Storied ship led several rescues, now is in need of one

NORFOLK

The 66-year-old steel ship now docked at Little Creek Naval Amphibious Base doesn't look like much. Rust smudges its hull, which in some places is dull white and gray elsewhere.

But this ship, originally a Navy salvage tug known as the Zuni, is a survivor of historic battles and epic storms, and those who love it aren't ready to let it fade into obscurity - or be shredded into razor blades.

They want to take it to sea as a training vessel for scout groups and high school junior ROTC programs, and offer cruises down memory lane for veterans groups.

Seven years ago, a private donor purchased the ship at auction and turned it over to the non profit Zuni Maritime Foundation. Two months ago, a tug boat pushed the Zuni into a slip at the amphibious base. Now its members are on the hunt for volunteers.

"Don't think just because you're 60, 70, 80 years old we don't want you," said Tom Robinson, the foundation's director of public relations. "We've got volunteers who were stationed on her at Iwo Jima. We've got volunteers who are in their 80s, World War II vets, with walkers and canes and oxygen bottles. Once they get on deck, they're 19 years old again."

Harry Jaeger, a retired Navy senior chief petty officer who is the foundation's director of operations, didn't serve aboard the Zuni.

But he spent four years in the late 1950s on two of the Zuni's sister ships. He navigates the 88 spaces spread across seven decks as if he never left.

Traveling through submarine-infested Pacific waters during World War II, the Zuni towed ships that were damaged by Japanese torpedoes to safety. It took part in the invasion of Iwo Jima, where after almost a month of fighting, it was beached during a salvage operation and had to be salvaged itself.

In 1946, the Coast Guard took possession of the 205-foot-long ship, which it renamed Tamaroa and put into service as a medium endurance cutter on the eastern seaboard.

The "Tam" was a workhorse until it was decommissioned in 1994. It responded to the sinking of the cruise ship Andrea Doria in 1956, near Nantucket. In 1991, during what later became known as "The Perfect Storm," the Tamaroa plucked three mariners from a distressed sailboat while battling 40-foot seas - and hours later, rescued the crew of a downed National Guard helicopter also responding to the storm.

Jaeger tells the stories with pride.

"I call it the ship with nine lives," Jaeger said.

Volunteers have been coming aboard for weekend work projects since 2005, when the ship was located in Baltimore. It was towed to Newport News in 2007, then spent time at a Norfolk shipyard. In December, Little Creek's commanding officer approved bringing the Zuni to Pier 12 at the amphibious base.

Volunteers have scavenged parts off Ghost Fleet ships and rebuilt the intercom from scratch.

The captain's chair on the bridge came off the Stark, a decommissioned frigate. The wheel and helm of the old-fashioned wooden ship came from a sister ship, the Seneca. Some things aren't new: The officer's wardroom still boasts its original metal table, and the Tamaroa's final watch quarter and station bill remains posted along a passageway, listing the crewmembers and their duties.

A few years ago, an Eagle Scout installed a set of canvas bunks, the kind Jaeger remembers from the 1950s.

The four massive engines are operational, Jaeger said.

The ship needs about eight weeks in dry dock and $200,000 of exterior cosmetic work, Robinson said. He hopes to convince local shipyards to make in-kind donations.

He and Jaeger, who both live in Richmond, also are making the rounds of Hampton Roads veterans organizations, trying to drum up volunteers.

They also get some interest from passersby on the Little Creek pier, where the Zuni sits between a coastal patrol boat and an old Military Sealift Command cargo ship.

Senior Chief Petty Officer Russ Englehard's curiosity recently was piqued by the steel relic. An engineman, Englehard spent a recent lunch hour touring the ship with Jaeger.

Much of the tour took place by flashlight; the ship hasn't been hooked up to shore power yet.

Afterward, Englehard warmed up in the ship's office, eating a sandwich made by Jaeger's wife, Shirley.

Asked what he thought of the vessel, Englehard chose his words carefully. "It's got quite a bit of work to do," he said. "But still, I think it's worthwhile."

Jaeger knows there's much to be done, but he's thrilled to be at Little Creek. "As far as we're concerned," he said, "we're back in the Navy."

Kate Wiltrout, (757) 446-2629, kate.wiltrout@pilotonline.com