Rolling, rolling, rolling - moving HMCS SACKVILLE into the Sub Shed

After being hoisted out of the water on Fleet Maintenance Facility Cape Scott's (FMFCS) Syncrolift platform on February 11th, SACKVILLE's hull was cleaned of marine growth and prepared to transfer into the adjacent Captain Bernard Leitch Johnson submarine maintenance building in HMC Dockyard (hereafter referred to as the "sub shed" or simply the "shed").

By the morning of February 15th, SACKVILLE was ready to transfer into the shed.

Thursday morning was sunny, so I got some better photos of SACKVILLE on the lift. She also looks a bit cleaner.

SACKVILLE points towards the sub shed which she will soon enter. The army of bogeys under the ship can be seen here.

The view from inside the shed, looking out. The bogeys to the right are connected to the tow motor, and straddle inner two of the four rails. The tow motor will push these bogeys, and the attached tow bridle, out to join to the bogeys under the ship. The brow is still fitted in this photo.

An HDR image made from two different exposures - it turned out pretty good, considering I took the two exposures hand-held, and not from a tripod as I should have. Throughout the transfer, I had issues with the different exposures between the interior of the shed and the bright sunny day outside. The tow motor's traction chain is running along the centre of the image here.

A plated-over hull penetration below what would have been the chain locker or store. I'm not sure what it was for - it may have been associated with SACKVILLE's postwar career.

These hull penetrations are just aft of the bow slope transition, and are roughly where the original Type 123 ASDIC would have protruded below the hull. I'm not sure why there are two, though some of the early sonar sets required penetrations for more than one transducer. Again, both of these may not have been original.

Looking forward along the port side, showing the bilge keel, blocking, and bogeys. There are several of these plates on the hull that stand an inch or more proud of the hull surface. Four anodes are also visible.

It is important that the ship's hull be well supported during the move, so workers pounded shims into any gaps between the hull and the blocking.

The system for transferring the ship into the shed is fairly simple. Four rails run from the Syncrolift platform into the shed, and the bogeys which support the ship's weight straddle either the two outer sets of rails, or the inner set. The tow motor that propels the ship along the rails straddles the inner two rails.

The outer end of the traction chain that the tow motor grips to propel itself, with SACKVILLE in the background. During the transfer, the chain will be under considerable tension, and this presents a hazard to people in close proximity to the chain if it were to fail or snap. During the transfer, only FMFCS staff were allowed to remain in the work area.

Unlike a train locomotive, which uses the friction between its drive wheels and the rails to propel the train, the tow motor grips a heavy chain (I will refer to it as the traction chain in this post) that runs between the two inner rails from an anchor post at the inshore end of the shed to an anchor post at the inshore end of the lift platform.

The yellow post at the end of the traction chain is the outer anchor post, which allows the tow motor to pull itself out to the wharf. The tow motor can not go out onto the platform itself, as it can not pull itself beyond the anchor post.

In order to hook itself up to the bogeys under SACKVILLE, the tow motor pulled itself out to the Syncrolift platform along the traction chain.

The orange tow motor, at left, is now in position. It has pushed a series of bogeys and a tow bridle out onto the Syncrolift platform to bridge the distance between itself and the bogeys under SACKVILLE, and workers have connected the two sets of bogeys.

Once everything was connected, and non-essential staff were directed to designated observation areas, the transfer began. I was allowed to view the transfer from the mezzanine platform inside the sub shed, but was not allowed down to the shed floor during the transfer.

The transfer has begun, and the tow motor has moved back inside the sub shed. SACKVILLE is still on the platform in this photo.

There were several pauses during the transfer operation to confirm that SACKVILLE was still well supported by the blocking.

The view looking inward, with SACKVILLE now inside the building.

There are several levels within the sub shed, and this photo was taken from the highest level.

Once SACKVILLE was fully inside the shed, and the tow motor could not proceed further without hitting the end of the building, the intermediate bogeys between the tow bridle and the bogeys under the ship were removed to shorten things, and allow the tow motor to get closer to the ship, in order to bring SACKVILLE in a bit further. There are several overhead bridge cranes that span the width of the shed, and one of these was used to lift the bogeys out of the way.

One of the intermediate bogeys is lifted out of the way.

The tow motor is at the inshore end of the traction chain, which is attached to the inshore anchor post that is just outside the shed, through the dark opening just to the right of the motor. The anchor post itself is cast into a large block of buried concrete. The tow bridle is attached directly to the bogeys under the bow of the ship.

Once the ship was in position, I was allowed back down to the shed floor to get some more photos of the ship inside the shed. 

The tow motor is at the inshore end of the shed, and the yellow overhead bridge cranes can be seen behind the ship.

A view from the mid-level mezzanine platform of the starboard bow.

