US navy warship in Cobh

homah_7ft

Just in case any military-heads here are interested in seeing a US destroyer. There is one berthed in Cobh and is there until the 05th. The USS McFaul is an Arleigh-Burke class guided missile destroyer.

deRanged

Thanks for the heads up. I just popped down for a look.

homah_7ft

Hey nice one posting the pic. I must find out if they are letting people on at any stage.

deRanged

I don't think they let people on any more - they've tightened up on security in a big way since the Cole incident. It was too dark for me to get decent shots but they have a boom in the water about 100 metres off the ship - 2 ribs patrolling the water continuously, the quay is closed with Gardai at each end and on the high road, and a couple of other bits and pieces of security. They also usually have at least one (mounted) machine gun on the ship ready for use. I should scan the photos I have of the last visit - you can see the gun clearly.

you can just make out the rib and the boom here:

homah_7ft

deRanged wrote:

I don't think they let people on any more - they've tightened up on security in a big way since the Cole incident. It was too dark for me to get decent shots but they have a boom in the water about 100 metres off the ship - 2 ribs patrolling the water continuously, the quay is closed with Gardai at each end and on the high road, and a couple of other bits and pieces of security. They also usually have at least one (mounted) machine gun on the ship ready for use. I should scan the photos I have of the last visit - you can see the gun clearly.

you can just make out the rib and the boom here:

Yeah the security is tighter but I've heard that people were let on board a US navy ship recently enough. This could be BS:) As it happens the Cole is her sister ship.

deRanged

The last american warship I saw in Cobh was the USS Mitscher - also an Arleigh Burke class ship. She definitely wasn't open to the public, but there may well have been
others in in the meantime.

check out the machine guns on the bridge.


you can see the boom defense more clearly

RoundyMooney

Excellent photos, deRanged.

Trojan911

You should put this up in the Military Forum as well.... Big interest there as well...


TJ911...

homah_7ft

Yeah I have checked and no viewings to the public . It used be excellent when you were be able go on board and they put on weapon displays.






Mitscher having naval patrol present with boom removed.

calva70

As one of the crew member of the USS McFaul, I would like to thank the people of Cobh for the fine hospitality. Ireland has been someplace that I have always wanted to visit, but never had a chance. I can say that I had a wonderful time in the few short days that we were here.

I was able to spend some time in Cork walking around the city and visiting many of the shops. I took a tour of the Blarney Castle, and of the Jameson Distillary. And enjoyed many fine meals about the town.

It is unfortunate that we were unable to provide tours to the public in the time that we were here. But there were security and scheduling reason why we did not.

Once again, thank you for a most enjoyable port visit. And I hope that one day I can once again visit this fine country of Ireland, and next time maybe I'll be able to bring my wife along.

Tabnabs

What a nice post!

I was onboard the USS JFK when when was in Dublin (bay) some years ago, very impressed with the professionalism of the crew.

deRanged

that's fantastic - glad you enjoyed the stay.
It's a shame that circumstances don't allow tours at the moment, hopefully in the future that will change.
Come back soon - and bring a helicopter. I like helicopters

RoundyMooney

Glad you enjoyed your time here, calva70.

homah_7ft

calva70 wrote:

As one of the crew member of the USS McFaul, I would like to thank the people of Cobh for the fine hospitality. Ireland has been someplace that I have always wanted to visit, but never had a chance. I can say that I had a wonderful time in the few short days that we were here.

I was able to spend some time in Cork walking around the city and visiting many of the shops. I took a tour of the Blarney Castle, and of the Jameson Distillary. And enjoyed many fine meals about the town.

It is unfortunate that we were unable to provide tours to the public in the time that we were here. But there were security and scheduling reason why we did not.

Once again, thank you for a most enjoyable port visit. And I hope that one day I can once again visit this fine country of Ireland, and next time maybe I'll be able to bring my wife along.

Thanks for the post. It's good to know you enjoyed the visit and I'm sure everyone understands the security reasons why the public can't come on board. If you are coming back with your wife sometime don't be afraid to leave a note here.

calva70

deRanged wrote:

that's fantastic - glad you enjoyed the stay.
It's a shame that circumstances don't allow tours at the moment, hopefully in the future that will change.
Come back soon - and bring a helicopter. I like helicopters

Sorry, deRanged. We don't normally care a helo with us, we can land them though. We have no helo hanger, so we don't normally have a helo detachment onboard.

I have rieen in a helo once. I flew off of my last ship on a CH-53, it was a 2 1/2 hour flight, and a very uncomfortable one at that. It was noisy, and the seats were not designed with any kind of comfort in mind. Course it is a miltary helo, not a corporate transport.

It was definately interesting visit for one person onboard. We have a crew member that was raised in Crosshaven (I think). So this was basically home for her. She want back home and visited the village, and went to the sail shop where she worked. She said nothing had changed in the time that she has been gone.

I have been in the US Navy for 17 years. In that time I have visited many countries across Europe, and the Middle East. Ireland ranks up there as one of my favorites. I have been to Scotland (2 different places), Greece (5 different places) Itay (4 different places), Spain (2 different places), France, Denmark, Romania, Bulgaria, Portugal, Turkey, Eygpt, Israel, Bahrain, Dubi, Oman, Bermuda, St Thomas & St Marteen. So as you can see I have been to quite a few places.

calva70

Hyg