Yes, the vessel is very well maintained, or at least it was the last time I saw it.
When the Navy first asked me to take a look at it, it was in pretty much in the same condition you described. About the only thing that worked on that vessel were the absolute essentials, the bare minimum required to get the job done. Hundreds upon hundreds of valves and only 10 or so that were operable, and many missing altogether. Numerous electrical systems wired incorrectly. You could flip one switch on an alarm panel and set off alarms all over the vessel. Even the dumb stuff like basic lighting systems were all hosed up.
PMS is bad word to a Sailor, as it relates to work, and that's a Four Letter Word. It's a wonder they could even keep it afloat.
I went over there with a small group of officers, a Commander, Lieutenants & Lieutenant Commander, etc. to get the vessel back into shape. There were initially just 6 of us in total, and I was the Token civilian. We took command of the vessel and began righting all the wrongs. There were no ranks or divisions during that period, everyone worked, everyone lent a hand where needed or asked. It was a team effort. I wrote all of the EDOP's, Isolation Guides, PMS cards, etc.... Drew up a new "correct" set of diagrams for the vessels Mechanical & Electrical systems. Made design changes to a number of the systems on the vessel, mechanical and electrical. I could go on all day here...
I classified myself as a Service Engineer because unlike most college educated engineers, I design it, I build it, I test it, I install it, I maintain it, and I write the owners operating instruction manual for it, complete with the replacement parts list. I also rewrote a number of Vendor Furnished equipment manuals as well. I remember being down in SC one afternoon overseeing the load testing of a vessels Capstans. One capstan kept slipping when braking, so I informed them that they had not assembled the braking system incorrectly, and where the problem was. The Capstan manufacturers rep insisted that I was wrong, he had assembled the unit himself. The rep then broke out the companies tech manual for that piece of equipment to show me how I was wrong. At which point, the crew members performing the test began to quietly giggle. The vendor rep wanted to know what they were laughing at, when one of them spoke up and said... He wrote that tech manual for your company. He disassembled the unit and found the problem right where I said it would be.
I enjoyed working for the Navy in those days, especially during that time period. I still keep in touch from time to time. I considered it an honor the day the Navy asked me to come down out of the mountains to witness the docking of the Historic Ship USS Nautilus. That was a truly historic event...
Coincidentally, the wood I used to build the Shadowbox that holds a few of my retirement items, was salvaged from the old wooden top deck of the USS Nautilus. Shipyard workers involved in the refurbishment of the vessel saved some of the original wooden decking and delivered it to me.
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