USS Silversides Submarine Museum

This is a silverside. It is 15 cm long.
Photo taken from http://richardkingwildlifephotography.com/portfolios/foragefish.html 

The Atlantic Silversides, Menidia menidia is a tiny fish (about 15cm long) that lives in shallow waters, usually hiding in seagrass beds near mouths of rivers and streams that lead to the sea. Their predators are larger fish like mackerel and shore birds like egrets and gulls. The silversides eats smaller (biotic) animals and plants. They are a common subject of scientific research because of their sensitivity to environmental changes.

USS Silversides is the name given to a United States World War II Gato-class submarine SS-236 (1941) that has been restored and is berthed at Muskegon Lake, Muskegon, Michigan, USA. We explored this museum on 1 July 2014. Naming a submarine after such a tiny fish would be like the Republic of Singapore Navy naming one of our submarines RSN Ikan Bilis! (grin!)

How did we discover this museum? Pat was ruing over the fact that we could not bring the children to HMS Belfast or to see a submarine whilst in London as our stay there had been very short. Coupled with that, John had caught a chill one night when the hot water ran out and he had showered with cold water! Along the way, she searched on Google to see if there were any World War II sea craft on display in Michigan and she found the USS Silversides Museum. 

Opened in 1987, this museum in Muskegon, Michigan has real World War II artefacts like this Mark 14 torpedo!

Christy tries out the periscope of submarine USS Drum - SS228.
Periscopes allow what is on the surface of the
water to be seen by the people in the submarine.

Christy, John and Geoff on the conning tower of USS Drum - SS 228.
This tower sat atop the submarine and offered some defence capabilities when the submarine had surfaced.
Do note the hand-cranks Christy and Geoff have their hands on to swivel the gun,
something similar would have been used centuries ago to generate power for the submarine!



This is not a playground!

How did submarines come to be used in modern day warfare? 

I went in search of the answers in Wikipedia and the internet. This is what I discovered...

Credit must be given to the website Submarine History Timeline where I found most of my answers namely the bits of information and these lovely diagrams and photos you see. This is a summary below.

Man’s dream to conquer the ocean had found ready believers in men who tinkered and experimented to bring man where no man had gone before – under the sea.

This sketch is attributed to William Bourne's 1580 design for an underwater boat.

The idea of submersibles (vehicles that travel under the surface of the water) has been around since 1580 when William Bourne, an English innkeeper and scientific amateur designed an underwater mechanism. 

In 1623, Dutchman Cornelius Drebbel, hired as a “court inventor” for James I built what seems to have been the first working submarine which was tested on the River Thames. (Yes, King James I was the one who authorised the King James Version of the Bible - see my entry on An Afternoon of History at Hampton Court!)

In 1654, the 72-foot long (22-metre) “Rotterdam Boat” designed by a Frenchman for the Dutch was specifically aimed to attack an enemy, the English Navy.

A sketch of Rotterdam Boat 1654

In 1776, in the American War for Independence against the British, Yale graduate David Bushnell built the first submarine to actually make an attack on an enemy warship. It was named the “Turtle” because of its shape. It was used in an attack against a British ship in New York harbour.

The submarine was used in various armed conflicts like the War of 1812 between European and American nations but with very limited success. In the American Civil War 1861-1865, both sides built and used submarines. These early designs were hand or feet-propelled.

1852 Phillips patented a Steering Submarine Propeller

Submarine design 1865 by WA Alexander

Submarine called Pioneer 1865. It was also human-powered.

In 1870, French novelist Jules Verne brought submarines to full public consciousness with “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” where Captain Nemo uses his submarine “Nautilus” to sink among others, the then-fictional USS Abraham Lincoln. Where did he get the idea from? Likely in 1833, when his compatriot Brutus de Villeroi demonstrated what he called “Water Bug” a submarine about 10 feet (3 metres) long and two feet (60 cm) in diameter which could hold about three men, Jules Verne had been in college where de Villeroi had been a professor.

Cover for Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne published in 1870
(book jacket design date unknown)
Taken from http://www.rmg.co.uk/researchers/collections/by-type/archive-and-library/item-of-the-month/previous/jules-verne-twenty-thousand-leagues-under-the-sea

From the 1800s to the First World War (1914-1918), various inventors like Irish immigrant to the United States John Phillip Holland tried to interest various governments in their submarine designs. In 1878, the Irish revolutionaries even backed Mr Holland’s inventions in order to harass the British Navy but the plans fell through with delays and failures.

