My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

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D Pizzoferrato
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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by D Pizzoferrato » Sat Jun 01, 2013 5:19 pm

Rick,

Any hope of the boat making it to Portland?
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ordnance
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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by ordnance » Thu Jun 06, 2013 9:12 pm

Dave,

I'm afraid it won't be ready for the convention this year. Just not enough time to make it presentable. I believe you know a bit about the effort that a boat restoration takes, yes? Hopefully by next summer.

Rick
1934 Dodge 1/2 T PU
1937 Chev 1 1/2 T Cargo
1941 Bantam BRC
1941 37mm AT Gun
1941 GMC CCKW 352
1942 Dodge WC-55 Gun Carriage
1943 Borgward Sd. Kfz.302 Goliath
1944 MB
1969 Grafton 24' STAB, Vietnam River Boat
9 assorted hand carts, 1917-1944

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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by keystonefarm » Tue Oct 08, 2013 9:14 pm

Anything new on the 21 boat ? One thing from a long ago memory. The boats had two 110 gallon fuel cells under the deck in the center of the boat. When I took over the 14 boat we and a number of other boats started having fuel filter clogging problems. Discovered that the fuel cell was being eaten by the 82 octane Mogas we were using and the green gel between the rubber bladders was getting into the fuel system. Our hi tech field repair was to drain the tanks, pull out all the foam line the inside with burlap reinstall the foam and refill the tanks. The burlap would trap the green gel and keep it out of the system. Worked great for the remaining time I was there. I left Stabron 20 on Sept 30 th 1970 and they had stopped doing any patrols the week before. I wonder if they ever put new fuel tanks in them when they came home ? Do not put the ballistic armor blankets back in the boat if you have them. They weight so much they slowed the boats down !!! --------------- Ken En3 24UB7014

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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by keystonefarm » Fri Dec 27, 2013 12:34 pm

Anything new on the 21 boat ??? -------------Ken

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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by keystonefarm » Tue Jun 10, 2014 8:57 pm

I'm back !!! Any progress on the 21 boat restoration ? It's been quite awhile since any news or photos. ---- Ken

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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by keystonefarm » Thu Mar 19, 2015 9:59 am

I am back again !!! Any progress on the 21 boat ? The Stabron 20 crew are not getting any younger !!! I'm hoping to go to Hampton Roads this summer to see two Mark 2 PBR's operating. It's been 43 years since I have seen a live one. My uniform will no longer fit !! But unless my head got bigger my black beret should still make the trip. --- Ken

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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by John Neuenburg » Thu Mar 19, 2015 9:39 pm

keystonefarm wrote:I am back again !!! Any progress on the 21 boat ? The Stabron 20 crew are not getting any younger !!! I'm hoping to go to Hampton Roads this summer to see two Mark 2 PBR's operating. It's been 43 years since I have seen a live one. My uniform will no longer fit !! But unless my head got bigger my black beret should still make the trip. --- Ken
Regarding PBRs, the 210 boat will be attending the Camp Delta military vehicle show and swap meet the April in California. Owner John Sorensen will be cruising it up the Sacramento River from Napa and should be on display Th-Sat April 23-25. This is the river delta area where these guys trained back in the day! Might even be a demo on the river with a Huey. Info on www.MVCCNews.net in the Event area.
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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by ordnance » Thu Mar 19, 2015 10:09 pm

Ken,

Thanks for the prodding and sincere apologies for the long lack of an update. Yeah, I'm not getting any younger either. Work continues at a steady but slow pace. Both Jason and I seem to stay too busy at work to pick up the pace but quite a bit has been accomplished.

In no particular order........ Lots of general disassembly and cleaning of the hull done. Gimbals and outdrives removed from stern. Boarding step removed from hull, straightened, and readied for welding. Major dent cut out of starboard side and new plate welded in. Console and instruments removed and some restoration started......we also have the complete instrument panel from the 22 boat and most of these gauges will be used.

Quite a few small parts and accessories have been found in the last year and added to the project. These include a proper Danforth compass, Raytheon depth sounder display, additional radio parts and accessories, various inert grenades and pop flares for display, another dummy M60 receiver, and a GI 3-gallon stainless water cooler like all of the boats seem to have carried.

I have been working on the flak blankets. The originals were gone, although all the ceramic armor plates behind them were still there. The ballistic nylon blankets I found several years ago look good but are slightly too tall and grommets are misplaced. We think they might have been used on the early M901 TOW version as ballistic curtains for the reloaders. Anyway, they need about 6 inches of material removed, re-hemmed, and lacing grommets added in the correct positions. The current issue is finding a sewing machine capable of doing the job.

We have found the right type of 2"X2" D-style rub rail but have not purchased yet. One of the items that continues to elude us is 1/2" thick, forest green, closed cell Ensolite foam padding. This was used on the fuel cell covers and on top of the seat lockers. It seems to be a long-discontinued product unless you want to pay for a mill run. We're still looking at similar foams that might take a dye but nothing too promising yet.