Compared to the previous photo, this was taken from the upper platform, which is just below the overhead bridge crane track. Some of the photos make the ship look like a model.

Another photo from the upper platform showing the ship from aft, with the brow (gangway) now fitted. It was lifted into place by one of the bridge cranes. The man pulling out the safety net is standing on the mid-level mezzanine platform.

A wider-angle photograph, showing the scale of the shed's interior, including the upper level translucent panels to allow in natural light.

A floor level image from aft.

A wider angle image from floor level, with the yellow bridge cranes visible at the top of the image.

A panoramic image from my phone. Until I viewed her from above, I never realized SACKVILLE's pendant number was painted on top of her radar enclosure.

Two FMFCS staff stand between the transfer rails, alongside the traction chain.

Now that SACKVILLE is inside the shed, her refit can begin, and is expected to last several months at least.

A complete gallery of my processed images of SACKVILLE's lift and transfer is linked here.

HMCS SACKVILLE returns to the Waterfront

SACKVILLE spends late fall, winter, and spring within HMC Dockyard, in a more sheltered berth under the watchful eye of the Navy. It is therefore a sure sign that summer is coming when she returned to the Halifax waterfront and her summer berth in front of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. 

Ville class tug Granville wears an apron to avoid marking SACKVILLE's new paint, while Glenbrook is barely visible in the background on her port side.

Glenbrook is now in the usual position starboard aft, with Granville a little ahead of midships. 

Glenbrook and Granville shepherd SACKVILLE along the waterfront, with the new buildings at King's Wharf in Dartmouth in the background.

Glenbrook and Granville ease SACKVILLE into her berth. Theodore Too's stern can be seen to the left. Granville dropped off shortly after this was taken to avoid hitting Theodore Too.

This year threw a few kinks into the movement. SACKVILLE is normally kept port side to the jetty, but was rotated this spring for what I suspect was some painting work. The Glen class tugs normally secure starboard aft during a movement, but this time around Glenbrook had to start on the port side before shifting to starboard out in the harbour. The second kink was that Theodore Too was already berthed within the camber (the basin between wharves) where SACKVILLE berths, though on the opposite side. Normally the Ville class tug stays on the bow right into the berth, but this time left around the time the first lines were put onto the wharf.

Theodore Too sits on SACKVILLE's starboard side as she comes into her berth.

Granville showing off her apron, while SACKVILLE has handed off the first line to the wharf.

The water was nice and calm during SACKVILLE's transit, and her reflection shows up particularly well here. I might have cheated a bit in my post processing of the image, though, to make the reflection stand out better. As an aside, the best time for reflection photos of SACKVILLE (indeed, any ship along the waterfront) is during the early morning before 8:00 am on a calm morning. Bonus points for fog to simplify the background of the image:

Coincidentally, I have just such an image. Taken a year or two ago, the tugs weren't quite as gentle as can be seen from the scuff marks under the ship's pendant number.

The reflection can be especially impressive if you can get down low, for instance from the small boat floats. The camera here was just inches above the water's surface.

I usually find that the light transmission loss from the reflection off the water means that I have to apply a gradient filter to the image in post processing in order to balance the exposure from top to bottom of the image, in order to make the reflection really stand out. You could do the same thing (and retain slightly better image quality) if you had the forethought to pack a graduated neutral density filter to mount on your lens when you take the image, but I seldom have one with me.

But I digress. Back to the docking maneuver:

As SACKVILLE pulls into her berth in front of the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, a volunteer with the Canadian Naval Memorial Trust hauls the bow line to a bollard. No, not that bollard - the next one!

The Navy usually contributes personnel to aid in SACKVILLE's transits to and from Dockyard, and this time around HMCS HALIFAX provided some of her ship's company. I've carefully selected some images to imply much more drama on the foc'st'le than there actually was. Otherwise, what's the point?

Diving for a rope.

Hauling the bow line through the bull nose. 

Admiring handiwork.

Taking a small break while ashore personnel make lines fast.

As the work of tying up SACKVILLE came to an end, but before the brow (gangway) could be lowered to the pier, a few breaks appeared in the clouds above and some sun appeared.

Space in the camber was a bit tight with Theodore Too on the opposite side, but SACKVILLE slid in easily with no major issues.

The Navy pilot gives instructions to the tugs via a handheld radio, while SACKVILLE's CO looks on.

A view from the other end, with Glenbrook still tied up alongside. SACKVILLE's ensign (the flag flying from the stern) is shown to good effect - it was flying during the entire transit.

Once SACKVILLE was properly alongside, and everything put away, it was time to raise the ship's jack on the jackstaff (the flag pole at the bow of the ship).

The raising of the jack, with the main mast of Bluenose v.2.5 in the background.