Monday, October 02, 2006

Exploring the USS Nautilus.

As always, click on the image for a much larger picture.)

Submarine Force Library and Museum
On our last day in Norwich, we felt like we wanted to get out and do something. Right down the road from our hotel was the Naval Submarine Base and the Submarine Force Library and Museum which featured a free tour of the USS Nautilus, the first atomic powered submarine.

Free? Now that's our kind of museum!

The gigantic concentric circle outside the museum are the the circumferences of two different submarines, the USS Ohio and USS Holland. I think I'd fit into the Ohio better.

Jim Brochu takes off!
Outside the museum were several small subs.

Submarines
It was a beautiful day as we walked down to the dock.

Beautiful river and dock area.
The gangway leading to the Nautilus.

The gangway leading to the Nautilus.
As soon as Jim boarded, however, a national emergency warning was sounded. Al Qaeda had been seen prowling the dockyard using Muslim dolphins. Given his extensive experience as a field commander in his military high school, Jim was immediately transcripted into taking charge of the sub.

Jim Brochu the Nautilus submarine.
The young naval officer at the gangway snapped to attention and assured Jim he would follow every order.

Sailor.
Jim told him a head to toe inspection was mandatory. The sailor was disappointed to discover Jim meant "OF THE SHIP." (Or was he relieved?) First the tiny bunkbeds. Not fit for a senior officer like Jim, of course. (In fact, there was no WAY he would fit.)

Bunkbeds on a submarine.
Next were the torpedo tubes.

Torpedo tubes on a submarine.
The toilet area was just a bit snug.

Toilet on a submarine.
Ah, this was more like it. The Officer's mess.

Officer's mess on a submarine.
And the officer's cabin. Much better than those bunks.

Officer's cabin on a submarine.
Mmm. Lunch! (The guide told us that the food on a submarine is the best in the service because of the tight living quarters and rare exposure to sunlight.)

Galley on a submarine.
And this young man was doing dishwashing duty. (Do these manikens seem a little gay to you?). See the round metal thing in front of him? That's the dishwashing machine.

Galley dishwasher on a submarine.
This room on the lower level serves as crew mess, plus hospital plus just about anything they need a larger area for. These manikens were playing cards while dressed in diving masks. Surgical tools were spread out in front of them. I had this image of them drawing cards to see who has to do the cutting.

Crew mess on a submarine.
Oh no! The Al Qaeda dolphins have been sighted!

Periscope on a submarine.
False alarm. Turns out they were double agents for us and are now happily playing with some kids at an aquarium in Florida. Time for Jim to leave the sub in victory. Not that easy a job, actually.

Jim goes through a porthole on a submarine.
At the victory celebration, Jim is given the Congressional Medal of Honor but causes a scandal when he asks how the United States could go from having the smartest President to the dumbest in a single election cycle.

Jim Brochu makes a speech.
Oh, well. Who wants to go into politics anyway?

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Gee, I'm jealous. I actually wanted to be assigned to "boomers" when I was in the Navy, but I was too tall.

I wound up on aircraft carriers, instead.

Looks like yooze guyz had fun!