December 2025

It was all hands-on deck to get the Messdeck up and running.

In May 1998, a new heater was wired up and put on the Messdeck. The Sea Cadets also came into town and did some cleaning. In June, Retired Lieutenant Commander Roger Oesterreich, spent many of his days on his hands and knees scrubbing the messdecks.

In October 1998, Don Norris and Roy Gunther made a pilgrimage to James River, Virgnia where Roy had his eye on Balsa rafts (300 lbs. each), mattresses, bunk bottoms and a steam table for the messdeck.

1999 was a busy year on the Messdeck. In February, Barry Witte, Larry Williams, and Gary Sheedy, along with several helpers whose names don't rhyme completely rewired the Messdeck; installing incandescent light fixtures, red lights, compartment fans, emergency lights, switchboxes and fuse boxes. In March, Tommy Moore made insulation repairs and by the end of summer, Ray Lammers finished repainting the messdeck tables and benches.

In May of 2001, Vic Schaedel and Keith Larner tackled plumbing. They replumbed the fresh-water lines in the forward engine room and ran fresh water into the scullery on the messdecks.

In January of 2003, the messdecks were a buzz of activity. Barry Witte, Mike Ripley and George Doin mounted a restored electrical box in the messdecks overhead as part of the project to wire the alarm system with armored cable. Dennis Nagi fabricated new wooden tops for the messdecks tables with drop leaves so they will be just like the originals.  Erik Collin and Stan Murawski were needle gunning messdeck table stanchions and compartment stanchions. By February, there were four newly completed replica wooden messdeck tables that included all the brackets and hardware to hold the table wings up at mealtime.

The 2003 – 2004 winter had a plan: refurbish the Messdeck, chipping out the wire ways and lockers that were never got to when the crew did the initial restoration in 1998/1999. In December 2003, Erik Collin and Gene Jackey began chipping out the tile in the scullery as part of the mess decks restoration. January 2004 started out strong with the happy sound of four needle scalers coming up the ladder from the Messdeck. Dick Smith, Ed Whitbeck, Les Yarbrough and Chris Fedden scaled wire ways and ventilation on the Messdeck, storeroom and foul weather gear locker. Gene Jackey removed tile in the Scullery, Messdeck cage, forward second deck passageway, and Eardroom pantry, and assisted Stan Murawski in overhaul of ventilation and piping fittings on the Messdeck. Stan Murawski and Chuck Teal overhauled tank overflows, valves and ventilation fittings on Messdeck. Mike Clark and Gary Sheedy worked on electrical rewiring on messdecks. Doug Tanner, Clark Farnsworth, Tim Benner, and MacDonald Smith mounted a TV shelf in forward messdecks locker for the overnight camping program. Lawrence “Rocky” Rockwood and Bill Coyle continued restoration of electrical fittings in support of messdecks.

In February, Electrician's Barry Witte, Mike Clark, Sean Gordon, and Joe Breyer tackled the arduous task of removing a cut ten pair piece of armored cable that connects the Interior Communications Space below the messdecks to the radio room. In its place, they pulled a new replacement cable heavy, one-inch thick cable. The armor jacket frayed as it is pulled along the wire ways up to the Radio Room, tearing up the flesh and fingers of those snaking it through the overheads. All the rewiring on the Messdeck had to be completed by the end of the month so the space could be painted for spring. At the same time “The chippers” Bernard “Smitty” Smith, Chris Fedden, Ed Whitbeck, Les Yarbrough, and David Hamilton had the most arduous job of all. They were scaling the Messdeck overhead, holding the heavy needle scalers overhead, working in protective gear to accomplish their task.

In January 2005, Barry Witte began feeding a new power line from the Messdeck panel through B-1 so the space will have a dedicated circuit capable of handling the load. Bob Callender, Larry Williams, Don Shattuck and Ken Kaskoun removed the old fluorescent lighting and installed the original incandescent fixtures. In the warmer months of 2005 and 2006, Wally Bringslid took care of the Messdeck, among other compartments, keeping it clean and in shipshape.

Mess Deck work quieted it down until April 2011. Jim Parker, Butch Warrender, and Guy Huse worked together on the messdecks scuttlebutt. They installed a new drain line and got the existing unit all plumbed in and ready to go but turned out the compressor was shot. They went back aft and found another scuttlebutt that had pulled off the old USS SPHINX ARL24. Tim Rizzuto thought that one was a basket case because it had been submerged at one point aboard SPHINX during an engineroom flood, but the guys cleaned it, tested it and powered it up and it worked fine. It now sits on the SLATER’s messdeck as a functioning unit. They took it one step further in September when the crew installed a raised spout on the messdecks scuttlebutt, so it is now possible to pour a glass of cold water.