Inventor John Phillip Holland's first design in 1874 which was human-powered

Years of experiments, failure, set-backs and delays led to an improved design which used gasoline, diesel and later steam engines and to the invention of guns and later torpedoes. Some inventors went bankrupt and another had to take on a low-pay job. One was even committed to a mental asylum by his relatives for squandering his fortune.

1887 Nordenfeldt III was 123 feet (37 metres) long and could go to a depth of 100 feet (30 metres)
but it ran aground. The Russians refused to accept delivery and it was eventually scrapped.

Plunger 1897 designed by Mr Holland failed to leave the dock because of design flaws.
Note the many compartments in the design.

In 1900, the British had five Hollands (the submarines were named after the designer) but also a moral dilemma: they like many others through the years believed that covert (secret) warfare was basically illegal. Gentlemen fought each other face to face, wearing easily recognised uniforms. The navy agreed to proceed with caution, primarily to "test the value of the submarine as a weapon in the hands of our enemies." 

An English Rear Admiral declared the submarine was "underhand, unfair and ...unEnglish." He proposed submarines be treated as pirates in wartime and their crews be hung!

Regardless of the views held about the submarine, they were increasingly being used on the seas by countries at war.

On the eve of World War I, the art of submarine warfare was barely a dozen years old. No nation had submarine-qualified officers serving in senior staff level. They represented an unethical form of warfare – they did not fit into the classic, balanced structure of the navy where the battleship was king. No nation had developed any method for detecting submarines or attacking them if found. However, the nations at war all had a huge number of submarines either in service or under construction. They would be used to deadly effect in sinking ships and cutting off supplies of food and equipment.

1902 -1912 British Submarine called Holland No 3
 (yes, named after the John Phillip Holland, the manufacturer)

1908 -1918 British D-1 used in World War 1
It was streamlined like a surface ship unlike the earlier porpoise-like hull shape

The submarine will be remembered as one of the causes why the United States of America entered World War I on the side of the Allies in 1917. On May 6 1915, the ocean liner Lusitania was torpedoed by a German U-boat 20 killing 1, 198 passengers onboard of which 128 were Americans. Leaving her isolationist policy, the USA entered the fray in 1917. German U Boats sank over 5,000 ships in World War 1. 

Painting of the May 1915 sinking of the ocean liner Lusitania by German U Boat 20
which launched one torpedo that sank the ship in 18 minutes!

View of control room of German WW1 U Boat

By the time World War II was declared in by Germany in 1939, all the major warring powers had their own fleet of submarines having developed faster and more sophisticated ones in the inter-war years.

Now let's turn our attention to exploring USS Silversides, also known as SS-236, a World War II submarine.

Boarding the USS Silversides 

Silversides is credited with sinking 23 ships as can be seen by 

the flags of the then-enemy, Japan, painted on her conning tower

Then we went down into the belly of the submarine so we went to fathom the depths below.

“They Open A Door And Enter A World” 

― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

Kor squeezes through the entry hatch.

The engine room.
Navigation dials and gauges as well as steering wheels.

Don't touch that dial...um WHICH one???!!!
The USS Silversides is a working submarine so these dials are still operational
after extensive restoration and overhauling of her engines in 1975.

Hatchway leading to the next compartment

The sanitation system aboard the submarine

From April 1942 to July 1945, USS Silversides went on fourteen patrols from her base in Pearl Harbour, Hawaii, mainly to the Pacific Ocean. Her patrols took her to Japan, the Caroline Islands, Solomon Islands, Midway Island and down to Brisbane, Australia. These patrols would last from two to four months, usually resulting in the successful sinking of enemy war ships, submarines, trawlers and cargo ships.

Is there a doctor on board?

A successful appendectomy was done on board the USS Silversides on Christmas Eve 1942 by the submarine's pharmacist PM1 Thomas More on FM2 George Platter with rudimentary equipment fashioned mainly from kitchen utensils!

John, Geoff and Christy checking out the sleeping arrangements. 

This is either the forward or after torpedo room. The huge black tubes above the children's heads are Mark 14 torpedoes!

