Ernie,
Your ship story is an interesting concept. If they eventually replaced every board and piece of the original, would it still be considered as the original ship or an exact replacement. Notice I avoided the dreaded word Replica because they did this as the ship deteriorated.
I went aboard the battleship Missouri once to look at it and was really kind of over whelmed at the size and hugeness of the guns and everything. The old wooden flight deck had been replaces with steel and the only wood left on the deck was the spot where they signed the surrender papers in Japan. Also the missile launchers had been added, but I would still consider it the original ship even though it was updated. Kind of along the lines of an original Cobra that has been upgraded with newer stuff but kept most of the car original.
Ron
