“USS The Sullivans would go on to win nine battle stars before VE-Day.”

THE CUSTODIANS OF a historic warship facing an uncertain future are hoping social media users will unite to help keep the vessel afloat.

USS The Sullivans (DD-537) is a 78-year old Fletcher-Class destroyer that saw action in both World War Two and Korea. Since 1977, the vessel has been maintained as a museum ship by the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park in Buffalo, New York, along with the light cruiser USS Little Rock and the submarine USS Croaker.

Earlier this year, park officials announced that after decades of exposure to the elements, the vessel is taking on water.

Paul Marzello, president and CEO for the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park is appealing to the public to raise $1 million to help repair The Sullivans.

“A full bow-to-stern survey of the ship’s hull was conducted and an engineered plan developed for the necessary repairs,” said Marzello. “It involves applying a two-part epoxy coating to the entire hull below the waterline and the installation of a cathodic protection system that will prevent further corrosion.”

The Sullivans is named in honour of the five Sullivan brothers who died together on the light cruiser USS Juneau in the Solomon Islands in 1942. Although U.S. Navy regulations prevented siblings from serving on the same vessel, the brass made an exception when the brothers agreed to enlist only if they could remain together.

On Nov. 13, the Juneau, which had already been heavily damaged in combat off Guadalcanal, was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine after withdrawing for repairs. The ship foundered in just 20 seconds; there were only 10 survivors.

Security concerns prevented the parents from learning of their sons’ deaths until January, when a trio of naval personnel arrived at the Sullivan home in Waterloo, Iowa to deliver the grim news. The boys’ father Tom asked which of his sons had been killed; the officer-in-charge reported that all of them were dead.

In the wake of the tragedy, Tom and mother Alleta Sullivan became America’s most famous Gold Star Family. The two delivered speeches across the country at factories and shipyards.

On Sept. 30, 1943, the U.S. Navy named the newly completed destroyer DD-537 in the boys’ honour. Alleta christened the ship. The USS The Sullivans would go on to win nine battle stars before VE-Day, fighting at Kwajalein, the Philippine Sea and the invasion of Okinawa. Decommissioned after Japan’s surrender, The Sullivans would be recalled for the Korean War and later sailed with the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean before being finally retired in 1965.

Contributions to the Save the Sullivans campaign can be made securely online at savethesullivans.org. Organizers are making a special appeal to anyone named Sullivan to donate $5.

St. Patrick’s Day marked the official kick off of the fundraiser.