The battle ship is wide open to visitors. You walk through the entrance and pay your fifteen bucks if you’re over 55 ($18 if you’re not. It’s all a pittance for what you get), and you can wander at will. If you can’t go there, or touch it, they have closed it off. Otherwise you can take all the time you want to see and stare at whatever you want.
The entrance display is extraordinary in itself with tributes to African Americans who served with distinction before President Truman ordered the integration of the military in 1948. Women at war get their display too. But then you arrive at the ramp. I was a little too elderly to try running.
The exterior is familiar to anyone who has seen historic photos of this class of battleship. I was slightly surprised to see teak decks bolted onto the steel. I guess wood was still the best decking underfoot in the years between the World Wars.
Handouts offer a list of statistics on both the submarine as well as the battleship.
I spent four hours at the park walking around but I never got to the upper decks. I was burned out and wanted to save that for another visit.
As they point out it’s a city with all the support systems a city requires.
I got to see the living quarters which were fascinating. Then I visited the gun turret with the sixteen inch guns. Luckily I was alone as it was claustrophobic and tiny.
A spare propellor for the ship.
