Warships From Little to Big - Part 1 of 2
Mar 22, 2012, 11:11 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Texas
Programs: American Airlines British Airways
Posts: 1,752
Warships From Little to Big - Part 1 of 2
Clearly my first thought was the right thought. The original plan for this trip was to take the wife with me, fly on AA in F to IAH, pick up a car at the airport, stay at the St Regis or Four Seasons, shop, and then drive to the site I wanted to see. However, the wife really did not want to go. The HOU area was much closer to the site. Besides how bad could a Comfort Suites hotel be?
But first, what was the point to this trip? My original plan was to follow-up the visit to the USS Lexington – see previous trip report from November 2011 - with a visit to the USS Texas BB-35 as time, funding, and a cheap fare all aligned. While researching this trip I discovered that a group offers Hard Hat Tours of the USS Texas a few times a year. These take you on a guided tour to parts of the ship not normally seen during the causal visit. Their schedule and mine could only find alignment on Saturday March 17 at 8:30 am. 8:30 am? I do not get of bed until 8 or 9. My heart does not start until 10 in the morning. I am not quite fully functional before noon. Flying down that morning would not work. If I was going to fly down the day before, then I might as well visit the USS Cavalla and the USS Stewart both from WWII in Galveston the Friday before. AE flies to HOU. If you sit on the A side, the single seat side, on these RJs it is reasonably comfortable. It is also about 25 percent of the cost of an F ticket to IAH on AA. HOU is on the south side of the city. Galveston is on the south side of the city. The USS Texas is much closer to HOU than it is to IAH. Thus the original plan as laid out above morphed into a cheap trip by myself.
As I arrived at DFW once again I realized that like the answer to a test question, the first thought is the right thought. Let me first admit that I did not setup alerts for this flight. I thought I did, but I obviously I did not. The ticket printout said the gate was A8. That seemed normal as every AE flight I have taken has departed from terminal A at DFW. I knew that AE would change the gate several times so why bother to check until I arrived. In the back of my mind I knew that DFW had started reconstructing terminal A. Surely, AE would not send me to a gate that did not exist anymore. On arriving at DFW I found gate A8 was no more. As I did not setup alerts it was into the terminal to check. The departures board said B35. B35? As I slowly awoke I noted that this was an entirely different terminal from the one I was standing in. Then like the character in the old movie, was it Buster Keaton, I begin leaning this way, then leaning that way. Should I jump on the Skylink or move the car? Jump on the Skylink or move the car? Move the car won.
Once inside terminal B I looked at the departures board to find it still showing B35. Off I went to B35 landside as I did not want to go airside in case the terminal changed again. On arriving at the B35 end of the terminal I found a forlorn young lady sitting all by herself on a stool. She said you cannot get there from here. You must go to the other end of the terminal, go through security, and then walk airside down to B35. Back to the other end of the terminal. At least I got out of bed early.
Once through to the secure side the departures board said B22. Oh. A8 to B35 to B22. Down I went to B22. The monitor at B22 said nothing about a flight to HOU. The gate agent said 3215 is at B28. The departures board still said B22. On to B28. The gate agent there said the flight will be at B27. Back to B27. Gate agent at B27 said, nope B29. The departures board now said B30. A picture of a roulette wheel suddenly appeared in my mind, I see the little ball, which is flight 3215, rolling around the wheel. I can see that the wheel is slowing now. The ball begins to bounce from slot to slot on the wheel. I know that soon it will settle into one slot and the wheel will stop. But where do I place my boarding pass? Will it be slot A8, B22, B27, B28, B29, B30 or will it jump to terminal D? Little by little the wheel slows. Where will it land? It starts to center up on? B29 is the winner. Seeing how this is a WWII themed trip when the RJ pulled up I went to the window to see if it had the name Enola Gay painted on the side of the nose. Nope. Further I did not see a Little Boy dress in blue waiting to board the flight. I did see a Fat Man waiting to board. Fittingly he was dressed in bright yellow. He was just about the right shape as well. The preceding would make more sense if you had paid attention in history class. As I sat there waiting I wondered if they do all of this gate changing on purpose so they can watch us on the security camera monitors as we go back and forth, back and forth?
The flight itself was quick and pleasant as are most AE flights. If you are a short fellow like I am the A side seats with no one beside you work quite well. Both a window and an aisle seat in one. The sky was busy that morning.
