This is my last post on airplanes and military technology, I promise! It was a rainy August day and we were supposed to be going to the beach with our niece, but due to the rain we took her to Patriot’s Point in Mt. Pleasant, which sits at the mouth of Charleston Harbor.
USS Clamgore (SS343) – a diesel powered submarine
I was approached by a Navy recruiter about joining the submarine fleet as an engineering officer just before graduating from the university. When he told me I would have to relocate to South Carolina for a few years, that, coupled with the small living quarters in a submarine, I decided against pursing the option any further.
Well well well, now here I am stuck in South Carolina. Sweet irony, no? But after touring this submarine, I still think I made the right choice. The living quarters, if they can be called that at all, are something to see. There was less than 30 inches of space between each bunk in the sleeping quarters!
The submarine cook used this small kitchen with just enough space to turn around
From the periscope you can just make out the Arthur Ravenel Cooper River Bridge – taking pictures of television screens usually doesn’t help much either.
The USS Washington, a World War II era aircraft carrier, is the main exhibit at Patriot’s Point. On the flight deck, numerous retired aircraft are available for viewing. On the Hanger deck there are several museums with old equipment from the ship, the Mercury space program, and World War II aircraft. Finally, you can tour the living area of the ship: machine shops, living quarters, mess hall, et cetera. It really was like a floating, small city inside of the carrier.
From this plane to the front of the carrier was probably 30 meters or less, it is hard to believe that jets can really take off from such small carriers
Reconnaissance aircraft
The F-18 – made famous by the Air Force’s Blue Angels which fly the same aircraft in air shows
The USS Washington was deployed in the Pacific arena and it looks like they liked to keep statistics. Luckily I didn’t have to try to explain this to my niece.
The key to the above statistics board
Even though it is just a dummy, when you stand in front of this gun you still have to pause for a moment
It amazes me that the wings could fold like this and still be deployed in dog fights while performing amazing acrobatic feats
My favorite aircraft stares back at me – “C’mon man, when are you going to take me for a spin?”
Spaceman or ocean diver – you decide
The officer’s eating quarters on one of the decks – it was so much nicer than general mess hall, and it makes you realize that there were two different worlds on such ships just like as in real live – the working class and the upper class
An officer’s living quarters – the desk folds up into the wall to create a little area of space for putting on one’s uniform. The cot in the back looks a lot more comfortable than the racks where the enlisted men slept.
Inside an Apollo Mercury space capsule – there wasn’t any room to move at all, just enough space to flip switches and press buttons
Well now, back to business as usual on this blog for awhile. I sure am enjoying this three day weekend!