Photo By Petty Officer 1st Class Tim Comerford | Entertainer Tim Allen along with family and friends takes a tour of the guided missile...... read more read more
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NORFOLK, Va. -- Comedian, actor, voice-over artist and entertainer Tim Allen, known for his role as Timothy "Tim The Tool Man" Taylor in the sitcom Home Improvement and the voice of Buzz Lightyear in the animated "Toy Story" series, took a tour of two ships with family and friends, July 22.
Allen admits that he likes visiting sailors.
“I’m nuts for this sort of thing,” said Allen. “The family wasn’t so sure that they wanted to go, but I told them they would have a great time.”
Allen was met first by the commanding officer of Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer USS Stout, Cmdr. Mark J. Oberley. Oberley showed off the Stout’s weapons and capabilities to the entertainer. Allen, owner of a 54-foot Italian made vessel, is an avid Sailor and had many questions about the ships engines and how it operated.
As Allen made his way around the ship, he stopped and shook hands with the crew, signed autographs, posed for photos and, of course, made people laugh.
“The good thing about me being – not in the Navy – is that the ships might be faster, but I don’t think they’d last as long,” joked Allen. “I’m going to add a little bit more power to this thing and get this up on a plane and water ski behind it.”
The next stop was nuclear powered submarine USS Scranton, where Allen was greeted by Cmdr. Paul A. Whitescarver, commanding officer and Master Chief Petty Officer Stephen Nordman, Chief of the Boat, who guided Allen and his family through the sub. Allen saw how the crew lived, how torpedoes are fired and the bridge. The tour ended with refreshments in the submarine’s ward room where Allen tried some of the baked pastries provided by the sub’s culinary specialists.
Allen understood that he couldn’t be shown everything on the submarine, because much of it is top secret. He had gotten a similar experience touring USS Los Angeles.
“I asked the captain how fast we were going and he said, ‘That’s a big deal.’” said Allen smiling. “So I told him, Just whisper it to me. I mean we could see it if we were up on the surface. He told me ‘Mr. Allen, I can’t tell you anything about the stupid props, stop asking about it.’”
He loved the experience though.
“When we were going into a dive, you could feel the whole ship at an angle. It was amazing,” he explained.
He was admittedly impressed by the Sailors he met and what the Navy does.
“They are really good people,” Allen commented. “All of us that are on this tour are very proud of all of what you guys do … Thanks for all you do!”
| Date Taken: | 07.22.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.23.2010 15:36 |
| Story ID: | 53286 |
| Location: | NORFOLK, US |
| Web Views: | 372 |
| Downloads: | 82 |
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