BUFFALO, N.Y. — The USS The Sullivans nearly sank in April of 2022. Since then, work has been underway to keep her floating, to honor the Sullivan brothers, and to give generations history lessons.

What You Need To Know

  • October is the target date to get the USS The Sullivans and USS Croaker moving to a dry dock

  • Testing the soil under all three vessels before it’s dredged is the first step in the preparations

  • Once dry docked, it will take roughly 6-7 months to get USS The Sullivans a new hull

For nearly five decades, USS The Sullivans has floated at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park. That’s about 50 winters, which are not kind. And this year is no different. Since January, at least eight pinholes, as they’re described, have been etched into her hull by ice. They’re hoping that it will be the last time.

Last year, the Naval Park started what’s known as the "Survivability Program."

“We went through the ship and invested in about $500,000,” Bill Abbott, director of operations at the Buffalo and Erie County Naval and Military Park, said.

He says there are 39 "waterbugs: located in key parts of the ship.

“What happens is, if the water comes up to a certain level, we'll get a notification via cell phone, and then we know that we were having an issue,” Abbott said.

From there, a team of divers will assess and fix the problem.

“Stay in front of it before it becomes catastrophic,” Abbott explained.

With money pledged, they’re working non-stop to make sure this is the final winter the Sullivans is docked here with her 82-year-old hull.

“The target date had been October,” Abbott said.

October has been earmarked as the target date to get the Sullivans out of the Buffalo River and stationed at a dry-dock in Erie, Pennsylvania for repair.  But Abbott explains there are a number of things to get done first. The first is site preparation, which includes testing the soil under all three vessels before it’s dredged.

“So even though the space that we're standing now has been dredged and blasted, because the river may carry sediment down that could have materials in it that could be harmful,” Abbott explained.

A massive mooring will be moved, then the USS Little Rock will be moved. She’ll stay, but the USS Croaker will be dry-docked, too.

“None of that can begin until the fish spawning period in the harbor ends July 1,” Abbott said.

Work will be done to ensure the vessels can make the 90-mile journey. It will take about 22 hours in a dead-stick tow across Lake Erie. Artifacts and hazmat will be removed prior.

“We have to have a damage control plan because, obviously, the ships are in very fragile condition that needs to be approved by the Coast Guard before they'll give us permission to get underway," Abbott said. 

It’s an intricate, multi-million dollar plan to keep this history museum floating. The day-to-day is a skeleton crew in itself, as President and CEO Military Park Paul Marzello explains.

“A little over 1,300 sailors that were in charge of keeping these ships in good shape,” Marzello said. “Now we have a staff of five.”

This is the park’s 46th season. These ships weren’t built to last more than a decade, let alone 80 years.

“There's a lot of passionate people who are working extremely hard to hold the ships together till we get them to dry-dock,” Marzello said.

Even with so much at stake, and a laundry list of to-dos, they will find a way to make it happen.

“Sometimes daunting and complicated as it seems, there is no one here who lacks confidence that we're going to get this done,” Abbott said. 

Once dry docked, it will take roughly 6-7 months to get the Sullivans a new hull. She will be back just in time for opening day next year. But again that all depends on that October sail. In the meantime, the 46th season at the Naval Park opens Saturday.