So, we visited the US Naval Undersea Museum in Fall 2023.
It was another spot for me to see old friends (in the exhibits) and make a new friend.
Because I spent 20 years of my life at the beck and call of submarines, I enjoy reflecting on those years.
(I’ve written about visiting subs and their museums before: here and here.)
We once lived in Washington State and visited the museum when it was brand new.
It’s much more sophisticated now and full of wonderful exhibits.
And plenty of familiar items.
Getting a taste for submarine life
With a focus on naval undersea operations, the Keyport, Washington, Naval Undersea Museum provides insight into life aboard a submarine.
It has walls of patches — some of which also hang on the walls at our house.
Exhibits show the kinds of lives men and women experience while living underwater aboard a warship.
The museum featured exhibits on the ocean environment, torpedo technology, mine warfare, and the strategic deterrence program.
(Which reminded me of a conversation I had many years ago in Romania).
I could take a spin with a “one-eyed lady”– or look through a periscope–and examine a much more spacious command center than I’ve ever seen on an actual submarine.
I learned about how submariners were trained to escape boats in an accident, including seeing a Steinke hood for the first time.
Seldom used (because while submarines sink, they almost always return to the surface), I’d long heard about how sailors put them on, escaped through a tank and puffed “ho-ho-ho” as they swam to the surface.
The most surprising element at the Naval Undersea Museum?
The docent outside with two DSRVs. (Deep-sea rescue vehicles, see The Hunt for Red October).
I like to chat with museum docents, volunteers, and curators.
Many visitors don’t stop to chat with docents, but I know they’re a great source of insights.
They usually can point you to interesting items that people often overlook.
In this case, the docent stood outside, waiting for a tour when we walked up.
My husband went to examine the undersea submersibles parked in front of the Naval Undersea Museum.
I stopped to chat.
Oh, fun. He was a Master Chief diver and full of stories.
He showed me his folder full of photos and regaled me with some of his, um, unpublicized exploits.
Older than me, he described some of the unusual places the Navy sent him in his 30-year career.
“One of them,” he explained, turning to a photo, “was here.”
“That’s the dive tower in Groton,” I said.
“You know it?”
I nodded. “My husband swam it many years ago. What year were you there?”
We compared notes, timelines, and I put out my hand to shake his. “Thank you for training my husband on how to escape from a submarine.”
A young diver all those years ago, the docent would have been in the dive tank the day my young Navy guy had to get from the bottom to the top wearing only a Steinke hood.
Or, swim 100 feet up.
This is why I love to visit submarine museums.
I never know what “friends” I’ll see there.
Thoughts? Reactions? Lurker?