Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - Long overdue, but the USS Croaker is finally headed for a series of repairs and renovations.
In one of the final steps before pre-renovation remediation work can begin, the Buffalo Common Council approved a revised allocation of $846,800, coupled with a previously approved $880,000 allocation - making the entire remediation work by Texas-based T&T Marine Salvage Inc. costing $1.7 million.
But, all the funds are pass-through dollars to Buffalo, so the work isn't costing the city one dollar, noted Leah-Halton Pope, Common Council majority leader.
"The Croaker is a big draw and this work needs to get done," said Halton-Pope.
Since arriving at the Buffalo & Erie County Naval and Military Park in 1988, the USS Croaker - a 311-foot long World War II era submarine - has been one of the biggest draws at the Buffalo waterfront destination.
Nolan Skipper, Buffalo Public Works commissioner, said much of the remediation work focuses on removing decades-old oils from the sub. Similar was done with other naval park attractions including the USS The Sullivans and USS Little Rock.
"This was all part of the plan," Skipper said.
Once the remediation work is completed later this spring, the Croaker will be prepped for dry docking and then shipped to Erie for more repairs and renovations.
The Croaker may be away from the naval park for more than one year, Skipper said.
"Everything is key towards seeing the Croaker repaired," Skipper said.
The sub was built in 1943 and used in World War II, mostly in the Yellow Sea, South China Sea and portions of eastern China.
Weighing more than 1,525 tons, the sub was manned by a 60-person crew.
The Gato-class, diesel-fueled sub made five patrols during World War II and is credited with sinking seven enemy ships.
It was decommissioned in 1968 and originally sent to Groton, Conn. before heading to Buffalo in 1988.
The naval park, whose attractions also include a dry docked PTF-17 boat, tanks and aircraft, averages more than 150,000 visitors annually.