A major project of 2012 was to rehab the Messdeck. The steel was rotted and leaking down to the Messdeck from Officers’ Country through the stuffing tubes that carry the wiring for the forward ventilation fan controllers. The tubes were rotted, allowing water to pass through, right next to the live 440volt wiring. This necessitated running temporary power for the forward supply fan from the galley power panel in the main deck passageway so the crew could have heat in the winter. All five stuffing tubes were cut out and replaced and all new armored cable run from the ventilation power panel located on the reefer deck, up through the Messdeck, to the main deck controllers. In the aftermath, the Messdeck had been trashed. All the furnishings had been stripped out or covered with plastic and the tables had been covered with plywood. Grinding and chipping were going on as we get ready to repaint the space. The scullery looked like it puked. As the crew worked to remove all the post-war modifications, the dishwashing machine, sink counter and post-war ventilation were removed and were scattered about the Messdeck. Super Dave Mardon, Bill Wetterau, Earl Herchenroder and Gene Jackey replaced all the expanded metal and blanking over the post-war vent openings. The sink and counter were raised eight inches for some unknown reason, so it came back down to its original location. Over in the "cage" or pantry on the port side, a couple pieces of deteriorated interior bulkhead were removed and were replaced with new metal.

After that busy January, February was no better. The Messdeck restoration involved a lot more metal work than was originally anticipated, particularly in the area of the scullery and the portside cage. In the scullery the crew removed two large and heavy sections of ventilation piping and valves that were added after the war. When the sink and counter were removed from the bulkhead, they found the steel terribly deteriorated, and that necessitated replacing a whole section of curved bulkhead. All the expanded metal in the space was also replaced. Things are back in place and the space is just awaited painting. The “cage” or issue room on the starboard side of the messdeck came in for some major work. The entire bulkhead by the ladder was a cob job of tacked together sheet metal. So, some new steel was bought, cut out the cobbed up piece and they replaced the whole thing. The crew also replaced plywood shelving with some new galvanized material. At one point during this evolution, Doug Tanner cast forty years of high stands aside. He had to deal with some gaps that just couldn’t be welded because the bulkhead in question was directly over a fuel tank. The electricians replaced the power lines to the forward ventilation fans, removed old armored cable, and straightened out the cable runs. Anyone who has ever worked with their arms overhead, loosening paint covered bolts and pulling steel-jacketed cable with a come-a-long can appreciate the effort that went into this work. Ken Kaskoun spent several weeks trying to locate an annoying short that causes the light in the lower storeroom to flicker and dim on occasion. In preparation for painting, there wasn’t a piece of loose gear anywhere on the messdecks. Of course, the adjacent forward berthing space looks like it has puked because all the grimy dust- covered equipment, mess benches and cooking gear was stowed in there.

Doug Tanner and the shipfitters had several projects going in April of 2012. They fabricated the missing bunk lockers on the messdecks, a task that they reminded Tim Rizzuto regularly would have been a lot easier if they were able to do it before the place was painted, as they could no longer weld and burn down there.

It was quiet in the Messdeck for the next couple of years, save for the weekly volunteer lunches in the winter months and the various events. So much fun that in November 2019, Tommy Moore had to make repairs to the mess tables.

Restoration resumed in January of 2023 when Barry Witte was working with the RPI Midshipmen and Naval Reservists to reinsulate the Messdeck piping with fiberglass wrap. In December of the same year, Barry was back in the Messdeck as he had acquired the plans for the original serving line from Ed Zajkowski. With the help of Kent Chase’s welding class at Hudson Valley Community College, the serving table were replicated. Barry and Seth Powers then began the process of installing it on the messdecks. This was one more big step in making USS SLATER appear as she did in 1945.

In January 2024, work continued in the Messdeck. Over the course of the month, the shipfitters removed and secured the starboard natural vent exhaust duct from the Messdeck to Main Deck. Barry Witte and his team worked on the serving line replica project. Barry’s Saturday team consists of welder Dom DeCapria, Chuck Longshore, Seth Powers, Scott Dessingue, and Jeff Newsome. The project has cost us almost nothing as Barry donated all the stainless steel, sheet metal, and piping for the project. One of the unforeseen adjustments that was discovered was that two topside ventilators, port and starboard adjacent to the wardroom provide air to the Messdeck, were postwar additions. As the goal of this project was to get even closer to the 1945 restoration date, these ventilators were removed. That permitted easier access to maintain the bulkhead behind them. Working around them was Chris Soulia, who was doing touch up painting. By Opening Day 2024, the Serving Line Replica Project was completed and looks phenomenal.

The Messdeck has been the location of thousands of meals from 1944 to present day and for many more years. We thank everyone who has made that possible!