Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum, Mt. Pleasant, SC

May 27th, 2014

We had tickets to go to Patriots Point today.  On our way we stopped at  Fort Moultrie on Sullivan Island to get our lighthouse passport stamped for the Sullivan Lighthouse we saw earlier.  We didn't look around Fort Moultrie as neither of us felt 100% and we knew we had a lot of walking to do at Patriots Point.

Fort Moultrie

We saw these two old churches close by.  They reminded me of the churches in England.

We arrived at Patriots Point.  The aircraft carrier USS Yorktown,  destroyer USS Laffey and submarine  USS Clamagore are on display here.  

We started the walk to the Yorktown and a couple of volunteers on a golf cart stopped and asked us if we would like a ride.  Yep, we sure would, thanks very much!!!  One of the volunteers then took us to the elevator to get aboard the Yorktown and up to the hanger deck.  Saved our legs and Bryan's knees a little bit. He was very helpful.  Here are some pictures taken on the Hanger Deck of USS Yorktown. 

Ryan is on the frigate named after him, USS McCluskey

                                                                         Pt-19

Bryan's Dad served on this carrier during his service.

We got the elevator up to the flight deck and took these pics. 

A-7 Corsair

                                  Memorial to F-4 Pilots who died while flying from US carriers

                                      F-4 Phantom. Bryan spent 1/2 his career working on these in the Air Force

                                     F-8 Crusader. Bryan's Dad worked on these while in the Navy

I sat down while Bryan looked at the planes

The bridge we had come across.  Doesn't feel as though you are this high when you are on it.

Bryan walking around

and taking a pictures

 Then we went up to the bridge. 

View from the bridge

Ammunition for the gun

Bryan taking command

From the outside on the bridge we got these pics.

USS Laffey

Planes on the flight deck below

 There were some sailing boats that were obviously people training to sail.  I took a VIDEO of them.

The ship and the planes weren't very well maintained and need a lot more work done on them.  Bryan was a little upset they weren't taken better care of as this is a memorial to those who served.

Looking at the gift shop and car park from the Yorktown.  You can also get a ferry to Fort Sumter from here.

We went back down and stopped in the cafe to get a drink before going to look around USS Laffey. 

This was the Captains Barge

QH-50_DASH

We took this picture of the USS Clamagore from the Laffey but we decided we wouldn't walk around the sub.

We walked back along the bridge to the ships and as we looked over the side we saw some small crabs in the water below.  

and took this looking back at the Yorktown. 

Then we looked around the Vietnam Support Base exhibit. 

We headed home after a long day out.  Patriots Point was a little disappointing to us as we have been to a few ships that have been opened to the public and this wasn't maintained as well as some.  There is always interesting information to learn though.

Take Care