Bombardier
14-03-04, 21:37
My day started at 0800 and after collecting Viking from his home we made our way along the M62 motorway from Manchester towards Liverpool.
We were making our way to the Historic warship museum in Birkenhead, which is just over the River Mersey from Liverpool.
The journey went well and nothing un toward happened. When we eventually crossed the river Mersey via the Birkenhead Tunnel we began to drive around the dock area until eventually we saw an information sign pointing us towards the museum. We crossed over a small bridge and immediately saw the HMS Onyx birthed next to HMS Plymouth. As we continued towards the museum we saw a large elongated and rusted Hulk which of course was the U534, she looked a lot bigger than I had expected and did not look in very good shape which is understandable given the amount of time she had been resting on the sea bed.
Parking our car we then made our way to the reception and paid the £6 entry fee, another £8 would have to be spent if we wanted to go on a guided tour of the U534, the tour did not start until 1100 so we decided to give it a miss and make our way to the other exhibits. The receptionist first showed us both into a room full of information about all the exhibits and after spending maybe twenty minutes there we went outside.
The main exhibits outside include a Landing craft Infantry which has been lovingly restored, HMS Plymouth a Royal Navy Frigate, HMS Bronnington a Royal Navy Mine Hunter and HMS Oynx a royal Navy submarine not to mention a large number of smaller exhibits such as AA guns etc. All the exhibits can be freely walked around as long as you follow the directional signs and of course photography is allowed.
The most exciting aspect of the visit for me was the HMS Oynx as I had never been inside a Submarine before and I found it fascinating to walk about this previously restricted naval craft. Viking appeared to be more excited by HMS Plymouth with its batteries of missiles and anti submarine mortars.
While I was on the decks of HMS Oynx I looked towards the centre of the docks and immediately noticed an old Landing craft Tank LCT, which was moored in the middle of the dock and out of reach. I later found out that when restored it would become another exhibit at the museum.
The weather was not very good that day so our visit was a little more hasty than I would have liked but it was a fantastic experience never the less.
Images of our visit can be seen in the relevant galleries.
I would say that the museum was well worth a visit if you were in the area and myself and viking give it a joint rating of 8
Point to note no photography is allowed inside the U534, why I don’t know but that’s what they told us. We did get some good shots from outside.
Museum contact details;
Historic warships
East float Dock
Dock road
Birkenhead
Wirral
England
Telephone 0151 650 1573
Email manager@historicwarships.org
Website www.historicwarships.org/
We were making our way to the Historic warship museum in Birkenhead, which is just over the River Mersey from Liverpool.
The journey went well and nothing un toward happened. When we eventually crossed the river Mersey via the Birkenhead Tunnel we began to drive around the dock area until eventually we saw an information sign pointing us towards the museum. We crossed over a small bridge and immediately saw the HMS Onyx birthed next to HMS Plymouth. As we continued towards the museum we saw a large elongated and rusted Hulk which of course was the U534, she looked a lot bigger than I had expected and did not look in very good shape which is understandable given the amount of time she had been resting on the sea bed.
Parking our car we then made our way to the reception and paid the £6 entry fee, another £8 would have to be spent if we wanted to go on a guided tour of the U534, the tour did not start until 1100 so we decided to give it a miss and make our way to the other exhibits. The receptionist first showed us both into a room full of information about all the exhibits and after spending maybe twenty minutes there we went outside.
The main exhibits outside include a Landing craft Infantry which has been lovingly restored, HMS Plymouth a Royal Navy Frigate, HMS Bronnington a Royal Navy Mine Hunter and HMS Oynx a royal Navy submarine not to mention a large number of smaller exhibits such as AA guns etc. All the exhibits can be freely walked around as long as you follow the directional signs and of course photography is allowed.
The most exciting aspect of the visit for me was the HMS Oynx as I had never been inside a Submarine before and I found it fascinating to walk about this previously restricted naval craft. Viking appeared to be more excited by HMS Plymouth with its batteries of missiles and anti submarine mortars.
While I was on the decks of HMS Oynx I looked towards the centre of the docks and immediately noticed an old Landing craft Tank LCT, which was moored in the middle of the dock and out of reach. I later found out that when restored it would become another exhibit at the museum.
The weather was not very good that day so our visit was a little more hasty than I would have liked but it was a fantastic experience never the less.
Images of our visit can be seen in the relevant galleries.
I would say that the museum was well worth a visit if you were in the area and myself and viking give it a joint rating of 8
Point to note no photography is allowed inside the U534, why I don’t know but that’s what they told us. We did get some good shots from outside.
Museum contact details;
Historic warships
East float Dock
Dock road
Birkenhead
Wirral
England
Telephone 0151 650 1573
Email manager@historicwarships.org
Website www.historicwarships.org/