Let's go aboard the USS Alabama!

The USS Alabama (BB-60) is a decommissioned US Navy warship that is now on display at the Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, AL. The park also includes the USS Drum (SSN-228),a WWII era submarine.

The Alabama served proudly during her short naval career. She served in the US Navy from 1942 to 1947 first in the North Atlantic, then in the Pacific campaign. Her kills and awards are below.




Let's take a tour of the USS Alabama.






























The ship's bell.




The US Naval Jack on the jack staff at the bow of the ship. This jack is not currently used by the US Navy. They are currently using the First US Navy Jack during the Global War on Terror.

The First US Naval Jack onboard the USS Texas (BB-35)


Let's look at some of the weapon systems on board the Alabama.















20mm anti-air gun


This shows the 1st and 2nd 16 inch 45 caliber turrets.



This is the inside of the #2 turret.



5 inch guns.



This is the 5 inch radar director which controlled the 5 inch guns.

Let's go below.

First, let's take a look at sleeping quarters.

Here we have officer quarters. This stateroom is set up as LT W. T. Door's stateroom. During wartime, the staterooms would hold two officers and served as their office.





















Next we will take a look at some crew berthing.



Cramped would hardly describe this place!

Next we will take a look at the Skipper's sea cabin up by the bridge. This is where the captain lived while at sea.




Now, we will move to the most important part of the ship, the galley. Sailors don't work on empty stomachs!

First, the crew's galley.



This galley was were the officer's mess was prepared. The officers would have typically eaten in the wardroom.



Now we will look at some of the workstations on board the Alabama.

First, the supply officer



The sign on the right was in this office, just above the typewriter on the left.


This next office was of the Chief Master at Arms. Jimmy Legs served at the chief of the police for the ship. As the sign on the ship said, he did not win many popularity contests.



Is that a billy club on the rack? Note the various chief rating patches on the bulkhead.

The Alabama carried a detachment of Marines. Here is the landing force equipment office.




Next we have the radio room. This was Radio Central.



Next, the combat information center. Information was analyzed and disseminated here. The ship could also be navigated by radar from this compartment. One guy touring the ship said when passing this compartment, "They need to let me take this puppy for a spin!" I hope they don't.



Here is central station, which was the Executive Officer's battle station. The ship could be controlled from here. Note the master gyro-compass in the foreground.



Finally the power house of the ship, the engine room. The wheels would control the steam flow, one for forward, one for reverse. The generator is the high pressure steam turbine.



Fair winds and following seas.

Let's go aboard the USS Drum!

The USS Drum (SS-228) is a decommissioned US Navy submarine that is now on display at the Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, AL. She served in the Pacific Ocean from 1941 to 1946, sinking 15 ships. The park also includes the USS Alabama (BB-60), a decommissioned battleship.

Let's take a tour of the USS Drum.



As we make our way fore, we pass the ship's bell.



Continuing to the bow, we look back and see the sub's sail.



Looks like there is a place we can enter the sub. Let's go!

Climbing down the ladder well, we find the forward torpedo room.



Looks like Seaman Smuchatelli is still down here working. He looks pretty good for having been working for the last 65 years.

This guy is kind of stiff and not very friendly, so lets continue aft of the torpedo room.

We next come across a shower.



How odd.

Next we have officer quarters and the wardroom. The wardroom is where the officers of the ship have their meals.



The wardroom was on the port side of the ship.

Across the passageway was the officer quarters. They included two rooms which held two officers. She would carry a compliment of six officers.



There are two bunks in this room.

Aft of the officer quarters was the Skipper's quarter.



It appears the only different is that the captain has his own rack.

Continuing back, we find the Chief quarters, which consisted of five racks for the chief's of the boat. Chiefs, E-7 through E-9 in the Navy, serve as Non-Commissioned Officers.




Next we find the crew's mess, where they ate.



Note the game boards built into the table. I'm sure these worked real well when the sub was rolling in a storm!

Next we find enlisted quarter's. The ship would carry 54 enlisted personnel.



Next we have the control room.




These would be used to control the speed of the ship.


Next we have the engine room. The sub could run at 21 knots on the surface, or 9 knots when submerged.



Finally, we reach the stern of the ship and find the rear torpedo tubes.



We also find a ladder well to get us out of here. Let's take it above.



We made it back top side!

It's Friday, so let's listen to a song!

This week, we will listen to Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines perform "I Found The Lions." The song is also called, "Mean People Suck." The chorus is

Dont mess with the mighty mighty jungle
Swim through the ocean
Eat the fish in the sea
Dont mess with the mighty mighty jungle
Because where you find the lions
You will find me

Rest of the lyrics can be found here.

I have no idea what the song means.

