Tales from the Sea!

When we were walking down the Pier yesterday, off in the distance we noticed a big warship.

On our way back from the Traz, we naturally gravitated toward the big vessel. After being accosted by a neighbourhood charity who guilted us into a donation (but he gave us a sticker and now when approached we show the sticker and get smiled at rather than shook down), we found a way to get to the great ship.

Our "charity pass"

However, on the way we noticed another vessel in the water that looked like another much smaller ship. However, on closer inspection (and my keen eye from all my times on the sea, haha) we were surprised to discover it was actually an authentic World War II submarine! Wow. So we were given some Ipod-like devices and stepped aboard the USS Pampanito.

Just starting the tour top side ..

I thought that we were just going to walk around top side which I thought was cool enough since it is not everyday that you get to walk on the deck of a World War II submarine. But you actually got to step below and walk the entire length of the ship. We took a boatload (haha) of photos - so many that Selena wants to do a slideshow with them.

This is the "Christmas Tree", the term for the panel that tells you all the hull openings are secured. (They used the term "Christmas Tree" in the movie U571.) They all must be green in order for the sub to dive. You will notice the red tinge in the photo. I always thought that was a Hollywood effect, it is actually used to protect the crew's night vision.

The whole tour was unbelievably real. An entire submarine crew actually working in this tiny space for weeks on end was amazing. You actually got to crawl through the bulkheads to pass from compartment to compartment - the audio tour had real crew members speaking about their experiences aboard this vessel.

The last story of the tour was how the Pompanito rescued 73 British and Australian prisoners when they sank two Japanese ships and damaged a third one. The third one contained the British and Australian POWs. I have no idea how they crammed 73 more men into this vessel - as you will see in the photos later. The brave men features on the audio tour never uttered one word of complaint and sounded so proud as they described their times aboard the Pompanito. How lucky we were to have such great men serving and giving their lives so I may, so many years later, enjoy the freedom that these men gave their lives to protect.