A visit to the USS Slater (DE-766) in Albany NY

[Subnuts]

The officer's wardroom as it would have appeared in harbor. At sea they would have used wooden boards with holes for dishes and utensils, which due the poor lighting in the corridor, I couldn't get a good picture of. The photo on the bulkhead is of the ship's namesake, Frank O Slater, who was killed aboard the USS San Francisco during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal




A better view of the wardroom from the other side. The medical locker and surgical lamps aren't for show - the ship was too small to have a fully equipped sickbay.



The wardroom pantry. Not the most exciting thing imaginable, but the volunteers have done an excellent job restoration many of the purely domestic areas of the ship.



Going down to the First Platform, we enter one of the crew's messing and birthing spaces. Once again, I'm amazed at how good the restoration work is. The fire hoses, piping and wiring, lights, clocks, fuze boxes...etc are all either authentic or are exceptionally fine reproductions.



Carl explains some of the finer points of cooking and serving food aboard a tiny, pitching, rolling ship. The guy in the black shirt seemed to have a perpetual serial killer look to him, and I was getting genuinely creeped out by the end of the tour.



I know I'm probably belaboring the point by now, but I'm amazed the interior looks as good as it does considering the ship was a rusting hulk back in the 90s.


Carl explained that the strap seen over the pillow was meant to restain crewmen in heavy seas, but more often than not they didn't work.



Not sure why I took so many pictures of this compartment, but it's still fascinating to see just how cramped these ships were.




The scullery, where they'd scrub those dishes beyond the call of duty.



My mother says I was obsessed with poles as a child. Don't think it ever really wore off!