Captain_Oblivious
DIS Dad #257, Galactic Salad Dodger
- Joined
- Nov 10, 2008
- Messages
- 13,446
And now for something completely different.
Ok, maybe not completely different. We were still at a Naval museum, after all. But after seeing the largest type of ship in the fleet, we were headed to tour the most cramped and claustrophobic: a submarine. The U.S.S. Clamagore, to be exact.
Commissioned in 1945, she mostly operated off the east coast and in the Caribbean, with a tour of duty in the Mediterranean in 1953, and was decommissioned by the Navy in 1975. She’s been on display at Patriots Point since 1981. Recently, the sub had been closed to tours for renovations, but we were fortunate enough to be able to go inside during our visit. I guess Pixie Dust extends all the way up to Charleston on occasion.
On the way, we got a different view of the Yorktown. If you're at sea and you have this view, you might want to change course.
Entering the Clamagore. Visual proof that my family can, and does, still sink to new depths each year.
The Torpedo Room. Does it look cramped? This is one of the widest rooms in the sub. Some bunks for the crew were in here as well. Yup, directly above the torpedo tubes. No air conditioning here, either.
Here Sarah gives a demonstration of the types of corridors you’d need to navigate onboard. You pretty much have to represent the Lollipop Guild to be able to stand up straight in here.
I’m not sure this machine is cleared high enough to receive messages concerning Operation Big Thunder.
How deep does this thing go? Oh, she’ll go all the way to the bottom if we don’t stop her.
Somewhere along the way, they had a display of the ship's lathe. Why might you need a lathe on a submarine?
Well...that's comforting.
Some soldiers in uniform were touring the sub at the same time, and one of them was nice enough to take a family picture for us.
I asked what he thought about serving on a sub, and the guy said, “Man…you couldn’t pay me enough.”
Hey, they expect and demand your very best. Anything less, you should have joined the Air Force. You have to have good men. Good men, all of them.
We didn’t have time to explore the USS Laffey, which is a Destroyer on display.
Why didn’t we have time? Because we needed to catch our boat to Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter is located out in Charleston Harbor, just at the inlet where the bay meets the ocean in an obviously strategic position. You can only reach it by boat, either from downtown Charleston or Patriots Point. Well, I guess you could also swim there. I didn’t try that.
Park admission is “free”. Meaning, of course, you’ll pay through the nose to the boat operator for the trip there and back.
We saw this little fella waiting by the shore to bid us goodbye. Then the boat captain pulled a Crazy Ivan and left the dock, and we were on our way.
It took about 30-45 minutes to reach the fort. It felt like a decade, since there was no air conditioning. You could get a bit of a breeze if you stood outside, but given our sunburn, none of us were in the mood to stand in the sun. So we endured a stuffy, crowded deck as we slowly cruised to the fort. On the plus side, we did see some dolphins swimming alongside the boat as we sailed.
We finally docked, and were then informed in no uncertain terms that we had 1 hour before the boat left, and that it might be a good idea to be onboard at that time.
Fort Sumter is, of course, the place where the U.S. Civil War began. On April 12, 1861 a Confederate battery at nearby Fort Johnson (no longer exists) opened fire, and was joined by a garrison across the bay at Fort Moultrie. The battle lasted into the next day, when Fort Sumter caught on fire. Not having the manpower to both fight the Confederates and the blaze, the Union negotiated a surrender and were allowed to leave the fort, giving the Confederacy its first victory and joining the country in war for the next 4 years.
At least, I think the battle ended. If I’m wrong, then we’re at war. God help us all.
We toured Antietam National Battlefield earlier this summer, and from that Scotty has started to develop a keen interest in the Civil War. I think it was the cannon demonstration we watched that sold him on it.
A display in the museum showed that the fort walls actually used to be a taller structure. I’m guessing that was before people shot at it with cannons and set it on fire.
Original Confederate (South Carolina) and U.S. flags that flew during the battle.
After wandering a while, we found the massive cannons. I don’t think they’d been cleaned in a while. Honestly, does anyone check these things?
Interestingly, the inside of the fort contained a newer battery that had been constructed in 1898 named “Battery Huger” during the Spanish-American War.
We made it onto the boat without having to resort to swimming for it, and as a reward we had a nice view of Charleston as we returned to Patriots Point.
So far, we’d spent a lot of time around Charleston without actually being in it. Well, except for that whole wrong turn thing. Which I blame Darth Vader for.
From there, we made perhaps the most important stop of the day: the gift shop. Inside were the usual t-shirts, coffee mugs, magnets (no redneck cups, though) you’d expect to find. In keeping with his enthusiasm for the Civil War, Scotty used his own money to buy some plastic blue and gray army guys so he could stage a battle. There was one unique item that caught my eye:
I love the warnings that were posted for our benefit. Anyway, after careful deliberation (i.e. I begged), the Budget Committee did approve the purchase of one of these babies. Now I can finally keep the kids in line. What do you think of that, Scotty?
Coming Up Next: A McTour of Charleston.
