is is a submarine that was commissioned during World War II and served up through the Vietnam War. After the United States took her out of commission she was sold to the Turkish Navy where she served for many years. When the Turks were through with her she was sold to the city of North Little Rock to become a part of the Maritime Museum on the Arkansas River, which separates North Little Rock with the state capitol city of Little Rock. Although the cost of the tour for us retired military is only $4.00 the folks at the museum elected to not charge us. Former submarine sailors are admitted free. In our group was another Navy retiree who did serve in subs. As a courtesy to him all five of us were admitted free.Due to the boats double service the museum has elected to fly both the U.S. and the Turkish flags from the ship. Also, the original nomenclature plaques and the dials and ga
uges throughout the ship are in English but have had the info in Turkish added to them. The Submariner in our group, Jim Gee, was a fountain of knowledge and led the tour instead of one of the museum people conducting it. We spent about two hours roaming through the different spaces in the boat. (Although this was considered to be a ship of the line it is customary to refer to submarines as boats rather than ships.) What is always amazing to me when I get a chance to tour one of the older diesel boats is how small th
ey were. A large amount of equipment, machinery and weapon systems are crammed into a very small amount of space. In addition to this was space to house and feed the crew. In these old boats there were usually not enough bunks for each person to be assigned his own. Also due to the small crew they usually stood what is called "port and starboard" watches. That meant they would work 12 hour shifts. They would then have to "hot rack". This means two people were assigned to each bunk, or rack, and one guy would use it while the other was standing his watch. The picture to the right is the "after torpedo room". This space had four torpedo tubes and carried several torpedo's. In addition there were numerous crews "racks" intermingled between the torpedo's. It was noted that most submariners were less than six feet tall. This made for easier movement through the boat. As with all ships it is divided into several compartments. Each compartment is separated from the next with "watertight doors". These doors are much smaller than the ones on a larger surface ship. The picture to the left is our group during the tour.
uges throughout the ship are in English but have had the info in Turkish added to them. The Submariner in our group, Jim Gee, was a fountain of knowledge and led the tour instead of one of the museum people conducting it. We spent about two hours roaming through the different spaces in the boat. (Although this was considered to be a ship of the line it is customary to refer to submarines as boats rather than ships.) What is always amazing to me when I get a chance to tour one of the older diesel boats is how small th
ey were. A large amount of equipment, machinery and weapon systems are crammed into a very small amount of space. In addition to this was space to house and feed the crew. In these old boats there were usually not enough bunks for each person to be assigned his own. Also due to the small crew they usually stood what is called "port and starboard" watches. That meant they would work 12 hour shifts. They would then have to "hot rack". This means two people were assigned to each bunk, or rack, and one guy would use it while the other was standing his watch. The picture to the right is the "after torpedo room". This space had four torpedo tubes and carried several torpedo's. In addition there were numerous crews "racks" intermingled between the torpedo's. It was noted that most submariners were less than six feet tall. This made for easier movement through the boat. As with all ships it is divided into several compartments. Each compartment is separated from the next with "watertight doors". These doors are much smaller than the ones on a larger surface ship. The picture to the left is our group during the tour.After the tour we all returned to the RV park for some relaxation prior to the eve
ning activities. Tonight, instead of the normal dinner with entertainment, we were scheduled to go to the local ball park to watch the North Little Rock Travelers play baseball. This is a professional team that plays in the AA leagues. Our dinner was to be served at the ballpark with normal ballpark fare of hamburgers and hot dogs. About an h
our before we were to go to the park it started pouring down rain. By the time we got there the game had been called. Of course as soon as the stands emptied the rain cleared and it turned nice. The ballpark folks had already set up our area for dinner so we had our "ballpark evening" anyway, just did not see a game. This is a relative new park and is very nice. Only about half our group elected to make the trek to the park after it started raining but those that did had a good time and had plenty to eat.
ning activities. Tonight, instead of the normal dinner with entertainment, we were scheduled to go to the local ball park to watch the North Little Rock Travelers play baseball. This is a professional team that plays in the AA leagues. Our dinner was to be served at the ballpark with normal ballpark fare of hamburgers and hot dogs. About an h
our before we were to go to the park it started pouring down rain. By the time we got there the game had been called. Of course as soon as the stands emptied the rain cleared and it turned nice. The ballpark folks had already set up our area for dinner so we had our "ballpark evening" anyway, just did not see a game. This is a relative new park and is very nice. Only about half our group elected to make the trek to the park after it started raining but those that did had a good time and had plenty to eat.
1 comment:
Wow - one of the things we did in Genoa was to tour a submarine...what a strange coincidence that is!
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