Cherbourg’s Museum of the sea
Close to the cruise terminal was the “Cité de la Mer”. This museum promised to a more exciting visit than our time in the old town of Cherbourg
The first part of the museum was in what look like a sister building of our cruise terminal but had been stripped completely bare inside leaving just an outer shell. Entry here was free and scattered around a large space were underwater exploration vessels.
We walked through the hall and passed a busy café in the corner and then outside we could see signs to the other exhibits. To get to the other exhibits we had to pay an entrance fee.
Le Redoutable
The Redoubtable was France’s first nuclear submarine, first commissioned in 1971. The boat carried France’s nuclear deterrent. we walked alongside until the stern when we went inside.
These are all my images shot on my iPhone as we followed the tour through the submarine.
The boat had been cut into three sections and the nuclear reactor had been removed. This section of the tour was on a high platform through the replacement section where the reactor had been.
The next section was past the missile launch tubes. Note the speaker tubes by the tubes.
Note the Telex machine.
After brightly lit corridors we came to where the boat was controlled and steered.
As we left the hull had been cut away so we could see the two layers.
And then we were back outside.
This for me was the highpoint of our visit to Cherbourg.
Leave a Reply