Ok, maybe not completely different. We were still at a Naval museum, after all. But after seeing the largest type of ship in the fleet, we were headed to tour the most cramped and claustrophobic: a submarine. The U.S.S. Clamagore, to be exact.
Commissioned in 1945, she mostly operated off the east coast and in the Caribbean, with a tour of duty in the Mediterranean in 1953, and was decommissioned by the Navy in 1975. She’s been on display at Patriots Point since 1981. Recently, the sub had been closed to tours for renovations, but we were fortunate enough to be able to go inside during our visit. I guess Pixie Dust extends all the way up to Charleston on occasion.
On the way, we got a different view of the Yorktown. If you're at sea and you have this view, you might want to change course.
Entering the Clamagore. Visual proof that my family can, and does, still sink to new depths each year.
The Torpedo Room. Does it look cramped? This is one of the widest rooms in the sub. Some bunks for the crew were in here as well. Yup, directly above the torpedo tubes. No air conditioning here, either.
Here Sarah gives a demonstration of the types of corridors you’d need to navigate onboard. You pretty much have to represent the Lollipop Guild to be able to stand up straight in here.
I’m not sure this machine is cleared high enough to receive messages concerning Operation Big Thunder.
How deep does this thing go? Oh, she’ll go all the way to the bottom if we don’t stop her.
Somewhere along the way, they had a display of the ship's lathe. Why might you need a lathe on a submarine?
Well...that's comforting.
Some soldiers in uniform were touring the sub at the same time, and one of them was nice enough to take a family picture for us.
I asked what he thought about serving on a sub, and the guy said, “Man…you couldn’t pay me enough.”
Hey, they expect and demand your very best. Anything less, you should have joined the Air Force. You have to have good men. Good men, all of them.
We didn’t have time to explore the USS Laffey, which is a Destroyer on display.
Why didn’t we have time? Because we needed to catch our boat to Fort Sumter. Fort Sumter is located out in Charleston Harbor, just at the inlet where the bay meets the ocean in an obviously strategic position. You can only reach it by boat, either from downtown Charleston or Patriots Point. Well, I guess you could also swim there. I didn’t try that.
Park admission is “free”. Meaning, of course, you’ll pay through the nose to the boat operator for the trip there and back.
We saw this little fella waiting by the shore to bid us goodbye. Then the boat captain pulled a Crazy Ivan and left the dock, and we were on our way.
It took about 30-45 minutes to reach the fort. It felt like a decade, since there was no air conditioning. You could get a bit of a breeze if you stood outside, but given our sunburn, none of us were in the mood to stand in the sun. So we endured a stuffy, crowded deck as we slowly cruised to the fort. On the plus side, we did see some dolphins swimming alongside the boat as we sailed.
We finally docked, and were then informed in no uncertain terms that we had 1 hour before the boat left, and that it might be a good idea to be onboard at that time.
Fort Sumter is, of course, the place where the U.S. Civil War began. On April 12, 1861 a Confederate battery at nearby Fort Johnson (no longer exists) opened fire, and was joined by a garrison across the bay at Fort Moultrie. The battle lasted into the next day, when Fort Sumter caught on fire. Not having the manpower to both fight the Confederates and the blaze, the Union negotiated a surrender and were allowed to leave the fort, giving the Confederacy its first victory and joining the country in war for the next 4 years.
At least, I think the battle ended. If I’m wrong, then we’re at war. God help us all.
We toured Antietam National Battlefield earlier this summer, and from that Scotty has started to develop a keen interest in the Civil War. I think it was the cannon demonstration we watched that sold him on it.
A display in the museum showed that the fort walls actually used to be a taller structure. I’m guessing that was before people shot at it with cannons and set it on fire.
Original Confederate (South Carolina) and U.S. flags that flew during the battle.
After wandering a while, we found the massive cannons. I don’t think they’d been cleaned in a while. Honestly, does anyone check these things?
Interestingly, the inside of the fort contained a newer battery that had been constructed in 1898 named “Battery Huger” during the Spanish-American War.
We made it onto the boat without having to resort to swimming for it, and as a reward we had a nice view of Charleston as we returned to Patriots Point.
So far, we’d spent a lot of time around Charleston without actually being in it. Well, except for that whole wrong turn thing. Which I blame Darth Vader for.
From there, we made perhaps the most important stop of the day: the gift shop. Inside were the usual t-shirts, coffee mugs, magnets (no redneck cups, though) you’d expect to find. In keeping with his enthusiasm for the Civil War, Scotty used his own money to buy some plastic blue and gray army guys so he could stage a battle. There was one unique item that caught my eye:
I love the warnings that were posted for our benefit. Anyway, after careful deliberation (i.e. I begged), the Budget Committee did approve the purchase of one of these babies. Now I can finally keep the kids in line. What do you think of that, Scotty?
Coming Up Next: A McTour of Charleston.
Too funny. I'm actually surprised they sell them in a gift shop. Definitely a controversial item in some situations. 
