Off to Portland we go! For no other reason than to visit the OMSI. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry is quite the amazing place with lots of cool things to play with, it even has a real submarine you can take tours of. Which of course was the best part of the visit.
Make the Jump for more pics!
One of the great things about OMSI is that most of it is interactive. Lots of exhibits that let you get an idea of how the world works around you. In addition to that, there are a lot of displays related to modern technology that give you a bit of history and how we got to where we are today. An example is the "Long EZ" home built aircraft hanging from the ceiling. This airplane was designed by Burt Rutan who went on to design and build Space Ship One which was the first comercial venture to the edge of space by a private company. He has since gone on to design the space ship which will be used by Virgin Galactic to give tourists a ride into space. Cool stuff!
Actual submarines are not something most people see every day. OMSI has one permanently docked next to it and they give tours through it. Unless you are extremely claustrophobic, this is a tour not to be missed.
This is the actual prop off the Submarine mounted here to give some size perspective. The sub was named USS BlueBack and was a diesel electric design that was built to fill the gap as nuclear submarines were beginning to be developed. It turns out the design was so good, it was used for decades after it's intended life.
The size of the boat on the outside is a bit deceiving. Once you get inside, it quickly becomes apparent that life inside is not all that pleasant. Each of these four beds was shared by two sailors on a rotating shift. When you got up, the next sailor would go to bed.
The hatch would only fit one person at a time and were a bit clumsy to get through. If you want to take at tour, the first make you go through a gate which has an opening the same size and shape as this doorway to make sure you are physically able to get through without hurting yourself (or getting stuck).
There is no wasted space on a submarine. Every wall has something on it and any open space doubles as storage when the boat is underway.
Even the torpedo room is used for additional storage and occasionally sleeping space. Located at the front of the boat and furthest away from the engines, it remains cooler than everywhere else. So when the boat gets underway, this is where all of the perishables are stored. Any fresh fruit or anything else that may spoil is stored here. Sailors would also often find places in here to nap.
On board is an active HAM radio station. A local radio club uses it on a regular basis and maintains the radio equipment on board. This would make an interesting outpost for field day. I wonder if they get any extra points for being a submarine contact.
What is a visit aboard a submarine without looking through the periscope? This is not like looking through a pair of binoculars. The optics in this setup are crystal clear and rock solid. It is a bit strange looking outside from inside this cramped metal container.
As usual, there are quite a few more pictures on the
OneDrive Gallery we created for this trip. Be sure to check them out!
No comments:
Post a Comment