The Peruvian submarine Abtao is preserved in Callao, a suburb of Lima. She was one of a class of four submarines which were the only submarines to be built for export in the US since WW2, and almost the last conventionally powered submarines built there (only the 3 Barbel class came later). They also must have been among the last submarines built with a deck gun. The design was based on a pre-war model. In the early 1940s, the USN built two Mackerel class submarines - smaller than usual by US standards - to explore the possibility of mass producing smaller submarines in wartime - they ultimately stuck with the larger fleet boats, but the design was resurrected in the 1950s for the Abtao class.When you visit the museum, you need to join a tour, which involves a movie on submarines, and then a guided tour through the boat. The guide I had was passionate and apparently knowledgeable about his subject, and able to talk non-stop for about 15 minutes in each compartment. Unfortunately, he knew as much English as I know Spanish, and it is uninspiring to be standing for 15 minutes in a compartment so full of people that you can't take any photographs, listening to a spiel that means absolutely nothing to you. It was particularly unfortunate in that this was the first time in several years that I had convinced my wife to come on a ship tour with me - and I suspect it will be some time now before that happens again! The submarine is behind a breakwater, but there is still significant motion from waves, with the suspended brow swinging wildly on the wharf (by up to a meter at times). Access into (and egress from) the submarine was via vertical ladders at the bow and stern, in relatively confined tubular trunks. This must restrict the number of people able to visit the submarine - I found it difficult to get up the stern ladder, as my legs were too long to be able to bend enough to step up a rung - I effectively had to get out by a series of pull-ups, and it won't be too many years before that won't be an option for me.The submarine itself is in very good condition (notwithstanding a continuous list of a few degrees). The most striking thing I found about it (in comparison with the larger Onslow that I volunteer on most weekends) was how spacious it was inside. I can't recall any previous submarine I have been on being so un-cramped. I'm not sure how they achieved this - although the smaller crew (40 vs 68) would have helped.In addition to the submarine, the museum has an extensive photograph gallery ashore tracing the history of the Peruvian submarine arm since the Ferre and Palacious (of WW1 vintage). There were also two torpedoes on display, and a small gift shop. Nothing in the museum was bilingual, and none of the staff I interacted with spoke any English. About 100m down the road is the Museo Naval del Peru - which I think is the national museum of the Peruvian Navy. This is a well presented and professionally run museum, with everything you would expect in a national museum - lots of photographs, paintings, models, artifacts, display panels etc, providing extensive coverage of the early Peruvian Navy through to the late 19th Century. But apart from a single gallery on 'exploration', I couldn't find anything there covering ships or events from about 1890 onwards - with the single exception of three missiles in the entrance hall (an Aspide, an Otomat and an Exocet), which seemed oddly out of context. None of the signage was bilingual - however an English speaking staff member did approach me, and offered to answer any questions I might have.Also about 100m away was 'Fortaleza Real Filipe' - one of the largest forts/castles I have ever been to, with at least one of the citadels dating back to 1771. It is still well maintained, and under the control of the Peruvian army. There are hundreds of cannon there, and many of the buildings have been converted to museums covering all nature of arms and armour. There is an artillery park there with about 15 field guns of Italian, French, Swedish and Japanese origin - although some of the signs had faded badly and it was hard to work out what they all were. There was also a collection of tanks, but that area of the fort was closed to the public, and I could only observe them from a considerable distance. It would take the best part of a day to look through all the museums on site, but I only had an hour, so just skimmed the exhibits. The fort was big enough that it was easy to get lost - there were a few guides around (most of whom were soldiers carrying machine guns, who gave the impression they had better things to do on a Saturday afternoon than babysit tourists) - but none of the ones I interacted with could speak English, and they just pointed and gave detailed instructions I couldn't understand a word of. I'm not the type of person to argue with somebody carrying a machine gun, so we just wandered about and tried to avoid irritating them. Like the other two museums, none of the signage was bilingual.All in all, a moderately successful afternoon. Abtao was interesting, despite the challenges described above, If I did it again, I would try and get ahead of the group, and effectively split off (which I eventually managed to do this time with the apparent consent of the guide). The other two museums were a bit outside my area of interest, and (for me) only really worth visiting because I was already in the area.The complete lack of English came as a surprise to me - having just come from Cusco/Machu Pichu where pretty much everyone spoke at least some English, and virtually all signage was bilingual. I figure Lima isn't really a tourist town, and most of the museum visitors will be locals, so it is what it is.
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