I first became interested in World War Two while in my early teens; it was probably the game P.T.O. on Super Nintendo that made me actually think about the war strategies used, the individual ships and classes, the formations and bombardments and tactics. I fell in love with the pacific theater, the vast ocean and the fleets sailing on it, trying to avoid enemy detection and hit their targets. It was somehow more appealing than the gritty land battles and the liberation of european countries.

Below you will see the pictures in the order of the tour: first, the3 16" guns, which I thought were the main guns of the ship, until I later realized we were at the back of the ship, and not the front. Next is the sea plane used for scouting, and Ligi in front of a view of downtown Wilmington. Then we descended into the lower decks - first the engine rooms, with all the dials and something-o-meters that you see me posing next to. Then the general store and some specialist bunks next to them. Then the on-board pharmacy, of particular interest to me from my corner drugstore days. Then the operating room, for surgery. Finally, we exited the ship and got another view of the massive amounts of gunnery.