The arrival into HOU was problem free. I began to think that perhaps the first thought is the right thought did not apply after all. Then the National Car Rental bus arrived just as I walked out the door. Perhaps I should rephrase the previous sentence to say the National NOCAR Rental bus arrived just as I walked out the door. I guess there was a reason why their counter at the airport was the only one closed and I was the only person on the bus. As I plan to point out to the National NOCAR Rental company the whole point to the Emerald Club is that you arrive at the Emerald Aisle. The car is there. You jump in. Off you go. The aisle was there, but there were no cars on the aisle. The bus driver stopped beside a little lady wandering around the aisle. After listening to the problem she said wait right here. I will bring the car. Anyone who has been to Houston knows that no matter when you go it will be warm and humid. After melting slightly I wandered inside to find the nice little lady was standing inside in the air conditioning instead of bringing the car. After some oohing and ahing on her part she cut the line to check with one of the agents on my behalf. This did not go over well with the six people standing in line. Now I know in my case making prior arrangements it did not work out, but why would you arrive in a place that requires a car and not arrange for one before you got there? This is like the friends we have who went off on their honeymoon and were shocked to find there were no rooms to be had when they arrived at the location. It turned out that there were no cars of the class I had reserved. Then what was the point in reserving this car a month ago? Just how much notice do you need? The agent said let’s go scour the lot and see what we can find. This really irritated the people in line. No cars existed on the lot except for a Cadillac and a Charger. As the Cadillac was sixty dollars more than the inflated rate I was already going to pay, Charger it was. This required the contract be redone. I now see why the line was moving so slowly. Once in the car I drove to the exit gate. The gate keeper said your reservation has already been used. I said, I know I am sitting in it. No she said. Someone else has driven off in the car you reserved using this reservation. No, no, no. I tried to explain. Phone calls ensued. The six people in line at the counter were now sitting in cars behind me at the exit gate. This could have gotten ugly. Finally she understood, made the change in the system, and opened the gate. Emerald Club my ....
When picking a hotel the choices in the area were limited. I asked in the FT Texas forum about the Deer Creek area as it was the nearest to the USS Texas. They advised that perhaps that would not be the best choice. I neglected to inquire about the area around HOU. I know just like the flight alerts, who am I to criticize others. I should have done more research. As I passed through the hotel area just outside HOU I noticed that every other lot has a hotel of the Comfort Suites. Holiday Inn Express, and so on type. Unfortunately the intervening lots were not filled with the best looking buildings. I considered it a bad sign that when I passed the Comfort Suites I had booked their parking lot was blocked off requiring a gate code to enter. I suspect that was because the Cabaret G is straight across the street. No doubt the patrons found the parking lot useful to them. I wondered if the Four Seasons had a room.
Once on I45 I headed south as the purpose of the side trip was to visit Seawolf Park where the destroyer escort USS Stewart is sitting high and dry at the edge of the water. This is an Edsall class DE. Here are a few photographs of it.
USS Stewart
From the Bow
40mm
You cannot go below the weatherdeck on the Stewart.
The other vessel in the park is the USS Cavalla. This is or was a Gato Class Fleet Submarine from WWII. In the 50s it was redone into a hunter killer submarine. It no longer looks at all like a Gato Class SS. It has that distinctly 50s submarine look now. Here are a few photographs of it.
At the Bow
Forward Torpedo Room
Watertight Door
Passageway
Captain’s Cabin
Control Room
WWII era submarines, no matter how much they are redone, are really small inside as you have seen. This being a Spring Break week it was interesting to watch the 350 pound grandfathers and grandmothers try to fit through the watertight hatches as they herded the grandkids. Once again short legs came to my rescue. If you were paying attention you would have noticed that the ship has a forward torpedo room, but there are no visible forward torpedo tube doors on the bow. I cannot explain this.
Now on to Part 2 for the tour of the USS Texas.
But first, what was the point to this trip? My original plan was to follow-up the visit to the USS Lexington – see previous trip report from November 2011 - with a visit to the USS Texas BB-35 as time, funding, and a cheap fare all aligned. While researching this trip I discovered that a group offers Hard Hat Tours of the USS Texas a few times a year. These take you on a guided tour to parts of the ship not normally seen during the causal visit. Their schedule and mine could only find alignment on Saturday March 17 at 8:30 am. 8:30 am? I do not get of bed until 8 or 9. My heart does not start until 10 in the morning. I am not quite fully functional before noon. Flying down that morning would not work. If I was going to fly down the day before, then I might as well visit the USS Cavalla and the USS Stewart both from WWII in Galveston the Friday before. AE flies to HOU. If you sit on the A side, the single seat side, on these RJs it is reasonably comfortable. It is also about 25 percent of the cost of an F ticket to IAH on AA. HOU is on the south side of the city. Galveston is on the south side of the city. The USS Texas is much closer to HOU than it is to IAH. Thus the original plan as laid out above morphed into a cheap trip by myself.