Due to space constraints, there are even bunks here for the crew to sleep on, as there are all over the submarine! 

Some submarines had more men then bunks so they practiced "hot bunking" where three men shared a bed over a 24-hour period of 8 hours each. The bunks were always "hot" for the next user. USS Silversides had a crew of 72 men, but did not need to "hot bunk". By the way, there was air-conditioning in the submarines as the temperatures generated by the machinery were way too high!

Definitely not in a yellow submarine!
Overnight camps are held on board USS Silversides in the summer!
Check out the website for details.

Mum, can I get a door just like this one for our bedroom at home?

Each compartment has a hatch which can be locked
to prevent air or water coming into the next compartment.

After engine room which means we are at the other end of the submarine.
Note the mascot, the silversides, painted on the engine. Each submarine was named after a sea creature as well as number.

Stepping Into the Danger Zone
Geoff stands at the hatchway below a cautionary note to visitors
NOT to touch any levers, buttons, hatches as this submarine is operational.

John steps out at the other end of the submarine.

Christy climbs the vertical ladder up to the deck

Back on deck

Trying out the gun on deck which has been immobilised for safety

Ready, Aim, FIRE!

Kor and family with the 3-inch gun on deck where gunner TM3 Mike Harbin lost his life on 10 May 1942 under enemy fire

If moored in freshwater, USS Silversides can last 25 years without dry docking.
She lies in a channel in Lake Muskegon, Michigan.

Moored next to USS Silversides is Coast Guard Cutter Mc Lane.
Can you spot the duck on the piece of wood floating next to the submarine?

Mama at the wheel of the Coast Guard Cutter

Submarine Rescue Chamber which can be used 

to free men trapped in a submarine and 

the underwater mine called the Hedgehog.

The children headed straight for the museum to look around, giving the Coast Guard Cutter a miss. They had realised from experience that it takes a while to go through all the exhibits and they did not want to miss any!

Looking at the insides of one of the Mark 14 torpedoes.

Submarine USS Flier SS-250 which sank when it hit a mine on its second patrol in the Philippines. Only eight of the 80-men crew survived the sinking and went on to successfully evade the Japanese. 

An exhibition of the USS Flier SS-250 and also a memorial to those who lost their lives in their fight for freedom

Getting a taste of being in control

Christy and Geoff try their hand at being in command

Is this better than being an F1 driver, Geoff?

Artefacts from the Pacific War 

The end of World War II 14 August 1945

Do we have submarines? The Republic of Singapore Navy started purchasing submarines from the Swedes in 1995 and refitted them for tropical waters. We have a few now. Submarines are used by the military as part of navy forces, protecting aircraft carriers performing reconnaissance and carrying out other tasks.

Submarines are now used for many other areas such as marine research, undersea exploration and salvage missions.

Modern submarine used for underwater exploration

Like all visits to war museums, the visit to the USS Silversides Museum leaves one sober at the thought that Man has such a bent to fighting and with such terribly destructive force.

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

Ironically, I post this entry on the 73rd anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese.
This would be my Christmas list but I know it will not fully come to pass until the Second Advent of Christ.
Till then, what can we help to fulfill?

References
Wikipedia
http://www.submarine-history.com/NOVAone.htm

http://ourhomeschoollifeblog.com/adventures-uss-silversides/

http://modelshipwrights.kitmaker.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=features&file=view&artid=6162

An afternoon of History at Hampton Court

Having a royal romp at the main entrance to Hampton Court 

The Vandenhauttes, Michel, Ruth and IIona took us out to Hampton Court Palace for a day out on Sunday 8 June 2014 after attending service and having a “picnic” lunch at the parsonage at Halford House.

Glad Reunion in Fair England: The Vandenhauttes hanging out with the Hengs at Hampton Court

Located about 18 kilometres upstream from central London in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, in the historic county of Middlesex sits Hampton Court Palace.

Hampton Court, King Henry VIII’s royal palace is about 800 years old. It started out under Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem, a religious order founded in the 11^th century who acquired the manor in 1236. King Henry VIII received the palace in 1528 as a gift from his former favourite Cardinal Thomas Wolsey who had purchased the property in 1514 intending to make it the finest palace in England.

The palace is in Tudor style with perpendicular Gothic and restrained Renaissance 

ornament.

