On Saturday, April 4, the USS Slater opened for tours for the 12th year.
But the experience visitors enjoy aboard the destroyer escort has changed significantly over the years. That’s because during the ship’s off-season, volunteers spend countless hours restoring and renovating it.
There’s always something new, said Rosehn Gipe, the USS Slater’s business administrator.
The ship is moored in the Port of Albany and open for tours until November. It spends the rest of the year in Rensselaer, where volunteers try to tackle one or two big projects each winter, said Eric Rivet, the USS Slater’s education coordinator. They’ve spent the past few months restoring one of the ship’s engine rooms, as well as a bathroom.
Rivet said the USS Slater has five full-time employees, and there are about 120 volunteers who donate their time to the ship. Many of them served in the military, and specifically the Navy.
`This is their chance to give back,` he said.
It’s a chance they can’t find anywhere else in the country. The USS Slater is the only World War II-era destroyer escort that remains afloat in the United States.
The ship took a long route to Albany. Launched in 1944, the USS Slater escorted convoys to England, Wales, Manila, Japan and elsewhere during the war. It was placed in reserve in 1947, and four years later, it was given as a gift to Greece to be used by the Hellenic Navy.
In 1991, Greece donated the ship to the Destroyer Escort Sailors Association, a Florida-based group. But it stayed in Greece for two more years, until destroyer escorts around the country raised $275,000 to bring it back to the States. A Russian tugboat brought the USS Slater from Crete to New York City in 1993, docking it next to the Intrepid until a permanent home could be found.
Enter Albany Mayor Jerry Jennings, who visited the ship and talked with officials about bringing it to Albany.
`He decided it would be a good thing for the city,` Gipe said.
So, in 1997, the USS Slater sailed up the Hudson and arrived at the Port of Albany. Before it opened to the public, though, staff and volunteers spent two years refurbishing it under the direction of historic ship expert Tim Rizzuto.
The work that has been done on the ship is what tends to make a lasting impression on visitors, rather than the Slater’s sheer size, Rivet said.
`It’s actually a very small ship,` he said. `As ships go, we’re not big. We’ll fit inside a battleship five times. The level and quality of the restoration is what sets us apart.`
Battleships that are open to the public often have `empty compartment after empty compartment` because they’re so big that it’s hard to fill them with artifacts, Rivet said.
The Slater, on the other hand, is teeming with historical items. In the radar room, real Morse code is tapped out. The captain’s uniform is on display. Officers’ cabins boast items donated by the actual World War II occupants.
`It’s the best ship you’ll see,` Rivet said.
Visitors often get to see the ship through the eyes of veterans, who frequently guide tours. Gipe said veterans also convene on the Slater for destroyer escort reunions. And although Rivet noted that destroyer escorts are small, relatively speaking, when they were afloat, they were packed with people.
`We’ll have people who served on the same ship and never knew each other,` Gipe said. `Maybe one was in the engine room and one was on the bridge.`
The USS Slater is open for tours Wednesdays to Sundays, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., until November. Families and individuals do not need to call ahead, but reservations are required for Scouts and other groups. Admission is $7 for adults, $6 for seniors over 65 and $5 for children 6 to 14. Kids 5 and younger are admitted free.
For information or reservations, call 431-1943 or email [email protected].“