USS Des Moines - USS Forrestal Pen

[Fireengines]

Well the temp dropped below 100 here in North Texas today so I was able to turn a pen using wood from the USS Des Moines (CA-134) and USS Forrestal (CV-59). This is an American Patriot Twist Pen. The Forrestal's wood is the top of the pen.

 

[Smitty37]

Well the temp dropped below 100 here in North Texas today so I was able to turn a pen using wood from the USS Des Moines (CA-134) and USS Forrestal (CV-59). This is an American Patriot Twist Pen. The Forrestal's wood is the top of the pen.

Memories...The tin can (DDR-713) I served over three years on sailed often with both....The Des Moines was flagship of the 6th Fleet on at least one of my Med Cruises.

 

[campzeke]

Very well done!

 

[Sabaharr]

How would one go about getting some of these blanks. I am wanting to start a collection for myself of Historic Wood Pens and ships would be a great start.

 

[iMattDaddy]

Love the pen. I would love to do a pen like this from the wood from my grandpa's WWII ship, however unfortunately the ship rests at the bottom of the ocean. USS Helena.

 

[qquake]

I know what you mean. My dad's WW2 ship, USS Pensacola, is at the bottom of the sea off the Washington Coast. She survived the war, only to be sunk in artillery testing. Very sad. Awesome pen, by the way!

 

[Skie_M]

I always wondered what completely retarded government official decided that the USA would be better off sinking so much of our valuable resources into the ocean for no benefit whatsoever (other than mere target practice), rather than taking the raw materials the ship was made from and recycling them through our fully functional steel mills to make cars, tanks, planes, ect ....


There are several dozen salvage operations on east and west coast who would likely be able to obtain pieces of decking from these downed ships for you ... the cost would be pretty high, but you could offer to commission pens for them in exchange for a discount?

Perhaps, if enough people got together and functioned like a "group buy", the costs could be shared by the group.

 

[iMattDaddy]

I always wondered what completely retarded government official decided that the USA would be better off sinking so much of our valuable resources into the ocean for no benefit whatsoever (other than mere target practice), rather than taking the raw materials the ship was made from and recycling them through our fully functional steel mills to make cars, tanks, planes, ect ....


There are several dozen salvage operations on east and west coast who would likely be able to obtain pieces of decking from these downed ships for you ... the cost would be pretty high, but you could offer to commission pens for them in exchange for a discount?

Perhaps, if enough people got together and functioned like a "group buy", the costs could be shared by the group.

I would be interested in that, but the USS Helena was sunk during the war at Guadalcanal. Don't know of any salvage operations there, not sure if they know the actual location either.

 

[Smitty37]

I always wondered what completely retarded government official decided that the USA would be better off sinking so much of our valuable resources into the ocean for no benefit whatsoever (other than mere target practice), rather than taking the raw materials the ship was made from and recycling them through our fully functional steel mills to make cars, tanks, planes, ect ....


There are several dozen salvage operations on east and west coast who would likely be able to obtain pieces of decking from these downed ships for you ... the cost would be pretty high, but you could offer to commission pens for them in exchange for a discount?

Perhaps, if enough people got together and functioned like a "group buy", the costs could be shared by the group.

Navy ships were not cheap to salvage, which is why many of them were sunk. The recoverable salvage cost more to get than it was worth. And, following WW II there were a lot of ships going out of commission.