I Will Go

My job is having me move again next week, my 2nd move this month. I'll then be making two more moves in two and four months, respectively. My move next week is taking me away from my training, which will be completed when I return in two months, and placing me into my job, before I have completed training. The leaving and returning is not part of the normal training plan. I am not really sure what they will do with me when I arrive, I don't even know if they know I am coming. I don't know what I will be doing when I get there and am not even trained to do what I should be doing. I don't have a place to stay yet and my affairs are not in order. But I will go. And I will do.

God calls us this way to do His will. I wouldn't say that I am ready to do God's will, I still have so much more to learn! But He calls us and sends us as we are.

Jonah was certainly not ready for his job, he even tried to escape from it! God decided to not let Jonah flee but instead convinced him to go to Ninevah after being thrown off the ship and swallowed by a whale. Jonah went and did his job, and did it quite well! The message of God was received by the people and they repented of their sins and God did not destroy them.

The disciples were certainly not prepared when they were sent out. They seemed to understand very little of what Jesus taught them at the time. But they were sent out and how powerful they were! The ministry of Jesus that they continued to carry out has perpetuated 2,000 years later because of what they and others following them have done.

Moses was not prepared for his job. He seemed quite happy to be a shepherd when God called him to go and speak to Pharaoh. He tried to reason with God that he wasn't even capable of doing the task because of his speech. Reluctantly, Moses went. He led the Israelites out of Egypt and to through the desert, delivering them to the promise land.

These people were successful not because of something special about them. They were successful because of the Spirit of God working in them. When God sends us places, he doesn't send us alone, but with His Spirit. In Matthew 10, Jesus tells the disciples that he is sending them out and they will be attacked like sheep in the midst of wolves. That they will be arrested and killed. But he tells them to not worry for the Spirit of God will be working in them and leading their speech.

My job may not be leading me into a den of wolves for the sake of God, but I still go with God's Spirit. As a Christian, I am always to be a testament of God's love, a light unto the world. I go with the assurance that God goes with me. In Him do I trust. I will go and God will be with me.

Too Wet

I love going to the beach. It seems I have spent a majority of my life on the beach. I love seeing the wildlife, the dunes, the fishing, the shelling. I could stay at the beach forever and be happy. But that water keeps looking at me.


It keeps looking at me as if it wants me to go swimming. To jump in the waves. To get completely soaked. To get wet. But I don't want to get wet!

I use to enjoy swimming. When I was a kid, I loved swimming in the pool, at the lake, at the beach. But as I got older, I didn't like it as much. Now, I just do not like to swim at all.

I recently tried swimming again in a pool in an apartment complex. I got in, swam a couple of laps, then immediately got out and never got back in again. I didn't like being so wet!

My parents have a dog they rescued who is a border collie mix. Ever since they got her, she hated water. When I was younger, I would play in the sprinkler while the dog watched. She would finally get so frustrated that she couldn't be where I was that she would finally stand in the spray of the sprinkler. She hated it.

When I got older, I started taking the dog to the beach. She loved running off leash, taking in the smells and exploring new places. But that water kept calling her.


She and I would both just stand there looking at it, trying to figure out what it was that we didn't like about being so wet. It isn't that I can't swim, I can. I just don't like being wet! So instead, the dog and I stay on the shore. We are happy here, but we don't understand why the water is calling us.

Dinner Talk

Last night I had dinner with some friends and acquaintances. One of the ladies at dinner was the wife of a Marine officer. Naturally the discussion between her and me turned to military talk, the quality of various PX's on military bases in the area.

Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge revisited

This past week I have revisted the Balcones Canyonlands NWR to do some trail running. I also took my camera and took some photos. I uploaded them onto a previous post. Take a look at this beautiful piece of land.

http://alookatthelife.blogspot.com/2009/04/balcones-canyonlands-national-wildlife.html

Younger Days

I went to HEB today and while shopping I saw the Jello pudding cups. I hadn't had any for years. I am lactose intollerant and had to stop eating dairy products. I have recently found some pro-biotic pills that help and have rediscovered the wonder tastes of dairy. I have fallen in love with milk shakes and now have reignited the flame between me and Jello pudding cups.


I'm going to go eat another one.

Construction Meets Art

Saw this story today out of North Carolina.

'Monster' Puts Student Over a Barrel

An N.C. State University student faces criminal charges for what is best described as a "barrel monster" built out of construction barrels that towered for a while over Hillsborough Street.

Raleigh police believe the monster was the brainchild of Joe Carnevale, a 22-year-old junior majoring in history. It had a short lifespan, up for less than a day on May 31.

Made of construction barrels being owned by a contractor working on the Hillsborough Street round-a-bout project , the monster sported a wide, toothy grin and pointed an extended finger at motorists on the thoroughface near the university's campus.

