*HMS Belfast*

"I have sailed the world
beheld its wonders
from the Dardinells,
to the mountains of Peru,
But there's no place like London!"
-Stephen Sondheim, No Place like London from the play Sweeny Todd

After our first full day of classes this morning, I decided that it was time to actually go and get some real cash, as well as needing a tube (the underground railway system) pass for tonight.

A couple of wrong turns and a little more than a couple instances of prideful-not-wanting-to-look-like-a-tourist moments, and I found myself in the middle of the rain in a residential district a ways off from anything that I would want to see.

…I figured it all out though, found a bank with an ATM, found a fish & chips stand (which I don’t advise), and found King’s Cross Rail and Underground Station.

After buying my pass, I looked over the tube system and realized that a little ‘on my own’ exploring would really fit the bill since I’d had almost continuous contact with my travel mates since we had left the Twin Cities (a little more human contact than I really enjoy).

Looking at the tube system map, I saw that the London Bridge stop was only a couple of stops from where I was and went.

Ten minutes and I was there, but as I came out of the subway, I realized that I had forgotten the biggest lesson I had learned in New York: your first time coming out of an underground train stop is very, very disorientating and if you knew your directions before you went underground, you probably won’t when you return to the surface.

Again, to proud to ask someone which way was North so I could get my bearings, I started walking and found a 12th century church. How cool is that?

Southwick Cathedral
After finding the church, I found the Thames River and was therefore able to see that the London Bridge was about half a mile down river. As I walked, I just happened upon the HMS Belfast, a museum ship on put on display by the Imperial War Museum.

Cover of the brochure

Being that I was in the Navy only couple of years ago, I decided to take the tour and see what kind of differences there are with my experiences and those of British sailors during World War II. (It should be noted that I never stepped one foot onboard any surface war vessel during my naval career. I was stationed on a submarine and that was it, probably the reason why I’m not in the Navy currently.)

The first comparison I can make is the huge amount of space that exists compared to what I was used to on the submarine. HUGE. Secondly, the dummies on display were very lifelike.

Me and the Galley Slaves

http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4840981025025331624&postID=130698987124329314
Thinking about it know, I’m kinda glad that we didn’t have a dentist onboard.



I know you can’t really see it, but that’s an LP. Yep, those Brits had a DJ!


This is a model of a Radioman. My friend, Jameson would be glad to see that the radio gear didn’t work back then either.


Helmsman hard at work, at least I had a seat when I drove the boat.


I was a Quartermaster, but this is the equivalent in British, Aussie, and Canadian Navies. Basically we plotted the location and the course of the ship and kept the officer who was known as the Navigator out of trouble



That’s what I did and it’s harder than just drawing lines on paper.


A lot easier to smile when you're no longer the one getting yelled at.


Again, that would have been me getting yelled at by the guy with the phone (no wonder I can’t hear to well out of my right ear these days.)

That’s the pictures from the HMS Belfast, not to mention how I related to the whole experience of taking the tour.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot the whole reason for the trip: London Bridge