USS Nicholas (DD-449)

Portland, Oregon (c. 1974)
Decommission | Demolition | Deconstruct Mast

USS Nicholas (DD-449)

Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization

In the 1960's FRAM II was implemented on a segment of the fleet to include the Nicholas. This entailed replacing heavy steel structures with aluminum from the stern to the pilot house. The mast and radar platform were replaced with aluminum.

Reducing weight with lighter aluminum propelled the Nicholas to a top speed 37.3 knots giving it the Nick-name, Road Runner...

Decommissioned January 30, 1970

BEEP BEEP DD-449

The original Roadrunner flag is on display at the USS Missouri in Honolulu.

The Nicholas (DD-449) transported VIPs to the Missouri for the WWII surrender signing September 2, 1945.

John Bailey (LTJG, 67-69) and Vin Savage (BT1, 63-67) deliver the flag to curators of the USS Missouri during the Nicholas Veterans Association reunion in February 2017.

June 2015

"Nick" Reunion in Portland, Oregon

Once the Nicholas was decommissioned, it was sold off to Zidell Marine in Portland for scrap metal. The mast was donated to the Portland Sea Scouts where it was stationed along the Columbia River across from the Portland Airport.

Veterans attending the Nick Reunion, held in Portland June 2015, collected around the mast for a photo op flanking the Roadrunner flag (subsequently donated to the USS Missouri when they reconvened in Hawaii for the 2017 reunion...seen above).

The Nicholas Veterans Association appropriately had a replica made for the mast.

In 2020, the Portland Airport Authority informed the Sea Scouts that docks and structures along the stretch of the Columbia River adjacent to the airport would have to be removed or demolished. The Nicholas Veterans Association was informed leading member Bill Linn (TM3, 69-70) to initiate action. He organized and supervised dismantling the mast and moving it to the Veterans Memorial Museum in Chehalis, WA near his hometown.

more