February 2025

In 1998, SLATER’s Wardroom began its’ transformation. In May of 1998, Roy Gunther took charge of the Wardroom Pantry. He remounted the refrigerator door, repaired and repainted the drawers, put a faucet on the sink, and gave the space a good cleaning. He the began fabricating a dishrack for the bulkhead. In October, Roy was joined by SLATER veteran Don Norris for a trip to the reserve fleet in the James River, Virginia, returning with Wardroom chairs, among other finds.

In January of 1999, Tim put out a call: “We need a piece of furniture. If you've noticed the wardroom, there is something missing, the ugly dark green government sofa! If you happen to have an ugly, old Naugahyde sofa to donate, send us a photo. It must be dark green, brown or black. The winner will receive a lifetime Foundation membership upon delivery.” No such luck was had until April. Kevin Lynch gave us a "heads up" when the New Scotland Armory was being shut down. Dick Walker brought in his truck, and they finally found the ugly government issue sofa for the wardroom. One major advantage over other sofas SLATER had been offered was that it fit through the door.  Simultaneously, Roy Gunther continued to work on the Pantry.

The Wardroom, like many other areas of the ship, has been converted into temporary workstations when need be. In March of 2000, the Wardroom was converted to a temporary paint shop for mixing the green and white primer needed to paint the bulkhead and in November, it was used as the “Clean Room” and all the artifacts from Aft Berthing were brought up, sorted, and catalogued. At the same time, Gary Salmon and Carl Mason sprayed out the wardroom passage.

In Spring of 2001, cleaning of the Wardroom commenced. Al Van Derzee cleaned the wardroom pantry and Pat Perrella got officer's country put all back together and the wardroom table set up again.

Wardroom work picked up again in April 2003. Al Van Derzee spent two days polishing all the wardroom silver and did such a good job it became his permanent cleaning station. By the end of the year, the shipfitters got involved in the work. The shipfitters, Clark Farnsworth, Doug Tanner, Mac Smith, Tim Benner, and Chuck Teal welded up a couple holes in the portside wardroom bulkhead that were discovered when the interior insulation began falling off the bulkheads.

2004 started out strong. In the Wardroom Pantry, the tile was removed, holes in the deck were repaired, and the pantry call bell system was activated. In March, Clark Farnsworth, Doug Tanner, Tim Benner, Gene Jackey and Chuck Teal completed repairs to the wasted deck in the wardroom pantry.

In September of 2005, Gordon Lattey started working long distance with SLATER veteran Cliff Woltz to make the fiddle boards for the wardroom table. Working based on photographs taken aboard the USS STEWART in Galveston, they sketched and had the fiddleboards made. For those of you not familiar with fiddleboards, these are wooden covers that fit over the wardroom table with holes cut out for the plates, bowls and cups so that the dishware doesn’t slide off the table in a heavy sea. They don’t keep the food from sliding off your plate, but they will keep your plate from sliding off the table.

In March 2006, Kevin Sage and Jason Sherlock sprayed out the Wardroom and Wardroom passageway, amongst other areas, with fresh light green paint. In May, Tim Rizzuto & Rich Pekelney traveled to the old sub tender NEREUS to look for parts. Working with Will Donzelli, they located two four drop pantry call boxes that matched the style carried aboard the SLATER in the wardroom pantry.

In September of 2011, Butch Warrender and Jim Parker worked to get water to the sink in the Wardroom Pantry. As a side project, there had been an ice machine sitting unused in the pantry for about 12 years, so they were running fresh water and a drain to it so it can put back into use. By May 2012, water to the wardroom pantry was completed.

In November 2014, Claire Oesterreich took over from Al Van Derzee to keep the wardroom silver polished.

In May of 2018, repairs were needed to the wardroom. Brother and sister duo, Doug and Susie Strieter removed fiberglass insulation in Wardroom Stateroom 101 in preparation for some welding repairs in those spaces.

In March 2019, Ship’s custodian, Cathy Wheat, final tasks were making up all of the bunks in Officers Country and resetting the wardroom table. The wardroom got a real facelift, thanks to volunteer, Dr. Fred Antico. He resurrected his upholstery skills and restored the wardroom sofa, as SLATER prepared for opening day.

In June 2020, Gary Sheedy dusted off a project he had been planning for years and mounted a compressor in the original wardroom panty refrigerator. In December 2021, Barry Witte supervised several Midshipmen projects, including working on the wardroom 1MC speaker. And in December of 2022, Doug Tanner, Super Dave Mardon, and Earl Herchenroder tackled the wasted metal on the port side of the wardroom bulkhead.

The Wardroom was converted to a temporary workstation again in March 2023, when a new building was being built and installed. Jo Ann Mulligan and Shanna Schuster needed a new office for the time being and the Wardroom was where they would go. Barry Witte and Gary Sheedy had to move the internet equipment from the trailer to the ship's store storeroom aboard. They also moved the network switch from the small arms office to the wardroom so Shanna and Jo Ann can run their computers and telephone. The one downside was that their relocation took Officer’s Country off the tour route.

Shanna and Jo Ann were moved out by the time Summer rolled around but Winter 2023 brought some challenges. In November 2023, addressing wasted metal in the wardroom became a priority task. By February 2024, under the tutelage of Doug Tanner, the starboard bulkhead of the wardroom had been completely welded up, and the shipfitters began the process of finishing the replacement frames that had been cropped at their bases. By March, Gary Sheedy and Ed Nowik replaced the insulation and repainted the whole bulkhead. A little insulation aboard, and a little paint, followed by a lot of cleaning, and the wardroom was ready for inspection.