Saturday, October 11, 2008
USS SILVERSIDES
Every two years, Dan takes his American History class to see, and spend the night on, a World War Two submarine. The Silversides was launched just weeks after the U.S. entered the war. It spent the war in the Pacific Theater of war. Three Captains commanded her during those years, and the Silversides sank the third highest tonnage of any U.S. ship. The subs that sank more were themselves lost in the war. The Silversides was considered a "Lucky Ship" for various reasons. Only one man died when he was struck by machine gun shells in an encounter with a small surface ship. Another man experienced a successful appendectomy performed by a pharmisist's mate who consulted books and used implements manufactured on-board. I sat at the very table where the operation was performed.
This year, we discovered that the Naval Museum where the Silversides is docked has undergone considerable upgrades. They no longer operate out of a double-wide trailer, but are now in a nice large new building. It is far from finished, but it will be a beautiful facility when completed. We had a very knowlegable guide this year, as well. We also got to see a movie in their new theater--a very sobering view of the life in the submarine corps. It depicted the story of the Russan submarine Kursk that went down killing all aboard, and the film also described three other disasters or near disasters on submarines.
This year's class were a joy to be with (though some tried to stay awake all night), and the parents who helped out were great, too. (Thank You to Julie Shangraw, Rick Behmlander, Ted Coats, and our fabulous driver who got us where we were going safely and on-time, Dave McCargar). The parents (not our driver) each took "watch duty" in two hour shifts through the night (as according to Museum rules). That takes a special kind of dedication. Thanks!
Hopefully, I will be able to post pictures later.
Every two years, Dan takes his American History class to see, and spend the night on, a World War Two submarine. The Silversides was launched just weeks after the U.S. entered the war. It spent the war in the Pacific Theater of war. Three Captains commanded her during those years, and the Silversides sank the third highest tonnage of any U.S. ship. The subs that sank more were themselves lost in the war. The Silversides was considered a "Lucky Ship" for various reasons. Only one man died when he was struck by machine gun shells in an encounter with a small surface ship. Another man experienced a successful appendectomy performed by a pharmisist's mate who consulted books and used implements manufactured on-board. I sat at the very table where the operation was performed.
This year, we discovered that the Naval Museum where the Silversides is docked has undergone considerable upgrades. They no longer operate out of a double-wide trailer, but are now in a nice large new building. It is far from finished, but it will be a beautiful facility when completed. We had a very knowlegable guide this year, as well. We also got to see a movie in their new theater--a very sobering view of the life in the submarine corps. It depicted the story of the Russan submarine Kursk that went down killing all aboard, and the film also described three other disasters or near disasters on submarines.
This year's class were a joy to be with (though some tried to stay awake all night), and the parents who helped out were great, too. (Thank You to Julie Shangraw, Rick Behmlander, Ted Coats, and our fabulous driver who got us where we were going safely and on-time, Dave McCargar). The parents (not our driver) each took "watch duty" in two hour shifts through the night (as according to Museum rules). That takes a special kind of dedication. Thanks!
Hopefully, I will be able to post pictures later.
# posted by dan and cheryl forbes @ 6:55 PM 
