General Discussions
This is the place to discuss general issues related to the U-boat war or the war at sea in WWII.
My Visit to the Nautilis Submarine Museum
Posted by:
Fin Bonset
()
Date: December 18, 2000 02:25PM
<HTML>Hi everyone,
I was in Waterford, Connecticut this weekend and used the opportunity to visit the submarine museum in the area. The Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut, home of Historic Ship NAUTILUS (SSN 571), is the United States Navy\'s official submarine museum. It is a great museum and allows you to tour the world\'s first nuclear powered submarine.
Overall, I thought the museum was well done. I was looking for a section on the influence of German U-boats on the design of U.S. subs. Additionally I hoped that that some credit would be given to Donitz and his strategical infuence on U.S. tactics in the Pacific. To my disappointment, there was a really small (I mean really small!) section devoted to Donitz and German U-boats. Heck, the case was in corner somewhere with little light. It just talked about the wolfpack tactics and shows an Iron Cross and photo of Donitz with a signature. That was all. No mention of strategical credit was given. If only people knew how much the German designs and strategies were used by the U.S. Navy.
That was the only disappointment, at least something was mentioned. The submarine was quite neat though. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the boat. Of course you could not even get close to the where the nuclear reactors were :-)
I had never been in a submarine and was actually quite surprised by the size and free space of this submarine as it was built much later than the smaller German subs. The officer\'s quarters were lush compared to those of the past. Still, I definitely could see how it would get very claustrophobic on a sub.
All in all, a very good experience. They even have periscopes in the building that work and can rotate 360 degrees! I would recommend this place highly, just don\'t expect any German sub history as they obviously thought that was NOT important (I\'m being slightly sarcastic here).
Anyway, thought I would share that with you. Here\'s the web page if you want more info:
[www.ussnautilus.org]
I leave you guys with this interesting observation:
Remember that bad movie U-571, and remember there were discussions as to why it was named U-571? Well, the Nautilis\' number is 571. So the naming of the movie was American based perhaps? In no way am I being anti-American here, it just seems to be too much of a coincidence.
Best to you all!
Fin Bonset
P.S. Craig, have you been there? I know you\'ve visited a couple of the sub museums. Hope all is well with you.
</HTML>
I was in Waterford, Connecticut this weekend and used the opportunity to visit the submarine museum in the area. The Submarine Force Museum in Groton, Connecticut, home of Historic Ship NAUTILUS (SSN 571), is the United States Navy\'s official submarine museum. It is a great museum and allows you to tour the world\'s first nuclear powered submarine.
Overall, I thought the museum was well done. I was looking for a section on the influence of German U-boats on the design of U.S. subs. Additionally I hoped that that some credit would be given to Donitz and his strategical infuence on U.S. tactics in the Pacific. To my disappointment, there was a really small (I mean really small!) section devoted to Donitz and German U-boats. Heck, the case was in corner somewhere with little light. It just talked about the wolfpack tactics and shows an Iron Cross and photo of Donitz with a signature. That was all. No mention of strategical credit was given. If only people knew how much the German designs and strategies were used by the U.S. Navy.
That was the only disappointment, at least something was mentioned. The submarine was quite neat though. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour of the boat. Of course you could not even get close to the where the nuclear reactors were :-)
I had never been in a submarine and was actually quite surprised by the size and free space of this submarine as it was built much later than the smaller German subs. The officer\'s quarters were lush compared to those of the past. Still, I definitely could see how it would get very claustrophobic on a sub.
All in all, a very good experience. They even have periscopes in the building that work and can rotate 360 degrees! I would recommend this place highly, just don\'t expect any German sub history as they obviously thought that was NOT important (I\'m being slightly sarcastic here).
Anyway, thought I would share that with you. Here\'s the web page if you want more info:
[www.ussnautilus.org]
I leave you guys with this interesting observation:
Remember that bad movie U-571, and remember there were discussions as to why it was named U-571? Well, the Nautilis\' number is 571. So the naming of the movie was American based perhaps? In no way am I being anti-American here, it just seems to be too much of a coincidence.
Best to you all!
Fin Bonset
P.S. Craig, have you been there? I know you\'ve visited a couple of the sub museums. Hope all is well with you.
</HTML>
My Visit to the Nautilis Submarine Museum