Sunday, August 16, 2009

How Can I Tread On You When I Can't Even Turn Around?

General Dynamics Electric Boat is a shipyard in Groton, Connecticut that's a customer we work with quite often. It's a place responsible for submarine design and engineering and submarine assembly, testing and delivery. When you enter the main gate, the security offers make you sign in, give you a badge and ask you to leave your cell phones, cameras and any other recording devices with them.

Taking pictures at the plant is strictly prohibited; there are signs everywhere on the fences surrounding the facility stating that you can be imprisoned for espionage under the US Code, Title 18, Chapter 37 if you do, so I don't have any pictures for you, but you can see plenty here.

The place I was allowed to take pictures at was the Submarine Force Library & Museum:


Eddie and I went there yesterday to tour the museum, check out the subs and take a tour of the USS Nautilus, the world's first operational nuclear-powered submarine.

In addition to hundreds of artifacts and pictures, getting to go inside the submarine was the coolest part. To see the cramped quarters of a submarine up close was really something, it's completely different than seeing it in the movies or in a book.

The stairways are tiny, the hallways are narrow and the sleeping quarters...oh my God, the sleeping quarters looked like bunk beds for children. My step-brother was in the Navy for years and I can't imagine him being on that boat for months on end in those tight quarters!

And I thought the two of us existing in the truck 24/7 was hard!



~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO: Popping Good Time
2 YEARS AGO: Touching Down For A Quick Rest Break
3 YEARS AGO: Follow Your Heart
4 YEARS AGO: All About The Benjamins

2 comments:

Gil said...

What a small World! You were about 15 minutes from where we live and I drove right by the Sub Base Saturday afternoon. Small World indeed!

all things bradbury said...

we were there a couple of years ago and toured the submarine and museum....we thought it was awesome!....brad's a navy guy who was stationed on aircraft carriers, so of course it was even more special for him....he got a big kick out of me trying to get thru the hatches...me being short, it was about all i could do to get my leg up thru some of them.....it was definately close quarters tho....not sure i could handle being out to sea for months in there.....