A Look Aboard Historic USS Batfish Amid Restoration From Flooding, Sinkhole

With concrete finally cured, and the USS Batfish back on solid ground after being swept away in floodwaters two years ago, News on 6 got a first look inside to see the damage - or more accurately the lack of damage.

Director of Operations Victor Lezama has inspected every nook and cranny on the sub. He said each spot is in remarkably good condition after parts of the inside were flooded.

"Nothing drastic that really concerned us," Lezama said. "We had to pump out a lot of water that was here, but the damage as you can see as you walk through here, I mean it looks normal."

It's a huge relief, especially considering how much work it took on the outside to save the Batfish.

Project Manager Andrew Long said it took 60 trucks of dirt and 300 cubic yards of concrete to stabilize all three million pounds of flooded submarine.

"Just to stabilize it, that was just phase one," Long said.

Related Story: Muskogee Crews Start Restoring Historic USS Batfish To Her Original Position

He said a team of engineers are finishing up plans for a new concrete cradle in the spot where the sub used to sit.

"This sounds crazy but we're going to float it back," Long said.

Lezama said the new cradle will actually be much better for the submarine in the long run than it would've been left in its original location.

“I think she’ll be presented a lot better than before, you know, somewhere we can have weddings out here now, we can have some dances out here now," Lezama said.

Mother nature may have tried to sink the ship out of water, but now the Batfish is set to spend the rest of her life in better care than ever before.

There's still a lot of engineering work that's left to be done before the Batfish can be floated back home on a cradle, but the staff hopes to have it back open to the public by spring of next year.