There is a World War II aircraft carrier located in beautiful Charleston, South Carolina. It’s the USS Yorktown. If you ever visit the Charleston area or even the southeastern United States, you’ll enjoy a day trip to see the USS Yorktown. I paid a visit several years ago. I wanted to take my son and daughter. They enjoyed the trip as much as I did.

When you visit Yorktown, be sure to set aside a day. There is also a Vietnam submarine, destroyer, and firebase at the Yorktown site. When we visit, we try to see all three warships and the Vietnam fire base on the same day. We can get to everything, but we’re in a bit of a rush. There is so much to see and so much history to read. If you took your time to take in the whole story and read all the screens, you’d have a hard time getting through Yorktown in a full day.

The entrance to the USS Yorktown is a long and winding road. As she rounds the final turn, out from behind the palmetto trees emerges this huge gray WWII aircraft carrier. It is a most wonderful sight. It’s amazing how you can make such a big ship float! I get that today’s flattops are even bigger! The next really amazing sight is the new Cooper River Bridge that you will see to the right of Yorktown.

We spent most of the day exploring the decks of the huge flattop. On the flight deck, there are anti-aircraft guns, jets and helicopters and a spectacular view of Charleston Harbor. On the hangar deck there are several vintage WWII aircraft on display with many historical exhibits to peruse. As you make your way through the lower decks, you’ll see the sleeping quarters, mess hall, engineer’s shop, sickbay, baths, and brig along with many, many historical exhibits.

After exploring below deck, we return to the flight deck and begin climbing the tower. Here you will find the communications rooms, the flight control rooms, the flight preparation rooms and the bridge where the captain, I think, spent all his time. There are a lot of steep stairs to climb here! After spending most of the day on the USS Yorktown, we headed to the sub, went through it, ran to the destroyer and spent a little time there and then ended up walking around the Vietnam fire support base. After a day of walking and climbing stairs across a WWII aircraft carrier, you can be sure a good night’s rest is coming soon!