Chesapeake Bay Bridge/tunnel. Opened in 1964. 28 km long, alternating between tunnels, bridges, and manmade islands. Often called “one of the engineering wonders of the world”.
It was odd being on a bridge, then under the ocean in a tunnel and then on a bridge and repeat.
Isla thought “it was really cool how it looked like the road just stopped and we drove into the ocean”. Isla also liked the signs in the tunnel saying “keep speed up”.
Caleb says “I had a good attitude”. But then said “the days not over yet”.
USS Wisconsin
The USS Wisconsin is in Norfolk and is one of the largest and last battleships ever built by the U.S. Navy.
The USS Wisconsin (BB-64) was one of the most accomplished battleships in U.S. Navy history. Some of its biggest achievements include:
World War II
- Entered service in 1944 and participated in major Pacific campaigns.
- Supported operations in the Philippines, Battle of Iwo Jima, and Battle of Okinawa.
- Conducted bombardments of Japanese home islands before the end of the war.
Korean War
- Recommissioned in 1951 and served as flagship of the U.S. Seventh Fleet.
- Provided extensive naval gunfire support against North Korean targets along the coast.
Gulf War (Operation Desert Storm)
- Served as a Tomahawk missile strike commander and launched cruise missiles during the opening attacks of the war.
- Fired its famous 16-inch guns in combat for the first time since Korea.
- Its Pioneer drone was involved in the first known surrender of enemy troops to an unmanned aircraft, when Iraqi soldiers waved white flags after spotting the drone overhead.
- Fired the last battleship naval gunfire mission in history, making Wisconsin one of the final battleships ever to see combat
Nauticus Museum
Naval Base Boat Tour in Norfolk
Things we learned: Deperming- getting rid of the magnetic field of a ship so less detectable by others. “Deperming is a naval defense procedure that permanently erases a ship or submarine’s magnetic signature. By wrapping the hull in heavy-gauge copper cables and pulsing thousands of amperes of electricity through them, navies “reset” the vessel’s magnetism. This prevents detection by enemy magnetic mines and Magnetic Anomaly Detection (MAD) equipment”
Naval Air Station (NAS) in Oceana
We got Chick-fil-A for supper and tailgated at the end of the runway to watch fighter jets. The Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana is the U.S. Navy’s only East Coast Master Jet Base, located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It spans nearly 6,000 acres, supports a community of around 20,000 personnel, and is the primary hub for Atlantic Fleet F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter squadrons.
