User:Zfylling1321

Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum

Established	2012
Location	3727 E. Wilder Rd. Suite B Bay City, MI 48706 United States
Type	American History
Director	Michael J. Kegley
Website	http://www.ussedson.org/index.php?module=sitebuilder

The USS Edson is a retired United States Navy destroyer that has recently been converted to a museum. The museum is located in Bay City, Michigan, United States. The man responsible for this destroyer being opened for a museum is Mike Kegley, the president of the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum, who has worked on the project for the last fifteen years. It was on August 7, 2012 that the USS Edson arrived at its final and permanent location in Bay City. The USS Edson earned a reputation for "firing first and then asking questions" as it has fired the most five-inch shells of any destroyer. The vice president Richard Janke, the Secretary Mary Kegley, and the treasurer Mark Janke also run the museum.

History

The retired US Naval warship the USS Edson, once put into commission on November 7, 1958. The battle ship remained in commission for thirty years and was decommissioned on December 15, 1988. The USS Edson was built by Bath Iron Works in Bath, Maine and then given the name of the USS Edson after the Major General Merritt Austin Edson. The ship was manned by 17 officers and 276 crewmembers, which during its commission fired the most five-inch shells of any destroyer. This earned the USS Edson the motto of “Three Guns, No Waiting”. This battle destroyer earned this motto because it would fire first and ask questions later. The USS Edson was a battle ship that consisted of four one thousand two hundred pound boilers accompanied by two steam turbines. Each propeller that moved this destroyer was four hundred and eighteen feet in length. Though this ship is known greatly for its forceful firing, it had only seen time in two major wars. The USS Edson was apart of both the Vietnam War and the Cold War, which were both big wars that the Unites State was involved in.

It’s Journey

The United State Navy cleared the USS Edson on April 24, 2012 to become apart of the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum. The Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum was pleased to finally have the USS Edson become apart of its home. It was a real struggle to finally get approved for the museum to obtain a retired US Navy Battleship but Mike Kegly, President of the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum, didn’t give up and continued to be persistent on being in touch with the Naval Offices. Since the ship was given approval to be a part of the museum, the museum had fifty days to come pick up the battle ship because it was the new owners' responsibility to obtain the ship after its release. The museum was forced to wait in order to obtain a quota on how much it would cost them to get two tug boats to aid in the delivery of the USS Edson from the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard to the Museum located in Bangor Township. The USS Edson was towed more than two thousand miles from a shipping yard located in Philadelphia to its new more permanent home as a museum in Bay City Michigan. However there was one major issue that faced the museum before they could take destroyer from its home in Philadelphia and that was with the boats propeller guards. The propeller guards are featured on every ship to protect tug boats from running into the ships propellers. This concern about the propellers became a problem for the USS Edson when it was passing through the locks near Canada because the Canadian Authorities were not worried about the ship being damaged, but the locks themselves. After a long discussion and explanation on why the propeller guards had to stay Canadian Authorities cleared the destroyer to continue on with its voyage. It's permanent location with in Bay City will be at the Independence Park Boat Launch right next to the Independence Bridge located in Bangor Township.

Location

The Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum resides in Bangor Township, Bay City, Michigan, United States, and is open to everyone who wants to partake in the activities that the museum provides. The ship was released to the museum on the 24 of April and left for Bay City on July 18. It was expected that the ship would arrive, to its location on the Saginaw River near the Indepenndence Park Boat Launch, on August 3 but some intense winds delayed the arrival until August 5. The USS Edson will be docked permanently as a floating museum and will be open for tours once the testing that the EPA mandates is complete. The USS Edson will be the centerpiece for the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum as it is located in the Saginaw River that resides approximately ninety miles northwest of Detroit, Michigan, United States. The entire process of the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum cost a grand total of and estimated $1.4 million dollars. This is broken up into two major groups, the $750,000 it cost for the museum to buy the USS Edson from the Navy, and the remaining cost comes from the tug boats and the fuel for the two tug boats to transport the destroyer to its new home.

Volunteers

The volunteerism that has occurred from this museum obtaining the USS Edson has been a major reason that the Saginaw Valley Naval Ship Museum has been able to obtain this ship. Once the permanent dock is built the museum has order 140 gallons of paint in two different shades of gray. While waiting to obtain the last of the additional paint that is needed to completely repaint and restore the USS Edson's color the museum received word that those who are on the Navy's delayed entry program and are waiting to be shipped of to boot camp are willing to volunteer in the restoration of the battle destroyer.