cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold) (10/29/90)
From: cga66@ihlpy.att.com (Patrick V Kauffold) The USS Avenger, the first of a new class of wooden, non-magnetic mine sweepers being built by Peterson Builders of Sturgeon Bay, WI, is on station in the Persian Gulf. There are 11 total to be completed by Peterson, using "traditional" methods of constructing wooden ships. Many of the workers are 3rd generation of families that have worked at this shipyard. Peterson has been in the business of building small warships since WWII, for the US and for foreign navies, such as France, Belgium, Iran, Pakistan, Korea, and Saudi Arabia. 4 have been delivered; the rest are scheduled to be completed by 1994. The ships' major structural members are laminated, clamped, and glued with an epoxy impervious to water. "There are no nails and no screws, just glue," [said J. Gagnon, VP]. At a cost of $60 million each, the state-of-the-art minesweepers are constructed of Douglas fir from the Pacific Northwest, white oak from Wisconsin, Tennessee, and Kentucky, and yellow cedar from Alaska. The hull is fir, the stern is oak, and yellow cedar is used extensively for interior sheathing. To prevent damage from marine growth, the hull is sheathed in fiberglass. Special non-magnetic metals such as aluminum and silicon bronze are used where metal is necessary, including the four 600-HP diesel engines. Magnetic properties of steel objects (cans of food) are neutralized by degaussing systems. Water and fuel tanks are fiber- glass. Superstructure is fiberglass and wood. Each is expected to have a 40 year life. To insure quality, Peterson does not subcontract. Peterson makes the interior furniture as well. Length is 224 feet. Crew 81. Cruising speed 14 kts. The ship carries a remote controlled "mine neutralization vehicle" which is controlled through an umbilical cable. It carries TV sensors and can place demolition charges on mines. (No details on sonar.) Propulsion is diesel-electric; to avoid acoustic mines, the ship can run in a silent mode on electric motors only (from batteries). ------------------- Excerpted from Chicago Tribune, Sunday, Oct 28, 1990