The tour took place both on Saturday night and Sunday morning. The tour was broken into about twelve parts, and each part was led by a different person. Everything was run on time and efficiently, just what you would expect from a naval operation.
Going into a life raft was one of my favorite parts of the tour. Being inside the raft really made us think about how difficult it would be to be inside with 25 grown men and only rations to eat.
We also learned about the Nixie torpedo defense system.
The boys thought this mannequin was making ice cream!
We all took turns crawling through the escape hatch to the tour guide’s lower right.
Next it was time for a snack of milk and cookies! Afterward we headed up to the flight deck…too bad we missed the sunset.
By this time, we were ready for bed. However, there were only two more rotations so we decided to stick it out.
Marines’ Quarter. They used to watch movies on VHS here.
Not much room for personal belongings!
This guy was an entertaining storyteller. His part of the tour was actually quite sad though, as he told us about the two men who died aboard the ship.
I think the tour ended around 9:30 p.m. and we were in bed by around 10:00 p.m. Lights out was strictly enforced and everyone fell asleep pretty quickly despite the tight quarters.