The clock tower at Hampton Court. I had bought a postcard of this sophisticated-looking clock
when in England for the Raffles Players Drama Tour in 1989.

The gatehouse to the second, inner court was adorned in 1540 with the Hampton Court astronomical clock, an early example of a pre-Copernican astronomical clock. Still functioning, the clock shows the time of day, the phases of the moon, the month, the quarter of the year, the date, the sun and star sign, the high water at London Bridge. The latter information was of great importance to those visiting this Thames-side palace from London, as the preferred method of transport at the time was by barge and at low water, London Bridge created dangerous rapids. This gatehouse is also known today as Anne Boleyn's gate, after King Henry VII's second wife. Work was still underway on Anne Boleyn's apartments above the gate when the King, who had become tired of her, had her executed.

We weave through the courtyards to get to the Chapel Royal.
Check out the decorative Tudor chimney pots sitting atop the roof!

John, Christy and Pat examining a painting in one of the hallways.
The portrait of King Henry VIII looms larger-than-life next to them.

We traipsed through some of the rooms and tried to piece together the life of the inhabitants of Hampton Court, King Henry VIII (1509-1547) being the most colourful. His was the Tudor Dynasty which gave the world some of the most memorable kings and queens.

One of multimedia displays which 

very cleverly placed the audience in the circle of discussion

Multimedia dramatic presentations of costumed actors helped
bring the otherwise static rooms, exhibits and artefacts to life

King Henry VIII's not-so-merry wives

King Henry VIII, unfortunately is known for his having had six wives and for breaking with the Church of Rome and proclaiming himself the head of the Church of England because he wanted to divorce his first wife Catherine Aragon who could not produce a male heir. He had been married to Catherine for 24 years!

At Madame Tussaud's in 1989 with the Raffles Players: Henry VIII and his wives 
(plus some extras: Charissa, Tammy, ?? and Karina!)

From left: Anne Boleyn (Wife #2: playing a lute), 
Katherine Parr (Wife #6: with staff in hand), 
Jane Seymour (Wife #3: with hands clasped), 
Kathryn Howard (Wife #5: holding a book on her lap), 
Anne of Cleves (Wife #4: holding a flower), 
and Catherine of Aragon (Wife #1: face covered by black headdress)

Catherine of Aragon was married to King Henry from 1509 to 1533. She was divorced by King Henry only producing Mary who would later become Mary I (1553-1558) (also known "Bloody Mary" for her persecution of the Protestants in an effort to make England Catholic).

Anne Boleyn was married to King Henry from 1533 to 1536. She gave birth to Elizabeth who would later become Queen Elizabeth I (1558-1603). Anne Boleyn was beheaded for not producing an heir.

Jane Seymour was married to King Henry from 1536 to 1537 dying two weeks after delivering Edward, the long-awaited male heir to Henry's throne who ruled as Edward VI from 1547 to 1553.

Anne of Cleves was next; married to King Henry from January to July of 1540. She was mercifully divorced.

Kathryn Howard was only a teenager when she married King Henry who was in his forties in 1540. She was not faithful so she was executed in 1542.

King Henry's final wife was Katherine Parr whom he married in 1543 and who outlived him when he passed on in 1547.

Historical tidbit: King Henry VIII married three Catherines (Catherine, Kathryn and Katherine)!

How the King James Bible came about

The breakaway from the Roman Catholic Church was complete in 1534, King Henry VIII becoming Supreme Head of the Church of England. King Henry VIII was soon petitioned to order a Bible to be published in the common English language instead of Latin, the language known only to the clergy. Several versions of the Bible in English were published between 1535 and 1541 some combining earlier work by Tyndale and Coverdale.

It was not until 1560 that the first English Bible appeared translated in its entirety from the original languages. It was printed in Geneva, Switzerland.

King Henry VIII was succeeded by his children Edward VI, Mary I and then Elizabeth I. Since Elizabeth I died without an heir, a distant relative James VI of Scotland became James I, starting the reign of the Stuart Dynasty.

When King James VI of Scotland ascended the throne of England in 1603, the Puritans petitioned for a Reformation in the Church of England. A three-day conference was held in Hampton Court to sort out the matters. However, King James dismissed most of their petitions and only the notion of a new translation of the Bible was to be answered later.

