USS Ling (Excursion Pics)

WernherVonTrapp · 08-16-10, 08:58 AM

Yesterday, I took the First Mate and crew to visit the USS Ling memorial in Hackensack, NJ. I had a great time and was very surprised to learn that my First Mate thought the whole tour was fascinating. My daughters enjoyed the trip too, though my youngest was more concerned about what toys might be awaiting her in the gift shop.

She got an F-16 Fighting Falcon and an E2C Hawkeye out of the deal. She actually likes the airplanes.

Anyway, I'm posting a few pics to share my memories. The image quality had to be reduced considerably for quick loading on the web. This is only a smidgen of the overall number of pics I took:

To say that all the compartments were cramped would be making an understatement. How 90 guys all shared this same space for 45 to 60 days at a time is beyond me. Kind of makes you appreciate more, the sacrifices they made on our behalf.

http://www.njnm.com/subtour/index.html

Deephunter · 08-16-10, 09:10 AM

Great pics..!! Thanks for posting.

Like you say...How guys actually lived in there for extended periods of time is beyond me. And the number of valves and other controls would drive me crazy...
One interesting thing I noticed...There seems to be several "portholes" which could be opened while surfaced to air the place out....

sergei · 08-16-10, 09:26 AM

Good pics, thanks Wernher.

Gerald · 08-16-10, 09:59 AM

Stealhead · 08-16-10, 10:15 AM

The port holes are actually "gun access ports" so that the crew had near immediate access to the deck gun and AA guns and did not have to jockey through the normal routes top side they where added into the designs some time in late 42 or 1943 I think the smaller ones are for passing up ammo others where strictly magazines hard to say for sure data on them is sort of lacking.

It is interesting to see pics of the old war subs especially the ones that received little modification post war yet they are all slightly different which makes sense since each sub wound up being slightly different form the next after receiving an over haul or two.

I have been to the USS Drum a few times and just from these pics I can see some differences.Though the Drum is a Gato and the Ling is a Balao the Drum does have a Balao bridge though.

WernherVonTrapp no pictures of the control room or conning tower?

Also interesting to see that the Ling does not have a 40mm mounted might have at one time though.

I agree with the confined spaces I toured a "boomer" some years back in high school I was glad that I was joining the Air Force.I think if I had been in the Navy in WWII I'd have given subs a shot beats floating around on the surface all day as a huge target if that is the other option.

WernherVonTrapp · 08-16-10, 10:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stealhead

The port holes are actually water tight magazines used to store rounds for the various AA guns so that the crew had near immediate access to some ammo they where added into the designs some time in late 42 or 1943 I think. I am guessing that the tube coming out of the deck was to pass shells to the deck gun although it looks like a tight fight for a 4/51.

WernherVonTrapp no pictures of the control room or conning tower?

You are absolutely right on all counts, Stealhead. Those port holes are actually water tight containers for the 4" shells and they were passed up through that feeding tube (4th pic from bottom) to restock the ammo containers. The conning tower was off limits, according to the tourguide. He let me climb up there however, only long enough to take a couple of close ups of the 20mm. I do have some pics of the control room, however, they didn't turn out too well. The lighting inside the sub was such that, no flash was too dark and using flash caused a lighting wash-out effect. We were moving through the compartments (not overly fast but) too quickly for me to make constant adjustments to the cam. I ended up keeping it on auto mode the whole tour.

The tour guide was a nice guy but not too well versed on the USS Ling and it's systems. He conceded that he was new and this was only his 5th tour. When I pointed to, and commented on the AA guns being the 20mm Oerlikons, he interjected, pointed to the 4" deck gun and said, "No, that's the 20mm right there".

Stealhead · 08-16-10, 11:07 AM

Yeah the last time I was at the Drum back in 2009 they just gave you a pamphlet a "self guided tour" same goes for the USS Alabama. I was showing something to my daughter and some man and his family basically just tagged along once they figured that I knew a little about what all some of the gear was inside.(little did they know that I had read The Fleet Submarine in the US Navy, US Submarines Through 1945,Take Her Deep,Thunder Below and Wahoo to name a few.

