This column appeared in the April 15 edition of the Delaware State News.
By Andrew West
Delaware State News
DOVER — A big gun barrel from "Big Mo" has generated quite a bit of local attention on its way to Fort Miles in the Cape Henlopen State Park.
Last weekend, it had a steady stream of visitors during its rest stop at a Harrington rail yard.
Many had no idea what it was. But there were several who knew its significance as a USS Missouri silent witness to the Japanese surrender in Tokyo Bay during World War II. The barrel was one of three on the battleship's first turret.
This editor had several people ask about it over the course of the past week.
One of the great things about newspaper work is that there always seems to be a little more to every story. Bill Winters, of Dover, asked if we knew about the local tie to the company contracted to move the 130-ton barrel from Portsmouth, Va., to Lewes.
It turns out that Mr. Winters' Holy Cross High School classmate, Daniel K. Clark, is the man on the move.
Mr. Clark is project manager for Lockwood Brothers, a company that specializes in moving extraordinarily large cargo.
"This whole project has a personal thing to me with my father's affiliation with the Navy and being involved in World War II," said Mr. Clark. "And it's kind of neat that it's for Delaware."
Mr. Clark said his father, James, a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II, recalled seeing the USS Missouri during the invasion of Iwo Jima.
The barrel, which will be a centerpiece at the growing Fort Miles military museum, is like two that were positioned on the Cape Henlopen beach to guard the Delaware Bay. The gun barrel is 66 feet long with a 16-inch bore.
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Mr. Clark's family moved to Dover in 1964, he said. His father, James, was among those who moved from Boston when General Foods (now Kraft) consolidated a number of its manufacturing operations in Dover.
He started the fifth grade at Holy Cross and graduated from the high school in 1972.
Mr. Clark stayed in Dover to continue his education, getting an Associate of Arts degree from Wesley College and a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Delaware State University in 1977.
It was through a friendship gained while working for insurance company Cigna in Washington, some years later that led him his current career.
"The owner said, 'I need someone like you to join my company.' I said, 'You're crazy.' I knew nothing about cranes and tugboats and barges and trailers," Mr. Clark said.
The owner said he could teach the moving business, but what he needed immediately was Mr. Clark's marketing and sales skill. He has been with Lockwood Brothers for 25 years now.
The company ships heavy cargo, such as nuclear steam generators, that weighs up to 700 tons.
The most extensive of Mr. Clark's time with the company was the movement of dozens of 77-foot long beer fermentation tanks that arrived at the Port of Virginia and then had to be trucked through the mountains.
"That took about four months of utility work, raising wires for about 105 miles from Fredericksburg to the brewery in Elkton, Va.," he said. "It cost about a million and half dollars."
Moving heavy cargo involves quite a bit of technical precision — centers of gravity, riggings, ground pressures, etc. — so each move requires patience and safety considerations, Mr. Clark said.
"Fortunately, we've been doing this a long time," he said. "It kind of gets routine for us but you don't take anything for granted. There is a lot of engineering and logistical details that you have to watch very closely. You have to be very safe because one accident in this business can be disastrous."
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The USS Missouri gun barrel was one of eight that have been at a U.S. Navy storage depot at St. Julien's Creek Annex, near Portsmouth, Va., for decades.
"There were eight of these 16-inch barrels lined up in a row in a big open field," said Mr. Clark.
Besides the barrel bound for Fort Miles, there were two others from the USS Missouri that Lockwood hauled out of St. Juliens in early March.
One went to St. Charles, Va., and another to Arizona for display.
This past week, Lockwood also moved one from the USS Arizona to be sent to Phoenix for its World War II memorial project.
The USS Arizona barrel was one that was taken off the battleship more than a year before it was sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor. After maintenance, it went to the USS Nevada and saw action in World War II, Mr. Clark said.
The remaining barrels at St. Juliens may also find new homes, Mr. Clark said.
"They're going to preserved for future historical benefit," he said. "And I think is outstanding because they were scheduled to be scrapped. They were going to be cut up, sometime this year probably."
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In a few days, the "Big Mo" barrel will arrive at its final destination at Fort Miles.
It was lifted by crane onto a massive trailer and trucked from St. Juliens Creek to the Dominion power plant and transferred to a rail car. From there, it crossed the Chesapeake Bay on a barge and then resumed its rail journey north through Delmarva to Harrington, then to Milford and down to Georgetown where it stops Monday for a big welcome ceremony from 2 to 5 p.m. on The Circle.
Mr. Clark said Lockwood considered bringing the barrel up the coast on a barge to the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal. The ferry landing area, however, was not a good match.
In a few days, it will make the final mile journey from its rail stop in Lewes into the park.
"I've been told to expect an army of people the day we're unloading this thing," Mr. Clark said.
The Fort Miles Historical Association has had hopes of receiving a 16-inch gun for about 10 years as the museum project has taken shape, according to its president, Gary D. Wray. More than $120,000 was raised to make their dream come true.
"It's a great place for one of these barrels to end up," said Mr. Clark. "Personally, I think it's kind of neat that my home state is getting one of them."
Andrew West is managing editor of the Delaware State News.
Email awest@newszap.com.
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