Patriots Point Sub Moved Overnight

It's been more than three decades since anyone has seen the Submarine Clamagore move through the water, but on Monday night, with a little help from a huge winch and tugboat, the vessel made a short trip on its way to a new home at Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum.

"I feel like an expectant father who just had his first baby and all the toes are there," said executive director Mac Burdette just after the Clamagore was successfully moved.

The museum is spending about $1 million to move the Clamagore and to make a new home for the USS Laffey, which recently finished a $9 million dry dock that repaired years of saltwater corrosion that nearly sank the vessel.

The museum had to remove a 60-foot section of its central pier to remove the Clamagore to make way for the Laffey. Eventually, the Clamagore will also head to drydock.

The other vessel at Patriots Point, the USS Yorktown, its central exhibit, also needs massive repairs due to saltwater corrosion.

"We're going to be doing a study this year to look at what (the USS Yorktown) needs to have done to her, when it needs to be done and how much it's going to cost," Burdette said. "At the same time we're going to be looking at the Clamagore."

The Laffey should return by Wednesday, Burdette said. Patriots Point has been closed since Sunday, but it should re-open on Saturday when the Laffey and Clamagore will be in their permanent locations, but not yet open for tours, Burdette said.