USCG Sinks tsunami derelict

[Bob Cleek]

http://news.yahoo.com/coast-guard-sc...224930446.html

A "25mm machine gun" sounds like a .22 to me, but what do I know? Was towing it in really impossible? It would seem if it lasted this long, was in calm seas, and doesn't appear to be riding low in the water, a salvage tug should have been able to put a line aboard and bring it in and make a few bucks on the deal.

Andrew, do you know anything more about it?

[johngsandusky]

Apparently no one was interested in salvage. 25mm is about one inch, would make big holes.

[Bob Cleek]

Apparently no one was interested in salvage. 25mm is about one inch, would make big holes.

I exaggerated I bit, I suppose. Seems like a waste of ammunition. A lot of little holes will take a while to sink her. Why didn't they just go aboard and open the seacocks? And... she's full of fuel, I'd expect. OMG! What about the pollution? I should have posted this in the thread Andrew started, but couldn't find it until after I posted it. There's more info in Andrew's thread below.

[goodbasil]

25mm is the same diameter of my bathtub plug. So I've figured out the # of litres in my bathtub and timed the drain rate. So if the hull has a capacity of x and the Coast Guard shoots say 100 shots through the hull it will fill at a rate of y x 100 = a time of 1 hour, 47 minutes to fill 83% & sink. Give or take 4 minutes.
( I've got to get a life.)

They figure that there is 7,500 litres of fuel onboard. The enviromentalists want them to sink her and the fuel will evaporate, rather than let her run aground and pollute everything.


Game over, according to this: http://ca.news.yahoo.com/us-coast-gu...163831091.html

[BBSebens]

The boat has a 2,000 gallon capacity. It was also destined for the scrap yard. I doubt there is/was very much fuel in it.

Better to sink it than let it float through shipping lanes.

Besides, Target Practice!

[Gerarddm]

A 25mm chaingun is no joke. I bet they loosened off a few hundred rounds just for the fun of it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M242_Bushmaster

[Paul Pless]

Apparently no one was interested in salvage. 25mm is about one inch, would make big holes.

The rounds are also explosive, fired at a rate of 200 per minute.

I kinda want one.

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

Well Uncle Sam's federal sea scouts have had their fun. As I noted elsewhere, with the radar in place and the jigging lights intact she was not that "prepared for scrapping!.

Silly waste but every cloud has a silver lining - next time you spill some diesel, remember to tell the USCG that "it will soon evaporate"!

[WX]

Stupid waste of a boat. Apparently a Canadian fishing boat claimed salvage but couldn't tow it.

[Oldad]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Mk...Gun_System.jpg

[goodbasil]

http://www.cbc.ca/video/#/News/TV_Sh.../ID=2219903829
The Canadian claim clip.

[Gold Rock]

...
and make a few bucks on the deal.

In reality, with the state of the commercial fishing industry, the rehab costs, the towing and storage costs for the coasties while they tried to find a buyer, I doubt dollar one would have been realized. That said, I still think it should have been towed in. So what if it's a net loss to the taxpayers? It's a net loss to have our other garbage collected. That's the price to pay for a life best lived. That ship was at least garbage (maybe it could have been given away to someone who could have recycled it..) and should not have been turned into toxic waste in the open ocean. But... since when has this course of action not been status quo in government? Oh well. And maybe someone is starting a precedent of action in anticipation/fear of tons and tons more garbage to come when the rest of the debris starts hitting our shores.

[Gold Rock]

By the way, I just watched your clip Dave. Good on that fellow for at least trying.

[M. J. Notigan]

Well Uncle Sam's federal sea scouts have had their fun. As I noted elsewhere, with the radar in place and the jigging lights intact she was not that "prepared for scrapping!.

Silly waste but every cloud has a silver lining - next time you spill some diesel, remember to tell the USCG that "it will soon evaporate"!

"Uncle Sam's Federal Sea Scouts, hmmm.......having spent a lifetime in that service you refer to as Federal Sea Scouts I can assure you that should you find yourself caught in a storm, in the last extreme of your abiities, you will thank the Lord Neptune when you see that Cutter come rushing to your aid..........and ditto for our English and Irish compatriots in this, the most compassionate of human endeavors.......

Take Care,
Mike

[Andrew Craig-Bennett]

It is not the lifeboat service of the USCG that generates that nickname for them amongst professional seamen of other nationalities who have the misfortune to have their ship ordered to the USA. In Britain and Ireland the RNLI is a volunteer service financed by charitiable donations, as I think you know.

[johngsandusky]

Seconds Mike. I've been thanked by those just plucked from a watery death.

[Boatsmith]

Well Uncle Sam's federal sea scouts have had their fun. As I noted elsewhere, with the radar in place and the jigging lights intact she was not that "prepared for scrapping!.

Silly waste but every cloud has a silver lining - next time you spill some diesel, remember to tell the USCG that "it will soon evaporate"!

That was an unneccessary and disrespectful remark and I am surpised you would make it.

[PatCassidy]

Andrew, you were reading my mind.

edit: I was not - and am not passing judgment about the sea scout comment. My thoughts are about the irony of an agency that enforces oil pollution laws that deep-sixes a vessel with fuel on board. Hope there wasn't any plastic too!

[Mad Scientist]

If it's any consolation to anybody, the Canadian Navy most likely would have sunk it, too, had it hung around our waters long enough. They've done before...

Tom

[PatCassidy]

Let us not forget that, back in 1905, the US Navy wanted to sink "Old Ironsides" - using it for target practice.

[pwilling]

"Sea scouts" is a pretty mild term, to somebody who has had his hair mussed up by the USCG with their Darth Vader boats and a .50 cal on the bow -- doing "training" on unsuspecting civilian boaters. If anyone wants more detail, I will provide it -- probably in a new thread.