The Archbishop of Canterbury, Richard Bancroft was initially hostile to the project but later co-ordinated the translation of the Bible. Scholars from Westminster and Cambridge worked in teams to translate the Bible with the King James Version being finally published in 1611.

“A book which, if everything else in our language should perish, would alone suffice to show the whole extent of its beauty and power” Lord Macaulay of the King James Bible in 1828, more than 200 years after it was first published.

Hampton Court Palace, engraved by Johannes Kip after Leonard Knyff. 
From Britannia illustrata, or, Views of several of the Queens palaces (1707). Ii.9.11
(Photo taken from http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/exhibitions/KJV/hamptoncourt.html)

From Tudor architectural style to the Baroque

When William, Prince of Orangeand Mary of Holland took over the English throne in 1689 as King William III and Queen Mary, they embarked on a massive rebuilding programme at Hampton Court. The country’s most eminent architect Sir Christopher Wren (the man who built Westminster Cathedral) was called upon the draw the plans. Initially the plan was to replace the Tudor style with contemporary Baroque.

This is known as the East Front which was built in 1689 under King William III and Queen Mary

Fountain Court is part of the East Front. Sir Christopher Wren drew inspiration from the palace at Versailles 
but here at Hampton Court the pink brick was a stark contrast to the pale Portland stone quoins, frames and banding. The second floor mezzanine had circular and decorated windows to boot. 

This reminds me of the Alhambra in Spain!

Lamby taking a sip at the fountainat the Casa Real 
(Royal Castle) at the Alhambra in Spain 2007

We ambled through cobbled courtyards, under colonnaded courts and checked out the Chocolate Kitchens.

This was what the Chocolate Kitchen looked like...

There was something for everyone in Hampton Court. We had to quick-step from one room to the next in order to get to the main exhibits we wanted to see. It's not hard to see how this gargantuan 60-acre site with its gardens and buildings was one of the favourite royal residences and still is very popular with tourist and local alike. There is a Great Vine of the grounds planted in 1768 that still yields grapes in late summer! We could not enjoy the magnificent gardens of the palace grounds save a few specimens of greenery!

The children picking fruit off the climbing plant at the carpark!

Your wife will be like a fruitful grapevine, flourishing within your home.
Your children will be like vigorous young olive trees as they sit around your table.
Psalm 128:3 New Living Translation

Like apples of gold in settings of silver is a word spoken in right circumstances. Psalm 25:11 (NLT)
This tree of gold must surely mean we should speak more right words!!

Christy hand-in-hand with Pipa going through the palace

Ruth and Pat underneath the clock tower. Cardinal Wosley's seal is still visible above the arch of the entrance.

Michel and Dad in the base court 

Court Jesters all: Christy, John, IIona and Geoffrey

The different architectural styles of the four sides just within the base court

Some of us went for a slightly different angle: History at my feet!

Selfies all around base court.
The relief busts of eight Roman emperors adorn the Tudor brick pillars
of the various gates was carved by Italian craftsman Giovanni da Maiano. 

Ornate Tudor brickwork chimney pots sit atop the high walls.
Chim-chimminy! 

The Colonnade 

The rear view of the main entrance of the West Front.
Such a lovely summer sky!

Childhood buddies know how to have a good time anywhere!

Geoff knows what to do when at a fountain...

Taking a break at the fully-working 12-foot tall replica (made of timber, lead, bronze and gold leaf) of
a Tudor wine fountain from the 16th century that was unveiled in 2010. Do note the bags of shopping in hand!

John picks up a unique souvenir for a friend

When it comes to garden shrubs, some are more equal than others!

This sketch of King Henry VIII's crown
on a greeting card has Swarovski crystals!

The afternoon passed too quickly and we bid a fond farewell to our gracious hosts and beloved friends, the Vandenhauttes who have been precious co-labourers in God's Vineyard all over the world. Who would have thought we would have a reunion in fair England, the land of Ruth's birth? God watch between us till we meet again. 

The 13th Chapter of 1 Corinthians from the King James Version of the Bible, 1611
(Photo from http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/exhibitions/KJV/pillar.html)

References: Wikipedia

http://www.lib.cam.ac.uk/exhibitions/KJV


P/S:

Most people roughly have the same idea when visiting castles.