Yud is not in Ohio

[yud]

   Since I nothing better to do and I am sure you all want to here about my vacation I thought I would tell every one about it

Part I

   As I said before we are camping in Connecticut, at certainly not the nicest of campground (well I hope not anyway).  We drove for 2 days across 4 states to get here up and down the Appalachia Mountains.

   Also as I said before on Tuesday we went to the USS Nautilus on the one day she is closed.  We did find they had a nice scenic overlook looking at both the Nautilus and the Groton Sub base, where we actually saw two new subs .

   Next day we went over to Massachusetts to see the birthplace of both John Adams and John Quincy Adams, and what was the family’s home for 4 generations till it was given to the National Park service and made into the Adams NHP.  The Rangers gave good tours of the three homes but some of the rooms were rather cramped and you are prohibited from taking photos inside the houses  .  Just down the road is the USS Salem the last US heavy cruiser.  I have toured 13 other Museum ships (at the time of going on the Salem, 19 at present) and I can say without a doubt the Salem is bazaar she had, no marked tour route, no signs explaining anything, very few barriers, and has sadly slipped in state of disrepair. Most of this would not be a problem with a guided tour (which is offered but the guy had gone home of the day).  But the big thing is that to much of the ship the only barrier is darkness (no match for the Mini Mag in my camera bag).  Any way I feel sorry for her she really needs a new coat of paint and a few full time tour guides who know their stuff and can set up signs.  Right next to the Salem was the most amazing bridge I have ever seen with no less then eight tall towers that lifted two road decks over a hundred feet in to the air as one might lift a simple elevator.  As if the bridge was not enough a Danish tanker pass under the bridge assisted by three tug boats .

   On Thursday we went back to the Nautilus at the US Submarine Force Museum. The Museum is very nice lots of hands on stuff which is fun.  The Nautilus being one of a kind and being the first nuclear submarine (and to my knowledge the only one on display) was both very exciting and a little disappointing.  Exciting because she is far more in line with modern subs (as far as I know) then other subs I have been on, and you walk down the first set of stairs ever put in a sub .  But I must say it is a little disappointing that you don’t get to see the reactor  .  The one odd thing was security, when we saw metal detectors I ran back to the car to get rid of the 3 SAKs I had and the Yud Powerlock (why bother explaining in dose not have any blades not it). So I get up to the very nice petty officer and he says “we are practicing security today…” so I put my cell phone and camera & bag on the table and he asks “is that a camera bag” I said yes do you need to search it, he says no we don’t allow big bags in unless they are camera bags, overall it was rather amusing. Later on we saw a sub going down the river, a tour guide at the museum said it was likely the USS Philadelphia going in for repairs.  This is a very nice place to go (but leave the sharp stuff at home )

[Chako]

Sounds like my kind of vacation...visiting every historical museum and point of interest. 

Have fun and keep us posted. 

[yud]

Saddly internet is hit or miss here so I'll be short as I don't have part II done yet, today we went to Battleship cove where they gave a 21 gun salute to the lost PT Boaters on the battleship's 5 inch guns , tomarow we will actuly get to boad 2 PT Boats

[J-sews]

Where's Battleship Cove at?

[yud]

Fall River Mass. the bigist collection of historic vessles in the world (or that is what they say )

[J-sews]

Yep, I just googled it. Looks like a pretty impressive place. I might just have to arrange a visit some day.

[yud]

Oh yeah it is quite the place, but I should mention that only PT boat vets and there families are allowed of the boats (just in case anyone was thinking of going over there for that reason )

[yud]

Part II

   Over the course of that afternoon and the next we went to Mystic Seaport, in my opinion one of the great American museum.  The seaport staff is by far some of the best museum staff I have ever seen.  Mystic has a good combination of both historic vessels and museum exhibits.  In the shipyard was the last whaler the Morgan in for some restoration, and there we met Howard.  Howard grow up in coastal Connecticut between boat yards in the 30s; he joined the Coast Guard but because of his eye sight was forced out when the Navy took over the Coast Guard in 42; after that he went home and help build minesweepers and kept building wood ships till 1958 when there were no more to build that is when he started at Mystic, 30 years later after a heart attack he stopped working on the ships and started talk with people about them, he said he could not think of retiring till old (which he said is 90).  In the nautical interment shop I learn about something I always wondered about: how parallel rulers work and why you need them.  Also on land is a fascinating exhibit on tug boats which included such things as a comparison between the cargo that a tug, train, and truck can move; as well as a fun tug boat simulator.

   The fallowing day we went to the home of my grandpa’s commander’s (Capt. on PT 503) family’s home for lunch, so they could learn more about MTB RON 34.  It was nothing too out of the ordinary aside from Grandpa telling war stories.  It was really nice seeing Grandpa honored and respected like that.  Grandpa Commander Russell Schuster USN (Ret), has become a higher profile PT Boater in recent years with his book, TV and video.

   The next day we went to Battleship Cove.  It was the first I had ever seen a PT let alone touch one, but alas boarding would have to be another day.  So we spent the morning touring the USS Lionfish (a sub) and below decks on the battleship Massachusetts.  In the Massachusetts we went all the way down to the bottom of the No. 2 turret, and saw the PT boat Museum that is on broad.  The Massachusetts as it turns out has a pretty go lunch counter on broad, which is mercifully air conditioned.  After lunch was a memorial service for the PT Boaters, punctuated by a 21 gun salute.  Even though, I thought the salute was going to just be small arms I thought I might be able to get a few good photo.  So leaving the air conditioning I worked my way to where they were going to be shooting the guns.  So I got a spot at the rope saying not to cross because they where going to be shooting.  Shortly after getting in place I herd “BOOM” coming not from mere rifles but to my surprise (and might I said shock) the one of the 5 inch navel cannons had fired and continued to fire.  After that I get my camera up and shoot and shoot and shoot, 63 photos in all and only one keeper (with the flames coming out of the barrel).  Seeing, hearing, and feeling them fire 5 inch blanks I can only imagine what firing the 16 inchers in war (makes me believe in that scene in the movie Under Siege).  We finished of the day on the Russian made East German Corvette Hiddensee, and she is an amazing ship: fast, great looks, and a good layout; also she had these two machine gun turrets on her stern that looked like they would be at home on the Millenium Falcon.

[yud]

Ah no place like home

[yud]

PT Boats
My grandfather was a PT Boat Officer during WWII (as some of you my have known)


The deck of an Elco, my grandfather served on two the 509 and 503, with RON 34 in English Channel


A model of the 503, made out of PT Boat wood in his stateroom on the 503 and painted with PT Boat paint


The 50 cal. turret


Com. Russell Schuster USN Ret. on the bridge


No connation I just thought in was cool


SWCC boat in town to show the PT Boaters the Mark V SOC


The bow of a Higgens, my grandfather commanded one PT 297 in the pacific


The view from the bridge, it has much better viability that the Elco but I felt far more exposed

While according to Grandpa the performance of the Elco and Higgens, they are quite different, the Elco has more of a yacht feel below deck with crew quarters, galley, two  officer staterooms and both crew and officer heads; where as the Higgens boat is far more of a working boat with one head, one officer stateroom, crew quarters with galley built in.  Also the deck of the Higgens boat is far more open where as Elco feels almost claustrophobic with all the deck houses and other things on deck