Touring Sullivan Island
Wednesday, May 26th;
We had a good night in our lovely accommodation. We decided to make a full breakfast of eggs and liver mush! Over breakfast we planned our day.
The valet brought our car around and we drove over the bridge we could see from the Battery Walk and stopped on Patriot’s Point to see the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown (CV10). Abe and Frances had toured it before so Dan and I went on board alone. We walked down the pier toward the ship and took note of the submarine berthed in front of it. The USS Clamagore was dwarfed by the larger ship. Both ships sit on tidal flats and are not always fully afloat. The action of the sea and the sea life have taken a toll on the Clamagore. In many places her outer layer has been eaten away by rust.
We walked across the gangplank and climbed down the forward hatch into the forward torpedo room. We always hear how tight the quarters are in a submarine but you have to see it to get some understanding. Berths are crammed into spaces you would not think could hold them. And who could sleep there in the midst of all the activity? In the engine room, under and around the torpedo tubes, even being one of the officers does not give you much space. How do five or six men fit in that room at the same time?
The radio/sonar room seemed like a good place to hang out. It appeared to have less people and was comparatively quieter. The galley was impressive. Even with that great Hobart mixer, I don’t think I would want to cook the number of meals that must be required day after day. The officers mess was the nicest space on the ship. The enlisted men had a less formal space with four tables.
I only counted one toilet??? Could that be right? I read the instructions to use it. I suggest you would not want to be in a real hurry when you got there. There were two sinks and one shower. How many people were required to share this space?
We worked our way through two engine rooms. Apparently they were identical setups for redundancy. The differences were the names on the engines - “Speedy Gonzales” and “Mabeline”. Aft of the engine rooms we entered the aft torpedo room. Here the main space was taken up by torpedo tubes. Above and below them there were bunks hidden away like so many trundle beds. Imagine sleeping in such crmped quarters with people working around you, the din, the action, the smell of a bunk used by two other shifts of men besides yourself. “Hot bunking” would never appeal to me. You had to be tired!!!
We climbed out of the rear hatch onto the dock once more and moved on to the aircraft carrier. From a distance it was not as large as I expected. But standing on the flight deck, the size was more obvious. From there we had a view of Charleston and the Battery we had walked the day before.
We did a quick tour not staying to examine all that was on display. I climbed into a fighter to get the feel of the cockpit. A tight fit for anyone who was too much larger than I. With the canopy closed it would have been a little claustrophobic. It would be exciting flying such a small and probably responsive plane - even more so if someone was trying to shoot you!
We walked back to Abe and Frances. It was time for lunch so we drove across to . Frances had been told about a good seafood restaurant overlooking the water. We found the Boathouse and stopped It looked like a place that would be pretty lively on a weekend with many pleasure boats tied up in the marina.
After lunch, we carried on to Fort Moultrie. This fort has been armed from the Revolutionary war until World War II. Fort Moultrie on one side and Fort Sumpter on the other guarded the entrance to Charleston Harbour. Fort Sumpter is gone now, only a marker is left. Fort Moultrie is the remaining sample of history. We found the enlisted men’s quarters or rather the foundation of them. They were torn down by the men living in them so that the more sophisticated firepower of the civil war would not turn the wooden buildings into splinters that would kill and maim men inside the fort.
As we walked, the rain that had been threatening all day began. It was time to return to Charleston and the comfort of the hotel. Our last night here.In the morning we headed south stopping briefly in Beaufort for breakfast. We drove out past the US Marine base at Parris Island. Abe told us what it was like when he arrived here as a teenager getting ready for World War II. A train brought them in and there was no way out until they finished their training. He made it through, hiking through the heat of a southern summer with heavy packs and no protection from the mosquitoes, deer flies and other voracious insects of such a swampy land. No wonder he became an Entomologist!
Now we were on the road back to Orlando. It was hot and tiring. We were all glad to get to our homes and relax once more.
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