Saturday April 9th 2016

I went back to Charleston to see the USS Yorktown aircraft carrier museum today. It is located across the river from downtown Charleston in Mt. Pleasant SC. Besides the aircraft carrier the Destroyer USS Laffey (DD-724), the Submarine USS Clamagore (SS-343) and a mock up of a Vietnam conflict base camp are included in the Patriots Point complex.

Bow of the USS Yorktown.

The USS Yorktown (CV-10) was commissioned on April 15, 1943 as a replacement for the original USS Yorktown (CV-5) that sunk at the battle of Midway. The carrier was upgraded several times during its service life which ended in 1970. It has been a museum since 1975.
The ship tour begins on the hanger deck with examples of World War II era planes that the carrier hosted, a replica of the Apollo 8 capsule that the Yorktown recovered after its historic moon orbits and a special Medal of Honor Museum. There are five tour routes from the hanger deck.

• Tour 1 includes the mess area, medical facilities and some sleeping areas
• Tour 2 goes several decks down to the engine room
• Tour 3 goes to the flight deck and the bridge. The flight deck contains aircraft from the jet era including an F/A-18 which I don’t think was built before the Yorktown was decommissioned. It doesn’t matter, it was still interesting to see.
• Tour 4 contains exhibits on other carriers and ships that fought in World War II.
• Tour 5 is highlights the ships brig.

Each of the tours goes up and down narrow ladders (stairs). You need to follow the yellow arrows painted on the floor. Many areas are so narrow it is clearly one way. Without the arrows and signs you could easily get lost. It is a big ship.

USS Clamagore (SS-343)

The submarine USS Clamagore was commissioned in 1945 shortly before the end of the war. She didn’t see any combat in WWII. It’s service life was extended by two major changes that extended the length of the ship and updated its engines. It was one of the last diesel boats in service.
You enter the boat into the forward torpedo room and work your way to the aft torpedo room. Going through the hatches and narrow passages make you appreciate the roomy passages in the aircraft carrier. I’d have a bruised head if I had to spend any length of time on board.

Destroyer USS Laffey (DD-724)

The last ship I toured was the Destroyer USS Laffey. It’s claim to fame was surviving 22 bombing and suicide kamikazes attack planes during the battle for Okinawa. In one of the interior spaces they show a History Channel film on the attack.  The video gave a better  appreciation for what the ship and her crew went through.
I really enjoyed touring these ships and reading the stories about their service. Checking out other versions of these floating museums around the country is one of the things I want to do on my rambling road trip.