USS Laffey returns to South Carolina harbor after repairs (VIDEO)
The USS Laffey returned to the South Carolina harbor after its hull was repaired.
The World War II destroyer the USS Laffey has returned to the Charleston Harbor on the South Carolina coast on Wednesday, after it went through a series of repairs, the Associated Press reported.
The USS Laffey was moved from the harbor more than two years ago, where it served as a maritime museum, to go through $9 million worth of repairs. It remained in a dry dock, where holes in its hull were repaired, until now, when it was towed into the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.
The return was celebrated by about 50 people on the deck of another WWII vessel, the USS Yorktown, including more than 10 former crew members to welcome the ship home, the AP reported.
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"This means a lot of years of fighting to get her saved again," said Sonny Walker, who served on the Laffey in the early 1960s, the AP reported. "This is the third time. The Germans tried to sink her. The Japanese tried to sink her and then she tried to sink herself sitting here. She's whipped them all and she's back again."
The Sumner class destroyer is 68-years-old, and the fact that it can still stay afloat is a miracle, Charleston’s ABC News affiliate reported. The WWII vessel has survived four bombs, six kamikaze crashes, and strafing fire from during the war.
"For most of us here, this is the last time we'll see her at sea," said Patriots Point Development Authority Executive Director Mac Burdette, ABC News reported.
The project was sanctioned by the Patriots Point Development Authority Board, who owe $8.7 million for the repairs, which was given by a state loan, the Charleston Regional Business Journal reported. The authority has until June 2013 to submit a plan for repayment on the repairs and Mac Burdette, executive director of Patriots Point said funds were already being put together for the project.
The USS Laffey will be open sometime in March to visitors.
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