My USS Pampanito visit (pics)

[CCIP]

So in the spirit of posting my not-so-great photos of a really, really fascinating topic, I thought I would share my photos from my recent visit to the USS Pampanito in San Francisco.

It was a pretty bad day weather-wise, so a submarine certainly seemed like a very safe place to hide from the rain - although apparently even she sprang a couple of leaks in this and had some volunteers working it out. The rocking boat and the humid atmosphere certainly made it feel like I was at sea, although maybe at sea on a ghost boat: when I showed up, there was actually noone besides me on the boat for a while. On the other hand, that meant that I could have some great private time with this fascinating historical artifact!

Later on, just as I was about to leave, a group showed up. Among them were two WWII veterans, from the USS Flasher and USS Tilefish! They were very friendly and I was encouraged to spend more time on the boat if I felt like it. The group was actually there with a video camera to film a bit of an interview with one of them, Fred Davis who had served on the Tilefish. I joined them on a 2nd run through the boat, and heard some amazing wartime stories as a result. I do not have pictures of this, however our camera man promised to send along links to youtube to me in the next couple of weeks. Also passed him Neal's admin email and website address here, so here's to hoping this great footage can be shared with you guys as well. Veterans like that are always worth listening to, and the stories they tell... honestly, you just can't make that stuff up.
In my fascination, I actually forgot to personally thank them before wandering off. However I think they were also happy that a young person like me actually showed up to listen of their own accord - shame that this seems to be rare these days...

In any case, I enjoyed my visit immensely! So I'll stop blabbing and post pictures for your enjoyment.

Pampanito at Pier 45, with Alcatraz in the background:


The observant ones among you will notice that, alas, USS Jeremiah O'Brien that is normally behind the Pampanito on the same dock, is gone for maintenance. On the other hand this makes for a more unobstructed view of the pier, and with the docks pretty well deserted in the miserable weather with slashing rain, and the boat rocking back and forth at her mooring, it honestly felt a little bit like being at sea!

Local wildlife proving that Ubisoft's seagulls near the coast are historically accurate :










The 5" is a beefy little weapon!

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[CCIP]

And now going down in to the bowels...

The sight of the stern torpedo tubes is decidedly dieselpunk!





Head at the stern of the boat:



Electrical panel in the stern room:


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[CCIP]

For this post, all manner of stuff from the aft Maneuvering Room.















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[CCIP]

Galley:






Control room:




And the forward torpedo room:




And here is a quick view of the pressure hull under the decks - interesting space you don't usually see!





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[CCIP]

And some more external views:












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[CCIP]

And the last post with a few more views!










So that wrapped up my rather damp day (which cost me a wicked cold - I totally lost my voice today...) - it was pretty great!

Just to prove that I was actually there, there's the requisite mugshot...



And then I signed the log book - I took the liberty of saying thanks on behalf of all of us at Subsim, but I'm sure you guys don't mind



And that's it! Thanks for looking.

If you liked these and want more similar sort of stuff though, check out my visit to the Soviet D-2 in St. Petersburg from a couple of years ago... http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?t=124914
(unless you've already seen that, in which case I got nothing!)

(the end)

[Tchocky]

Great pics!