The USS Patterson FF 1061 recently was honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy. This destroyer was scrapped by North American Supply Inc., Ruxton, MD, for Baltimore Marine Industries (BMI), Baltimore, MD.

Commissioned in 1970, the USS Patterson saw a long and successful career before retiring. When the order came in for the ship to be scrapped, the vessel was brought to BMI’s facility where North American Supply took over.

In December 1999, North American began to demolish the destroyer. The USS Patterson, built in the late 60s, was 438-ft. long with a displacement of 4,260 tons. The upper structure was aluminum and the hull was steel up to 0.75-in. thick.

Using torches, BMI crews removed sections of the ship and brought the sections to a prepared concrete pad where North American processed all the metal.

North American Supply, an authorized LaBounty attachment dealer, used a Cat 235 excavator with a LaBounty MSD 70 straight shear to cut the ferrous portion of the ship. The aluminum portion was processed using a Komatsu 400 excavator equipped with a LaBounty MSD 50R Series 3 rotating shear.

“Both units performed flawlessly,” said Jim Pacquin, vice president, North American Supply. “We were able to complete this project in early June – far ahead of the other yards given a like contract – due to the close support of BMI personnel and the excellent capabilities of the LaBounty equipment.”

North American loaded out the metals with their Komastu 300 equipped with an HDR 140 LaBounty grapple. The processed metal was purchased by DMS Shredding, Wilkes Barre, PA, who used high-side dump trucks to haul the metal.

North American Supply, with 20 years in the attachment business, is one the largest suppliers of LaBounty attachments in the United States.

North American sells and services LaBounty attachments throughout the Northeast and rents demolition and scrap yard excavators equipped with LaBounty or Stanley hammer attachments.

For more information, call 410/337-9238.

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