)

The Drum has a few mk.27s in the aft torpedo room and they where pretty surprised to learn that such technology was around back then. Another interesting thing about the Drum that I noticed is that she has duplicate PPIs one in the conning tower and another in the control room I don't know if this was a WWII feature or if it was added later but it was an interesting rig none the less.It is also possible that one PPI was for the SV and one was for the SJ set.

08-16-10, 08:58 AM	#1
WernherVonTrapp Admiral Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Now, alot farther from NYC. Posts: 2,228 Downloads: 105 Uploads: 0	USS Ling (Excursion Pics) Yesterday, I took the First Mate and crew to visit the USS Ling memorial in Hackensack, NJ. I had a great time and was very surprised to learn that my First Mate thought the whole tour was fascinating. My daughters enjoyed the trip too, though my youngest was more concerned about what toys might be awaiting her in the gift shop. She got an F-16 Fighting Falcon and an E2C Hawkeye out of the deal. She actually likes the airplanes. Anyway, I'm posting a few pics to share my memories. The image quality had to be reduced considerably for quick loading on the web. This is only a smidgen of the overall number of pics I took: To say that all the compartments were cramped would be making an understatement. How 90 guys all shared this same space for 45 to 60 days at a time is beyond me. Kind of makes you appreciate more, the sacrifices they made on our behalf. http://www.njnm.com/subtour/index.html __________________ "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -Miyamoto Musashi ------------------------------------------------------- "What is truth?" -Pontius Pilate Last edited by WernherVonTrapp; 08-16-10 at 09:57 AM.

08-16-10, 09:59 AM	#4
Gerald SUBSIM Newsman Join Date: May 2008 Location: Close to sea Posts: 24,254 Downloads: 553 Uploads: 0	Excellent images __________________ Nothing in life is to be feard,it is only to be understood. Marie Curie

08-16-10, 10:15 AM	#5
Stealhead Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kentucky Posts: 5,421 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	The port holes are actually "gun access ports" so that the crew had near immediate access to the deck gun and AA guns and did not have to jockey through the normal routes top side they where added into the designs some time in late 42 or 1943 I think the smaller ones are for passing up ammo others where strictly magazines hard to say for sure data on them is sort of lacking. It is interesting to see pics of the old war subs especially the ones that received little modification post war yet they are all slightly different which makes sense since each sub wound up being slightly different form the next after receiving an over haul or two. I have been to the USS Drum a few times and just from these pics I can see some differences.Though the Drum is a Gato and the Ling is a Balao the Drum does have a Balao bridge though. WernherVonTrapp no pictures of the control room or conning tower? Also interesting to see that the Ling does not have a 40mm mounted might have at one time though. I agree with the confined spaces I toured a "boomer" some years back in high school I was glad that I was joining the Air Force.I think if I had been in the Navy in WWII I'd have given subs a shot beats floating around on the surface all day as a huge target if that is the other option. Last edited by Stealhead; 08-16-10 at 10:33 AM.

08-16-10, 11:07 AM	#7
Stealhead Navy Seal Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Kentucky Posts: 5,421 Downloads: 85 Uploads: 0	Yeah the last time I was at the Drum back in 2009 they just gave you a pamphlet a "self guided tour" same goes for the USS Alabama. I was showing something to my daughter and some man and his family basically just tagged along once they figured that I knew a little about what all some of the gear was inside.(little did they know that I had read The Fleet Submarine in the US Navy, US Submarines Through 1945,Take Her Deep,Thunder Below and Wahoo to name a few.) The Drum has a few mk.27s in the aft torpedo room and they where pretty surprised to learn that such technology was around back then. Another interesting thing about the Drum that I noticed is that she has duplicate PPIs one in the conning tower and another in the control room I don't know if this was a WWII feature or if it was added later but it was an interesting rig none the less.It is also possible that one PPI was for the SV and one was for the SJ set.

08-16-10, 09:10 AM	#2
Deephunter A-ganger Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 79 Downloads: 102 Uploads: 0	Great pics..!! Thanks for posting. Like you say...How guys actually lived in there for extended periods of time is beyond me. And the number of valves and other controls would drive me crazy... One interesting thing I noticed...There seems to be several "portholes" which could be opened while surfaced to air the place out....

08-16-10, 09:26 AM	#3
sergei Sea Lord Join Date: May 2008 Location: London UK Posts: 1,788 Downloads: 405 Uploads: 29	Good pics, thanks Wernher.