Historic World War II ship partly sinking in Buffalo, New York

Elisha Fieldstadt
Updated ·1 min read

A historic World War II ship on display at the naval park in Buffalo, New York, was partly sinking Thursday, officials said.

"One of our museum ships, the USS Sullivans has partially sunk at the Military Park pier on Buffalo’s waterfront," U.S. Coast Guard Sector Buffalo wrote in a statement on Facebook.

Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown said the ship was taking on water because of a major hull breach.

"Efforts are underway to evaluate the situation and take appropriate action to preserve this critical piece of our nation’s naval heritage," Brown said.

The Buffalo & Erie County Naval & Military Park said Thursday morning on Twitter that the ships at the park would be closed Thursday. A subsequent tweet said the museum building was also closed.

NBC affiliate WGRZ of Buffalo reported that park told the station last year that USS The Sullivans was in danger of sinking.

Over $1 million has been raised to help “Save the Sullivans.” And last week, Rep. Brian Higgins, D-N.Y., visited the park to announce that $490,000 in federal funding was being secured for the ship as the 79th anniversary of its launch was celebrated.

The Sullivans was commissioned in 1943 and decommissioned in 1965, and it is now a historic landmark. The ship is the only one in the Navy to be named after more than one person — it is named after five brothers who were killed in action when their ship, the USS Juneau, sank in November 1942 in the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal.