This Day in History: 'Queen Mary' being remodeled in Greece

From the Aug. 7, 1963, edition of the Sun and Flare

The $1.5 million reconditioning of Aramco's drilling barge No. 136, formerly the "Queen Mary," is scheduled for completion the first week of October and should arrive in Saudi Arabia during the first half of November.

The renovation, done in the Hellenic Shipyards in Skaramanga, Greece, was begun on Feb. 3. This alteration entailed the cutting of a center section of the barge and the installation of an 80-foot extension.

Along one side of the barge, a pipe ramp will be installed with a maximum capacity of 42-inch diameter pipe. The unit will also contain mud pumps, mud storage facilities, and similar equipment for working wells.

The barge is also being reinforced at one end to support a 200-ton marine crane purchased in Holland and installed in Greece. The decking will be reinforced for a Manitowoc 400 revolving crane to be installed in Saudi Arabia as a standard unit.

After arrival, Clark units released from use in the northern area when facilities there wer electrified will be reconditioned and installed while the barge is in Ras Tanura.

The estimated cost of conversion includes the total renovation and all the equipment that will be added to the barge.

Caption for top photo: Two sections of the drilling barge are removed and floated out of the way prior to the addition of a new 80-foot center section. This is the first step in the $1.5 million reconditioning of the barge.

Also on this date

2007 — Barry Bonds hits his 756th home run to surpass Hank Aaron's 33-year-old record

1997 — The Space Shuttle "Discovery" launches from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida

1995 — The Chilean government declares a state of emergency in the southern half of the country in response to an event of intense cold, wind, rain, and snowfall known as the White Earthquake

1985 — Takao Doi, Mamoru Mohri, and Chiaki Mukai are chosen to be Japan's first astronauts

1981 — The Washington Star ceases operations after 128 years of publication

1978 — U.S. President Jimmy Carter declares a federal emergency at Love Canal due to toxic waste that had been disposed of negligently

1974 — Philippe Petit performs a high-wire act between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center

1960 — Ivory Coast becomes independent from France

1947 — The Bombay Municipal corporation formally takes over the Bombay Electric Supply and Transport

1944 — IBM dedicates the first program-controlled calculator, the automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (a.k.a. the Harvard Mark I)

1927 — The Peace Bridge opens between Fort Erie, Ontario, and buffalo, New York

1858 — The first Australian rules football match is played between Melbou8rne Grammar and Scotch college

1786 — The first federal Indian Reservation is created in the United States.