Big Floating Crane and U.S. Submarine Service Memorial
The newspaper mentioned that the largest floating crane on the east coast would be coming to New London CT to disassemble the counterweight on the bascule style bridge on the Amtrak line across the Thanes River between New London and Groton CT. So this morning (7 June 2008) I grabbed the camera and after breakfast we headed down to Groton and New London to shoot some photos.
The day was very hazy as the weather was forecast to go from the mid fifties into the mid nineties over a twenty four hour period.
Groton is on the east side of the river and is home to the U.S. Navy Submarine Base. The railroad bridge is several miles south of the sub base and just south of Interstate 95 which crosses the river via the Gold Star bridge.
This is taken from the east side of the river. The towers are the new
vertical lift bridge which is replacing the old bascule bridge. Turns out the
crane tower which is seen in this photo is not the big lifter we had come to see
but rather a lighter duty crane which was doing prep work.
We were under the north bound lanes of the bridge and this is the view from the
underside.
A view of the south bound lanes
Across the river on the New London side is the U.S. Coast Guard Academy
This is what we had thought was the big crane
Right by where we were taking photos is the U.S. Submarine Service Memorial to
submariners "still on patrol".
These photos are of the memorial pictured above. I thought that the overall photo would be difficult to read so I took these close up sections.
I asked the gentleman in the left photo if he was a submarine veteran. He
replied that he was and I extended my hand and thanked him for his service to
our country. I extend the same expression of appreciation to any veteran
who may read this page.
There are plaques like this for all the subs that are on eternal patrol. I
took this picture because it rang a bell in the distant recess of my mind.
Ah, now it comes back. The movie Destination Tokyo starring Cary Grant was
patterned after the exploits of the U.S.S. Wahoo. If anyone has a relative
who was lost in WWII in the submarine service feel free to contact me with the appropriate
information and I will be happy to go down to the memorial and photograph the
plaque and name on the memorial wall.
Inscribed on the memorial wall are the names of the sailors still on patrol.
This is the big crane we had come to see. It will be moved into position
to remove sections of the 1,000,000 pound counterweight later in the week.
I will try to get back down to photograph it in position.
This was the tug that brought the crane to New London
This family of Canada geese casually strolled across the lower parking lot