As I arrived at DFW once again I realized that like the answer to a test question, the first thought is the right thought. Let me first admit that I did not setup alerts for this flight. I thought I did, but I obviously I did not. The ticket printout said the gate was A8. That seemed normal as every AE flight I have taken has departed from terminal A at DFW. I knew that AE would change the gate several times so why bother to check until I arrived. In the back of my mind I knew that DFW had started reconstructing terminal A. Surely, AE would not send me to a gate that did not exist anymore. On arriving at DFW I found gate A8 was no more. As I did not setup alerts it was into the terminal to check. The departures board said B35. B35? As I slowly awoke I noted that this was an entirely different terminal from the one I was standing in. Then like the character in the old movie, was it Buster Keaton, I begin leaning this way, then leaning that way. Should I jump on the Skylink or move the car? Jump on the Skylink or move the car? Move the car won.
Once inside terminal B I looked at the departures board to find it still showing B35. Off I went to B35 landside as I did not want to go airside in case the terminal changed again. On arriving at the B35 end of the terminal I found a forlorn young lady sitting all by herself on a stool. She said you cannot get there from here. You must go to the other end of the terminal, go through security, and then walk airside down to B35. Back to the other end of the terminal. At least I got out of bed early.
Once through to the secure side the departures board said B22. Oh. A8 to B35 to B22. Down I went to B22. The monitor at B22 said nothing about a flight to HOU. The gate agent said 3215 is at B28. The departures board still said B22. On to B28. The gate agent there said the flight will be at B27. Back to B27. Gate agent at B27 said, nope B29. The departures board now said B30. A picture of a roulette wheel suddenly appeared in my mind, I see the little ball, which is flight 3215, rolling around the wheel. I can see that the wheel is slowing now. The ball begins to bounce from slot to slot on the wheel. I know that soon it will settle into one slot and the wheel will stop. But where do I place my boarding pass? Will it be slot A8, B22, B27, B28, B29, B30 or will it jump to terminal D? Little by little the wheel slows. Where will it land? It starts to center up on? B29 is the winner. Seeing how this is a WWII themed trip when the RJ pulled up I went to the window to see if it had the name Enola Gay painted on the side of the nose. Nope. Further I did not see a Little Boy dress in blue waiting to board the flight. I did see a Fat Man waiting to board. Fittingly he was dressed in bright yellow. He was just about the right shape as well. The preceding would make more sense if you had paid attention in history class. As I sat there waiting I wondered if they do all of this gate changing on purpose so they can watch us on the security camera monitors as we go back and forth, back and forth?
The flight itself was quick and pleasant as are most AE flights. If you are a short fellow like I am the A side seats with no one beside you work quite well. Both a window and an aisle seat in one. The sky was busy that morning.
The arrival into HOU was problem free. I began to think that perhaps the first thought is the right thought did not apply after all. Then the National Car Rental bus arrived just as I walked out the door. Perhaps I should rephrase the previous sentence to say the National NOCAR Rental bus arrived just as I walked out the door. I guess there was a reason why their counter at the airport was the only one closed and I was the only person on the bus. As I plan to point out to the National NOCAR Rental company the whole point to the Emerald Club is that you arrive at the Emerald Aisle. The car is there. You jump in. Off you go. The aisle was there, but there were no cars on the aisle. The bus driver stopped beside a little lady wandering around the aisle. After listening to the problem she said wait right here. I will bring the car. Anyone who has been to Houston knows that no matter when you go it will be warm and humid. After melting slightly I wandered inside to find the nice little lady was standing inside in the air conditioning instead of bringing the car. After some oohing and ahing on her part she cut the line to check with one of the agents on my behalf. This did not go over well with the six people standing in line. Now I know in my case making prior arrangements it did not work out, but why would you arrive in a place that requires a car and not arrange for one before you got there? This is like the friends we have who went off on their honeymoon and were shocked to find there were no rooms to be had when they arrived at the location. It turned out that there were no cars of the class I had reserved. Then what was the point in reserving this car a month ago? Just how much notice do you need? The agent said let’s go scour the lot and see what we can find. This really irritated the people in line. No cars existed on the lot except for a Cadillac and a Charger. As the Cadillac was sixty dollars more than the inflated rate I was already going to pay, Charger it was. This required the contract be redone. I now see why the line was moving so slowly. Once in the car I drove to the exit gate. The gate keeper said your reservation has already been used. I said, I know I am sitting in it. No she said. Someone else has driven off in the car you reserved using this reservation. No, no, no. I tried to explain. Phone calls ensued. The six people in line at the counter were now sitting in cars behind me at the exit gate. This could have gotten ugly. Finally she understood, made the change in the system, and opened the gate. Emerald Club my ....
When picking a hotel the choices in the area were limited. I asked in the FT Texas forum about the Deer Creek area as it was the nearest to the USS Texas. They advised that perhaps that would not be the best choice. I neglected to inquire about the area around HOU. I know just like the flight alerts, who am I to criticize others. I should have done more research. As I passed through the hotel area just outside HOU I noticed that every other lot has a hotel of the Comfort Suites. Holiday Inn Express, and so on type. Unfortunately the intervening lots were not filled with the best looking buildings. I considered it a bad sign that when I passed the Comfort Suites I had booked their parking lot was blocked off requiring a gate code to enter. I suspect that was because the Cabaret G is straight across the street. No doubt the patrons found the parking lot useful to them. I wondered if the Four Seasons had a room.