While I certainly do not condone theft or destruction of private property, his work is quite amazing. Below are the exhibit that got him in trouble as well as some other art from the blog, nopromiseofsafety.com

Day at the Museum

Today's afternoon expedition was to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum. It was my first time to go. I had heard great things about the museum, but never made the trip to visit.


The museum is three floors that outlines the story of Texas, from the early days of the Natives to the Spanish explorations through the Mexican and Texas revolutions, continuing into the Civil War, the development of agriculture, the impact of ranching, the discovery and exploration of oil, and into the 21st century. There is even an exhibit on the history of Texas according to Hollywood!

I enjoyed the museum. Some of the things I really enjoyed were the original documents on display. Many of the letters, treaties, newspaper articles, and other interesting and important documents from the history of Texas were displayed. I enjoyed getting to see these on display.

I felt for the most part, the museum was nicely laid out, moving in chronological order within several different topics. The only part I felt was not laid out well was the first floor. I felt that as I moved around the exhibits, I jumped between the pre-Columbian Natives, the Spaniards, and the French without any coherent order. Though it may have been I didn't follow the correct order!

I love museums and am very slow when going through them. Today I spent over an hour per floor and didn't get to finish the museum in the four hours I had.

Everyday it is important to learn something new. Today I learned more about the history of the great state of Texas.

Community

This past fall I spent a lot of time in College Station on the weekends. I began attending Grace Bible Church's Saturday night service. Ross King often times leads worship at this service. It was the same message as Sunday morning, but on Saturday night.

I really liked the service for multiple reasons. It was on Saturday night. When the sun sets, I don't like to do much, so it was nice to have this service to attend at a time when I would normally just be doing nothing. It was a very casual setting. I didn't have to get dressed up and could came dressed just as I was. The service was small and so it had community. I would often times see the same people there every week and got to know several of the people. The service also included an intermission fellowship time between the worship and message portion. Of my reasons for attending the service, the biggest reason was community.

Ross King taught us a song one night called Community. We sang it several times and you can read the lyrics at the "Your Mercies are new Every Morning" blog. I really like the lyrics, the message in the song. It is a prayer to God for Him to teach us how to be community. How to be one in Christ. How to be one in purpose and to take care of each other. What a great day it will be when the Church is finally one in community and in Christ!

I long for community. I want to belong to a community of Christians where I feel like I actually am a part of the Body. The church I attended in Midland was a good church. However, I never felt like I was a part of it. I attended every Sunday and sang in the choir, but felt like if I didn't attend one Sunday, no one would really know. What I felt was worse was that the community ended as soon as the service was over on Sunday. I didn't feel like anyone was really concerned about me outside of church. I didn't feel like anyone wanted to really know me.

After the first Saturday night service that I attended that Ross King led worship, I went home to look into his current endeavors. I knew he was a pastor at Community Church in College Station as I had attended the church for a year in college. Back then, the church met at the Hilton, then in a school cafeteria on Sunday mornings. The church now meets in Grace Bible Church - Southwood campus, on Sunday nights. In reading about the church, I found that they met on Sunday nights for dinner, worship, fellowship, and to study God's word. During the week they met in small groups for fellowship and worship. This seemed like what a church community should be like!

I am currently attending a church that I feel has a strong community, much like I was looking for after studying about Community Church. The church is The Well in Buda. I am disappointed that I will only be a part of it for a short time. I look forward to finding a similar church in my future locations.

Even though I am only going to be there a few weeks, they have made me a part of their community. I was invited by a person I had only met once before. Going there, I was immediately welcomed and made a part of their community. People wanted to talk and get to know me. They invited me to join their Bible studies and group activities. They made me part of their community, even though I would only be there a few weeks. They have community.

Are you taking the time to build community? Are you taking time to meet and know the strangers in your midst?

Last fall, I met a girl at the Saturday night service. We spent some time together but since I was only in College Station a few days a month and leaving soon for Rhode Island, it was hard to develop a long term relationship. We did get to spend time together and learned about each other, despite knowing our time would be short. Shortly before I left, she said "Thanks for taking the time to get to know me."

Getting to know someone takes time and effort. Some people say it is an investment. If it is just an investment, than it does little to invest time and effort in to knowing people who you may never see again. But that isn't what we are called to do. God tells us to take care of strangers because we were once strangers in Egypt. God tells us that we are all part of the Body of Christ. When you meet a fellow Christian, do you see them as a member of your community? When you see a stranger in your midst, do you remember to take care of them, even if it is just to greet them? You may never see the results of your time and effort, but it can make a difference. People have made a big impression on me in the time and effort they have spent getting to know me and involve me in their activities even though I will be leaving in a couple of weeks. Though she may never know her impact, I will warmly remember the kind words of my friend, "Thanks for taking the time to get to know me."

People have made an impact on me. I hope I can reciprocate the same to others.

Teach us to be community Jesus
Teach us to be community
Unify our hearts as one
Unify our hearts as one