The most recent addition is a nice used pair of Mercruiser Group III outdrives from a source in Florida. These came off a houseboat operating in fresh water on the Tennessee River and have been in storage since the 1980s. Coming with this group are numerous engine mounts and accessories, gimbals, Velvet Drive transmissions, and drive shafts. Much of the original outdrive components suffered from salt water corrosion, impact damage, freezing, and just about anything else that can go wrong with boat parts. These will really help.

One of the real missing bits of information continues to be anything on the seat lockers. I'm still hoping to find drawings or reasonably accurate dimensions to help us build these. All 3 appear to be identical and were positioned along the sides and rear of the crew compartment. They served as OVM storage lockers, seats for crew and passengers and steps to access the forward deck. For now, nothing.

And a few recent photos.........

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1934 Dodge 1/2 T PU
1937 Chev 1 1/2 T Cargo
1941 Bantam BRC
1941 37mm AT Gun
1941 GMC CCKW 352
1942 Dodge WC-55 Gun Carriage
1943 Borgward Sd. Kfz.302 Goliath
1944 MB
1969 Grafton 24' STAB, Vietnam River Boat
9 assorted hand carts, 1917-1944

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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by Stephen Davis » Tue Apr 14, 2015 5:01 pm

Hi Team, I have realy enjoyed reading this thread. The Vet input is just the best.
Keep at it. This is a very werthy project.
As enthusiastes, we know how much stamina it takes on these large projects. Cann't spell for #@##!
Stephen
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ordnance
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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by ordnance » Fri Jul 10, 2015 4:48 pm

Time for another brief update. No recent photos of the boat but Jason is trying to finish up hull repairs so we can turn in over and paint the bottom while the weather is cooperative this summer. The new (to us) outdrives and engine parts finally arrived from the seller in Florida and will definitely help to get things running again.

I'm still tinkering on the M60D dummy guns and associated mounts whenever time permits. What I thought might be fun to add to the thread are some photos of the 21 boat while in service in Vietnam. Through correspondence with several Vets who were crewmen on these boats as members of Strike Assault Boat Squadron 20, a number of images have become available.

First is a nice shot of Seaman Ron Blain at the wheel of the 21 boat. Lots of photos taken in Vietnam indicate how young Soldiers and Sailors were while serving there and this image is no exception.

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This is a view of the Grand Canal taken over the bow of Racing Danger 21

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And Ron Blain doing some maintenance on the 21 boat

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As a collector of ordnance and munitions, I liked this photo, courtesy of Ken Burkett, Seaman EM3 on the 14 boat. It shows the rear of the crew compartment of RD14 after a firefight.

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And my favorite photo of the group is this shot of boats number 14 (in foreground), 21 (in center), and 11 at the rear. Ron Blain again at the helm.

Image
1934 Dodge 1/2 T PU
1937 Chev 1 1/2 T Cargo
1941 Bantam BRC
1941 37mm AT Gun
1941 GMC CCKW 352
1942 Dodge WC-55 Gun Carriage
1943 Borgward Sd. Kfz.302 Goliath
1944 MB
1969 Grafton 24' STAB, Vietnam River Boat
9 assorted hand carts, 1917-1944

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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by gearhead » Fri Jul 10, 2015 5:29 pm

Thanks, great shots!

Ed S :)
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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by Falldownjaeger » Sun Dec 06, 2015 5:10 pm

Any progress before Winter Dry Dock?

I can probably help out with your Kevlar blankets. The ones I made for my Iltis, I used carpet padding between the layers of OD nylon and used grommets from a GI GP Medium Tent Repair Kit to finish. I have several industrial sewing machines and a Singer Bartacker.
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Stephen Davis
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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by Stephen Davis » Sun Dec 06, 2015 7:34 pm

Mate, those shots make me tingle, I like them all. Great history & with you saving that boat all this has come out. Man how slow this would have been without the internet etc.
I just love period shots.
Stephen
UNIMOG DOWN UNDER
1953 one ton GS trailer
1961 Mighty Mite M422A1
1986 Unimog 1300L
1971 Serries Skippy Land Rover, Son's drive.

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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by Stephen Davis » Fri Jun 24, 2016 8:27 pm

Bump, No not bumper boats.
Lads, hows the peace of history coming along?
We all know how life can get in the way of a good hobby!
Please can we have some update photos.
Hope this finds you all in good heath & family as happy as they can get.
Stephen
UNIMOG DOWN UNDER
1953 one ton GS trailer
1961 Mighty Mite M422A1
1986 Unimog 1300L
1971 Serries Skippy Land Rover, Son's drive.

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Re: My 1969 Navy STAB Boat

Post by amer-team » Tue Feb 14, 2017 9:37 pm

Rick any updates? We got the interior of the PBR J boat painted. It is ready to start running wire and putting small things in. We are hoping to find one of the guys with a GI wrecker to come and help put the engines and pumps back in the boat. We will be having a PBR open house on 25 MAR 2017 at 123 Habein Rd. Chehalis, WA from 1000 to 1400, would be glad to have any interested folks come and take a look at the boats. The operational boat is up on supports and we hope to get some sanding of the hull in to get ready for painting.

The operational boat is slated to be on the water in Portland during the Rose Festival.


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