Cindy battens down the hatches aboard the USS Nautilus in Groton, CT
Over the Labor Day weekend, we visited the Submarine Force Library and Museum in Groton, Connecticut, also known as the "Submarine Capital of the World." The museum is now home to the USS Nautilus, the world's first nuclear-powered submarine. The museum features exhibits on the history of the submarine, and it is nearly impossible to write any chapter of America's naval history without mentioning the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
Two of the first submarines to serve in the US Navy, the USS Porpoise and the USS Shark, both of the Plunger or A class, were built in nearby Elizabethport, New Jersey at the Crescent Shipyard. Both were commissioned in September 1903, and both spent time in the Brooklyn Navy Yard dry docks. Only one year after being put to sea, they were sent to Brooklyn for extensive maintenance and refitting. In 1908, the Porpoise and the Shark were disassembled and transported via the Suez Canal to the Philippines, where they served until being decommissioned in 1919.
Two of the first submarines to serve in the US Navy, the USS Porpoise and the USS Shark, both of the Plunger or A class, were built in nearby Elizabethport, New Jersey at the Crescent Shipyard. Both were commissioned in September 1903, and both spent time in the Brooklyn Navy Yard dry docks. Only one year after being put to sea, they were sent to Brooklyn for extensive maintenance and refitting. In 1908, the Porpoise and the Shark were disassembled and transported via the Suez Canal to the Philippines, where they served until being decommissioned in 1919.
Credit: Brooklyn Navy Yard Archive
Though no submarines were ever built in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, it has served an important role in submarine warfare. During World War I, captured German U-Boats were taken to the yard where they were dismantled to gather valuable information about enemy technology. This work helped close the enormous lead held by Germany in submarine technology, a dominance which allowed Germany to sink over 11,000,000 tons of allied shipping during the war.
Working on a German U-Boat engine in Building 128, 1921. Credit: Brooklyn Navy Yard Archive - courtesy National Archive and Records Administration, Northeastern Region - NYC, Record Group 181
The USS Nautilus, though built in Connecticut, also has links to the Brooklyn Navy Yard. Commissioned in 1954, the Nautilus became the first ship to reach the North Pole in 1958, cruising beneath the sea ice under nuclear power, an innovation which dramatically increased the range and stealth of submarines. Following the voyage, the ship and crew were feted in New York City, and the sub moored at the Brooklyn Navy Yard dry docks, which you can see in the newsreel footage below.
A contemporary of the Nautilus, the USS Growler, a diesel-powered, guided missile submarine, is currently a part of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum along the Hudson River waterfront in Manhattan. That ship has been on display to the public since 1989, but it rejoined the museum earlier this year after undergoing repairs and renovations at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The work was done by GMD in a dry dock built before World War II. Although the Navy Yard has been decommissioned as a military facility since 1966, ships are still repaired and serviced in the yard's three remaining dry docks, one of which visitors can see at work on our tour.
The next tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard will be Sunday, September 13, and tickets are still available (at the time of this posting, so act fast!)
The next tour of the Brooklyn Navy Yard will be Sunday, September 13, and tickets are still available (at the time of this posting, so act fast!)