Unlikely premise, yes, but an interesting tale of civic survival nonetheless, assuming I can use that term. Aside from falling into the "Any story with a gay main character gets an extra star" trap, I really enjoyed it. Find it at your local used bookstore. I got my copy at Title Wave Books.

Incidentally, it vaguely reminds me of a movie I used to love as a kid - about a modern aircraft carrier getting transported back to Pearl Harbor. Wonderfully cheesy (as a kid I thought it was the coolest thing ever), was called Final Countdown.

Props to pmather for reminding me of the title of the movie.