June 1, 2011 - The Proud Tradition

On the renovated Bremerton waterfront stands Larry Anderson's sculpture "The Proud Tradition".  It was installed in 1991 to commemorate the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard’s centennial.  The man, whose hardhat bears the name "Clark" is handing a boy what appears to be a model of a Kitty Hawk-class aircraft carrier.  The sculpture is located  just east of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the ferry dock.

A primary landmark of the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard is Building 460, a National Historical Landmark.  Building 460 is a 5-story building with 426,000 square foot of workspace.  It was repainted in 2009 with 2600 gallons of paint to match the original 1941 paint job, complete with the motto "Building on a Proud Tradition".  

Located on the Sinclair inlet, the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard began in 1891 as Naval Yard Puget Sound.  Over the years it has been a significant contributor to maintaining the readiness of the US Navy.  In WWII the primary efforts of the facility was to repair damage sustained in battle by allied vessels.  Since WWII the facility has been used in the modernization, maintenance, mothballing and recycling of ships.  The shipyard's Ship-Submarine Recycling Program, involves the recycling of nuclear-powered ships by inactivating and disposing of the reactor compartments.  The shipyard is one of Bremerton's largest employers.

March 25, 2011 - Secret Sail

The sail of the USS Parche (pronounced PAR-chee) stands outside of the Puget Sound Navy Museum located next door to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and the Washington State Ferry dock in Bremerton, Washington.  The USS Parche (SSN-683), was one of 37 of the Sturgeon-class fast-attack submarines built and the last to be decommissioned.  It was commissioned in 1974 and retired in 2004, spending the last 10 years of service in Bangor, WA, not far from where its sail stands now.  The 292 foot Sturgeon-class submarines were mostly phased out in the 1990s, replaced by the Los Angeles and Seawolf classes of submarines. 

While it was designed to silently stalk Soviet ballistic missile submarines, it spent most of its operational career carrying out clandestine missions that to this day are largely classified.  Rumored operations included retreiving Soviet bombs and missiles from the ocean floor, 'tapping' into undersea Soviet communications lines and deploying unmanned drones in espionage missions.

The USS Parche, is the most decorated ship in US Navy history.  The denotations on the side of the 31 foot long, 18 foot high sail include awards for Battle Efficiency, Navigation Excellence, etc.  Of special note are the 9 Presidential Unit Citations, the highest award a ship can receive.

Just up the street from the USS Parche sail the bow of the USS South Carolina, a California-Class nuclear powered guided missile frigate, stands out of the sidewalk.  The nearly 600 foot ship was commissioned in 1972 and deactivated in 1998.  It took nearly 2 1/2 years to recycle the 9,500 ton ship.