We started the day by swinging by the museum at the house that Theodore Roosevelt was sworn in as president, after the death of President McKinley. Next on our military list was the Buffalo Naval Museum Park. So, we headed to the waterfront and had some lunch at the museum (a very nice Beef on Weck sandwich!), We had the option of doing our own thing or getting the tour. We opted for the tour, as you get to see some areas on the ships that gaining on our own would not allow.
We had to kill a bit of time, so lunch and a walk through the museum would fit the bill. The museum is not too big. It has a few artifacts and films to discuss the three ships located at the museum. We wrapped that up and jointed the tour (planned for two hours, took well over three!).
We walked out and boarded the USS Sullivans. This is a WWII Fletcher class destroyer. It is currently outfitted in its post war configuration, but is mostly the same as its WWII configuration. We could only check out the above the waterline areas, as the ship sunk in a storm a few years back and had to be patched up to get it raised again. It is scheduled to be towed out shortly for repair and refurbishment, so our timing was good. We got to see the bridge, main areas and weapons, all well maintained. We then crossed over to the next ship.
Across the gang way and we were on the USS Little Rock. She is a Cleveland class Light Cruiser also in post war configuration as a Talos missile cruiser. This ship is in great shape and we were able to go through all the main areas. Particularly interesting was the Talos missile reloading room (it was huge). Fortunately, the ship still had one of its six inch turrets, which was open to go into. We were able to see almost everything except the engine room and the lower stores. The outside of the ship could use a little love, as the paint is aging badly, but the interior is in full of stuff and in great shape. With that, across the gangway to the next ship!
We finished the ship tour on the USS Croaker, a WWII Gajo class submarine. She was also in her post war configuration, but this was not really that different (one of the engine rooms was reconfigured). I was getting nervous on this one, as my phone was getting really low on power, so I was not sure I would get all my pictures! We started in the forward torpedo room, worked are way back to the rear torpedo room and everything in-between. The interior was well done and we even got a bit of a sound and lighting show along the way! My only criticism was that the bulkhead doors are very small and I am getting old! They seemed smaller than other submarines I have been on, but it just may have been we were almost three hours into our tour!
We finished up the with the ships and walked through the park area to check out all the markers and some of the other equipment on display. Another banger of a location! We then went on a wild goose chase to check out the immortal flame site (total waste of time), passed by Bills stadium for a photo and got some Buffalo style pizza at a place we could sit down (this is hard to find, as almost all the places are take out!). Time to rest the weary bones and get ready for the next day!
- Manteuffel