Bob and Theresa: Florida 2012 - Charleston SC (Day 1)

After a nice stay at MCAS Cherry Point, we headed down the coast to Charleston, SC. We were told by one of the folks we encountered that Charleston was recently voted the best city to visit in the world! That's saying a lot! And now that we have visited, I can't argue with that!

USS Yorktown, CV-10, was originally slated to be USS Bon Homme Richard (John Paul Jones famous ship from the Revolution) but was changed to honor USS Yorktown, CV-5, "The Fighting Lady" lost at Midway.

Patriot's Point is home to Yorktown and other exhibits, including these Civil War cannon.

Look carefully above the cannon barrel in the previous photo and you'll see this hawk, just sunning himself.

While on a tour of the bridge, they let Theresa steer! (Of course, we were still tied up!)

Yorktown from the pier side.

USS Clamagore, a diesel - electric submarine, was undergoing maintenance and was not open for tour. A third vessel, USS Laffey, DD-724 is in the yards for refit and repair and is due back within a few weeks.

Theresa stands in front of a AN/SPA-8A Radar Plan-Position Indicator (PPI). This "repeater" was the most sophisticated PPI we had on the FDR when I was in charge of the "Repeater Gang!"

Theresa tries out the Admiral's chair on the Flag bridge

The Captain has a cabin immediately off the ship's bridge. He normally takes all his meals on the bridge and is within a few feet any time the ship is at sea! It's a pressure job!

This cartoon was in the "chart house" where the Navigator does his work. I don't know the story but I'm guessing the ship ran aground on an uncharted obstacle.

This EA-3 has been converted for Electronics Surveillance duty. On the FDR, we carried a squadron of A-3 "Heavies" that were strategic bombers.

The VQ-1 tail insignia is taken from a sherry ad from Spain (VQ-1's home)

The F-8U was the Navy's first operational fighter that could sustain supersonic flight. It is very effective at high speed but is difficult to fly at low speed and very tough to bring aboard the ship.

Near the front of the island and under the Flag (lower) bridge, is the war record of aircraft & ships destroyed by Yorktown's aircraft

This display shows the arresting cable as though it were hooked by a S-2 anti-submarine aircraft

This squadron insignia from the side of an S-3 ASW aircraft shows the sense of humor associated with many squadrons

Many spaces below deck were dedicated to recognition of special events and/or contributions by select Navy communities. This display commemorates the Japanese surrender aboard USS Missouri.

Officer's mess or "wardroom"

Yorktown recovered a number of space capsules. This display emphasizes the phenomenal accomplishments from first flight at Kitty Hawk to the first moon walk in 1969!

This is exactly the kind of locker Bob had to store all his gear on the FDR. We could put things we knew we wouldn't need in our seabags, stored several decks below, but our day to day gear went in here!

These stainless sinks are the same style as Bob used. The levers are spring loaded so you can't just turn on the water and let it run

These racks are just like the ones Bob slept in, except those were supported by solid stanchions not chains. Also, Bob's were "triced up" a lot "tighter"

How would you like to cook for 4,500 hungry men, average age 20 (who can eat their weight every day!). Here's a recipe for 10,000 chocolate chip cookies!

One of two chow lines. We didn't have the plastic shields on FDR

How big are the motors and cables for raising the huge elevators with aircraft on board?

One of several operating rooms

While the Billy Mitchell Raid on Tokyo was launched from USS Hornet, it is commemorated on Yorktown - above the snack bar in hangar deck 3

Near Yorktown is a display of a typical Navy supply base from Viet Nam. This Cobra gunship is built on the Bell Huey airframe and was extremely effective in combat

A "Riverine" patrol boat - made from concrete and well armed helped control enemy travel on the many rivers in Viet Nam

The sentry tower was to keep an eye on the perimeter

The "Jolly Green Giant"

While we were on the flight deck, we happened to see this man paddle by on his "paddle board" similar to a surf board

Adjacent to Yorktown is the ferry terminal to Ft Sumter

Ft Sumter is in the center of the 2+ mile wide harbor mouth to allow the gunnery of the day (1 mile range) to reach any ship that might try to come into the harbor

Ft Sumter lies about 2 miles from Charleston

During the Spanish American War, Ft Sumter was updated with 12" coastal guns with a range of nearly 20 miles

When the forces of South Carolina fired on Ft Sumter, it was not yet operational. The siege and the Union siege to retake the fort leveled much of the upper decks of the brick fort.

This action photograph shows a shell exploding during the Union siege of Ft Sumter and the rubble that resulted

This plaque commemorates the CSS Hunley, the first submarine to successfully attack and sink an enemy ship. We visited the Hunley restoration project later in the week - see Charleston Day 3 for that story

This flag replicates the flag that flew over the fort during the siege by South Carolina

When the war ended, two states had joined the Union so the flag is different.

From the ferry, we could see this lighthouse which we were told was the last lighthouse built in the US. It's triangular shape is unique

Ft Moultrie is only a mile from Ft Sumter. Maj Anderson, commander of the Union troops in the area felt that Ft Moultrie was indefensible, so he spiked the cannon and transferred his command to Sumter which greatly irritated the South Carolina forces. This finally precipitated the artillery attack. A ship trying to resupply Sumter was fired on by cadets from the Citadel leading to their claim they fired the first shots of the Civil War.

As we returned to Patriot's Point, we had a great view of the Charleston waterfront.

Across the bay, adjacent to Ft Moultrie, these homes line Sullivan's Island

Downtown Charleston

This sandbar has a simple cross. Our guide explained that a small Christian congregation gathers here each Sunday. Other times, groups party and use the sandbar but respect the cross and leave it alone.