Touring an aircraft carrier

On a trip to San Diego last month, our daughter, Jenee, and I got to tour the USS George Washington aircraft carrier CVN73 with my son Garrett Wanket who is stationed on this magnificent engineering wonder. Sitting right in front of it was the USS Nimitz CVN68. To drive over the Coronado Bridge and pull onto the base and see two huge aircraft carriers right next to each other was inspiring.

Our tour started in the belly of the ship where all the airplanes are usually stored. Two days before the ship pulls into port, the planes fly off and return when the ship is ready to head out to Japan. Right now in the large hangar bay, there are lots of storage containers, ventilating pipes and a lot of stuff to be moved up from lower decks.

We looked at the display of a wooden steering wheel, pictures of each of the officers in the chain of command and a very large bronze bust of George Washington. They use these items for ceremonies.

We headed to see what Garrett's rack (or bedroom) looked like, but his bunk was down where there was no power, so he aimed his flashlight down the stairs to where he normally lives.

We walked more stairs and I had to duck to keep from hitting my head on pipes and door tops. These are pretty cramped quarters to live in for such long periods of time. Before showing us his temporary rack, Garrett said in a stern voice, "female entering." I see why because there was a sailor doing his ironing with only a towel wrapped around him. I was a little embarrassed.

Then we toured the chow line. They didn't have the salad bar going, but the rest of the food looked great. There was a middle section all curtained off that I was not allowed to see because they moved in a lot of the gauges and dials which are top secret. I was kind of surprised they allowed me to take as many photos as I did. Garrett is not allowed to take photos of the ship.

A manhole on the floor of the deck looked like the hatch you see on the top of a submarine, only it was open and had ribbon blocking it off as if it wasn't used. Garrett explained that sailors who have the shaft alley patrol job climb ladder wells through seven decks and 12 shaft alleys looking for bilge leaks. One sailor had fallen down a shaft most of the seven decks and hurt her head pretty bad, according to Garrett, but he said they really don't have as many injuries as you would think.

Saving the best for the last, Garrett took us to the top of the flight deck and showed us the different catapults and the control tower. We had a great view of downtown San Diego. I would love to have seen it with the planes on board.

This was an astounding tour and if you are going to be in San Diego before school starts, call me. Garrett said he can give tours to anyone as long as the arrangements are made ahead of time.

n Lisa Welch is a Johnson Lane resident and can be reached at 267-9350.