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This picture was taken of WATERFORD (ARD-5) and WEST MILTON (ARD-7) sometime in the mid 1960's. WATERFORD is to the right and the WEST MILTON is on the left. To the right, at the quaywall, a fleet diesel boat is moored and to the left of the picture two smaller diesel boats are moored to a finger pier.
The pier with the two drydocks was the old pier 17. Pier 17 was demolished in 1995/96 and a new pier was built to moor the OAKRIDGE (ARDM-1) and is also capable of mooring the new SSN 21 class submarines. Notice the lack of NSSF buildings along the waterfront. Wonder how they were able to keep the twenty year old (and older) boats going back then?
It's not known what two boats are in the drydocks. We couldn't even really agree on which class they were. If anyone knows, please contact me with info. Also, anyone with more info on the WEST MILTON (pictures, etc.) e-mail me. I am considering setting up some pages dedicated solely to dry docks if I can get enough info gathered.
Thanks to
Joseph Light
, a former crewmember of the ARD-7, the following info is now available. Joseph
sent the following:
The docks weren't called West Milton and Waterford back then. The dock on the
left was the RD-7 (Note:RD=Repair Dock) and the one on the right, ARD-5
(Auxiliary Repair Dock). Don't know why the difference, they were the same type
dock. If both docks ran their ballast pumps at the same time (total of eight
15,000 gpm pumps), a breaker at the power plant would trip. Normally the docks
were submerged by gravity feeding the tanks and opening the stern gate. In the
mid sixties the docks were under the command of SERVLANT (Service Force Atlantic
Fleet).
During the cold winter months, we would start the crane engines with the power from the welding generator in the Hull Shop. We had a double effect distilling plant that couldn't make water because the boiler was too small and didn't produce enough steam to operate the air ejectors for the necessary vacuum.
