One of the things we have enjoyed around the area is the public art that is on display around Perth, Fremantle, and other towns in the area. You never know where they may show up.
On a street corner
This gentleman is John Septimus Roe, the first Surveyor General of Western Australia.
You may see the art at a public fountain like these Kangaroos along a street.
In a small green space like the spear point or pen nibs (we couldn’t decide which),
Or these two immigrant children in front of the Maritime Museum in Fremantle. The is dedicated to The Maltese boys and girls who left their homeland to brave an unknown future in Western Australia.
Where even it shows up it is always unexpected and nice to spend time looking at. We think it adds interest and beauty to any city.
Yesterday when we were in Fremantle we found that the Maritime Museum has a newer Diesel Electric submarine that could be toured with a guide, however all of the tours were filled up, so we made a reservation for a tour for today. As a result we were back in Fremantle for the third day in a row. It was a very interesting tour. Our guide used to serve on HMAS Ovens (this submarine) so he was knowledgeable of its dimensions and operation which added a lot to the tour.
The HMAS Ovens was Commissioned in 1969. It was one of the last Diesel Electric class submarines built by the British Navy. This view is of the bow with the sonar dome and the forward dive planes.
The tour took us from the forward torpedo room all the way through to the aft torpedo room. Here are some of the highlights.
Forward torpedo room and the emergency escape hatch. There are six tubes forward and were four aft, but the aft tubes were later decommissioned. The HMAS Ovens is one of the few conventional subs to launch a Harpoon missile (torpedo tube launched, but flies at wave top height).
This is the galley. Much smaller than most kitchens but served 62 crew members three meals a day.
Control room. This is the central hub of the sub. On the left is the helm. One crew member “flew” the sub through the water.
One of the latrines. This one is larger than most since it also has a sink.
The engine room where the diesel engines are located. They were only used while on the surface or at periscope depth.
Battery and electric motor control panel. There is no mechanical coupling between the diesel engines and the propellers. They propellers are driven by electric motors that are supplied by either the batteries or the generators attached to the engines.
This is a display of a single battery cell. There are 440 of these batteries in the sub in two banks of 220 each.
This is a typical hatch. There is one of these between each compartment of the ship. Each hatch is round, but as you can see equipment is partially hiding the right side of this one.
Here is a view of the starboard propeller and shaft. You can see the aft dive planes just behind the props
After the sub tour we spent the rest of our time walking through the museum. Well worth our third trip to Fremantle.
So tomorrow we start our drive south and east along the coast to Albany. Join us again for our next adventure in Western Australia.
No comments:
Post a Comment