Historic Charleston

This 33-star U.S. Flag flew over Fort Sumter
 the day the Civil War began in 1861.

Cristin and I spent parts of two days in Charleston, South Carolina when vacationing on nearby Kiawah Island  (click here for the companion blog).  We toured Fort Sumter one day and the other day Cristin and her mom went to the Charleston Aquarium while her dad and I went to Patriot's Point and toured the USS Yorktown, a WWII aircraft carrier, as well as destroyer and submarine.

 

Fort Sumter 

Fort Sumter is national monument located on a tiny island near the entrance to Charleston Harbor. This is where the Civil War began.  The first shots of the war occurred when Confederate troops fired cannon on Fort Sumter, a federal fort.  The battle lasted just 34 hours when the under-manned and ill-equipped Union forces surrendered.

I knew the 'first shot'  part of the story but I didn't know that Union forces tried for 4 years to take the fort back.  It provided great cover for Confederate supply ships that ran the Union blockade into Charleston Harbor.  I also didn't realize that there are several other historic forts and batteries in and near Charleston Harbor that were used extensively in the Civil War.  Fort Moutrie won the first American victory over the British Navy in the War of Independence.  The Union assault of nearby Battery Wagner was depicted in the movie 'Glory'.

Upper Left: Each flag displayed today represents a flag that flew over Fort Sumter
during the Civil War.
Upper Right: Approaching Fort Sumter on the ferry.

Lower Right: The view through a cannon portal from inside the fort.

Lower Left:: The group in the distance is getting a Civil War history lesson from the Ranger.  The picture is taken from   Battery Huger which dominates the interior today; it was added to Fort Sumter during the Spanish-American War.  

"Fort Sumter today bears only a superficial resemblance to its original appearance. The multi-tiered work of 1861 was reduced to rubble during the Civil War". (Source: National Park Service brochure)

Fort Sumter was fired on by multiple Confederate forts and batteries. The first shot came from Fort Johnson.  A single mortar shell was fired, aimed high to explode above Fort Sumter to signal all other installations to begin the cannonade..

Fort Johnson was located due west across the harbor's entrance
on James Island, shown in the background of this picture

 Patriots Point

Patriots Point was a sea of activity the day we were there -  a Sunday and the 70th anniversary party for the USS Yorktown (CV-10).   This was the second Yorktown; the first Yorktown (CV-5) was sunk during the Battle of Midway.  It saw extensive action in WWII in the Pacific and had many significant accomplishments.  There were bands playing all over the ship and many veterans from multi-generations were on-hand to share their experiences with us.  We took the self-guided tour through the hanger deck, up to the flight deck, and even the bridge.

We also toured the USS Laffey, a famous WWII destroyer with the nickname "The ship that would not die" after being hit by 5 kamikazes and 3 bombs during the battle off Okinawa.  It operated until 1975. Many of its former crew were on-hand to share their knowledge of the ship with us and one even gave us an impromptu tour.

We also took a quick tour of the submarine USS Clamagore, a Cold War Guppy class diesel submarine.



An F8 Crusader on the flight deck of the USS Yorktown.

The view from the bridge of the USS Yorktown.

"Let's turn this ship into the wind and launch aircraft",
thinks Jack from the Captain's chair of the USS Yorktown.

 

In the map room below the bridge,
Jim studies a nautical map of the Charleston harbor.

The USS Laffey

The forward torpedo room of the USS Clamagore.
The crew slept in bunks that hung between the torpedoes.