Charleston, SC pt.2

We went back to Charleston last Friday and went to Patriot's Point. Patriot's Point is across the river in Mount Pleasant and is home to the USS Yorktown CV-10, my favorite attraction in Charleston. I visited Charleston in 1978 as a teenager with my family and the "Fighting Lady" was there then.

 

  Having been a huge WW2 history buff all my life this is right up my alley. This incarnation of the Yorktown was the second of the war. It was originally going to be the Bonn Homme Richard but after the previous Yorktown was sunk at the Battle of Midway this aircraft carrier was renamed. The designation CV-10 indicates it is the tenth aircraft carrier ever built. Even though Patriot's Point has two other vessels and other attractions we spent the entire time on the "Lady".

  One of the first stops on the ship was the Medal of Honor Museum:

 

  The displays are interactive and trace the history of the medal from inception in the Civil War to the most recent recipients. Above you can see each branch of the service has their own variation of the medal. The most interesting thing I learned was that there were medals that were revoked over the years as the criteria for the award was tweaked to what it is today.

  Doreen was able to explore three decks of the ship on her scooter:

 

 The main entrance of the ship is the hangar deck where there are several vintage planes that were deployed from the Yorktown.

 

 

 

  After exploring the hangar deck we went to the flight deck where there were more planes:

Since the Yorktown was in service from 1942 to 1968 she deployed propeller driven F4F Wildcats in WW2 to F-14 Tomcat jets in Vietnam.

The super structure is the most noticeable trait of the ship. This is where the bridge, radar room, communications room and other vital areas of the ship are located. I took Doreen back down to the hangar deck and then went on my own to the several self guided tours. My first destination was the bridge and the captain's chair and view:

 

After touring the bridge and associated areas I made my to the brig. The brig is the jail of the ship and was very spartan with three men to a cell:

 

  Our tour ended and I never made it to the USS Laffey, a destroyer and the USS Hunley, a submarine. The feeling of awe and pride was enough for me. The Yorktown was instrumental in victory in the Pacific and it was a privilege to be able to walk the same decks that so many brave men did before to secure freedom for all Americans.