Today’s visit was to the Jangsaengpo Whaling Museum. Jangsaengpo is a former whaling village, which now hosts an extensive collection of tourism facilities generally associated with whaling - plus, somewhat incongruously, the frigate Ulsan. It is probably one of the main tourist attractions in Ulsan. The village is a few km out of town, however there is a public bus that will take you straight there from the CBD. It only takes about 15 minutes - however the bus only seems to run once every 45mins.Ulsan was the name ship of the Ulsan class frigates and is a full sister of the Frigate Masan I visited a few days ago. She has been hauled out of the water, and is standing on blocks, so that the likes of her sonar dome and screws are visible. They have a marked tour-route which takes you through the entirety of the ship above 1-deck, and down to 2-deck aft for access to one of the messdecks. This included the below-decks elements of both one of the 76mm guns, and one of the twin 30mm mountings. Of the ships I have visited this week, Ulsan probably has the most extensive tour route. Signage is minimal; however, they have motion-sensor triggered bilingual audio messages that tell you a bit about each compartment as you walk into it. In both the sailor’s cafeteria, and the wardroom, there are displays about the history of the ship, and the ROK Navy. The ship itself is relatively complete with regards to fittings, although a few of the electronic modules had been replaced with mock-ups. The ship is in reasonable condition, although the exterior is starting to show a bit of weathering.Each element of the whaling museum is separately ticketed, with the ticket to visit Ulsan only priced at ~AUD$1. There seemed to be a small shop there - but it was unmanned, and only appeared to sell 'sailor suits' in kids sizes. There may have been a more extensive shop in the main whaling museum, but I didn't go there.Overall this is a good museum, and there are a lot of other things at Jangsaengpo that will keep wife/kids etc entertained as well.