Once on I45 I headed south as the purpose of the side trip was to visit Seawolf Park where the destroyer escort USS Stewart is sitting high and dry at the edge of the water. This is an Edsall class DE. Here are a few photographs of it.
USS Stewart
From the Bow
40mm
You cannot go below the weatherdeck on the Stewart.
The other vessel in the park is the USS Cavalla. This is or was a Gato Class Fleet Submarine from WWII. In the 50s it was redone into a hunter killer submarine. It no longer looks at all like a Gato Class SS. It has that distinctly 50s submarine look now. Here are a few photographs of it.
At the Bow
Forward Torpedo Room
Watertight Door
Passageway
Captain’s Cabin
Control Room
WWII era submarines, no matter how much they are redone, are really small inside as you have seen. This being a Spring Break week it was interesting to watch the 350 pound grandfathers and grandmothers try to fit through the watertight hatches as they herded the grandkids. Once again short legs came to my rescue. If you were paying attention you would have noticed that the ship has a forward torpedo room, but there are no visible forward torpedo tube doors on the bow. I cannot explain this.
Now on to Part 2 for the tour of the USS Texas.
Last edited by Paint Horse; Mar 22, 2012 at 2:04 pm
Mar 22, 2012, 3:07 pm
#2
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Munich
Programs: Miles & More;
Posts: 377
the missing torpedo tubes
I think i have an explanation for the missing tubes. It seems, that the boat is as deep in the ground as it would be in the water. With the torpedo tubes usually below the surface - i think they are simply burried in the ground. Did you see the propellers when looking at the stern of the boat?
Mar 22, 2012, 4:35 pm
#3
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: LHR- ish
Programs: MUCCI, BA Blue
Posts: 4,295
US subs are huge compared to the British ones. Come to Portsmouth and see HMS Alliance.
I think she would be a bit deeper if she was buried at her normal riding height. Maybe plated over for ease of maintenance? Or because something about them remains classified. Could be ARJ is right though, it isn't clear in the pic I have
I think she would be a bit deeper if she was buried at her normal riding height. Maybe plated over for ease of maintenance? Or because something about them remains classified. Could be ARJ is right though, it isn't clear in the pic I have
Mar 22, 2012, 9:17 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Texas
Programs: American Airlines British Airways
Posts: 1,752
Maybe. The aft tubes are clearly visible. This sub was used for sonar experiments right before it was retired. It may be that the structure on the front was added for that purpose, thus covering the tubes. Next time I visit I will take a shovel. Then we will have the answer.
Mar 23, 2012, 4:49 pm
#5
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: LHR- ish
Programs: MUCCI, BA Blue
Posts: 4,295
Could be she was out of active service and the tube outer doors were covered but the tubes themselves remained in situ for drill purposes. Does she only have two forward tubes or are there more I can't see? The Gato class had six, not sure about the conversions - suggests serious rebuilding at that end of the boat
Mar 23, 2012, 6:16 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: SEA (close to KPAE)
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Posts: 482
from the history i can find of it, 2 of the forward tubes were removed when converted to SSK. but that is all i can find.
Mar 23, 2012, 10:21 pm
#7
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Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Texas
Programs: American Airlines British Airways
Posts: 1,752
I am looking at my 1/350 scale model of a Gato Class SS. It shows six tubes with one being just above the red paint line and the other two well below it. They exit the boat right at the angled bow. So I would conclude that the tubes are covered by the structure at the bow.
Looking at the interior photographs I only see four tubes in the forward torpedo room. See.
Now where the other two tubes are inside, I do not know. I do not see them in any of the photographs I took.
Looking at the interior photographs I only see four tubes in the forward torpedo room. See.
Now where the other two tubes are inside, I do not know. I do not see them in any of the photographs I took.
Mar 24, 2012, 8:37 pm
#8
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: SEA (close to KPAE)
Programs: QFF NB, DJ Gold, A3 Gold, HHonors Gold, Marriott Silver, Carlson Silver, A|Club Gold
Posts: 482
I am looking at my 1/350 scale model of a Gato Class SS. It shows six tubes with one being just above the red paint line and the other two well below it. They exit the boat right at the angled bow. So I would conclude that the tubes are covered by the structure at the bow.
Looking at the interior photographs I only see four tubes in the forward torpedo room. See.
Now where the other two tubes are inside, I do not know. I do not see them in any of the photographs I took.
Looking at the interior photographs I only see four tubes in the forward torpedo room. See.
Now where the other two tubes are inside, I do not know. I do not see them in any of the photographs I took.