Bremerton Naval Museum News

So, right after the decommissioning ceremony we will certainly have to drop by the museum! I guess they have been doing some major changes! Please take a look at this article, it expains it much better than I could.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/soundlife/story/553354.html

I can't wait!!!

Visit a Museum

I don't visit enough museums. Then again, there are a bunch of things I don't do often enough. Museums, I feel, are repositories for memories and artifacts of everyday life. There are many museum types. There are museums for quilts, cameras, cars, prisons, farm equipment, airplanes, and, here in this post, ships.

This museum is in Bremerton, Washington. It is the Naval Museum of the Pacific! I visited it about...well, no, exactly a decade ago. This is an excellent place where nifty little items reside.

Want to know how a steam torpedo worked? Ever wondered what happened to Admiral Dewey's office chair? What about the ship's bell of the USS Washington?

There is also a plexiglass model, some fourteen feet long or so, of the USS Midway(CV-41). (Or there was, it's been 10 years)

Visiting this museum was, perhaps, a turning point for me. I had not decided to become a teacher, yet, but it ignited more than a spark of interest in things old. I began reading more about historic battles. Especially Admiral Dewey's part in the Spanish American War. I also read a great book about the exploits of the USS Washington because of this visit.

It was the first time I had been close to a mine, a depth charge thrower, and any number of items on display. It made these things somehow more real. I need to go back and see the museum again. I also need to visit the submarine museum in Keyport. I was there once...about 10 mintes before closing time. Needless to say, I missed the most of it.

So, here is a thought. I want everyone to visit a museum in the near future. See what these volunteers, because most of them are volunteers, are trying to keep alive. See what you missed because you were born too late. See what you used to work with.

Should you get the chance, visit the Naval Museum of the Pacific, take a few pictures, let me know how your visit went! I will post it here. It isn't everyday you get to see Admiral Dewey's Office Chair...or his couch.

[Update: work on the Exercise Coulee Crest post continues, I am still looking for more contributors, photos, and any other items or info that may relate to the exercise. If you would like to contribute to this blog concerning anything you have seen here, please say so in a comment and leave your e-mail address, I promise to respond.]

Oh, The Planes I Have Seen

I have been to several air museums. All on the West Coast, I am afraid. I have been to McChord (years ago), I have been to the Olympic Air Museum, Tillamook Air Museum, McAllister, the Museum of Flight, Castle Air Museum, McClellan (now the Aerospace Museum of Northern California...due to who funds it), Travis Air Museum, and Pima Air Museum. I have seen numerous aircraft. When I was young, Yakima had yearly air shows. Back then A-4s, F-4s, F-111s, F-14s, A-6s, and A-7s were huge participants. I even attended the Everett Air Show one year and saw a Victor...you know, that godawful ugly british bomber turned Recon/tanker?


One time, while still in California, Beale AFB had an open house type thing at the Yuba County air port. They had a mock-up of the new Gobal Hawk. It was huge! They also had an X-47B(Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) and a Navy UAV helicopter. It was a very interesting look into the future of air power.

When I was done with my bachelor's degree, I began volunteering t McClellan Air Museum. That came with a few benefits. One was, the first day I was there, someone hnded me a card with numbers on it...they were the combinations to the locks to the aircraft. Oh, what a wonderful way to while way a foggy San Joaquin Valley winter...here is an example of what I could spend my days in. This is the office of a C-53. (look at the top of my other Blog and you will see it) This one actually took part in the D-Day landings, having towed gliders on that day.

And this is the front office of a C-119!

Also, being associated with the Museum put me in a place where, one rainy day, I stopped in on one of the California Fire Fighting wing...forgive my haphazard use of words...mechanics hangars, where they were replacing (or at least, fixing) the horizontal stabilizer of an S-2 Tracker...this one had been modified with multi-bladed props with Turbo-Prop engines.

I also saw this Saab Drakken...privately owned...

I have other pictures, but, these are just a few of the good ones. I hope you enjoy. One day, I will see other, better museums...maybe I will even get a pilot's license...