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With intense precision performed by Stevens Towing, Salmons Dredging, SCE&G and Transworld Electric she has been returned to her perpetual home in Charleston Harbor.

Decommissioned in 1975, Laffey is the only surviving Sumner-class destroyer. She was added to the Patriots Point fleet in 1981, and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986.

Last week, the old warship, which became known as “The Ship That Would Not Die,” slipped into a new berth at Patriots Point after extensive repairs.

Patriots Point brought the Laffey home Wednesday after repairing its rusting hull in North Charleston at a cost of $9.2 million under a loan provided by the state, which the naval and maritime museum must repay within two years.

The 377-foot-long destroyer had been docked at Shipyard Creek since 2009.

Joe Lombardi of Ocean Technical Services of Massachusetts oversaw the restoration.

The bulkheads, the keel, the plates and the frame were replaced and a new coat of high-end marine paint was added.

Quarter-inch steel plating was replaced a foot above the water line with three-eighths of an inch plating.

Bringing her home was a four-part process that Patriots Point Executive Director Mac Burdette said could not have been done without the due diligence of Bob Howard, operations director. In addition to working on the contracts for the last three months, Howard handled the budget, environmental impacts and worked with marina officials.

He also organized the phasing of the transition.

A 12,000 volt power line had to be disconnected from the ship without disurbing electricity to Charleston Harbor Marina.

Water and sewer had to be disconnected from the ship as well. A 300 K generator was brought in to ensure the marina stayed up and running and in the process of moving the Clamagor and returning the Laffey to its new sport, the 35 year old power line was replaced, Burdette said.

To move the Clamagor and bring in the Laffey, a 125 ton portion of the main pier had to be removed. Once the Laffey was securely in place, the pier was placed back into place, successfully, on the first try.

Burdette anticipates services to be reconnected today, and hopefully the museum will be open on Friday. That would be a day earlier than anticipated.

“We could not have asked for a more perfect scenario,” said Burdette. The weather, the temperatures - those were great. We had no wind, which could have easily delayed us into the weekend,” he said.

If there had been a delay, the 500 campers scheduled to spend Saturday night aboard the USS Yorktown would have been unable to come aboard, causing the museum to lose more than $40,000.

Burdette said there was an extensive list of things that could have gone wrong, and nothing did. “We’re literally walking on water today,’ he said.

He admitted that there were those who were skeptical and almost wishing something would go wrong, so they could point fingers and say, “See.”

“Everyone in the world was watching us, it felt like. So we certainly felt the pressure,” said Burdette.

But despite dealing with an extremely fragile submarine, and possible obstructions under the water along the route in which the Clamagor was moved, there were no snags.

“This was only a $1.1 million project, but certainly the most complicated project I have ever been a part of,” Burdette said.

Yesterday, reports came in that the Laffey was listing five to six degrees. She was. But Burdette said that was anticipated. To put it simply, the Laffey was moved into the berth of the Clamagor which are not similar in size nor shape.

The Laffey essentially has to create her own nest with the changing tides, which is expected to take about 30 days.

Once she has settled into her own trench, just as the Clamagor is doing and just as the USS Yorktown has done, she will again be encased by protective mud which Burdette says is good for the ships.

“The mud acts as a protectant.” For example, he said “the Yorktown is 27 feet deep in the mud. We couldn’t pull her out if we wanted to. She is submerged that far down, all the way around.”