Patriots Point
From Patriots Point we took the 30 minute boat ride to Fort Sumter. The fort is located at the mouth of Charleston Harbor where the Ashley and Cooper Rivers come together.
Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge that connects Mount Pleasant and Charleston.
Fort Sumter's in the distance!
Charleston and Arthur Ravenel Jr. Bridge seen in the distance. The people of Charleston actually watched when Fort Sumter was fired upon, starting the Civil War.
These are the only flags that have ever flown over Fort Sumter: the 5 small flags from left to right are the Federal flag with 33 stars, "Stars and Bars" Confederate flag, South Carolina flag, second Confederate flag on white (changed to Confederate flag we know today after it was decided there was too much white and it might be seen as a flag of surrender), and finally the 35 star Federal flag. There were 36 states but stars are only added on the 4th of July so even though Nevada was our newest state, she was not yet represented on our flag.
Paddle-wheel boat headed to Charleston.
Cannon
Same cannon from inside the fort; this is on the bottom floor of the fort. The top two floors are no longer there as they were blown away during the final siege on Fort Sumter.
On April 12, 1861 a mortar shell was fired from Fort Johnson in Charleston Harbor starting the American Civil War. For 34 hours the Confederacy bombarded the fort forcing the Federals surrender. On April 14 victorious Southern troops claimed their prize.
For the next four years Fort Sumter remained a Confederate stronghold even under frequent Union attempts to capture it. Between 1863 and 1865 the Confederate soldiers kept the Federal land and navy at bay for 587 days, one of the longest sieges in modern warfare. By February 17, 1865 the fort was virtually demolished and the Civil War was at its end. The Confederates reluctantly abandoned the fort to be reclaimed by Federal troops.
The angle near the magazine where the ammunition was stored; a fire here prompted surrender of Fort Sumpter to the Confederate Army.
This is "tabby", a mixture of shells, lime, and water. It was used to line the walls of the powder magazines.
Entrance to magazine.
No wonder Fort Sumter was a formidable denfense for Charleston Harbor with a cannon as large as this one.
An artillery shell is embedded in this outside wall.
10 inch mortar, model 1819, unearthed in excavations during 1959, is similar to the one that fired the signal shot from Fort Johnson on April 12, 1861.
Can you see the red line on the South Carolina flag pole? That is how tall the walls of Fort Sumpter stood before being demolished.
Outside wall on the right face.
Imagine two more stories on top of this wall and that is the original height of the fort.
We entered and exited through the sally port.
Charleston on return trip.
Grave marker on a sandbar in the middle of Charleston Harbor.
USS Yorktown
The USS Yorktown was an aircraft carrier used during World War II by the United States Navy. It is 888 feet long and held up to 90 aircraft in 1944. There were 360 officers and 3,000 enlisted men on board in 1943.
Can you see the black submarine? The Clamagore is the only Guppy III submarine preserved in the US. It could stay submerged for 36 hours at 3 knots and had 24 torpedoes ready to fire.
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