Alas, the Cold War Gallery seems to be only open with an appointment.
But the up to WW2 gallery is still open to walk ins.
As you enter the museum via a walkbridge after you park in a parking garage, you run across this:
The Plaque says:
As you continue further down, you find the Museum in a white building:SWIFT BOAT PCF-1
Dedicated on 23 April 1998
By Senator John F. Kerry
and Wade Sanders of the
Swift Boat Sailors Association, Inc
In recognition of those who served
and in memory of lost comrades
The plates on the two anchors read (left to right)
ANCHOR
FROM STEAM SLOOP-OF-WAR
USS HARTFORD
BUILT IN BOSTON
NAVY YARD, 1858
ADMIRAL FARRAGUT'S
FLAGSHIP
AT BATTLES OF NEW ORLEANS
AND MOBILE BAY
---------------
SIX-TON STARBOARD ANCHOR
FROM
USS ANZIO CVHE 57
BUILT AT
VANCOUVER, WASHINGTON 1943
ORIGINALLY NAMED
USS CORAL SEA
RENAMED OCTOBER 1944
Closeup of the plaque on the building. It used to be a naval gun factory.
Outside, they have a lot of old weapons -- this is one of them. The plaque on it's stand reads:
When you enter the museum, this is what it looks like:CONFEDERATE BROOKE 6.4-INCH DOUBLE-BANDED
RIFLE FROM CSS TENNESSEE
Near the front, in a little annex, they have a Submarine room, with Periscopes you can look through (it was my favorite part of the museum as a Kid)
BTW, the flag at the upper left is the War Flag from the USS Louisana from the Gulf War.
As you continue further down; you run across this fighting top:
It was removed from the USS Constitution during a restoration in the 1960s or 1970s.
They have a lot of certainly interesting civil war artifacts in the place:
The plaque in the case reads:
Blah blah blah....
Rear Admiral David D. Porter obtained a few Gatlings, including
this one, for his Mississippi Flotilla. Although its use in naval engagements
is unknown, the gun was probably used during the last 18 months of the Civil
War in river patrols against Confederate Guerillas.
That's the wheel of the Steam Sloop of war USS Hartford; Farragut's flagship at New Orleans.
As you continue down, they have some nice models of the New Steam Navy
Until it segues into the WWII Gallery after some WWI stuff.
The prop you can see at the top of that image is from a F4U which hangs from the ceiling.
BTW, the plate on that gantry crane is:
So onto the WWII Stuff:
Slate gray working uniform, USN. Offered better camouflage, etc; but was wildly unpopular, replaced with Khakis again in 1945.
Cutaway model of an Allen M Sumner class DD for engineering classes to show how a ship is laid out.
Essex Model.
Iowa Model
Detailed cutaway model of a LCI (i think). The pictures do not do justice to how fucking HUGE this thing is.
At the very end of the museum, they have some exhibits devoted to underwater exploration
I think this is just the exterior shell and perhaps the old Steel Sphere from when the Alvin was rebuilt in the early 80s.
Bathyscape Trieste. Placed here when the Trieste II entered service in USN.
After I finished the museum, I went out to Willard Park, where there are some artifacts:
Reason that sphere is so shiny? It's Titanitium. It's the prototype that was built when
Alvin's Sphere was replaced in the 1980s with another titanitium one.
18" gun built for the South Dakota Class BBs in the 1920s
REMEMBER THE MAINE!
ARMOR PLATE
This 26-inch armor plate was intended for use in Japanese YAMATO class battleships.
Found in the Kure Naval Base shortly after the end of World War II, it was shipped to
the Naval Proving Ground at Dahlgren, Virginia, for ballistics tests. The damage to this
particular section was inflicted by the impact of a standard US Navy 16-inch armor piercing
projectile.
Then it was time to wander over to the Museum Ship Barry:
As you climb onto the stern, you see the new Nationals Stadium on the otherside of the river:
If you are lucky, you will see Naval personnel doing VITAL WORK
I bet lonestar misses those days
As you wander through the ship, you find random interesting things:
GREEN! My Favorite Color!
ATOM-BOMB and RADIO-ACTIVITY!
Yes, that's some nice standard equipment.
Don't tread on me jack flying at bow.
Behold the great 1970s deco of the Wardroom!
And this is in the smithsonian Air and Space's basement....the actual shooting model from
TOS of the Enterprise.
)
