward from the bridge through a missing/broken porthole. Many of the portholes on the ship are either broken or missing, which allows rain to enter & cause rust.
A view of the flying bridge with the uncovered 3.5 meter optical rangefinder and a (what?). It should be a Mk 52 (or Mk 63) director, but is clearly not. The small antenna on the front of it appears to be an SJ-series radar antenna off of the GATO-class submarines (the Cavalla?). The flying bridge is not accessible and most of the interior cabins are padlocked.
Forward looking aft shows too much rust to even talk about. Most of the deck plates are severely rusted, as are virtually all the welds on the ship. The splinter shield around the number 1 3" has had the handrail cut off, exposing a rusted, jagged edge. Number two 3" gun is not accessible. The forward hold areas and hedgehog storage areas are all either welded closed or padlocked. In short, nothing below-decks is accessible.
Of the eight K-guns on board, this is the one in the best shape. It is also the only one with a removable cover, although it is only removable because it is broken. All other K-gun covers are either welded shut or painted closed. Notice the poor condition of the firing mechanism and the lack of bolts securing the K-gun to the deck.
I can't explain why this fake 7.2" hedgehog spigot mortar is mounted in front of the K-gun. Every K-gun has either a fake Hedgehog round or a Mk 9 fast sinker sitting on a homemade rack in front of it. Maybe someone thought the K-gun launched the hedgehog....
The kitchen sink. Rusted. I didn't want anyone saying I left anything out.
Let's start at the top. The wind vane is not part of the Destroyer Escort's equipment. Neither is the "T" thing with the hammers at the ends. In fact, the entire mast extension with those two devices is not part of the DE's antenna equipment. It appears a ham radio operator added the extension to accommodate the HF antenna wires (barely visible) and insulators. The bedspring antenna (SA air search radar) is fake and missing the antenna rotator. Below that is a fake radome (SL surface search radar) that is hollow and looks suspiciously like half of washtub. There are no navigation lights or battle lights. The antenna support guide wires are not correct. The maintenance platform is missing as are HF communications, IFF, ECM and transponder antennas. The USS Stewart website contains a photo from 1974, the day the ship was installed in Seawolf Park. In the photo, the entire mast assembly appeared intact, complete with the SA Rotator motor and, what appeared to be an HF/DF antenna. Since then, it looks like the original equipment has been stripped and replaced with this stuff.
Port side looking aft. The K-guns are clearly visible but their storage racks are missing. The small homemade racks in front of each K-gun contain face hedgehog spigot mortars or a Mk 9 depth charge. Visible behind the last K-gun is a commercial air conditioner cooling the "crew quarters" below. Next to the Mk 9 there is a commercial TV antenna mounted on the rail that feeds into the "crew quarters." On the left is the Mk 52 director for the X-position 40mm. Both the director and gun are in poor condition and probably unsalvageable. Not visible behind the director station is a very large air conditioning unit that does not appear to be hooked up. The deck plates are in poor condition and most need to be replaced.
The twin 40mm amidships is in very poor condition. All guns on the ship are missing their sights, small parts, knobs, switches, optics, etc. Every gun on the ship is severely rusted and probably unsalvageable. One barrel on the X-position 40mm quad appears to be rusted through, something I did not believe possible.
Port side of pilothouse revealing the shortage of equipment and weapon systems. The hedgehog is missing, leaving no evidence it ever existed. The rusty decking under the hedgehog appears new and has never been painted. The number 2 gun is not accessible. The door under the gun is welded closed. The sound room, radio room, director controller, and captain's quarters are not accessible. All doors are either padlocked or welded shut.
A model OAP-I Radar Test Equipment console I found in a trash pile outside. Aside from weather damage, this was probably salvageable. No more. I spent over an hour photographing and sketching the equipment, just in case it was the last one on earth. I'll (eventually) build an electronic picture of it in Powerpoint or other diagramming program. I managed to make out better than 95% of the data plate and inscriptions.
Beneath the aft depth charge racks remains the only evidence that the Mk 4 smoke generators were ever installed on the Stewart.
Level 02 looking aft. The director controllers are clearly visible but are inaccessible because the ladders were cut off. They are in bad shape with all small parts missing or broken. The stack has had major modifications. The large area of rusted deck plate is obviously not original and has never been painted. In any case, the large rusted area makes it obvious some things are conspicuously absent, specifically: 1) One triple torpedo launcher, or 2) Two 40mm doubles (most likely), or 3) two or four 20mm doubles. The lifeboats are also gone.
Starboard depth charge rack. Obviously in need of refurbishment or replacement.
Starboard looking aft. Basically the same as the port side and with the same homemade racks displaying fake Hedgehogs. The 3" in the X-position is in sorry shape with both pointer indicators either broken or severely deteriorated. As I recall, one was smashed and both had been painted over with several layers of paint.
Quad 40mm showing significant deterioration. All small parts, hand wheels, etc. are either missing or broken.